The unsinkable Gary Brown

“An entire body of water the size of the Pacific Ocean can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship.  Similarly, all the negativity in the world can’t bring you down unless you allow it to get inside your head.” - unknown

I was down now I am up.  One has to keep fighting to win.  I read a couple of posts establishing healthy habits and here is the plan

Step 1: Set Goals by Baselining My Health
Step 2: Set Priorities
Step 3: Identify Harmful Patterns
Step 4: Make Steady Changes
Step 5: Reinforce Good Decisions

So today I am going to work on step 1.

The first step in taking control of my well-being is to set goals, and a sensible way to do this is to “baseline” my health. I need to gather some basic facts that realistically inform you about your body: weight, height, family history, exercise habits, general diet, and a self-assessment of my stress levels at work and in my home life.

I have found out that setting big goals, like the title of this blog, might be exciting but starting with small, boring goals is more likely to lead to success.Therefore smaller and simpler my goals are, the more likely I will to keep them.

From what I read I need to select just ONE habit at a time.

So for this week my goal is keep my calorie count under the 2700 calories a day, which would lead to two pounds a week.

Hopefully taking small actions tricks my big old brain. Since my inner me likes to be in control and does not like change, the big changes I resist, but maybe I can sneak a small change by it.

Let's see

Weighted in today and am disappointed with my stats.    

THE WEEKLY STATS

Weight when I first started blogging: 431.0 lbs.
Weight when I started re-start:           422.6 lbs
Last weigh-in:                                     387.4 lbs
Current weight:                                   390 lbs
Loss for the week:                                 -2.6 lbs
Total loss since re-start:                        32.6 lbs.
Goal for coming week:                        Developing healthy habits

Off the Wagon

So for the last two weeks I have been struggling with food.  I was doing so well then bam of the track, hit a wall, off the wagon.  What happen, I look back and I was doing so well, then just like my normal way I stopped no reason.  It was the weekend, I got a craving and did not resist and started grazing as my father called it.

At least I caught it before I went all in.  But still why did it happen, I don’t know.

Well time to start it again, life goes on

I am out

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Bump in the road

 Yesterday we celebrated a friend of mine anniversary.  What a pleasure to know this lady for the last 28 years. While she can infuriate me with her "Pink Cloud" she has been a rock in my life.

We went out to El Limon, the new Mexican restaurant in Ambler, and is good.  I tried to keep my food in check with just sharing a appetizer, although I had the lion's share of it, and tortilla soup I felt like I did well.  I had a piece of cake to celebrate and somehow wound up taking the rest home.

According to my friend Kathy, "take it into work for my employees".  Problem is I have a luncheon date today so the cake will stay home.  I need to freeze it and get it out of the refridge or it will be gone.

Weighted in today and am disappointed with my stats.    

THE WEEKLY STATS

Weight when I first started blogging: 431.0 lbs.
Weight when I started re-start:           422.6 lbs
Last weigh-in:                                     385.2 lbs
Current weight:                                   387.4 lbs
Loss for the week:                                 -2.2 lbs
Total loss since re-start:                       35.2 lbs.
Goal for coming week: Figure out what is going on

Now I know I have not did any swimming this week and I had my back shot but my food has been on track, around 2000 calories a day.  This is baffling, but I need to stick the course and maybe its just a bump in the road.

"Life is like a highway, no matter what they say, the construction is never finished. There's always gonna be bumps in the road and detours every now and then." - Nishan Panwar

out of here

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Time to wake up

Alright, my last post it got me to thinking and writing again. What is a "psychic change," what is the nature of a "spiritual awakening?"

In the Doctor's Opinion in the Big Book of AA, as I was studying the Big Book again, the antidote for recovery from alcoholism is stated "...unless this person can experience an entire psychic change (also known as a "spiritual awakening") there is very little hope of his recovery."

In my opinion it is that change that has come from reaching the turning point in which I decided I had enough and became willing to go to any lengths to get it and approached the working of life in that manner which then started the evolution of the psychic change which lead to ultimately learning that my self-centeredness was at the center of my sickness and that it was about focusing on God's Will (or Good Orderly Direction) not mine and practicing the principles of a program for life in all my affairs.
 
All my affairs, not just some.  That also means the way I use and abuse food and activity.  It was a very simple thing (although not easily achieved), to change my system of beliefs, when it came to drinking, but now food.  This means entire system of belief I have been living with and operating under all my life. Oh boy that's going to be a challenge.  But a necessary one because I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this.  I am finally sick and tired of being sick and tired of this weight thing.

I guess this blog/journal might help me along the way, we shall see. I read that a blog trains me to be observant in things in my life and gives weight to the personal growth that hopefully I am experiencing. It can be used train my mind to track thing happening life and articulate the changes I am experiencing. In becomes my record of my life that is saved “in the cloud” never to be lost, stolen, or destroyed in a fire.

Since I am still new to all this on a daily use, it will be difficult, but any lengths so we shall see.  Part of the awaking we shall see.

“Blogging is best learned by blogging…and by reading other bloggers.” – George Siemens

I am out

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The Third Back Shot and some insight

I went in for my third back shot today and I hope it takes.  I asked the pain management Dr what would happen next if it did not.  He told me he doubted that they would operate due to the weight so if this did not work it might be meds for pain management.  I love it when I get a straight shooting doctor, one that looks at me and thinks he too fat so the best we can do is have him with pills.  At least he had the nerve to tell me.

The problem with doctors is that they have facts and studies behind them the chances of a person like me losing weight. According to the results published in the International Journal of Obesity, among overweight and obese adults:

36.6% of those who lost at least 5% of initial body weight kept it off

17.3% of those who lost at least 10% of initial body weight kept it off

8.5% of those who lost at least 15% of initial body weight kept it off

4.4% of those who lost at least 20% of initial body weight kept it off  

But I know something the doctor doesn't, you see I am sober 28 years and the chances of me being sober that long is 5%, and there is a way to do this and I am not alone.  I was told early on you never have to feel this way again.  And there are steps to take and I know it takes a physic change.  Only problem is having one of those. but baby steps.  

I could beat up on myself and think gezze I lost 125 lbs before and what happened or I loss 110 before that and what happened.  But this is the here and now not the past.  I love the saying "When you put one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow and you might be pissing on today".  So I need to concentrate on today because it all I have.  The weight will come off I have the experience to back that up.

Well they put me under a light dose of stuff and I could hear everything they were saying.  Not good I want to be knocked the f out when they are inserting a really big needle in my back.  Afterward the doctor said he put the mojo juice (my technical term) right where he wanted it so let's see what happens.  The nurses were great and I had a good experience overall.

Mandy stayed for the first hour when I got home then left to baby sit her grand kids.  I luck to have her and need to tell her that more.

Food was not bad today, according to my tracker I had 2043 calories.  I have to stay out of the pool for 48 hours so I can start swimming on Thursday night.

Last week's calories.

       
“You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great” ― Zig Ziglar

that's it 

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Can Water Really Help You Lose Weight?

Ok so I have been mulling this over for the last couple of days.  You read all about keeping yourself hydrated during weight loss.  According to International Journal of Obesity substituting just one cup of sugary soda for one cup of water would slow weight gain by a full pound every 4 years. That's good news but I don't drink sugary soda.  Time for more research;

Back to WebMd.  According to the web set that when I stay hydrated the chemical reaction in my body run smoothly and even a drop of 1% can cause a drop in my metabolism.

There has been a study that drinking a class of water before a meal can cause a decrease of 75 calories per meal.  I guess it from the liquid displacing space in my stomach and giving me a full feel.  That's close to 270,000 calories or 8 lbs per year.  There was a study group at Virginia Tech that had half the people drink two glasses of water before each dinner and the other half did not.  The first half lost 3 lbs more in twelve weeks the second half.

Now how much water to drink.  I have read cut your weight in 2 and that is how many ounces of water you need.  Let's see 385/2 is 192 oz or 1.5 gallons of water.  That's a lot of water, but does it all need to be water.  Water is in everything.

I drink a lot of coffee, a pot or more a day.  Now those people who say that's to much coffee are right but it's my last vice and I am not ready to give it up.   Apparently if you drink enough coffee the effect of caffeine as a diuretic is negated.  Therefore coffee is in the mix, so I am going with that.

The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly about 13 cups (100 oz) of total beverages a day.    

"That's a very simple, easy way to monitor hydration," says Nancy Clark, MS, RD, sports dietitian in Chestnut Hill, Mass. "If you go from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon without peeing, then you're dehydrated."

Well that's enough learning for today.  Weigh in went good lost 2 lbs this week.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. - Buddha

I am out

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Simple steps for the plan

Here comes the hard part.  Figuring out how many calories I take in a day.  So let's break down the steps to do this:  Here are 4 simple steps that will help get you started with counting calories.

Step 1 – How many calories do I need to lose weight.

In my last blog post I found a website to help me in this.  Problem is there is several formulas to do this and since I am a Engineer this does not work.  So I have to find one and stick to it.  Here are the formulas I found on the net.

The Harris-Benedict Equation:
 (6.24 x W) + (12.7 x H) - (6.76 x A) + 66

The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation:
(4.54 x W) + (15.9 x H) - (5 x A) + 5

The Owen Equation:
879 + (4.64 x W)

Where
W = Weight in pounds
H = Height in inches
A = age in years

Now throw in the activity level multipliers and all is good

1.2 if sedentary, little or no exercise and desk job
1.375    if lightly Active, light exercise, or sports 1-3 days a week
1.55      if moderately active, moderate exercise, or sports 3-5 days a
             week
1.725    if very active, hard exercise, or sports 6-7 days a week
1.9        if extremely active, hard daily exercise or sports and
             physical job

Now according to The American Society for Nutrition, I love societies, the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation is the one to use, so into my excel spreadsheet it goes and I am good.  Interesting the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation has my caloric requirement at 3940 cal/day compared to the 3767 the  Harris-Benedict Equation had.

Step 2 – Keeping track of my food.

When I lost the weight the last time I used SparkPeople    Nutrition Tracker gives you all kinds of charts and has lost of food already broken down.  From the last time I inputted allot of the foods I liked so it seems to be the best fit.  What I found from before a small pad and pencil worked great to write everything down.

What I need to do is:

1.  Record everything you eat and drink immediately.
2.  Note what I am doing while I eating.
3.  Got to be honest. It's my journal and no one will see it but me

At the end of each day enter it into my tracker.

Step 3 – Plan and prepare menus ahead of time.

Right now when it comes to planning my meals I use “fly by the seat of my pants” method. Well, this “method” led me to eating lots of takeout and prepackaged food which has lead me to my current weight.

When I lost the weight before I would plan out my meals for the week.  On the weekend I would cook meals for the week so I could pop them in the microwave and not spend so much time at night cooking.  I also made lunch the night before and did not eat out for lunch.  This gives will give me better control over my portions, calories, and nutrition. Not to mention, it reduces the hassle of figuring out what to eat when I come home at night.

Step 4 – Measuring and Estimating Portion Size

This is the part I hate but it is the most essential.  It's easy to grab a had full of pretzels or potato chips and say that a serving but I have some big hands and that not a serving.  I checked it out just to make sure a serving of thin pretzels is 10 pretzels (ok I looked at the bag), when I grabbed a handful I got 15 or so.  the difference between 1 serving and 1 1/2 servings.  Ever look at the actual serving sizes on that Nutrition in a serving size label, damn a serving size is small. But it needs to be done.  So I need to break out the scale and measuring cups

The best way for me to assess portion size is to measure it. The more I measure, the better I am at visually assessing portion size, which helps when I dine out.  Now that I am dating Mandy we go out twice a week so time to learn.

I found some helpful hints on the web though

One serving of cooked meat (about 3 ounces) is equivalent to a bar of soap.

If I am in the mood for the grill, a hockey puck is a good estimate for the size of a ground hamburger patty.

A serving of cooked pasta (about 1/2 cup) should match the size of my fist.

One serving of grains equals a piece of bread, a waffle, or a pancake. While a standard CD case is an appropriate size for the bread, the CD itself is a good guideline for the waffles and pancakes.

One teaspoon approximates a single serving of fats and oils. Don't have any measuring spoons around? Use the tip of my thumb as a guide.

or

1 cup = your fist
1 ounce = the meaty part of your thumb
1 tablespoon = your thumb, minus the meaty part
1 teaspoon = the tip of your index finger
1 inch = the middle section of your index finger
1-2 ounces of a food like nuts or pretzels = your cupped hand
3 ounces of meat, fish, or poultry = the palm of your hand

Well that is Part 1 of the come back plan.  The good thing with counting calories is there are no special foods, shakes, weight watcher nutra system or weird recipes.  I can eat what I want as long as I stay within my calories.  I just got to remember, I suck at getting healthy and I'm on a journey to figure all this out.

Life is a journey, not a destination ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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