Never give up trying

Well, howdy my peeps! It has been way too long since I did this, I began to wonder if I ever would return to blogging, but a friend was right. I need to do this to get unstuck again. On the topic of weight, predictably we all fell off the wagon and have even more ground to regain, but I have a new optimism. 3 weeks ago Paul and myself started following the Rosedale diet. It's another type of low carb and its focus is to get our bodies to switch the fuel they prefer to burn from sugar to our body fat. It apparently achieves this when you starve it of sugars and give it readily available sources of good fat, like unsaturated oils. So for 3 weeks we struggled with a huge list of don'ts and went through the tedious weaning process. This week we are ready to begin our new way of life. The diet is now over, and even though the excess fat has yet to drop off we will begin to shed it every time our body runs out of conventional fuel. The difference this time is that it won't go after healthy tissue to find energy but rather the fat we have been storing up for years. I hope to become a regular blogger again so we shall see how it goes.

Back in the saddle again

We are nearly finished 5 weeks of Nutrisystem. It began as a way to relearn portion control and whether we can change our ways permanentlt remains to be seen. The short term results, though have been very good. Too bad we didn't weigh ourselves before we started. Our bathrtom scale is not that reliable, but it tells me I weight 270! I haven't been this weight for quite a while.

2000 Calorie Plan for Paul

Breakfast, 500 calories

Whole Wheat Toast, 2 slices
Egg Whites, ¾ cup
Fruit Juice, ½ cup

OR

Oatmeal, 1 cup cooked
Hardboiled egg, 2
Fruit salad, ¾ cup

Snack, 200 calories

Yogurt, ¾ cup (175 g)
Granola, 2 Tbsp

Lunch, 450

Vegetables (cooked or raw), 3/4 cup
Meat (lean, no visible fat),3 oz (deck of cards)
Grain (cooked, rice or noodle OR tortilla wrap), ¾ cup

Snack, 200 calories

Fruit, ½ cup
Cheese strings, 2

Dinner, 450 calories

Grain (rice or noodle), 1 cup
Vegetables (cooked or raw), 1 cup
Meat (lean, cooked), 3-4 oz

Snack, 200 calories

Crackers (Simple Pleasures), 4
Milk (skim), ¾ cup

1800 Calories for Janet & Quinn

Breakfast, 400 calories

Whole Wheat Toast, 2 slices
Peanut Butter, 30mL (2 Tbsp)
Fruit,1 piece (1 cup)

OR

Oatmeal, 1 cup cooked
Hardboiled egg, 1
Fruit juice, ½ cup

Snack, 200 calories

Yogurt , ¾ cup (175 g)
Granola , 2 Tbsp

Lunch, 400 calories

Vegetables (cooked or raw), 125 mL (1/2 cup)
Meat (lean, no visible fat), 3 oz (deck of cards)
Grain (cooked, rice or noodle), ¾ cup

Snack, 200 calories

Fruit,½ cup
Cheese strings, 2

Dinner, 450 calories

Grain (rice or noodle), 1 cup
Vegetables (cooked or raw), 1 cup
Meat (lean, cooked),3-4 oz

Snack, 200 calories

Crackers (Simple Pleasures), 4
Milk (skim), ¾ cup

Visit from Dietician

We had a home consultation last night. I felt Paul and Quinn would be more receptive to nutrition information if it came from an expert - don't all families tune Mom out when she gets a bee in her bonnet?

Lindy took down our individual profiles, then asked us questions to see what we knew about nutrition. She told us there are 6 nutrition catagories;protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, minerals and water. There are 4 main food groups;meat, dairy, fuits and vegetables and grains. Lindy then dispelled some myths, like bread, pasta, and rice are NOT simple carbohydrates as I thought. Just anything with sugar in it is. But we do know that not all carbs are created equal, it's better for us (and especially Paul) if we choose ones with a low glycemic index. Lindy wants me to measure carbs out, no more than 3/4 cup per meal. She wants to put Paul on 2000 cal/day, Quinn and myself on 1800. We are to eat six times, our 3 meals should be no more than 500 calories, our snacks no more than 200 calories. This seems very reasonable. We are to incorporate food from at least 3 food groups in each meal and have a carb/protein combination at each snack. She does not want us to cut out entirely anything we like, just as long as we limit the portion. That is going to be my biggest challenge. She is not a big proponent of supplements as long as we are eating healthy (getting enough calcium), we should not need them. Quinn and Paul will help me with lunch preparation, so I don't lose me mind trying to cater to their likes/dislikes. I will have to get the food all out on the counter so they can grab and pack it. More later...

Menu Planner Website

I spent my lunch hour looking for reliable information on weight loss menus. It's a minefield of misinformation out there, but the US government has a fairly good interactive menu planner/calorie counter. It was perplexing at first to see that nuts were not listed anywhere as a food group, until I remembered that Uncle Sam's nuts are otherwise occupied these days.

http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/menuplanner/menu.cgi

Day 1 was a Pain

The challenges began at breakfast. I could NOT get 5 egg whites down. That's as graphic as I wish to get. By about 9 I was in serious caffeine withdrawl. Dizzy, blurred vision, headdache over my eyes. I have a few other health issues which may have been at play as well, and I will elaborate on my hypothyroidism another time. Regardless of the cause, by 2pm could not focus on my work, so I went home and slept for a few hours. Later at the gym, we negociated with James for some relief. He told us Quinn and I could have a protein shake in place of the egg whites. Paul could have chicken instead of tuna, and 10 almonds in place of the popcorn. That made us all happy again. The headdache I endured without meds all day long finally subsided after I finished 20 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of fatburning. We are all looking forward to the end of today.

Our Family's Statistics

We had our assessments today at the gym we just joined. James, our trainer had asked us to write down everything we had eaten the day before. In my case I was maintaining my weight at about 2400 calories a day. So that means if I follow the 2-week plan he gave us, I will be down to 1400 calories a day. A 1000 calorie drop should give my body a shock. This diet is designed to cleanse the system. James recommended we drink green tea in the morning and at night as well, to help all that water flush out the toxins trapped inside the fat cells that will be empying their contents into our bloodstream.

Here's the plan we are going on tomorrow:

Meal 1
1c oatmeal with 2 tsp Brown sugar twin, skim milk or soy milk for women of my age is optional
5 scrambled egg whites
8 oz water

Meal 2
Medium bowl of fruit salad or protein blend shake (1 scoop powder with 8 oz water)
8 oz water

Meal 3
4 oz unsalted water-packed tuna
Medium mixed garden salad with low-cal dressing

Meal 4
1/2 cantaloupe
Protein blend shake
8 oz water

Meal 5
4 oz halibut or salmon
Medium portion steamed vegetables
1 slice whole wheat bread
8 oz water

Meal 6
3 cups air-popped popcorn

It was a funny experience shopping for these items. I asked the cashier if she thought it looked unusual, and she said no, she sees people with these types of items all the time! Well, it's the first time I've ever bought 14 cantaloupes, 12 cases of egg whites, 24 cans of tuna, etc. I will have to buy more fruit and vegetables for next week, but the non-perishables were purchased for the entire 2 weeks.

Here are the diagnostic testing results:

Janet , Paul , Quinn

Age 48, 54, 15

Height 6"-0", 5'-11", 6'-1"

Weight 285, 269, 230

Basal Metabolic Rate 2433, 2459, 1857

% body fat 44.5, 35.4, 38.7

Fat weight 126, 95, 82

Fat free weight 159, 174, 148

Body Mass Index 38.7, 37.5, 30.3

V02 score 28, 33, 24

Level Average, Average, Poor

Neck 17, 19, 14.5

Shoulders 54, 51, 46.5

Chest 52, 49, 43

Arms flexed - right 14.75, 17, 15

Arms flexed - left 14, 17, 15

Forearms - right 12, 13, 11.5

Forearms - left 12, 12.75, 11

Waist 50, 47, 38.5

Hips 58, 47, 48

Thigh - right 27.5, 27, 27

Thigh - left 27, 27, 27

Calf - right 16.5, 18, 17.5

Calf - left 17, 17.5, 17

Wall Sit 20, 50, 25

For myself, it is extremely embarrassing to see some of these numbers, and here I am sharing them with the world. I have rarely told anyone my weight, preferring not even to know it myself. What makes it more bearable now is the deep down gut feeling I have that we are all determined to have much different numbers 12 weeks hence.

I am going to ponder these results for a few days and then set some targets I think I can reach. Paul and Quinn can share their own stories, feelings and reactions for themselves when they are comfortable to do so.

Happy New Year 2006!

The focus is better health for our family, hence the name. We invite you to watch us reach our goals!

Welcome, my name is Janet. I'm the one with squinty eyes. I got the idea to create this blog last night and after I explained to my family why I wanted to do it, they agreed this would be a great way to accomplish a few objectives at the same time.

We are not fitness experts or nutritionists, so how can we write on a subject we obviously know so little about? My credentials come from personal experiences through failed attempts like yo-yo dieting, fad diets, and unrealistic goals. Binge eating, laziness, pregnancy and Graves disease are other subjects I have expertise with. I have been overweight since I was a child, beginning school to be precise. I am still struggling more than 4 decades later, more than ever in fact, to figure out the answer to the biggest riddle in my life: is there a health plan out there that I could stick to? My biggest challenge has been to stay on a regime long enough to to reach my goal and maintain my optimum weight. Like most other women I know, that goal keeps getting further away the older I get!

The most recent research I saw said something I had not heard before: tell as many people as possible that you are planning to lose weight. I had never tried that before. To me, that was setting myself up for failure. Only a handful of close family and friends knew whenever I was starting a new diet. This time I am going to go global! There will be a lot to face up to if I fail, so failure will not be an option this time.

A second thing I knew but had never tried before was to diet and exercise at the same time. The most weight I have ever lost at one time was 25 pounds, but that method would win the award for the stupidest diet ever invented by a teenager. I will post it later. When it came to fitness and sport, the longest I ever went to the gym regularly was 3 years, but I was overeating at the time so you could say I was the fittest fattie around!

A third reason why I know this time is going to be different is because I am not doing this alone. Paul, my husband of nearly 4 years and our teenaged daughter Quinn will be with me in body, mind and spirit. And so will you be if you care to offer a suggestion or wishes for our success, but more on that later.

I have heard addiction recovery experts say that it is important to keep a journal. Nutritionists have told me to keep a food diary. Not quite what blogging is meant for in my opinion, but I will share my insights and best practices along the way. I can't think of a more efficient way to do that than posting in a blog! It seems like an ideal solution, and time will tell.

I've been curious about blogs for sometime. Paul asked me the other day to define the word for him. Aside from its longer form of Web Log, I went out on a limb and acted all sure of myself (I do that sometimes, but it's our secret, ok?) as I gave him both a definition and an analogy. Later that day, I decided to check to see if I was right (I was in this instance, but I'm not always, and that's something I'm trying to keep quiet as well).

As we get into this process, I'm sure all sorts of subjects will come up while we are patiently waiting for the inches to melt away. I finally have a soapbox to stand on, even if I am sharing it. Expect to hear some political rants, oh great, I can hear the moans already! Global warming and my sense of both responsibility and guilt (more on that another time) is a popular topic as well. I have begun to delve into the realm of Knowledge Management and how it can be applied in today's business marketplace.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who has a relevant comment to share on any topic that is under my family's careful review. If it's not relevant, go start your own blog! Seriously, though, I am looking forward to you cheering us on from the world wide web. Please keep your comments concise and clean. I am hoping our experiences will be of help to other families that have overweight children. Wish us luck!