"Forming Positive Habits" Insanity: Day 19 of 60

My work group went to lunch in Boston the other day.  We went to a restaurant that was noted as, “very good and high profile.”  So I sit down to look at the menu.  Soups…loaded with cheese and what must be other dairy like milk or cream.  No salads.  Bowls of pasta coated in cream sauce…many with red meat that looked like it had been cooked in lard.  No chicken or fish to speak of.  Every sandwich was on heavy white bread and loaded with, yes, cheese again.  I looked at this menu and just laughed.

My work buddy, Rick, looked over at me and laughed himself and said, “You won’t be eating much here!”

Just some observations here.

This menu disgusted me.  Not after I thought about it, which is when these thoughts usually hit you.  It was while I looked at it.  As I scanned it, every food choice was bad.  Red meat, dairy, processed food…an endless menu of very beautifully prepared junk.  Even the soups had been ruined.  The plates came out and were very decoratively prepared…as though chef school must teach them how to make beautiful looking food using the worst possible material.  At first, when you start to eat well, you will be discouraged but still tempted to just pick something on the menu.  After you have eaten well for a while, it will occur to you how bad this menu is, after you give it thought.  Once clean eating has become your life, you move to where I am now.  You look at the menu and, without a thought, put it down.  I scoured it for something I could eat.  I had the one soup without cheese…mussel soup.  Basically, it was five mussels in a broth.  Then I ordered the asparagus appetizer.  Six sticks of asparagus and two halves of a boiled egg.  Needless to say, I had to stop on the way back to the office for a clean salad of nutrient rich vegetables.

The second observation I would make is that many around me not only know of my dietary discipline, but have seen its impact on me and accept it.  My eating habits have become so well known that people close to me just need to look at the menu and then say, “Dick won’t eat this at all.”  My dietary routine has become so ingrained in me that others accept it as gospel.  That’s kind of neat.

The third observation is that others around me are actually judging what they eat in comparison to me.  I am making others think about their food choices.  I’m not doing the judging.  I never say anything about what others eat (with the exception of my kids because I see that as an obligation and teaching opportunity).  I just will do everything in my power to eat right for myself.  Sometimes people will try to help by saying, “Why don’t you have the Blah-blah-blah?”  I will just smile and tell them, “No.”  When they persist (and some will) I will explain why it is a poor choice.  And then I won’t eat it.  I find a lot of people with me looking down at their plates.  Very soon, I expect that either the people around me will eat well or I will get no invitations to lunch!  

It has taken some time, but I have gotten to a point where my food choices are healthy or none at all.  There is no meal that I cannot wait to eat.  There is nothing so urgent that I have to “sacrifice” and “give in” and eat junk when it is offered.  My eating habits have become a discipline for me.

It has paid off.  After four years, I have managed to keep the weight off and I have learned that a diet of fruit, vegetables and some lean meats will allow me to live a healthful life for the remainder of the time I have left on this planet.

Let me say this about my eating habits.  When I describe them to folks, I hear a lot of people remark, “I could never do that.”  That bothers me a little bit.  I know that many would love to do what I have done.  I know that many think that it’s ‘hard.’  It is difficult, but there are many things waiting on the doorstep of your life that will make watching your food intake look like a walk in the park.  It’s simply not that hard.  The benefits far outweigh the work involved.

Over the past four years, with constant vigilance and thoughtful choices, I have managed to solidify a foundation of habit for my health.  I look forward to every meal, but not like many do.  I don’t romanticize it.  I simply enjoy it as the food that it is.

So remember…food as fuel.  It’s not entertainment.   It’s not a love affair.  You don’t have to become engrossed in it.

And…if you ARE going to treat your body like an amusement park, make sure you inspect and do maintenance on the rides daily.  With P90X and Insanity.

Have a great day!

THE WORKOUT

Tonight was simple.  Pure Cardio.  At this point in Insanity, it’s Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.  I have been doing Ab Ripper X three days per week and some weight work…so I am leaving the Cardio Abs out for now.

I have been tired all week.  Every day it seems, I have had to do things after work and then have to work out late.  But, I have not missed a day.  Friday is my off day and I am looking forward to it.  I think my body is telling me I need a break.

That’s important.  Listen to your body.  But, make sure it isn’t just tired.  If it’s sore and broken, it needs a break.  If it’s ‘tired,’ you may have to really think about the break you are going to give it.  Is it real?

Have a great day!

You Can't Go Home Again

When you go on the Optifast diet, if you follow it and do not cheat, it is like being in a nice secure bubble. You are insulated from all the bad things that you were doing that turned you into a Thanksgiving Day float. But eventually, you have to leave the bubble. The rest of the world doesn't live in there. That's when your time comes and it's "fly little bird, fly!!" It's time to do the hard work. It's time to look at the real world and address all the things that contributed to the XXL or XXXL person who walked through that door on day one.

At week 12, I hit 219 lbs. I had now shed about 60 plus lbs of ugly fat. 12 weeks is an incredibly fast time to lose that amount of weight. It is weird in that you just seem to be hitting stride and now it is time to think about managing your life OFF the diet. My original goal as set by the doctor was 215. My personal goal was 205. I was basically where the doctor thought I should be. Next week, we would talk about adding another meal to the daily plan. As I have said, I was on three shakes per day plus one carefully measured dinner meal. I now had to consider a diet that was 100% real food. The Miriam Hospital program, in my opinion, excelled at showing you how to manage your eating like a normal person. Strike that. Our country is now comprised of a population where over 50% are considered overweight, obese and morbidly obese. This condition is becoming the 'norm.' So this program was teaching us how to eat within the boundaries of a normal human body, not at the levels we have become accustomed to as a society.

To do this, the education program in broken into behavior and dietary management. I have said this over and over, but the diet management was the most valuable to me. I am going to cover some of the topics in the next few blog entries.

A man of 210 lbs burns about 2000 calories per day. If you want to lose weight over a long term, you should restrict your intake to about 1600-1800 calories per day. Exercise plays an important role. First, you need to have enough energy to exercise. Second, you can burn a large amount of calories depending on how much exercise you are doing. On my diet I was taking in 900 calories per day. I was burning about 2000 normal calories and about 400 exercise calories. The exercise calories came about from my speed walking which I did daily. On weekends, in addition to the walking, I would mow the lawn etc. I was running a daily 1500 calorie deficit. The weight, at this tempo, comes off at a speed that has been reflected in my progress.

Start to think about your sex, height and weight. Look at a chart that will show you your normal calorie burn. That is what you work with daily. The most important thing you need to know now, coming off of Optifast, is how many calories you are burning on average daily and how much you are taking in. We could go into the detail about the type of calories but let's keep this real simple. My 'off-diet' calorie intake should be about 1800 calories daily. I could manage this because I had decided that I would exercise 3-4 days per week and figured I was burning around 2400 calories per day. That number gave me some leeway for any small indiscretions. We aren't perfect and we aren't robots either. So that's my number 1,800.

One of the most astonishing things I learned in the education classes was how many calories I had been ingesting. I had absolutely convinced myself that, before this diet, I didn't consume that many calories. The day it really came home to roost was the day our class covered the "Dining Out Guide." This is a compiled list of meals and their calorie content from some of the most known restaurants in the United States. If you are serious about losing weight, you should go out and buy "The CalorieKing Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter 2009" by Allan Borushek. If you eat out even one night a week, you should just take this little baby with you. It lists the calories in most foods but it also has a section like our class "Dining Out Guide," only even more extensive. It tells you just how much you are stuffing into that chubby little frame when you eat out in restaurants. You won't believe it. I didn't .

Here are a few examples. As an appetizer (the meal hasn't even arrived yet!!), an order of fried Calamari (3 cups)....1,037 calories. That was more than my diet allowed ALL DAY! Here are some more appetizers. Ruby Tuesday's low carb Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wings with dressing...1,090 cals. That's right football aficionado's, don't even try to tell me that you limit it to one serving either. Especially during the playoffs and on Super Bowl Sunday. Don't rationalize this one...the restaurant doesn't matter! Check out TGI Friday's Buffalo Wings...1,010 cals. Whew!! But you may actually be making a relatively HEALTHY choice! Check out these! Stuffed Potato Skins with sour cream...1,260 cals. The Bloomin' Onion with dipping sauce (because it tastes awful when it's plain)...2,130 cals. Here is the all time show stopper appetizer, Cheese Fries with ranch dressing...3,010 cals. Make sure you have the diet-cola!!

Here is something you figure out pretty fast using these guides, and take it as a tip. The appetizers listed above had more calories than the entrees. They also have more calories than dessert! The golden rule, SKIP THE APPETIZERS and SKIP THE DESSERT. If you are going to eat the meal, an appetizer could multiply your calorie intake by (depending on choice) a factor of 4!! Add a dessert and multiply that intake by 6!

I could cover this forever. Go and buy the book. It will be the best education and investment you can make. Go and find a chart of calories you burn daily, print the number in BIG BOLD CHARACTERS on a sticky label, and put that label on the cover of the guide. If you are serious about weight loss, you may never have another appetizer OR dessert.

Other major thing to consider in restaurants:

(1) Watch the alcohol. It is a source of empty calories and makes resisting the dessert and appetizers hard. You will thank me when you get the bill and see the difference between the cost of two Brown Ale's and two Ice Water's with Lime.
(2) Watch how the meal is cooked. If it says "fried" or "baked", ignore it. Go for grilled or steamed. Watch the sauces. Go light. Pick "marinated in juice" over "marinated in butter."
(3) No pasta and no starch. Go double veggies always with your protein.
(4) If all else fails, go with the Grilled Chicken or Fish Salad.

My pre-Optifast life was one of excess. Absolutely. No exercise. Much food. Much drink. I was King of my castle. My castle of fat.

The walls are down and it's time to live like a person who hopes to see the finish line. It IS possible. But...you can't go home again. You don't want to anyway.

Next: Stay with the new life plan, don't listen to them!!