Holiday weight gain.

The time between my birthday (10/25) and the New Year is traditionally the hardest for me in terms of my weight. CNN reported, "Some people may put on five to seven pounds through the fall and winter, thanks to a steady diet of large meals, sweets and the like. Yet the figures are much smaller for most Americans -- just more than a pound, on average, according to government surveys." I'm definitely in the five to seven (or more) pound group.

My goal this year is to maintain my birthday weight (213.6) through the holidays. Given that I have already gained about 15, means I have some work to do.

Rough Weekend

Saturday was my birthday, but the fireworks started on Friday. I made white chocolate-coconut scones for work for a birthday treat. I decided to eat one, with the intention of stopping there. My assistant was kind and brought me a cake though and I felt it would be rude to not eat any, so I ate a piece...and then another...and then another 1/2 scone. I could feel it eroding.

Saturday, I started out well, but I baked a lot. I ate some whole wheat crackers that I had made, which were probably acceptable, but the homemade pretzels were not. Later I ate a mash of coconut, chocolate chips, oatmeal, white chocolate chips and sugar. Definitely slipping. We had dinner at the Gerber's and I really went overboard. I felt physically pained by how much I ate.

Sunday was a complete loss. This had nothing to do with hunger and a lot to do with willing defiance and gluttony. In the past I would have just let this slip for a couple of weeks or months, though I intend to get back on track and start making better choice.

misleading labels

Advertisers can adjust the labels to tell people what they want to hear without putting anything behind it. There was a "butter" debate on GoaD the other day and some people were recommending Brummel and Brown yogurt & butter spread. I claimed that was an unhealthy choice and they said, what is unnatural about yogurt and butter? I went to the Brummel and Brown website and although they claim "no transfat per serving*" there is very clearly partially hydrogenated oil in there, i.e., transfats. Become a label reader and know what the stuff means. If there are things you cannot pronounce or don't know where they came from, you may want to consider moving on.

Keeping up with the Jones's

I was having a conversation with a group of people who were asking about my weight loss last night and I got to thinking about "keeping up with the Jones's." This phrase incited when people are trying to keep up with the amount of stuff other people had, but I think it can relate to a covetous heart in general.
Take weight loss for example. I have often heard people say, "I wish I could eat as much as him and stay skinny, but I have to watch everything I put in my mouth." I have two thoughts on that. First, that friend probably puts less in his mouth than you think he does and second, even if he does eat more, that isn't the hand you were dealt. Stop using someone else's metabolism as an excuse to be gluttonous. Eat the way God intended and don't worry about what someone else can or cannot do.

Proverbs 1:31 "they will eat the fruit of their ways, and be filled with the fruit of their schemes."

In this passage, the author is writing specifically about those who reject God and wisdom, choosing instead to hate Knowledge. When I read this verse, I am struck that when we are ignorant, we basically reap what we sow or "are what we eat."

With regard to our eating, if we choose to reject the knowledge that most of us have, we will "eat the fruit of our ways," which will lead to gluttony and obesity.

Doctor established weight goal

Okay, so there was a discussion elsewhere today about doctor established weight goals. I defend those and in fact, I have one. Mine is 215 pounds. Here I am at 212 pounds or 3 pounds below goal. Looking at the picture though, a couple of things become quickly evident.

1) At my current fitness level, 215 is not a good goal weight. I have a little paunch around the middle.

2) It is quite apparent that I have just resumed lifting weights as my body is nowhere close to where it was when I was lifting frequently.

I guess I keep exercising and eating healthy.

restaurant portions

I went for lunch today and ordered off the "side dish" menu. Linguine with tomatoes, garlic, and basil. This "side dish" was approximately 3 cups of pasta. I ate half and was questioned by the waitress about why I didn't eat it all. I spoke briefly about the growing obesity epidemic in the US and she brushed it aside.

Recommended Portion Size (as indicated by MyPyramid.gov)
3 oz. meat – about the size of a deck of cards: the recommended portion for a meal
½ cup pasta – about the size of a tennis ball
1 oz bagel – about the size of a hockey puck
2.4 oz French fries, approximately 20 shoestring fries

Average Restaurant Portion Size
14 oz. meat – approximately 5 times the recommended amount
Approximately 3 cups pasta – 6 times the recommended amount
4 oz bagel – 4 times the recommended amount
6.9 oz french fries, approximately 50 shoestring fries

For more on our distorted view of portions, go here.

Slicing and dicing with style

I have a few good knives (Wusthof) and I would like a few more, but I would like to learn better knife skills. This blog post by Esther Sung of epicurious has a few resources I may look into.

Thoughts on gluttony

"and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony"-Proverbs 23:2

Why is that we Christians are prone to see the sin of the world around us, but are blinded to the sin of gluttony? We manage to recognize the big sins, but miss others, like gluttony. Interestingly, the early Catholic church viewed gluttony as one of the 7-deadly sins, but we seem to have lost that along the way.

What is gluttony? According to Wikipedia, gluttony is "over-indulgence and over-consumption." I would argue that for many of us from afluent countries, gluttony is a big problem. Just look around. Obesity is a growing epidemic, but even for people who are not obese, there are many more that are overweight. This seems particularly true in Christian circles.

You may be saying to yourself, I may be carrying a few pounds too many, but I am not a glutton. Really? How did you find those few pounds too many? The overwhelming majority of overweight people do not have a medical condition causing them to be overweight or unable to lose. Most of us get fat by eating too much food--in other words, gluttony.

Examine your life closely. Are you honoring God by eating with self-control?

Titus 2:11-12, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age"

Pull-ups

A couple of days ago, I mentioned the hundred push-up challenge and noted that push-ups are a great way to build chest (pecs), triceps, and shoulders (delts).

You are probably saying to yourself, "pull-ups suck! Why should I bother with them?" Pull-ups are a great body weight exercise for building your back (lats), biceps, and shoulders. In fact, pull-ups are arguably the single best exercise you can do to build a great back. When I had the picture taken in my banner, I could probably do 12-15 pull-ups without a rest. Now, I can maybe do 2, but I'm working my way back up.

Some thoughts:

• In a pull-up (harder), you have an overhand grip and it focuses more on the back; in a chin-up (easier), you have an underhand grip and it focuses more on the biceps. Both are great exercises.
• When you pull-up, start with arms straight at the bottom and pull up until your chin is above the bar, that activates the most back muscles.
• If you can't do 5, do 2; if you can't do 2, do 1; if you can't do 1, do negatives until you can do them. What are negatives? You hoist yourself up to the top position (off a chair or by jumping) and you very, very slowly lower yourself all the way down.

If you want to read more, check out what stronglifts has to say.

212.8!

In the summer of 2006, my weight hovered in the two-teens. We moved to Eau Claire that summer so that I could start my new job (and apparently get complacent). I weighed 213.8 when we moved and my weight quickly rose. This morning on the scale, I weighed 212.8. In other words, the lowest I've been in over 2 years.

Noodles & Company

Dinner tonight was at a current

favorite of ours. Heather gets the Japanese pan noodles, Grace gets the buttered noodles, and I get a small whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce. Oh yeah, Ian gets a chocolate milk.

Power Rack Training

I want to build one of these out of wood. Any suggestions?

New Magazine

I am so geeked! Food Network is now publishing a magazine 10 times per year.

I have already read through volume 1, issue 1 and it is great. There is a little something for everyone, but what I really liked was the expose on Iron Chef America.

A beneficial perspective

In I Corinthians 10:23, we read "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive." I have been using this statement as a touchpoint lately. There are so many things that we encounter in life that are permissible, but I believe we should be asking ourselves, "is it beneficial or constructive?"

How many can you do?

I initially found out about this program on Zach's website. I have started a few times, but I get distracted so easily. Can you do 100 push-ups?

Push-ups are a great body weight exercise for building your triceps, shoulders, and chest while also engaging your core muscles.

Powerlifting for dummies

So, I am on to a new weight training routine. Low reps, high weight, amazing strength building...I hope.

You can find it at stronglifts.com

What became of me

In early 2003, after losing 30 lbs. on my own, I joined Weight Watchers on 2/11/03. My starting weight was 337 lbs. As of July 16, 2005, I weighed 204lbs. for a total loss of 166 lbs. I haven't weighed this little since high school. My waist was 33 inches and I wear a medium size t-shirt. I fully embrace the Weight Watchers lifestyle and believe it is the only "weigh" to go with regard to weight loss. I have had some ups and downs since then, but I have continued the good fight.

These pics were taken in July 2005 when I was getting up to work out at 4:15 every morning. God allowed a pretty amazing transition.

Since that time, my weight has fluctuated, from as low as 198 to as high as 255, but in the past 4 years, I have maintained a loss of over 100 pounds.

In the beginning, there was a fat man.

(Originally posted on my other website)

I have been overweight most of my adult life. Although I was a skinny kid, I reached 220 pounds as a sophomore in high school. I joined Weight Watchers then school and promptly lost 40 lbs. Unfortunately, I didn't stick with it when I got to college. When I began college, I weighed 235 pounds; however, playing offensive line on the football team, my weight quickly balooned to 280 lbs., which is what I weighed when I met my wife Heather (and she loves me anyway). At the time I got married, I weighed approximately 350 lbs., and my weight fluctuated weekly since then.

In January, 2003, my weight reached an all time high. I weighed myself at the hospital where I worked and my best guess is that I weighed between 365 and 370 lbs. (the scale wouldn't go that high). My knees hurt constantly, I had a hard time breathing, and I was wearing 4XLT shirts and a size 52 inch waist. I knew I had to do something about my weight, so I visited with my doctor. He said to me, "perhaps it is time to consider gastric bypass surgery."

I took these pictures around that time to motivate me to move lose some weight.