09-21-09
Be sure to check out today’s Motivation for Monday post – it contains the introduction to a contest. The Hot 100 – Going Out With a Bang! officially kicks off on Wednesday, but all the details are in the Motivation for Monday post.
09-15-09
The folks at Truvia sponsored Motivation for Monday this week on my blog. It may not be Monday, but the motivational video is still a good one for the week. Check out the details in the post on how you could win a free 40 count box of Truvia. First thing Wednesday morning a new Wednesday’s Word of the Day will also be available. Sorry no link on that one yet, but you can head to logmyloss.com anytime after 4 AM Central Time on Wednesday to see that video.
Today marks my one year anniversary of changing my life forever. Now, here I am some 60 pounds lighter, and much, much healthier. It makes me shudder to think the path I was going down. I am not to my goal yet, but that time is not so far off now. Let me tell you, that is a wonderful feeling. Head over to logmyloss to check out some of the stats for the year, a yearly recap, or learn more about what the future holds.
07-04-09
As we celebrate our Independence today in the United States, there is another independence you need to have in mind – your independence from your weight and health issues. Make the choice today to fight for your independence. You won’t see the results instantly, but you will begin your journey to freedom as soon as the decision is made.
Read the article at logmyloss.com.
06-11-09
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the successes and failures of dieting. While it is true that there are some people who start their weight loss program and never look back, that is not the way it happens for most of us. Most of us have our ups and our downs, our sunny days and our rainy days, and the truth be known, it is during those rainy days that many of us finally give up and go back to the lifestyle we had before we started the weight loss journey. It is during those rainy times that we wonder what is wrong with us, why we cannot seem to stay on program. We look around at others we know who are succeeding and we convince ourselves that everything goes perfect for those who succeed, never realizing that most of our counterparts encounter the same rainy days that we encounter.
So we all know it is going to rain. Now head on over to LogMyLoss.com and see what you do when the sun is shining!
05-06-09
Cross-posted at www.logmyloss.com.
As readers of my blog, logmyloss, have noticed lately, I have begun implementing intermittent fasting into my dietary lifestyle. I knew when I first posted this that it would be met with resistance; however, it is something I have put a great deal of research into, and I feel it is a healthy addition to my plan. Let me explain.
I have been curious about how the amounts we eat affect our lifespan for some time. This began when my son first took on a snake as a pet. First, let me say that I realize humans and snakes are as opposite as it comes, but hear me out. Snakes’ lifespans are directly affected by the frequency in which they eat (i.e., a snake that is fed less often will live significantly longer). While I have thought about this often, it has been in the back of my mind; nevertheless, I have always wondered if the same holds true for other animals. Well, it appears that it may. An entry on Wikipedia about Calorie Restriction references a study titled Energy Intake, Meal Frequency, and Health performed by the Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program found that, “The size and frequency of meals are fundamental aspects of nutrition that can have profound effects on the health and longevity of laboratory animals.” Both the Wikipedia Entry and the article indicate that intermittent fasting appears to have the same positive affects.
So, what is intermittent fasting? That is a good question; one I had to ask as well. Intermittent fasting is choosing to fast periodically, such as every other day, also called Alternate Day Fasting. There is no hard, fast rule though. Some people choose to fast once a week, others a couple of times a week. Some even choose to fast multiple days at a time. In fact, there are some who choose to do a 20/4 fast, which is fasting 20 hours and eating freely for 4 hours.
Of course, as I am sure you guessed, this is not the only benefit I found. It appears that intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (another similar study can be read here). As my long-term readers have no doubt noticed, this is a disease that really scares me.
Another substantial benefit is that intermittent fasting reduces cell division linked to cancer. According to the same article, mice who fasted every other day also had reduced levels of IGF-1, a protein that induces cell growth and has been linked to cancer.
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the arguments against fasting. The number one argument is that it is useless when used as a weight loss mechanism. I have often made a similar statement. However, my research has indicated just the opposite is true. While starvation tends to cause the body to go into preservation mode, planned intermittent fasting does not seem to have the same effect (see this medical study). I have also heard that it will have a negative affect on energy levels. I have not experienced this yet, but I am paying close attention to it. These are not the only arguments, but they are the only ones that resonated with me.
There are numerous other claims of the benefits of fasting, including weight loss, immunity boost, improved cardiovascular and brain functions, reduce blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity, reverse diabetes, improve cholesterol levels, and an overall feeling of wellness or alertness. For the sake of brievity, I will not go into my findings on these areas. However, the information is there, just head on over to your favorite search engine and see what you find.
Several other websites that have some good information (although not all is supported medically) are as follows: Benefits of Fasting, Fasting and Its Many Benefits, The Benefits of Fasting: More Energy and a Longer Life, Fast Way to Better Health, Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy, and Should You Fast?. This is not it either. There is a plethora of good information out there. I encourage you to check it out.
I, for one, intend on continuing to include intermittent fasting in my dietary regiment. In fact, I hope to progress toward Alternate Day Fasting, but I am not there yet. At this point, I do feel good during and at the end of my fast, which says something for it.
04-28-09
So you’ve been told you have high cholesterol and you need to watch your fats – do you do everything you can to cut all fats from your diet? No – according to recent studies, there are a number of fats that are good for you. An article written by AskMen.com tells us all about the fats.
The “good” fats you should consider in your overall diet include Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Fish Oil, Hemp Oil, Grape Seed Oil, and Sunflower/safflower oils. I personally find Olive Oil to be my new best friend. While it isn’t easy to cook with, you can do it. You just have to keep the temperatures low and only use it in things that don’t cook for a great deal of time. In the event you need to use the oil fore for cooking, sunflower oil will probably do you very well.
The “bad” fats include Palm Oil, Partially Hydrogentated Canola Oil, and Cottonseed Oil. As you read over this list, realize these are oils you should avoid, but also realize that Partially Hydrogentated Canola Oil is not the same thing as Canola Oil. Canola Oil that has not gone throught he hydrogenation process is a “good” oil that is okay to use.
01-11-09
Cross posted at logmyloss.com.
Just as I had anticipated, this was a great weigh-in and measurement week. But before I get to that, I have a push up endurance test update. I did 58 consecutive push ups this morning, which is not bad if I do say so myself. It is still a whopping 42 push ups away from 100, but a lot more than I could do when I first started that program.
Now, on to the WI and measurements update. I lost a whopping 4 pounds this week! Woot! That takes me down to 229.5. (doing a happy dance that I am back in the 220’s club) I also lost 0.4% on my body fat percentage, which takes it to 27.2%. My BMI went down 0.8 to 32.9. I also lost 0.125″ on my chest, 0.25″ on my waist, and 0.25″ on my thighs.
All was not great though. My stomach went up 0.875″, which is the shocker for the week. My bicep area also went up 0.125″. My neck, calves, and forearms stayed the same.
All-in-all, this was a great WI and measurements day!
01-01-09
Cross posted at www.logmyloss.com.
Yesterday, I wrote about posting some of my resolutions for 2009 today. I have changed my mind on this a little. Instead, I am going to post some of my decisions related to weight loss and health.
I thought I would also give a few of my weight loss and health goals for 2009, some of which are in my control, others are not totally that way.
This is going to be a good year folks. I hope you stick around and enjoy the ride – you will enjoy it, I promise you.
12-28-08
Before I begin, I want to say thanks to John T for allowing me to be a part of the fatblogger team. I hope my contributions will be as useful as others which I have read.
The following is crossposted on logmyloss.com.
Here we are nearing another New Year’s Eve. Every year at this time, a large percentage of people begin to set their goals for the upcoming year in the form of New Year’s Resolutions. Every year, one of the top resolutions is to lose weight, yet every year the average person gains weight. Despite good intentions, most new diets will not last into the second week of January and almost none of them will make it to Thanksgiving. By the time Christmas has rolled around again, everyone begins thinking about the few pounds they have gained over the year and they tell themselves that the holiday overindulgence is okay because come January 1st, they are going on a diet. Unfortunately, the cycle is likely to repeat itself again next year.
Nevertheless, there are some people who do succeed in their weight loss endeavors. They begin their diet, whatever it is, and they stick to it. They slowly, but surely, lose the pounds and soon become the envy of their overweight peers. It is my belief that the reason for success is not the latest, greatest diet, nor is it some magic pill or formula that “ensures” success. The reason people succeed is that they have finally had enough. Like Rocky (in the movie Rocky II), after being beat to a pulp by Apollo Creed, these people look up at their Mickey, and say from the bottom of their heart “I ain’t goin’ down no more!” (see the movie clip below, 9:15) These people who succeed have decided that it is time to stand up and fight.
If you continue to watch the rest of this fight scene through the middle of part 2, it is clearly obvious that Rocky’s determination doesn’t mean he won’t get hit anymore. Rocky continues to get beat like a punching bag, but that doesn’t change his determination. Our decision is no different. Life doesn’t suddenly become easy just because we made a decision. No, it may be harder than ever, but it doesn’t matter, the decision has been made.
While I think the most important part was Rocky’s decision that he wasn’t going down again, this was solidified when he told it to Mickey. Once Rocky said this to Mickey, he couldn’t let him down. He was now accountable. You and I need this accountability too. When we are only accountable to ourselves, it is easy to forget our commitment. When dieting and exercise get tough, it is easy to forget the resolution, but if we have made ourselves accountable to someone else, then we have an obligation. Now someone else knows when we fail. This doesn’t mean that our fight won’t still be tough – it will. It doesn’t mean that we won’t make mistakes – we probably will. It doesn’t mean we won’t feel like failures at some point – we probably will. Heck, even after Rocky told Mickey that he wasn’t going down again, he did. It didn’t matter at that point though, Rocky wasn’t going to lose the fight.
I encourage you to find people who you can be accountable to, your Mickey. Be sure and tell them your plans. Tell them that the days of you being this fat are over; every day going forward will be an improvement. Tell them you ain’t staying fat no more! When life continues to knock you down, go back to your corner, look at those you are accountable to, and tell them once again that you are in this fight to win. Then, shake off the hits you have taken, and get back in the ring.
My Mickey is my family and close friends, who all know how important this is to me. It is also my online friends I have developed along the way, with whom I have shared my commitment. It is also my blog, which is my way of shouting to the world, “I ain’t staying fat no more!” If you don’t your Mickey yet, get one. Look him (or her) straight in the eyes, and with all the vigor you can muster, tell them that your fat days are behind you. Ask them to make you accountable. Remind them that if they care at all about you, they have an obligation to remind you of your decision every time you fall down. Remember, you will continue to get hit. In fact, you may even get knocked down again. No matter what though, you are in this fight to win. Now, I just heard the bell ring again. Get up off the stool and get back out there and fight!
