Skipping Dessert … and taking the stairs

Light blogging today – lots to wrap up at the office, plus, it’s my birthday.  44, thanks for asking.

Not a great weigh-in, but it’ll all catch up in a positive way:  258, same as last week.  That’s (still) 29 pounds in 31 weeks.

Back to running next week.

More good stuff follows tomorrow, promise!  Thanks for reading.

Back on Sunday, in my previews, I promised recipes on Thursday.

That’s not going to happen today.  Maybe one day I’ll blog some recipes.

People ask – regularly – what sort of plan I’m “on.”  As I’ve mentioned, I’m not really on a “plan.”  I’ve tried to learn over the years (often while I was on one plan or another) ways to eat that make sense.  I think, after years of this-plan-then-that-plan back and forth, I’ve figured out some basic rules for eating that don’t leave me starving and help me move toward a healthier weight.  The fact is that eating along these guidelines has helped me … mostly painlessly … lose ten percent of my starting weight.

If you have a few minutes, I’ll share them with you.

First – and this is no surprise to regular readers – my go-to rules are two from Michael Pollan:

• “Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.”
• “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”

I’m not telling you I always stick to those two rules.  I am telling you I aspire to them.  I think about them.  When I buy groceries, when I read a menu, when I get hungry for a snack (which, after a few months following these guidelines, is rare).

If I could give you one piece of advice to prepare for eating healthier, it would be to read Pollan’s Food Rules.  This one’s also worth your time.

Second, some ideas I picked up from Dr. Arthur Agatston’s South Beach Diet.  I tried his diet a couple of times, unsuccessfully, just like every other diet.  But I did learn some great concepts from that program, including the basics of the glycemic index.  Turns out foods work together in strange ways, and lots of them are not good for my body (or yours).  Here are some things I learned from my South Beach Diet experience (not all of which Agatston would agree with) :

• Think brown.  White food is (not always, but usually) not your friend.  It often indicates heavily engineered, overly processed stuff that verges on fake food.  Sometimes it doesn’t even verge, it leaps right into it.  Brown food – particularly starches – are generally less-processed.  Brown rice, whole-wheat pasta.  The darker and whole-wheatier the bread, the healthier the eater.
• Potatoes will keep you fat.  French fried potatoes, baked potatoes, etc.  Not helpful if you’re trying to make a healthier you.
• Cook with butter.  Fat is not the problem.  Olive oil, good butter, maybe even a little bacon drippings … it’s better for you than that fake stuff they try to sell you when you’re “on a diet.”

And here are some rules I can’t really trace back to a particular mentor, just things I picked up along the way that work for me:

• Lay off the dessert.  As you know, I just don’t eat it.  Not because all sweets are inherently bad, but because I can’t eat just a little of it.  And eating just a little is the key to success.  I don’t think about dessert – no cravings at all – because stay away from it.  There are marvelous recipes for very healthy cakes, pies, cookies, etc. that use whole-food ingredients, and I don’t want you to deprive yourself.  But if you’re like me, one cookie is not enough.  So consider swearing it off for a couple of weeks and see how you feel.
• Read the label.  This really ought to be common sense, but it’s not.  And I’m not telling you to become a food-science expert, just give it some thought.  If the label is ten or fifteen lines long and you can’t pronounce half of what’s on the list, you probably shouldn’t eat it.   Fewer chemicals = healthier eater.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup is of the devil.  Seriously.  Avoid it like the freakin’ plague … if you can.  The problem is you probably can’t avoid it entirely because it’s in soooo much of what’s on the shelves at the grocery and on the table at your favorite restaurant.
• Speaking of restaurants, back away from the Chili’s.  You know chain restaurants are not healthy.  Don’t try to rationalize.
• You’re not likely to loose real weight drinking soda – sugared or “diet.”  The sugared sodas, well, those should be obvious – one can of Coca Cola will set you back 140 calories.  And most of us drink more than 12 ounces at a time.  I don’t count calories, but that’s mostly because I’ve eliminated most of the truly empty stuff like sugared soda.  Diet soda is more insidious.  I drank a whole lot of Diet Coke from 1990 to 2010.  And it never helped me lose weight.  Ask yourself how many people you know who drink nothing but Diet soda and talk about not being able to lose weight.
• I don’t eat fast food.  You shouldn’t either, and much like sit-down chain restaurants, I really should have to explain why.  Just don’t do it.
• Fried food is not your friend.

I’m not preaching, I’m telling you what works for me.  And yeah, I break some of these rules from time to time.  I eat the occasional bag of french fries.  I eat baked potatoes sometimes.  I can’t always avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup.  I occasionally eat white bread.  I’ve been known to eat at Applebee’s.  I’ve eaten dessert seven or eight times in the past seven or eight months.  But I work hard at these guidelines, and as I said above, I think about them every time I get near food.

I eased these rules into my routine over about a four month period.  I don’t recommend going all-or-nothing overnight – I’ve tried that, never successfully.

If you’re trying to eat healthier, give these a try.  They’ve been helpful for me and they might be for you as well.

Thanks for reading, and as always, click those little buttons below and share this if you like it!

It’s Five Things Wednesday!  I’ve found that people say … interesting … things to me as I go through the process of living healthier.  All are meant in the kindest possible way, and some actually sound as kind as they’re intended.  Here are some of my favorites:

1.)  “You look great!”  This one (and a few variations of it) doesn’t get old, and it’s by far the most common.  I have to admit that I’m often skeptical, as it often comes from people I know are reading this blog … and I suspect they’re either simply making conversation or trying to be helpful.  I also occasionally think to myself, “Did you think I looked really awful before?”  But I realize the intent is, almost exclusively, to tell me I’m doing a good job with this project.  So no matter what runs through my scrambled brain, I try to say, “Thank you, that’s so kind of you to say.”  And I really do appreciate the sentiment.

2.)   “Are you OK?”  Because, I suppose, people who lose a lot of weight are sometimes not OK.  It’s a good reminder that, with all our cultural obsession over losing weight, it’s not always a good thing.

3.)  “How are you doing it?”  I have a real love/hate relationship with this one.  I love talking and writing about it (which should be clear, since you’re reading this blog), although in live conversation I try to keep it restrained, knowing that people are often asking to make conversation – kind of like asking, “How are you?”  (The proper answer to which is, by the way, “Great!  How are you?”)  On the other hand, I hate the question because of the people who are actually looking for a response, the response they seek is normally “The ____ Diet.”  Most folks don’t really want to hear about things like moderation and real food.

4.)  “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot you’re not eating (insert dessert item here) anymore.”  This is an odd one for which to find a response.  I’m still not exactly sure how to be witty and graceful in return.  “Thanks for remembering?”  “Thanks for pointing out to everyone here I’m a culinary pariah?”  It is always meant in kindness, and I appreciate the sentiment.  Polite society doesn’t really prepare us for people who choose not to crave, discuss and consume dessert.

5.)  “How much have you lost?”  Now, I’m odd.  Because I’m happy to talk about the current score.  Hell, I blog about it every Friday.  But when did it become socially acceptable to ask a question like that in polite conversation?  If good friends and fellow healthy-eating travelers ask, it’s no big deal.  But when friendly acquaintances ask this in groups it seems … odd.  Again, I’m fine with it, but Miss Manners would not be.

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Thanks to all of you who read … and who say all things I listed above.  I appreciate you taking time to care!

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I’ll be updating the “About” page soon – maybe even today.  There’s some good new traffic here and I want everyone to know what they’re getting into.  With that in mind, however, here are some of my favorite posts from the past few months you may have missed:

Some People Just Don’t Get It

One More Reason

If You Talk About it Enough 

An Unlikely Group

Eating Intentionally

Why Does That Chocolate Chip Cookie Have Such Power Over Me?

As wonderful as it is to be thirty (ish) pounds lighter, it presents a bit of a problem:  Every ten pounds (give or take) equals the loss of about one waist size.  As many (about half, I’m guessing) of you know, men’s pants come in even waist sizes, so every two waist “sizes” is a new pair of pants.

Six months ago I was wearing a size 44.  As far as you know, at least.  The 44’s were (really) tight.  I should have upsized from there, but I still had a shred or two of pride.  Which is ridiculous … because it’s not like I was going around telling anyone what size pants I was wearing.  And unless you’re like, Chris Christie fat, nobody really knows you’re as big as you are.  Unless you tell them.

So, there I was, great-big pants, all size 44.  You’d think that, as I lose weight, and thereby lower my waist size, all my pants would consistently be the same scaled-down size as I go.  Right?

But that’s not how it works.  Today’s Tuesday.  Tuesday evening.  I’m wearing a pair of sweat-shorts that are labeled 38/40.  Of course, being sweat-shorts, they have an elastic waistband.  That’s wearing out.  So I can forgive the idea that these are 38’s, because they kind of aren’t.  (Stay with me, it’ll make sense soon.)

Earlier today I was wearing a (very comfortable) pair of black gabardines with a 42 waist.  Which is really, honestly about what I should be wearing at this weight.

Yesterday I was wearing a pair of brown gabardines with a 42-inch waist  … which were tight.  And both are marketed as being “full-cut.”

Sunday I was wearing a pair of jeans that were loose – even baggy – with a 40-inch waist.

And Saturday I was wearing a pair of khakis that were, unfortunately a little tight.  And sported a 44-inch waist.

That’s four different sizes in four days.  What the heck is wrong with the clothing industry?  Seriously, my waist hasn’t changed back and forth that much over the past four days.

What does this have to do with the regular content of this blog?  Not much, I suppose.  But part of the point of all this is sharing the ups, downs and curiosities of this path toward healthy living.  And this is one of the curves in the path that left me pondering.  So there you have it.  Sharing.

You should go read this article.  It’s not political, even though it comes from Salon.com.  Or maybe it is political, just not in the left/right, D/R sense.

Very few people who are paying attention disagree that there’s a weight problem in the United States.  Weights continue to rise, which we can all agree is not healthy.  And nobody wants to be overweight. Nobody wants their kids to be overweight.

Here’s the problem:  There are a whole lot of people (many with weight issues of their own) who obsess about other people’s weight and what other people feed their kids.  The reality is that not everyone has time to read as much about food and weight as I (and maybe you) do.  They’re busy earning a living and spending time with their kids.

Here’s where it gets a little political.  People should be able to trust the food they buy for themselves and their kids.  They shouldn’t have to spend hours trying to figure out which food claiming to be healthy is actually the healthy one and which is just the latest fad.  And yes, that’s where government regulation should come in.

You should be able to figure out – easily – where your food is coming by taking a quick look at the label.  You should bee able to trust that labels like “organic” actually mean something.  It should be really obvious when a “food” is fake and when it’s real.  But none of those things are true.  So people do the best they can.  They trust the supermarket not to lie to them (which is a bad choice).  They make the trade-off and buy the food they can afford and the food they have time to cook or the food they can get on the way home.

Making choices like that shouldn’t doom you and your family to obesity – and hey do, that obesity shouldn’t doom you to ridicule.

Here endeth the rant.

Thanks for reading … tomorrow:  Why is it that I can wear four different pant-sizes in four days?

Light blogging this evening – previews of coming attractions:

Monday:  Your Monday Reading Assignment

Tuesday:  A Good Problem to Have (sartorial blogging)

Wednesday:  Five Things Wednesday

Thursday:  Recipes (You can start posting your favorites in the comments to this thread)

Friday:  Weigh-in

Thanks for reading – this will be a fun week.

I never did think that I would feel

toward a weekend breakfast

such profound zeal.

Each morning meal I know will last,

will warm my belly and fill my needs

for true nutrition and body fuel.

With berries blue  from fields of weeds,

friends, this is a meal, not some thin gruel!

I top it off with the seed of the walnut tree

and unrefined cane sugar, brown,

then cook with milk, I feel such glee.

When I travel I can’t wait to get back to town

to get my body back on track.

Oatmeal, oatmeal, you keep my weight loss in the black.

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Yeah, I just composed a sonnet to oatmeal.  In case you lost track, it’s a Shakespearean ababcdcdefefgg form.  My iambic pentameter, however, is way out of practice.

Seriously, I look forward to my weekend oatmeal all week.  I mean, the Cheerios and frozen blueberries, I love those.  But my weekend oatmeal, man.  That’s good stuff.

I remember talking to a friend many years ago who was in the midst of kind of a crash diet.  I remarked on how excited he was about his caesar salad with plain grilled chicken.  He told me – deadpan – “You have no idea how good plain chicken tastes if  you’re starving yourself.”  To this day I don’t know if he was kidding.

I’m manifestly not starving myself, but I kind of know how he felt.  There’s no other good reason for me to be so excited about my weekend oatmeal.

Thanks for reading.  Don’t be shy about forwarding this to friends!

October begins the homestretch of temptation for me.  Once we hit January, sure, there are a few bumps in the road to healthy eating, but it’s a whole lot easier – for me – to resist when those cold days come around.  In January everybody talks about losing weight.  Nobody looks at you funny if you turn down dessert in January.  Lent comes up just a little after that, and it’s not surprising to hear people talk about giving things up for Lent.

But October?  The going gets tough this time of year.  For one thing, it’s football season.  Which begs me to sit in the recliner and eat chips and drink beer.  It’s my birthday next week, so people will offer cake (and that sweet, beautiful Publix buttercream icing) – and be a little hurt if I don’t eat it.  Then sprightly daughter 2’s birthday (more cake).  Then Halloween and candy.  Then Thanksgiving, which is less of a problem than it used to be because I simply don’t feel the “eat til you burst” challenge anymore.  But the problem with Thanksgiving you know, is that we don’t normally keep pies, cookies and assorted baked goods in the house, so they aren’t normally a problem.  Around Thanksgiving that changes.  And then, the big one, Christmas, which is all-food, all-the-time wherever I go, it seems.

And frankly, while I didn’t exactly fall off the wagon the past couple of weeks, I haven’t exactly been firmly in the driver’s seat either.  And those indulgences have made me crave the stuff I know I shouldn’t eat … even before the season begins.

This is my favorite time of year, and not because of the food.  There’s so much to enjoy this time of year – all the things I listed and more – but between me and you I’m kinda scared about it this year.  Because I really, really, really don’t want to gain back any weight and have start this all over.

Nor do I want to be a food-prude.  I hate  turning down food.  More turkey, Harvey?  Yes, please.  Pecan or Pumpkin?  Both, please.  See, that’s who I’ve been for 40-plus holiday seasons.  Food is good, I like it, please give it to me, thank you.  And I don’t want to be preachy about it.  You come to this blog to read me writing, in part, about food.  That’s not why people sit down to eat with me.

So – foolish as it may seem to those of you who don’t have the spectral voice of Sara Lee whispering in your ear – I’m feeling equal parts dread and excitement about the coming weeks.  It’s one thing to step away from the table early in, say, July.  It’s entirely another with the Christmas lights blinking in the background and the last strains of “Happy Birthday” ringing in my ears.

Think kind thoughts about me as we wade into the most wonderful time of the year.  I need all the help I can get.

—

Yesterday I posted a list of songs about food/healthy eating.  Many of you read that post.  It included quite a few links – upwards of 15 or so.  My super-secret-spy software tells me only one of those links had any click-throughs … the one that mentioned sex.  You’ve no idea how much better I feel about you all now, dear readers.

Thanks for reading!