Quick Update

A couple of things to mention quickly:

First, I checked my weight yesterday morning, and for the first time in a long, long time, I was under 260 pounds!!! The scale read 259.6!!! Still a ways to go, but it's getting better and better all the time.

And second, I did something today I haven't done in a very long time: Went out jogging. Don't ask me why I did. I just had a desire to do so today. Wasn't much, though. Did 2 miles, and half was jogging and the other half was walking. But I consider that pretty good considering where I was before. It's not something I want to do everyday. My knees will never go for that. Their not really complaining right now, but I can tell they didn't like it. And from using a treadmill before (last time I was around this weight), if I keep it up, they will start screaming at me about it. Maybe when I get down to a lower weight they may be more accepting. Until then, I'm sticking with the exercise cycle.

Which reminds me: One thing I would really like to get (and am saving up for) is an actual bicycle. The exercise cycle doesn't give quite as good a workout as the elliptical did, but it is something that I have been enjoying. And getting a bike to ride around town or on some of the trail in the area (there's one right down the road from my apartment) could be even better!

BBQ Bacon Chili

Ingredients
   1 lb Bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
   1 lb Ground beef
   1 lb Ground sausage
   1 Onion, chopped
   12 oz Beer
   1 tablespoon Seasoning From Hell (add more or less to taste)
   1 tablespoon Garlic powder
   1 tablespoon Mustard powder
   4 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
   2 cans (14.5 oz) Tomatoes, chili ready
   1 can Chili beans
   1 can Refried beans
   1 cup BBQ sauce 

Preparation
   1) Fry bacon in pot. *DO NOT DRAIN!* Add ground beef, sausage, and onion. Cook until beef and sausage browned. *DO NOT DRAIN!* Add beer, spices, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on high heat for 10 minutes until beer boils off, stirring frequently.

   2) Add meat mixture to slow cooker and add remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Recipes

Thought I would use this blog to post some of my recipes. I have a "Cookbook" app for my iPad that I really enjoy, and that I put recipes I find/create in, but it's not very portable. So I figure if I put it in here, I can just point people to my blog to find them. The first is one of my favorites, and one that I've worked on for quite a while to get it just right (not going to say "perfect" because I'm always making tweaks here and there to it) - BBQ Bacon Chili!

Been a while

I notice it's been a few weeks (almost a month and a half, actually) since my last post. So here's an update on what's been going on since then. Weight management (NOT "diet" - see "Diet is a 4 letter word") - Had some ups and some downs doing these last few weeks. There were a couple weeks that I gained weight (not following the plan close enough), and other weeks that I lost, a couple of those just a little (lucky if it was 1/2 pound). But, I did hit the 25 pound mark! And, as of yesterday (I didn't weight myself today), I was actually at about 30 pounds lost since I started the plan. Still a ways to go, but it's progressing, which is all I expect right now. Exercise - There have been some changes to this. First, I change around my weight lifting routine. I just didn't really enjoy the one I was doing (the HIT workout). This one is short (only 3 exercises each day), but it can be intense. I'm doing 3 sets of 12 of each exercise, and as before, trying for failure on the 3rd set. I think this is actually worse than the 5x5 routine I was doing (explained in "Exercise"). On the cardio side, I wore out my elliptical machine, and got rid of it (actually in my garage until I can take it to the scrapyard). In place of it, I got a stationary exercise bike. I'm really enjoying this! In fact, I enjoy this so much, I'm thinking of getting myself a bicycle. I've even done two workouts on it a couple of days. Something I would have never done on the elliptical. And now, for the really good news (for me, at least) - I pulled out a smaller pair of jeans this morning, and I'm wearing those to work today! I've been wearing 42 inch waist jeans, and I'm able to fit comfortably into a pair of 40 inch jeans I have. I still have smaller jeans than these, down to 36 inch waist, and I'm hoping to get down to wearing those. And if I have to buy new ones because those are too big, that would be even better! But that's a ways off, so I'm getting my hopes up today about spending extra money in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

Exercise

As I stated a few weeks ago, I was going to post something about my exercise program. Here it is. But, first a little update.

Last week wasn't my best week. I started with a cold left over from the week before, but got a little worse over the weekend. So I figured that was a good time to take a break from exercise, and just take it easy. But I also had a little slip-up on the Weight Watchers plan. I had a bit of a "binge" day, which didn't help me out any. I still lost a little under 1/2 a pound for the week, but it could have been a little more. I was losing more than what they consider "healthy" anyway, but i was hoping to have more than just 1/2 pound. I'm not worried about it, though. It happened, it's in the past, and I just have to keep going on from here. Besides, it was bound to happe3n sooner or later, and may happen again in the future. Just one of those things. And when it does happen, just consider it a little slip up and continue on. No sense in letting it bother me. That's just a sure-fire way to make me want to quit more.

Now to the exercise part: Weight lifting is a very important part of my exercise program. I like to lift, and like to have high intensity when I do. I started back in December last year, right after Christmas. I've done it before also over the last few years, but always stopped for some reason for several months before I started up again. I had a few breaks here and there this time around, but other than those, I'm still going on with it.

I started of with a type of 5x5 workout. This is a routine that you do 5 sets of 5 reps for each exercise. I try to do it at a weight that I can finish the first 4 sets, but not the 5th. If I do finish the 5th, I add more weight the next time. It's keeps the intensity high, and really hits the muscles hard. It's not a type of routine, though, that you can work the same muscles over and over in a week. I started with 5 days a week, but each day a different muscle group. It was broken down into 5 separate routines: Legs, Chest & Shoulders, Back & Traps, Abs, and Arms. Because the Chest & Shoulders and Back & Traps also hit the arms really good, I intentionally put the abs in between those and the Arms workout.

I found after a little while that it was hard to keep motivation and do this 5 days a week. So I decided to just rotate around, and if I didn't finish all that week, I would pick up where I left off on the next week. So if I started with Legs on Monday, missed one day for whatever reason during the week, I would start the next week doing Arms on Monday. But that just didn't feel right, so I tried to get a more fixed schedule, while still having the flexibility to miss a day if I needed to. I started with a M-W-F schedule, and again, picking up the next week where I left off.

I also don't stick with the same exercises. I do like the change them up from time to time. For example, after a few weeks of bench pressing (with dumbbells), I changed it to an incline bench press. Still works the same muscle group, but in a little different way. It also helps from getting things too boring. And, when I start with a new exercise I haven't done (or haven't done for a while), I do typically start with a low weight, and work my way up to the higher intensity. I learned that a long time ago. Once, I jumped right in with high weights, and paid the price: It happened to be a Legs workout, and my legs were extremely sour from it for over a week! But if I start lower, and work up to the higher weight, I still get sour, but not nearly as sour as if I jumped right in to the heavy weights from the start. And, to help me not get discouraged because it's so easy, I use it as a time where I can concentrate on form more so when I do get to the heavier weights, I'm not using bad form (which can lead to injuries).

As I stated, last week was a "break" for me, just giving my body time to recover fully. It also really helps out so when I do get back into it, I show better progress than if I had continued with it during that week. But today, I started back in with a whole new routine. Instead of the 5x5 routine, I'm now doing a variation of H.I.T. That is more of a basic workout, but still a high intensity one (H.I.T. stands for High Intensity Training). It uses the same idea of using an amount of weight so that you can't finish the set, and adding more the next time if you finish it, but instead of 5 sets of 5 reps, it's only 1 set of 12 reps. And, instead of breaking it out to 5 days to get a full body workout, it's a full body workout each day. I have it at 9 exercises that hit each muscle group: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Chest, Back, Shoulders, Traps, Biceps, and Triceps.

Mixed up in there is some cardio. I'm not a big fan of cardio, but I know it has to be done. It's a good thing to work your heart and lungs, just like it is to work your other muscles. But I get so bored with it. I try a lot of different things to make it not so boring, and they do seem to help some. Right now, I have an elliptical in my living room (pushed to the side when I don't use it) that I use while watching TV. I also don't like to do a high intensity cardio workout, so I keep it pretty simple. I don't have a heart rate monitor I wear while doing it, but the elliptical has one on it. Just kind of difficult to hold it the entire time and still have my arms moving the way they should. But every now and then during the 30 minutes I'm on it, I do check. And my heart rate usually gets up to somewhere between 140 to 150 bpm.

One big drawback I find to lifting the heavy weights is that my shoulders take a beating from it. A lot of the exercises, even if they are not targeting the shoulders, are still putting a lot of pressure on them. And a couple years ago, it got so bad that I went to my doctor, who sent me to an orthopedic, who sent me to a physical therapist. What she told me was that the weight lifting worked the larger muscles of the shoulder, but did very little for the smaller muscles. She gave me some exercises to do to strengthen these muscles, which consist of very light weight (bands or 2 pound dumbbells), but high rep exercises to do. I've now incorporated those into my workout. I don't do them at the same time as the weights (which is in the morning), but do them in the later afternoon (after work) when I do my cardio.

So this week, I'm hoping to have a much better week that last. Of course, I'm not planning on any binges, and since I got that one out of my system, I can't see any reason to have one. I'm just hoping that my workout keeps going strong. I've done H.I.T. workouts in the past, and I have been bored with them kind of quickly. So I'll have to watch it closely, and make some modifications as needed if I start to get bored.

Article about quitting smoking

I just read an article at WeightWatchers.com (http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=48191&sc=3053) that I found interesting, and can relate to quite a bit. Just want to share my personal thoughts on the article, and my own experience with quitting.

I smoked for close to 25 years, from my teen years until I was 39. There were many times I tried to quit, but never quite could. If I was smart, I should have quit while I was in boot camp for the Navy, but at that time, I had no desire to. As they say, though, hindsight is 20/20.

One day, I got a letter from the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/nicotine_research_center/) about a new trial that was starting up, and if I was interested in joining as a test subject. I thought it over, and decided to give it a shot. I called to sign up, but they were full. However, a couple months later, I got another letter on a new study, and I was able to get into that on. This one was testing a new drug by Pfizer called varenicline (later sold under the brand name "Chantix"). It was testing the success rate compared to bupropion (aka Zyban) and a placebo.

It was a 1 year study, and for the first 12 weeks, we had to go visit the clinic for testing (blood work, vitals, EKG, etc.), answer some questions on how we felt and experiences during the week, and receive some counseling (they told us when we started that even the placebo group will have a higher success rate that people that try to quit on their own with no aids just because of the counseling). At the end of the visit, we received two cards with a week's worth of medication: either you got a card with varenicline and the other with a placebo, a card of bupropion and the other a placebo, or both cards a placebo. And you got the same each week - they didn't change it up on you (although I did get a call once that they had given me the wrong cards, so they made a trip up to replace them for me).

At the end of the 12 weeks, we no longer had any of the medication/placebo cards issued, and the visits changed to monthly instead of weekly. But it alternated from one month go into the clinic for testing, answering question, and counseling, to the next month just calling in and answering questions and receiving counseling. And it went back and forth until the year was up, and the my participation in the study was over (also received a check for $575 for participating - something I didn't know about when I signed up).

What was I taking fort he study? It's 8-1/2 years later, and I still don't know. And probably never will. I will say this, however: I very highly doubt it was a placebo. After about 3 or 4 weeks into taking the meds, for some reason I had to have a cigarette just to see what it would do to me. If you have ever smoked, you know that you get a good buzz off one if you have gone a while without. I felt absolutely nothing from it. But to be completely honest, I really don't care what I had. Whatever it was, it did the job, and I successfully quit and have been smoke free fro 8-1/2 years now! I do still get an occasional craving, but now that I smell what smokers smell like, I can easily suppress the cravings, and they just go away after a short time.

So that's my background related to the article. And yes, I did add on some pounds. In fact, it may be the reason I'm where I am now: After I quit smoking, my appetite improved, and I didn't know how to control it properly. That's what I'm doing now, and it's been very successful so far (5 weeks into the program, and I'm down 20 pounds so far!). But, as part of the counseling I received, this was one of the things they covered: you are very likely to gain weight, but don't worry about right now. Just concentrate on quitting smoking first. The article doesn't talk about it, but what they told us (at least told me) during the study was that if you take on too many things at once, it increases your chances of failing at all of them. If you try to quit smoking and lose weight at the same time, and you end up gaining weight, you have a much higher chance of giving up quitting (smoking) because you look at the entire thing as a failure instead of just that one part. So instead, concentrate on quitting smoking first. Let the pounds come as they may (doesn't give you a license to start binging, though). And if you can, maybe even try substituting healthy snacks for unhealthy ones. Eating a carrot stick or celery stalk can go a long way in helping with your craving of having cigarette in your moth (which is half of the addiction).

Observations

Just a quick note about some of the observations I've noticed so far: My pants have become much larger, and I've tightened my belt to the next hole. I'm at a 42 inch waist on my jeans, and hopefully I can get into my 40 inch jeans soon. I was a 36 inch for a long, long time, and still have them, along with some 38 inch and 40 inch I bought when the smaller size became too small. I never got rid of them since I want to get back into them again, so I kept them hanging in the closet.

A second observation I made this morning while shaving: My face is looking a lot thinner than it was a few weeks ago. And hopefully, the rest of me will start showing improvements as well! But for now, even just this little bit is a big step and a good motivator to keep it up.

Diet is a 4 letter word

Over the last several years, I have seen my weight gradually creep higher and higher, until recently it was close to 300 pounds! During that time, I have tried dieting and exercise to lose the weight, and tried a few different plans. None of them worked out very well, and I would lose interest very quickly (like in a couple weeks).

But, about 3 weeks ago, I decided to give Weight Watchers a try. And after 3 weeks, I'm still going good. I'm very motivated to stick with it. I think it has to do with the fact that you don't have to eat any "special" foods on the plan. I can eat the same things I've always eaten, and when the kids are over, I can eat the same thing I serve them for dinner. I don't have to eat cottage cheese if I don't want to. I don't have to make special recipes for me while everyone else eats something else. And I don't have to buy special foods.

Which brings me to the meaning of the title of this post: "Diet is a 4 letter word". First off, it's quite obvious that it's a 4 letter word. Count the letters. There are 4 of them in the word: D-I-E-T. But the meaning of it goes beyond the obvious. It's not just a 4 letter word - It's one of the naughty 4 letter words.

What makes it so naughty is the entire nature of the word, and the thoughts it is connected with. When you go on a diet, or hear of someone else going on a diet, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Losing weight. That's not a bad thing for some people (myself included). But you get it into your head that you are losing weight, and you set a goal for yourself. But what happens when you reach that goal? You stop the diet. And for many people, the old habits start up again and you start adding the weight back on.

This time around, I'm approaching this with a different attitude. I'm not on the plan to lose weight. Yes, it's a very positive side effect of what I'm doing. But my main goal is to re-teach myself how to eat. As I stated before, I don't have to buy special foods or prepare special recipes. If I want pizza from Pizza Hut, I can have pizza from Pizza Hut. If I want a burger and fries from McDonald's, I can have a burger and fries from McDonald's. And if I want a beer or two while watching the game on TV, I can have a beer or two while watching the game. You can have all this figured into the plan. But it doesn't allow for you doing so every night. And that's just fine: It's enough to keep the craving at bay, while I continue the plan and eat more healthy the other days.

How does it work? You are assigned so many points a day you can consume. Everything you eat has a point value, based on the nutrition information for the item. These daily points are only good for that day, and you cannot carry them over to the next day. But, you also have weekly points that you can use if you go over your daily points. These are good for the entire weeks. And, on top of this, you can also earn activity points that you can use to add more points to your daily total you can consume, which are also good for that week. So the idea is that if you have points left over at the end of the week, you've done good. And the more points left over, the better. They also encourage you to try to use up all your daily points each day. This is to ensure you are eating enough and not starving yourself.

So that's my approach: Learn how to eat properly, and not eat too much too many days. I need to learn how to supplement the foods I use to eat with healthy choices, and learn what the proper portion size should be. This way, once I'm at a healthy weight (which I'm not setting a number on - just using the mirror to tell me when I reach it), I (hopefully) will know how to eat properly, and I can keep it from creepy back on.

I'm also doing an exercise program with it, but I'll write about that some other day.