Pizza casserole

Well, I survived the first weekend on HFLC (High Fat, Low Carb). Even though the flu invaded our house, rendering our children feverish and horizontal, I enjoyed learning as much as I could about this new adventure. I read science, testimonials, and recipes. Lots of recipes.

For the uninitiated, an HFLC diet limits carbohydrates to less than 20 grams per day. Instead, the majority of calories come from fat (its called high fat, not high protein). Briefly running the numbers for Saturday and Sunday, I was eating approximately 70-75% fat. Needless to say, the food has been quite tasty.

Briefly, yesterday I had a t-bone and sauteed onions for breakfast, dried beef and a mixed green salad with blue cheese dressing for lunch, and a hamburger, salad with dressing, and green beans with herb butter. Today, I had a 4 egg spinach omelette and 2 slices of bacon, sauteed cabbage and kielbasa for lunch, and pizza casserole with roasted cauliflower for dinner.

So, about that pizza casserole...

For several years, with very few exceptions, in the Kanz home, Sunday nights have been for pizza and movies. But how does one eat pizza following a HFLC plan? So I decided to throw together a pizza casserole.

Pizza casserole
-1 pound Italian Sausage
-1 pound ground beef
-8 oz tomato sauce (make sure to check for carb level).
-1 T. Italian seasoning
-1 t. salt
-1/2 t. ground black pepper
-8 oz shredded mozzarella
-14 pepperoni

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. While oven is preheating, brown the sausage and the ground beef in a large cast iron pan. When the meat is browned, add the sauce, italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper and let simmer for a minute or two.
3. Turn off the heat and spread the cheese evenly over the top of the pizza (if you are wondering about our uncovered section, my wife doesn't like to eat dairy). Top with pepperoni.
4. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes until cheese is browned.
5. Let cool for a few minutes when it comes out of the oven. It helps the cheese set up.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

In for a penny, in for a pound

Between 2008 and 2013, I sparsely blogged here about "Making the Better Choice," a mantra I had developed while doing Weight Watchers. A quick review of the posts I shared reveals a general commitment to wellness, exercise, and healthy eating. The careful observer will also notice that although I lost 165 pounds at one point, over the years, I struggled to maintain. I played with lots of different diets--Weight Watchers (by far the most successful for me, and an excellent program), the NoS Diet, MyFitnessPal, Whole 30, the MIND Diet, and Intuitive Eating to name the ones I recall trying. I also met with a dietician and a therapist who helped me to explore my eating and my addictive tendencies.

Unfortunately, between 2013 and now, I have continued on a roller-coaster of insanity. I would lose a large amount of weight only to regain it--and more--a few months later. I have attempted Weight Watchers both online and in meetings perhaps a half-dozen times since 2003 never with much immediate success and with no sustained success. It has been frustrating.

This summer, my primary doctor talked with me again about my weight. He is always gentle and encouraging. We talked about my poor self-control when it comes to sugar, which for me, can lead to extreme binges--a pound of M&Ms, a whole box of ho-hos, a few pieces of pie. Unfortunately, once the lid is off the sugar monster, I have a very difficult time getting him back in. Earlier this year, I decided to cut refined sugar from my diet. My binges got better, I lost weight; however, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I decided to have a little sweet treat, which quickly gave way to mass consumption of sugar.

Anyway, my doctor encouraged me to consider seeing David Usher MD at ReforMedicine, who is board certified in obesity medicine and runs a medical weight loss clinic. I initially tabled the idea, deciding to try it on my own again and, as I said above, failed. In the midst of my struggles, however, a patient of mine mentioned having seen Dr Usher and offered rave reviews, so I decided to call and schedule an appointment. I knew nothing of the program other than two endorsements.

I met with Dr Usher last Friday. He has developed a supervised program of weight loss that follows a low-carbohydrate model. I have always rejected low-carb as ultimately unlivable (without having tried it) and so I was skeptical, but Dr Usher is an enthusiastic advocate of his program. In fact, a student who was observing had already lost 15 pounds in the previous few weeks. I was also encouraged by the help offered to get sugars out of my diet.

So, I'm in for a penny, in for a pound they say, although it cost more than a penny, and I hope to lose much more than a pound. My current weight is 328 pounds, so I have a long way to go, but I am hopeful.

I am posting here at the start, which is a risky move. What if I fail? What if low-carb is ultimately unlivable for me? God knows and time will tell.

But for today, in this moment, I'm in.

A righteous man falls seven times and rises again...and again. 

Just Do Something

Besides being the title of an excellent book on decision making by Kevin DeYoung, "Just Do Something" may be a wise understanding of exercise as well.  Too often, we get bogged down worrying that we do not have just the right exercise routine.  We are unsure if we should focus on cardio, strength training, flexibility, balance, and on and on and on.  We want the perfect program.  Is P90x right for us? How about TRX training?  Should I join a Crossfit gym?  All of these are excellent options, but the important thing for most normal humans is not the program you are following, but that you are doing something. 

How do you start?  Pick a time.  Tell yourself that for 20 minutes today, you are going to exercise.  Try pushups and squats if you don't know where to begin.  Or walk out your front door.  Or stretch.  All of these are wonderful options to get your body moving.  Eventually, you may have more directed goals, but if you are a couch potato or really struggle with the concept of exercise, just do something. 

If you are not dieting...

If you are not dieting, you cannot "break your diet." 

If you are not dieting, there is not wagon to fall from.

If you are not dieting, there is no cheating.

If you are not dieting, there are not forbidden foods.

If you are not dieting, there is no getting back to normal eating.

Stop dieting. Learn instead to make better, healthier choices.  When you find yourself in a pattern of choosing poorly, reassess and choose again.  Learn from your body. Learn from your circumstances. Begin to ask yourself why you choose to eat the way that you do.  With practice, you can learn to make the Better Choice.

What is "Make the Better Choice"?

Every day, we face numerous choices.  When to wake up, what to wear, how long to shower, how early to leave for work, what to eat are just some of the many choices we encounter. Several years ago, while I was doing Weight Watchers, I began to think about the notion of making choices as it applied to eating. 

I am an all or nothing thinker.  If the choice I make is not perfect, I instead throw in the towel, which has led to lots of extreme thinking, extreme eating, and extreme weight fluctuations. As a psychologist--as a human--I understand that people don't routinely choose perfectly.  Rather, we consider our options and make choices accordingly. 

Thinking about all of this led me to coin the phrase "Make the Better Choice."  I decided to start thinking about my eating not in terms of perfect choices, but rather instead of better choices.  Sometimes, the better choice is a salad, but on other occasions, perhaps it is something different.  Perhaps you choose the low fat mayonnaise or decide not to go with it all.  Perhaps you choose to eat one burger instead of two.  Perhaps you forgo the appetizer and the dessert.  There are many ways in which we can make wiser choices with our eating.  The more often we make those better choices, the better long term outcomes for our health. 

Perhaps more than anything, maintaining the mantra "Make the Better Choice" allows you to be more mindful about how you choose to eat.  Greater awareness is definitely an asset to healthy eating. 

After conceptualizing of this idea, I began to post a daily thread on the Weight Watchers "Guys on a Diet" message board.  It quickly became a popular daily thread as people would share their successes.  Later, we got together a group of people who ordered green bracelets reading "Make the Better Choice" on them.  They were very popular as they served as a daily reminder of the importance of making wise choices.

I also soon realized that the MTBC concept applied not just to eating, but to many other areas as well.  Parents were ordering them for their teens, encouraging them to use the phrase to help them make better choices as well. 

I have made use of this phrase for a long time.  I think it can be beneficial in many areas of your life. Won't you join me on the journey?

Getting moving

A few days ago, I was helping my daughter work through her physics homework.  Part of the lesson was understanding friction.  It turns out that it takes more energy to start something moving than it does to keep it moving.  In other words, the coefficient of friction (static) > the coefficient of friction (kinetic).  The author rightly pointed out that the same thing seems to be true in our lives when we want to get moving.  It has been a while since I exercised consistently.  I know that I enjoy exercise.  I know that I feel better when I do it.  With that said, it is hard for me to get moving.  I make excuses like "there is no time in my day."  Well, this morning, I mapped out my time and it turns out that there is plenty of time before work to get moving.  If I plan to spend 45 minutes each morning exercising, I will have plenty of time to get going. 

Make a new trail

It's easier to stay out than get out.--Mark Twain

Behavior change is often a difficult thing. We have been following the same path for so long that we wear deep ruts in the paths of our lives. The deeper the ruts become, the harder it is to steer out of them. Our natural tendency is to stay in the rut. It takes a forceful and deliberate decision to steer out of them. But we are not in the clear. The ruts are still there and it is so easy to fall back into them.  It takes daily, intentional choices to stay on the new path.

In my own life, I have seen several areas where the ruts have been worn deep. Pornography was a very deep, dark rut for a long time. I found it nearly impossible to overcome the temptation to look at porn. Looking at porn became my normal.  Through prayer, being accountable to good friends, and the grace of God, I am on a new path, though I admit I still feel the wheels wanting to fall back in from time to time.  Anger toward my kids is another area where there are deep tracks.  In the past couple of years, I have begun to find a new way, but my default setting has been anger.  I have learned that I respond much better when I slow down before I respond to my kids' misbehavior. I am following a different trail.  Finally, poor eating has been a well-worn trail.  Many times over the years, I have fallen back into those deep ruts. I am again on a different trail but it is new for me again.

Making a new way is often difficult. We may need to steer out again and again, but the more often we do so, the easier it becomes. 

The righteous falls seven times and rises again.-Proverbs 24:16

Make the better choice.