Messin Around with Spreadsheets...

Well, it is something to analyze the data points I have already and to project where I might end up and when. Of course this **is** imperfect science, but it still is something to focus on and hold on to mentally as I face the continuing challenge of working to reach goal weight.

I basically searched my computer and best I can tell, I must have started this weight loss around the beginning of November 2006. I wasn't even sure, except that I knew I must have started after the middle of October. I found some info I downloaded about the Atkins diet on October 28th, and I think I started not too long after that.

Based on this I wonder if I didn't start out at over 400lbs, perhaps 410 or so. I will never know for certain, but based on my current rate of loss and the timeframe - it is possible. Anyhow, at whatever weight I started (and that is all hypothesis, since I didn't have a scale that would weigh me then anyhow, and I was already into my weight loss before I weighed across two mechanical scales at ~370 lbs), I have enough real data from multiple weighings to know what rate I am losing at currently. I had my nice digital scale from 370 lbs on.

If I continue to sustain weight loss at this rate I can postulate an optimistic date that I will hit goal weight (which currently is about 170lbs). This is probably unlikely and a little overly optimistic. Still there are others who have lost similar large amounts of weight in a relatively short timeframe.

Chances are though, it will take me somewhat longer to get there, as the rate of loss is likely to slow as I near goal weight (I would assume). Also, most people encounter a weight loss stall (or several) as they try to lose down to their goal weight. So I generated an estimate based on a more conservate loss of weight overall, that might take this into account. I now have a good series of high and low benchmarks (brackets) to compare myself against and to overlay my actual weights against - and see how my progress is going.

I may also find that I am overly optimistic about my goal weight at some point, and have to move that up to a higher weight at some point - but I am going to try to shoot for it (170 lbs) and see how healthy I look and feel (and am) as I get nearer to it. It is an ambitious goal. I weighed more than that when I graduated High School.

Could Sugar be Ruining Your Health???

I recently visited the website of Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., at http://www.nancyappleton.com and I read with interest her list of "146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health".

It was so interesting that I asked her if she would be so kind as to allow me to post the list here for the benefit of my few family, friends, and Internet-connected folks who stop by here from time to time - and she gladly consented. Thanks Nancy!! Nancy is the author of a book called "Lick the Sugar Habit", and others, and has done a wonderful job of compiling this list and providing detailed references for each assertion.

I have been wondering for a long while why there is so much sugar everywhere in everything I (used to) eat and drink. Since I have made a commitment to eat low carb, I am trying to eliminate uneccesary sugars from my daily foods and drinks, and I am now more aware than ever of even foods that provoke an insulin response and rapidly turn to sugar-energy within the body (carbohydrates like enriched breads, pasta, rice, etc). I am not just concerned with raw sugar, or treats like powdered sugar and chocolate covered donuts anymore - but with many other things as well.

White cane sugar (we all know from the little sugar packets, sugar cubes, sugar used for baking, or for sprinkling on cereal) is what immediately comes to mind, and it's many cousins.

There are sugars everywhere in our diets today in measures that grossly exceed what a person would eat at any time in the past. Prepackaged drinks, snacks, foods, candy, cookies, pasta sauces, ketchup, and other products are simply loaded with sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and/or other similar sweetners. As a matter of fact, I wonder if we ever stop to think about how much sugar we are packing into our mouths and those of our children? Especially with the onslaught of problems such as diabetes (Type I & II), and other problems that might be a result of excessive consumption of sugar-laden products.

Please take a moment and examine this list and see for yourself some of the potential problems sugar might cause you (especially ingesting excessive quantities as we do in America every day).

------------------------------------------------

146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health
By Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.
Author of LICK THE SUGAR HABIT and LICK THE SUGAR HABIT SUGAR COUNTER.
www.nancyappleton.com

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you loose.
7. Sugar reduces high density lipoproteins.
8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.
9. Sugar leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Sugar can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
21. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
22. Sugar contributes to obesity
23. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
25. Sugar can cause arthritis.
26. Sugar can cause asthma.
27. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
28. Sugar can cause gallstones.
29. Sugar can cause heart disease.
30. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
31. Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.
32. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
33. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
34. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
35. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
36. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
37. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
38. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
39. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E (alpha-Tocopherol in the blood.
40. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
41. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
42. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.
43. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
44. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
45. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
46. Sugar causes food allergies.
47. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
48. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
49. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
50. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
51. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
52. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
53. Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
54. Sugar can cause cataracts.
55. Sugar can cause emphysema.
56. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
57. Sugar can promote an elevation of low density lipoproteins (LDL).
58. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
59. Sugar lowers the enzymes ability to function.
60. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.
61. Sugar can cause a permanent altering the way the proteins act in the body.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
67. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders..
74. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves.
75. Sugar can cause depression.
76. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
77. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
78. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
79. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
80. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.
81 High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity.
82. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
83. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
84. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
85. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
86. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
87. Sugar can lead to the hypothalamus to become highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli.
88. Sugar can lead to dizziness.
89. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
90. High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
91. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
92. Sugar feeds cancer.
93. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
94. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
95. Sugar slows food's travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
96. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
97. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
98. Sugar combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
99. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
100. Sugar is an addictive substance.
101. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
102. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
103. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
104. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
105. The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
106. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
107. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
108. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
109. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
110. Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
111.. I.Vs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
112. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
113. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
114. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
115. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
116. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.
117. Sugar may induce cell death.
118. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
119. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
120. Sugar can lead to prostate cancer.
121. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
122. Sugar increases the estradiol in young men.
123. Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
124. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia
125. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.
126. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.
127. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.
128. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.
129. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
130. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.
131. As sugar increases in the diet of 10 years olds, there is a linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients.
132. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.
133. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.
134. Sugar causes constipation.
135. Sugar causes varicous veins.
136. Sugar can cause brain decay in prediabetic and diabetic women.
137. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
138. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
139. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.
140. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.
141. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
142. Sugar could affect central reward systems.
143. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
144. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
145. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.
146. Sugar can cause liver tumors.

Sources:
Nancy has numerous sources for these assertions (from medical studies, and other similar publications). They are too many to comfortably list here, as this is a very long post already.

The sources appear (without any tremendous in-depth research, chasing down each source document and individually fact-checking the veracity on my part) to be very well documented.

I encourage you to visit her site to see what information is available there on this subject.

Self Sabotage: Sodium Overdose...

If you have read prior posts in this blog you will know I have been having problems the past two weeks with water retention. Massive water retention - to the point that my calves and ankles are swelling up tremendously and having serious problems. Also it is causing my weight to fluctuate.

I have been breaking out my Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe and magnifying glass, pacing the floor, examining the evidence. Or playing the old board game, CLUE with myself.

Surely, it was the COOKS with the SALT in the work CAFETERIA! I was playing my own version of Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the candlestick. Well, I think I may have finally figured out the culprit. I got a good look at him in the mirror this morning when I was shaving!

I was ready to blame my diet drinks, my Lipton Diet Green Teas, and just about everything. I finally sat down on the Calorie King website and checked sodium levels for what I have been eating. ARGH!!! I see my fingerprints all over the crime scene.

Here is some of the foods I have been eating frequently for a quick meal:

3-5 beef hot dogs with some melted cheese on top and a few dill pickles or green olives, with spicy mustard on top. ARGH!!!

I thought I read the labels but didn't understand that sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite (in the hot dogs) was the same thing as sodium (as in salt). I has even bought and used some no nitrate and no nitrate dogs (Oscar Meyer) but bought a whole lot of different kinds of dogs so I would have some variety in taste and all. And I had no idea the pickles were so salty. I kind thought the olives were, but I didn't eat more than ~5 - 10 of them at a time, and only occasionally.

Add that with the sodium I am getting in my bacon or sausage and in my eggs (at breakfast), and in other meats, and I am waaaaaay overdoing it. No wonder I am having major problems the past couple of weeks retaining water.

I am my own worst enemy - I plead GUILTY to Self Sabotage!! It was easy to look outside and assume someone else had done this to me (my first instinct in this instance). Because surely I was not overdoing it. But unfortunately I regret to say that I am the culprit. I have committed the heinous acts against myself. I have been sitting on the dynamite and pushing the plunger myself. ARGH!!!

So where do we go from here? Well, I am doing what I can to lose the water. My legs are so swollen I almost thought I would have to go to the doctor tonight. I am changing my diet to avoid all the hot dogs and pickles and all. I saw some no nitrite and no nitrate Oscar Meyer hot dogs at Walmart, and though I tried them, I continued to buy a variety of products (mostly bad for me sodium-wise). Going to do more fish, chicken, hamburger, and other meats, and cut back on the franfurters and such until I can get some low sodium dogs in the fridge.

I cannot believe I have been undermining myself like this. Knowing I have circulatory problems in my legs and sensitivity to salt, I never sat down to do the actual math and homework to figure out what I was shoveling into my mouth. It never occurred to me that I was the one doing this. I suspected the diet cokes, the cafeteria at work, my vitamins, potassium deficiency, and all kinds of things. Can't believe I never looked at the OBVIOUS!

Ah well, ...you live and you learn. Kudos to the Calorie King website with its online information. HTTP://www.calorieking.com

A portrait of my own self-sabotage

The Inuit Paradox: Discover Magazine

The article linked below asks the question:

"How can people who gorge on fat and rarely see a vegetable be healthier than we are?"

Follow the below link to an extremely interesting article about the Inuit Paradox - a study of a group of people who habitually ate a very high protien and low carb/no carb diet, yet had only a small fraction of the health problems associated with our lifestyle and way of eating (heart disease, diabetes, etc).

Click this link (below) to go to the article:
http://www.discover.com/issues/oct-04/features/inuit-paradox/?page=1

Optimistic Weighing: Musings on an Honest Scale...

Weighing are the metrics of my new weight loss. Keeping score. Standing in judgement - quite literally. There are all kinds of ways to do it, I suppose.

I have found that I and many others have a tendancy to weigh early in the morning. When we have gone the longest without food, after getting rid of the byproducts of the days eating and drinking gone before. And yeah, ...weighing buck-naked - no weight from any clothes or shoes, I even take my watch off. When I am at my lowest possible weight of the day.

During the day I find that my weight may fluctuate as much as 3-7 lbs from my weight in the early morning. And day to day it fluctuates up and down, though mostly down. The past couple of weeks it has been really bad as I have been fighting water retention and/or weight gain for some reason. My calves have been getting really swollen, and once I lose the water weight I see I am still going down over all. I drink alot, and I think I need to. But for some reason on some days I seem to be retaining alot of the fluids.

I suppose it might be more honest to weigh in the middle of the day, or at the end of the day. It would seem to be more honest - as really for most of the day I am weighing higher than I report from my morning weigh-in. But I still need to see myself at my lowest weight during the day, and if I am weighing consistently at the same time I guess it is OK. I guess I am going for the most positive and optimistic reading I can.

The other area of honesty is when you are on the scale. It is hard to resist standing on the scale in certain ways to make the scale read the lower number or the higher number. I am trying hard to stand there flat on the middle and take my medicine. But I so want it to be the lower number that sometimes I catch myself wanting to see the lower number by shifting on the scale a bit. I am trying to resist this type of dishonesty too, by not doing that (though the differences are only in a couple of ounces).

It is funny how badly we (those of us engaged in losing weight) want to see the lowest possible number on that scale tho. And how important it is for me. And how important it is to have an honest number. Good metrics. But also how important the encouragement of seeing positive momentum is, how important positive thought and self-talk is, and even encouragement from others.

Random Thoughts & Reflections

It is funny. I have been talking about going on a diet ever since I met my wife (over 8 years ago). I have no idea how much I weighed when I married her, but it is a safe bet that I weighed much less than I do now. I was never really ready to pull the trigger, because having gone through this kinda thing once before (lost >100 lbs and kept it off over 2 years) I am aware of how much effort and commitment this really takes. I told her that I knew I could do this, and that I would do this, but I never really got around to it. I guess I was afraid that starting without the level of laser-like focus, drive, concentration, and motivation would mean failure.

After all these years of bloating on up to higher and higher weights, I finally felt I had to do something and make a change. It wasn't some major crisis in my life that made me do it. It wasn't any ultimatum from my wife or others. I just knew I had to do something. I was getting large (OK, Gargantuan) and was having more and more health problems related to my weight and health. And the thought of wanting to be here for my kids in the long run (like over the next 10-20 years or more) was an impetus, and if not, to at least be able to secure some life insurance for the wife and kids at some point.

While I believe that God sets our span on earth, and that this is regardless of what we want or do to a large degree (I never believed in all these anti-aging and preservation programs people are after, wanting to extend their lives or in some cases live forever on this earth), I do believe though that God does also do things in conjunction with immutable laws he has set up - things like you will "Reap what you sow".

So, I finally figured it was time to stop sowing donuts and Cokes and sweets and all my beloved pastas and breads and all, reaping piles of fat and weight gain and health problems, and change my life. My lifestyle. My eating style. Whatever. And I have embraced the low carb lifestyle. Atkins style eating is pretty much what I am doing. I am probably moderating my life somewhere between the induction phase and the OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) phase, trying to mostly keep my carb count to 20 or less, and I figure if I am overdoing it ever, I am pretty sure of being at 40 or less carbs each day.

The Atkins Low Carbohydrate Way of Eating

It is pretty simple. Meat (hamburger, beef hot dogs, bacon, ham, turkey, fish, sausage, chicken, etc). Some Cheese (within limits and with moderation). Some nuts (low salt, not peanuts and cashews so much, but almonds, macadamias, etc). Low glycemic veggies (green beans, broccoli, pickles, olives, salads with oil and vinegar, etc) in regular and deliberate inclusion in the daily diet, with moderation. Plus some vitamins and nutrititional supplements.

I have eaten 4500 calories in a day and lost weight. Probably because I am so large this is working for me, but I am full and hardly ever hungry on this diet (Way of Eating) and am steadily losing weight (over 40 lbs down at this point, and working on being 50 lbs down) and I am feeling better each day.

Friends & the Support You Get and Don't Get

It's funny who in your life will support you when you do these things, who believes you are bound to fail (or will reserve comment or support or interest until you get so far into this), and who it is who will mock you and poke fun at you and be basically a big giant negative force in your life.

I have been reading personal stories of interaction with these types of folks online in the TDC (Triple Digits Club) support forum at the forums.lowcarber.ca site lately and have had a couple of personal experiences with real jerky people lately myself. I guess that isn't a unique phenomemon. I guess the premise for these folks is, "make yourself feel good by making someone else feel bad". Wow. What a concept. I suppose we have all done that to others at some time ourselves (or many times, if we were 100% honest with ourselves). Still it pretty much stinks to feel tarred and feathered and mocked and laughed at by others. Some people are fairly cruel and low-life. I still remember the kids who did this kind of thing to me at times when I was young in school. It really sticks with you, for the rest of your life - even if you couldn't care less about the people doing it. It's funny why their opinion should matter to you or why it should affect you, but it does just the same.

It takes all kinds in this world, and my life is pretty much surrounded by all of them. Sure, most people are pretty indifferent, and I wouldn't expect it to be necessarily a big deal for them - if they didn't much care about you. It just depends on how much someone likes you, is rooting for you, and hoping for the best for you. But it is also pretty interesting to have folks reveal their hearts to you in how they act and speak towards you, and to take note of that.

Here's to the Nice People!

I am extremely glad for a few Christian friends, a couple good folks at work, my wife, my parents, my father in-law and mother in-law, and my kids and all the love and support they give me.

Thanks too for those who drop in here to support me in my own personal quest.

It matters so much to me! Thank You!!!

Getting all Evangelistic about Low Carb: Drinking the Kool-Aid

I am also a bit perplexed as to how I should behave on this personal program of weight loss, healthy eating, and self improvement. I have watched so many people lose weight over and over again. Yo-yo dieters. My wife would say, "Look at so and so, they've lost so much weight on LA Weight Loss" or some other program. I would always say, "Give it some time, and watch and wait. They'll gain it all back and THEN SOME". And I was always always right about this. Yeah, I probably haven't been the most supportive person myself in the past either. These folks would be dancing around celebrating their weight loss for a little bit, then back to the donuts and BLOOOP! They would explode back up past where they started. I kept seeing this and didn't want this for myself.

It is hard to fight your body, as God made it just so - to preserve your life in difficult times, and to adapt to changing circumstances. All the little regulators in your brain, glands, DNA or whatever are always trying to help you live. If you starve it, the body (brain or whatever) slows the metabolism and adjusts - so that when you go back to eating like always you shoot right back to where you started (and then some).

This is one of the reasons I think I waited to get on the stick so long myself (fear of bloating back on up above where I started, and what that would mean to me). I never wanted to be one of those people that has to have the fire department come and get them out of their house to the hospital or something (as they are so heavy). And fear of starting when I wasn't 100% committed to this, as I know from my own past efforts that it can be really really hard to lose weight and maintain it long term.

Well, once I met folks that had lost the weight and kept it off with this way of eating for ten years or more, and once I heard my own brother lost weight (~80 lbs) in a few months time, I was ready. And guess what?

It isn't really all that hard this time!! I am not starving. I am not having irresistable cravings. I don't feel washed out, light headed, deprived, etc. In fact, I feel great, am eating, am comfortable and feel full all day, and my health has improved dramatically (especially my blood sugar issues, frequent stomach acid problems, acid reflux, etc).

One thing I have always hated about many DIETERS is the way they seem to turn into CULT-LIKE fanatical people about their diet. It always made me uncomfortable, and I always watched so many of them yo-yo back on up later.

I sorta feel like I am becoming one of those people, all excited about this way of eating and I can't help but feel great about it and to express myself about it. I am trying to not make others feel bad about themselves or overdo it. But I can't help but tell my wife and a couple others how great they might feel if they did this - not even to lose weight, but even just to get control of their blood sugar issues and health issues they are going through.

I hope that if you are reading this you won't count me into the camp of annoying cult-like fanatical people about my way of eating. No doubt about it, I am excited about this and I do want to share this with others! Still there is something about selling flowers on the streetcorners and at airports... (smile) that I am not so comfortable with.

I started this blog just as an excercise of focus and an outlet for me while I am doing this for myself. I am glad if you read this and benefit from this in any way. I sure feel great about how I feel, and how this way of eating is working out for me. I appreciate your support and interest in reading this. If you are kicking around the idea about doing this, I hope you would read about it, learn all you can about it and jump in and try it. The water is fine! And what have you got to lose anyhow by trying it?

And if this way of eating isn't for you - That's OK too. I know that not everybody has my body type, my problems with health issues and with weight gain, and most are probably doing "just fine" on their own. I can live with that.

Breaking Through Barriers

Well, I finally made it below 360 lbs! I have been bumping into this barrier now for too long, and I finally checked this morning after 2 days of not checking, and I was at 357 lbs this morning!!

Down 43 lbs so far, and staying the course. Steady as she goes! Full speed ahead!

All Navy lingo is deliberately and gratuitously added for the benefit of my brothers in-law, who think sleeping in foxholes with other men is a good idea. Go Navy, beat Army!!!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Can't you just hear Julie Andrews singing that song from the Sound of Music? Well, listen harder, then!

Actually, I thought it might be good to mention some of the beverages that keep me going. I think it is important to continue to have flavor in your life and to both eat and drink good stuff!

I've always been "big on beverages". I would often get a coffee, milk, and orange juice with breakfast (in my pre-low carb days), for example. And I think I have been drinking lots for a long time, perhaps since I went on the low calorie diet in my thirties and just got used to drinking so much water, tea, etc.

When I got off that diet (years ago) I went right back to sugary Cokes and major amounts of High Fructose Corn Syrup in all it's many flavors and packagings, along with lots of milk and other stuff to drink. And I was always about drinking the XXL sized drinks - probably how I ended up an XXXXL in the end, huh? Yeah, no kiddin!

Now that I am LCing it, I am trying to cut back on the coffee some, drink more tea and water, and find good things to drink. The thing is, I think most of the diet drinks that are sweetened with aspertame taste like they have formaldahyde in them. I mean they are flat-nasty drinks. Sure I will drink one now and then, but I am trying to go for healthy drinks that I can drink that are permitted under the rules, and then also drinks that are satisfying my need for flavor and all.

So here's what I have been drinking lately:

Lipton Diet Green Tea


It tastes great, and might even be good for you. They say that green and black teas are a great source of antioxidants and so they may even help prevent cancer or other problems (with free radicals and all that stuff I won't even pretend to understand). It is definitely low carb and satisfies pretty well - both from a thirst quenching and a flavor point of view.





Sobe Green Tea

Sobe make some great tasting beverages and I also like their version of diet green tea. No aspertame, zero sugar, Carbs=1g, not too shabby. And it's earned the South Beach seal of approval evidently.

All kinds of free radical fighting antioxidents must be cram-packed into these bottles in some way that my mind could not even understand. They fill these babies with "Goodness Machines", and cap em' off when they are just cram-packed with all kinds of excellence & goodness!

Well, I kinda like em' pretty good anyhow. :)






Pepsi One Diet Cola

Pepsi Cola has come out with a type of diet soda that omits for some reason all the High Fructose Corn Syrup, and even the aspertame. Instead they use sucralose, better known as Splenda (the trademarked name of a productized version of sucralose I suppose).

The main thing about Pepsi One. It just tastes great!

And it is refreshing! For a Cola and soda fiend like myself it is nice to have something to drink that doesn't taste like I am being punished ("NO SWEETNESS & GOODNESS FOR YOU! BANISH HIM TO THE LAND OF FORMALDAHYDE TASTING NASTY DRINKS!"). I try not to overdo it and to just try to find more good and healthy options to drink. But it is nice to have a frosty cold cola over ice once innawhile.

There are more things that I am drinking, but this single post is probably going on long enough. But Why did I want to comment on what I am drinking? Well so many starting out on the LC life are worried about never having anything GOOD to taste anymore, and envision I suppose sucking cold greasy lard and fatty bits from meat, smiling and saying "Hmmmm, this tastes GOOOOD!"

Well - there actually ARE GREAT TASTING food and beverages out there, and you don't have to be locked into that kind of thinking - that you have forever given up on all good tasting food and beverages. You need to realize that there are many food and beverages that are actually good for you and satisfy!!!

Hang in there and look for low carb products that are both good for you and satisfy! Don't give up! Search for the wonderful LC recipes out there, and look for the permitted products that are full of taste and flavor. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! You can fill your world with good tasting, satisfying food and drink, and never miss a thing. Lose weight or maintain weight loss, be healthy, and feel great. And don't miss out on a thing!!!

The Atkins Low Carb Diet Must Be Good For Your Eyes!

I am thinking that the Atkins low carbohydrate diet (Way of Eating) is really wonderful on the eyes! In fact, to prove it I have created this eye chart, just to test. It is wonderful, as I have found that I am actually able to read lines lower and lower each day, thus PROVING beyond any disputable fact or reasonable doubt, that the Atkins low carb diet is great for the eyes!!!

Of course, my eye chart starts at 400 lbs, and although I am not a trained medical professional, and as such my opinions on this matter are purely my own and of no real significance to anyone else, I would believe that some folks might actually require another model of the eye chart. In fact, I hope that one day I myself may have my own vision improve to the point that I will need a new chart as well!!!

This morning I weighed myself and I found that I was back down to 361.4 lbs! It seems like whatever hump I hit I am over. At least I hope so. I have found that lately I am feeling like I have more energy or am a little lighter on my feet. I was told this would happen at some point, but I really haven't felt that till now. Hopefully this good feeling will continue and I will continue reading my eye chart at lower and lower lines. I have been hovering over 360 now for a little bit, and I am so anxious to get below that. It's like an invisible barrier I keep bouncing off like it has some kind of Star Trek force shield or something. Well, hopefully we will puch through even this in the next few days (maybe tomorrow), and be on to new places.

Like they might have said in Trek (no I'm not really a trekky) if perhaps Capt. Kirk, "Bones" the doctor, and Scotty got together and wanted to live healthier on a low carb lifestyle:

"Low Carb... The final frontier... These are the voyages of the Low Carber. Our continuing mission: To explore strange new worlds... To seek out a new life; Perhaps even new civilisations... To boldly go where we have never gone before!"

It is an adventure! And you certainly take yourself to wonderful new places! And you might even find yourself boldly going where you have never gone before (even lower on the new Atkins diet eye chart).

The TDC (Triple Digits Club)

One of the support forums available online at the lowcarber site http://forum.lowcarber.org or http://www.lowcarber.ca is called the Triple Digits Club (or TDC). It is a forum for members with at least 100 lbs to lose, and also for folks who have already lost 100 lbs or more.

Recently there have been posts by members in this forum recognizing those who have lost 100 lbs+ that are so encouraging to read! Some of the folks are there long after they have lost 100, 200, or 300 lbs (or more). Their posts are encouraging and they never fail to lend support, encourage, and share advice to others that are working their way down to goal weight. The nice thing I see is that many bristle at the suggestion that low carb eating is a "diet", when for them it is not something you do and then stop and start eating like they always have. They are there to continue maintenance, and to keep in touch with the community, and ideas, and way of eating that have changed their life. In fact, those returning members who treated it as a "diet" are often back to re-lose the same pounds all over again!

It is so encouraging to me to read the member posts, advice, and journals, and to check the gallery for their before, in-progress, and after pictures. Some of them look so much healthier, prettier/handsomer, and in some cases they even look like even younger and more vital people! In fact, a few even look like an entirely different person altogether, and if they didn't include their progress pictures throughout their weight loss journey - you would suspect some sort of fraud was in effect.

I need all the encouragement I can get, and this is a tremendous place to give and to receive support and to get a sense of community - that you are not in this alone!

It is always encouraging to read when someone has broken through a new barrier in weight loss, and read about their journey to ONEderland (being in the hundreds from 100 - 199 lbs).

As for me I have a long ways to go to get to Onederland, but I am on my way.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=49

Another Success Story on Low Carb!

The Times Online in an article entitled "The fat lady slims", tells of a woman named India Knight who lost 5 stone (70 lbs) on a low carb diet that has evolved into a "whole way of eating". She customized her diet to meet her own way of living, and she did it while "having a social life, and eating family meals".

"And it allowed me to feed my family and me really good food: the beauty of low-carb diets is that you have the roast chicken, the gravy, the beans, the salad, and simply pass on the potatoes. This doesn’t make you feel deprived.", she said.

She describes how she lost the weight without a tremendous need to workout at some bodybuilding gym, but simply walked vigorously and ate well. One nice thing she notes is how the low carb lifestyle has even improved her childrens attitude towards nutrition.

Nice article, with before and after pictures. Way to Go, India!!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8126-2542787,00.html

Water Retention & A Challenge Brought!

If you've been reading here you know that I was seriously bumming about maybe retaining some water and gaining some weight unexpectedly - just as I was hoping to hit the 40lbs lost mark. I gained 5 lbs when I was at 361.8lbs just the day before and bloated on up to 366.8 lbs by the next morning. Sure, 40 pounds is not a tremendously huge number, but it's the next big round number for me, and one I was kinda excited about just the same.

Well, ...this morning I had lost some of the water I had retained, and was down from 366.8 to 363.8. But my legs are still a little swollen, and I am still pushing the water and liquids as much as I can. Maybe I will be back down there (~40 lbs lost) in the next day or so.

I am hoping that tomorrow and/or the next day or two will get me back down to the "40lbs Down!" mark (360.0) once again, and I can dance and sing and make merry yet!!!

One thing also happened that was really funny. I have been picking on my little brother who lost 80lbs on Atkins - then got off. The other day I called and he was eating a large stack of pancakes!

Oh my!

This brother of mine is the inspiration for my "IF HE CAN DO IT, I CAN TOO" diet, which is remarkably similar - if not (in fact), virtually identical to the Atkins diet (except with more dancing, singing, laughing, lollygagging, and rubbing my brothers nose in it if I can just pass him up on my way down!). In the nicest way possible, of course.

He is desperately trying to get back into ketosis as he now knows I am closing in on his weight (~20 lbs is all the difference between us) and if he slacks up even a little, he will gain the title of the fattest and heaviest sibling in our family (of seven kids, all grown up now).

I have been the undisputed heavyweight champ in the family for many years now, but now my younger brother is in serious danger of taking the belt, and becoming the undisputed reigning family heavyweight champion!!!

He is getting desperate now! And I can smell fear... Muuahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh! This is going to be fun! I have thrown down the challenge and My brother has risen to it, and now... may the best man win! Talk about motivation! We may end up both starving ourselves to the death (don't worry, neither of us is in any danger anytime soon) in this competition between ourselves.

Ah well, ...it will be fun!

So, if you read this bro, better get your game on...

and better keep your game on!

The pitter-patter of footsteps

you hear approaching fast behind you

is just little ol' ME!

----------------

And on a totally unrelated note in the PRETTY AMAZING STUFF Department

Lookey here & Check this out:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf9oo_jerome-murat

Wow! He is a pretty talented fellow!! My wife had this emailed to her by a friend and I thought it was worth sharing!

Happy Happy Joy Joy.... (The Tanita HD 351)

I am feelin all stylin' about my new digital scale.

The Tanita HD 351.

Kinda funny cause the way I feel about this scale is sorta like how I felt about some super hot rod, sports car or something when I was young in High School. I feel like when I was a kid looking a Chevy Nova SS (Super Sport) with 50's and 60's (wide tires) on the front & back - jacked up just so. Maybe with supercharged blower or something. He he he. Or like a Charger Superbee with a Hemi. Jacked up with wide tires and a low throaty, thunder-like rumble as it sits at idle at the stop light.

OK. It's just a scale. So.. "get real", right? But I am lovin' this scale! I love this scale probably more than my kids are loving their I-Pods (did I even spell that right)?

It is a nice little product jam-packed with digital precision down to the tenths of a pound, and with a capacity of 440 lbs. It measures with great consistancy and only varies by just a little bit (ounces, not pounds) on subsequent reads - if at all. It has memory positions for five people in the family, and it shows you your last weight reading concurrent with the new reading it is taking, so you can easily see the difference.

We shopped all over the net and read opinion after opinion on online reviews of scales (epinons.com, amazon.com, etc). Many scales evidently vary considerably from reading to reading, and you have to average the various readings to approximate your weight.

Or you have to spend a small fortune for one of those nice beam-type doctors scales (that will go over the standard 350lbs capacity, in my case). Overall I am pretty happy with this little wonder. It is the revealer of my Joy and Happiness every morning! My reward for all my efforts and concerted attention. Ahhhhhhh....... (another pound or more down! Joy Joy, Happy Happy, Joy!).

Ups and Downs Today!

Well, I was all set to break the 40lb down barrier, or at least be so very near to breaking it. Only to have my excitement, hopes and all dashed on the rocks or great barrier reef of reality this morning. Watching in rapt attention to see my new digital scale read "360.0" in all it's digital glory... But I was crushed to see it read "366.8"!!! ARGH! FIVE POUNDS UP FROM YESTERDAY MORNING!!!

I can't complain as I was warned not to weigh EVERY DAY, but I cannot help it! I am like a kid in a candy store, excited by the very prospect of losing even more weight on this low carb life. It is like a daily reward, watching the pounds peal away! I have been losing a pound or more every day, and now this! I am not really blown out by this. Just a little frustrated. I am keeping to the plan. Staying the course. Looking for things to get back to the familiar daily lower numbers...

I think I know what my enemy is. WATER RETENTION. I had my calves swollen and large this morning, and simply know it is something like too much salt in something I ate - Unwittingly.

Do not panic - Oh TWO readers of my blog! I have not fallen off the wagon in a gigantic binge of chocolate, candy, cookies, donuts, and ice cream! I am staying true to form. I actually suspect the office cafeteria, where I ordered my low carb breakfast this morning!

I am very sensitive to salt, and if I have to cast suspicions around - looking for someone to blame, or some root cause of my calamity, I HAVE to believe it is something like this. Still - it is what it is. I have been drinking massive amounts of water and diet beverages to try to force the kidneys to purge me of my blight. Hopefully my plan will work!!

- Keeping the Faith. Staying the Course! Hoping the Best (Tomorrow Morning)!!!

Stumbling to Bethlehem: Carbohydrate Addict

Another excellent low carber blog worth following - that is a wonderful story of one persons daily "Epic Journey" on the low carb lifestyle is found here on the "Stumbling to Bethlehem" Blogspot blog entitled "Carbohydrate Addict" - by a very nice lady with the dual pseudonyms of "Lady Atkins" and "newbirth". "Lady Atkins" has lost 60 lbs on the low carb lifestyle and is making this more than just a diet, but a continual way of life!

I accidently wandered across her blog after reading about other low carbers mentioning this blog on their own journals.

She has a well written blog that chronicles her low carb life, fitness, past history, faith, etc.. She tells of her past, daily low carb living, measuring and tracking blood sugars, daily diet and excercise, and information about great low carb books, web links, etc.

On her blog I also learned about "walker tracker" a site where you can track the number of steps walked, and there is a great link for "Low Carb for Newbies" on her blog! It got me to thinking about measuring my own steps in a days time, and maybe tracking it at some point to get a handle on a really easy and healthy activity. You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to walk, and no special equipment is really required.

Ok, maybe some good shoes, and an accurate pedometer! :) Still it less involved than a costly gym membership or expensive excercise equipment. I heard of folks spending thousands on Bowflex's and treadmills, and other gym equipment. Nothing beats getting out and walking!

I have read too about all the little and simple things you can do - like parking farther away from the office, to make yourself walk just a little farther each day & add that much more activity into your life. Measuring it (your walking) and tracking it to help push yourself to reach new goals sounds great to me!! Gotta love the metrics!!

Go on and visit: http://stumblingtobethlehem.blogspot.com

Atkins Diet & Low Carbohydrate Weight-Loss Support

This is another tremendous site chock full of regular folks doing the best they can to simply diet and lose a few pounds or turn to the low carb lifestyle for good. The people there are outstanding and there are plenty of skinny folks there that have lost 300, 200, 100, or so pounds and kept the weight off. So many continue to give back to the people who have supported them, and "pay forward" in helping newcomers to this life, way of eating, and site.

This site is full of low carb and related news, support groups and forums, user journals, Q&A, nutrional information, low carb diet comparisons, photo galleries (before/during/after), and much, much more. And did I mention, it is FREE??!! - No Cost, Nix, Nyet, Nada, ...Zip, Zero, Nothing!

I have found this another excellent source of information and a wonderful support resource for low carbers (new and old). You will find a supportive community of very nice people here! Also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!


Web Links:

Main Site:
http://www.lowcarb.ca/

Support Forums:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/

The Ever Enthusiastic Jimmy Moore!

One of the first really great places I found on the Net dealing with the low carb diet and life was Jimmy Moore's "Livinlavidalowcarb" web site, podcast, and blog. Jimmy is really a super low carb success story and evangelist of sorts. Jimmy lost over 180 lbs on the low carb lifestyle and has maintainted his weight loss ever since.

And Jimmy has been sharing tons of useful and practical information gleemed from the Internet, medical studies, and he points you to different low carb resources - recipes, products, weight loss plans, personal stories, anecdotes and advice, and healthy doses of his opinions (filled with infectious levels of enthusiasm and energy)!

Jimmy strikes me as a "regular guy" (which is very refreshing) who has found this wonderful secret to weight loss and living and can hardly contain himself as he finds one new and exciting thing after another to share with his readers and listeners. Jimmy has written a book about his weight loss journey called "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" (ISBN# 1591138043). He sells the book online at his blog and even provides a free chapter from his book that you can download and read!

While his site is a little bit focussed on pumping up various low carb products, diets, etc. (as are many of the other low carb commercial sites out there like Atkins, South Beach and many others), regular folks will enjoy the many resources that can be found by reading the many postings and links off his website and will learn much. His positive attitude is absolutely contagious and he will help you get motivated to learn about and try this low carb lifestyle.

And Jimmy is living, walking proof that it works! I highly recommend that anyone interested in learning about the low carb lifestyle give Jimmy a look and a listen!


Links:

Jimmy's Blog:
http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com

His Podcast and Internet Streaming Audio "Radio" Show:
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/

To Learn About his Book (Success Story):
http://www.booklocker.com/books/2183.html

Links to a chapter of his book:
http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2005/10/get-free-chapter-of-livin-la-vida-low.html

His Low Carb Links Site:
http://lowcarblinks.blogspot.com/

Low Carb Lollygagging

Lollygagging... I love that word. It's one of those fun words that maybe very old people throw around when speaking in serious tones in reference to the activities of younger people.

There are a lot of words that I think are fun just to say them or work them into a sentence. I really need to make a list of some of the words and phrases like that that I like to use just for fun sometime. You gotta love the English language. So many fun words and fun things to say and how to say them, yet so little time.

Lollygagging means just fooling around. Hijinks is a word like lollygagging, except that it implies you are maybe up to a little "no good" in what you are doing, while you are doing whatever it is you are doing. I am serious about my low carb living, but I want to have fun and live a little and laugh a little while doing it. Life can't be all serious anyhow, can it??!!

So what is low carb lollygagging? Well, just plain fartin' around and having a good time, enjoying life... and losing weight and feeling great on a low carb lifestyle. I have started this blogspace to record my personal journey of weight loss and weight maintenance down to a new me, which is really just the old me (of course a wee bit older and wiser) without all this blubber. Ideally I would like to lose on down to my old High School weight. Somewhere around there where I feel good, am healthy, and living life well.

Why low carb? Well I'll get to how I got to low carbing it in a little bit. So far I have lost over 37 lbs on the Atkins low carb lifestyle and I am just loving it!!! I am down from around 400 lbs (maybe more than that) to 363 lbs as of early this morning. I am losing weight while sometimes eating 4000 and 4500 calories, though truth be told many days I am eating more like 2000 - 3500. I am always full, not hungry. And especially not the burning intense hunger I felt on a low calorie diet I did before for almost two years straight.

When I was in my thirties I lost 100 lbs and kept it off for over two years. I lost the first 50 lbs on a NutriSystem prepackaged food program, and lost the second 50 lbs doing pretty much the same thing but eating MAJOR RABBIT FOOD (salads from McDonalds and Burger King, etc) and low calorie TV dinners like those from Healthy Choice and similar. But I was major league hungry most all the time, and I was having to work out like crazy - first walking and then running 3 - 8 miles each day and weight training as well for an hour to two hours each day.

Sometimes while on that low calorie diet I was soooo hungry, almost painfully so. I would get light headed sometimes. Sometimes I would not feel well. But I toughed it out to lose the weight and meet my goals. But then life intervened, I got busy with work and with my family and I stopped watching my weight and slowly over the years I added pound after pound till one day I found myself at 400 lbs.

Now, on this low carbohydrate Atkins diet I am losing weight, almost never hungry, and never having the tremendous hunger, cravings, nor most of the effects of hardly eating anything - on a low calorie diet. My blood sugar which before at 400 lbs was fluctuating up and down (getting shaky and jittery when I needed a sugar fix and tired and kinda sleepy headed when I ate). Now it is rock steady. I took it with my wife's blood sugar meter twice and once it was 90 and once it was 130 (after I had eaten).

My blood sugar is produced through a process called gluconeogenisis in the liver where my body uses stored fat to change it into glucose (sugar) for my blood stream. It does so in the amount I need it, at a constant level, and I feel great - ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL - most all the time.

This is probably the most important benefit I am deriving from this diet (strike the work diet and insert "way of life" or "way of eating"). Probably more important than the weight loss itself.

It is wonderful having really regular blood sugar and feeling good - way better than before.

Besides the even blood sugar, I am not popping Alka Seltzer's like candy anymore. The plop plop fizz fizz was practically a way of life for me, and I justified it as more than just an antacid since I figured it might just be the healthiest way to take aspirin and thin the blood a little on a regular basis. No aspirin pill sitting on my stomach dissolving a hole in my stomach. I don't know if aspirin can even do that, but that was the mental picture I had in my mind. With Alka Seltzer the aspirin was all dissolved in water, and posed no threat to my innards. I used to have bad acid problems after eating on a regular basis. I would eat and later sometimes, depending on what it was (onions, late night pizza, whatever) I would practically get sick with stomach acid.

While in my thirties I developed a hiatal hernia (falling apart, huh) and acid would roll up my esophigas and burn it. On rare occasion I would wake up with thick nasty burning acid even up in my sinuses and mouth. Then I developed GERT (gastro esophegial reflux disease). I would eat something that triggered a response (usually steak or beef cubes, or roast beef, or those little mini shredded wheat would do it) and things that should be going down the esophigas started moving up. It felt awful and often led to puking and choking and gagging. Anyhow - gross stuff aside, my stomach has been very acid for years and years, and often I would have to take Prilosec of Prevacid or something like that for a day or several just to knock my stomach's acid production back and let my guts heal.

Well, you would think with all this meat, and eggs, and cheese and peppers and onions and all, I would be having MAJOR problems. Not one bit. I have stopped taking Alka Seltzers on account of stomach acid problems, and have not taken one Prilosec or similar pill since I started. People at work used to muse as I drank my water bottles with Alka Seltzer in them (looking like dirty dish water or something).

Another plus.

So low carb is working out for me so far. I have lost 37 lbs when I have written this, in a matter of a couple months time. I cannot remember when I started this, but it was around the 15th of October, 2006 (but my wife says it was closer to sometime in the weeks before Thanksgiving in November). I can never get dates and times straight. My wife can barely navigate out of our driveway to the mailbox and back - she is so directionally challenged. OK that is an exaggeration and probably unfair to her, but she IS SPACIALY CHALLENGED. I am TIME CHALLENGED. We all have our gifts and our uniquenesses in life. :)

So low carb is really impressing me as a wonderful way of life. I am losing weight, my blood sugar problems have all disapeared, and I am not having acid problems at all, I am never hungry (I get to eat, be full and comfortable) and I am feeling great!!! I hope that more than a diet, I can maintain this as an ongoing way of eating and way of life.

How did I get into low carb? Well a series of chance meetings with a number of people I know. One fellow at work lost alot of weight on it. He gained some back since, but still he lost ALOT. Then I met a doctor at an urgent care clinic, a nice irish fellow here in Tennessee who told me he lost weight and kept it off for ten years and counting. I asked him how and he said meat and veggies, no potatoes, no bread, no pasta, no rice, no sweets, and no cokes. Wow. 10 years!!! Then a good friend had the stomach surgery and lost radical amounts of weight (he was big like me at the time) and sufferred with low energy, intolerance of some foods, and real misery and hunger.

Then the straw that broke the camels back. The last straw. The thing that upset my applecart.

My brother called. The one who was fat like me. He called and told me that HE had lost 80 lbs on the Atkins program. WOW. My brother. So I went on the "IF HE CAN DO IT, I CAN TOO" program (Atkins) the next day.

I am writing this blog as a way to keep track of my progress, serve as a wasteland and dumping grounds for my innermost and deepest thoughts (sometimes not so deep) and deep dark secrets (please don't tell anyone - it's just between you and me), and as a cathartic outlet to release the little inner Mark Twain, Studs Terkel, or John Steinbeck in me. Yeah, I should flatter myself by disparaging their good names in this way - by comparison to little ol me. Hardly fair to them.

Why blog it?

So I can log some interesting things I am learning about the low carb lifestyle, news, about myself, my progress, about fun and stupid and impractical stuff and maybe not-so-interesting and who-knows-what that I am thinking about stuff.

Lollygagging. Serious Lollygagging. With a purpose.

You are welcome to visit here anytime, my good friend (after all... we are like brothers or sisters, you and me). And there is always room for one more good friend in our life, right?

Best Regards,

ndurance1@gmail.com