PJ's Divine Low Carb Mania!

You absolutely need to check out the low carb blog mania and web linkage posted here:
http://lowcarbmania.blogspot.com/

What an awesome idea!! Break out your favorite web browser and add this site to your favorites! It's a great place to search for excellent low carb blog links! I personally really enjoy following links to other low carbers sites and then even following the links off of those sites. It is amazing and I have ended up (in my six degrees of seperation) surfing the Internet clear to the other side of the world reading about fellow low carbers and related health and nutrition blogs and sites - all interested in the same things I am!

One thing I personally find interesting and rewarding is reading about the success others have had. Reading about their strategies! Seeing their BEFORE, IN-PROGRESS, and AFTER photos. Reading about their stories. About their struggles! About all the ups and downs (even stalls, gains, etc). Also about the research being done! The ideas being shared!

And don't forget to add another long standing and also awesome low carb link list blogsite to your favorites - Jimmy Moore's Low Carb Links!!!!(http://lowcarblinks.blogspot.com/)

Following and reading the thoughts, interests and progress of others on their low carb journeys is very inspiring to me and is educational and charges my own low carb motivational batteries!! I really enjoy everytime I can read about another person with great recipes, stories of making it through various struggles, launching back after failure, learning of new tools and gadgets and sites to help, etc.

Anyhow this is all part of that bigger picture I blogged about in a prior posting below (The whole is greater than the sum of the parts). And while on my own low carb journey and while dealing with my own personal health and life, I am also sharing something in common with so many others all over the globe! I am cheering them on in their victories! I am hoping for them! Sometimes I can help them, manytimes they help me!

PJ & Jimmy - Thanks!!!!
And Thanks to my many low carb friends!

May I Direct Your Attention....

Regina Wilshire of the Weight of the Evidence blog (http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/) is taking on an awesome challenge - One I am not sure I am even capable of.

She is feeding her family low carb, satieting, nutrient dense meals on only $3.00 per person per day. It is something of a challenge some congressmen dreamed up to see what a person who lives on food stamps is challenged to live like.

For those complaining about the high cost of low carb diets - it is worth following and checking out!!

The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts

I was talking to my dad the other day, and he said something that stuck with me - and I have been mentally chewing on it ever since. It was a simple observation - probably one that is patently obvious on the face of it. He said that the reason men band together and form governments (federal, state, local) and other organizations and institutions is that together they can accomplish more than a man can on his own alone.

I got to thinking about that. I have been watching men build highways and bridges on my way to work and from my vantage point in the office space I have been working in for the past couple of months. I got to thinking about it. You never see a single man build a highway. Or a bridge. The scale of the enterprise is so complex and massive and daunting it is beyond the capacity of one man to build it.

There are so many things that we do as a "corporate" function that we take for granted. Roads, a military defense, schools, policing, hospitals, clinics, etc. They all exist in the background and we mostly don't even think of them. Yet the big difference between one society and another in the terms of their level of accomplishment - is the level to which man (people) can successfully band together to accomplish so many things that are bigger than any man.

One of my family members was discussing a former employee of a company he used to work for, branching off and starting a similar enterprise with a similar sorta name (till he was sued into the ground by the former employer). Yet the organization I work for (who shall remain nameless) probably doesn't have as much to worry about ex-employees setting up multi-billion dollar research and manufacturing setups. It could happen, but the chances are significantly smaller. And what we produce and accomplish is really more than any one man can do as well. Something else on the face of it that we may take for granted - but only exists because many men (people) band together to make something not easily made by a single person.

There are alot of ways in my life where this also holds true. As a family we are stronger and better together than apart. As a member of a local assembly of Christians I am better off with the encouragement and strength and help I get from my brethren. And as a participant in low carb forums and message boards like this I also get strength, encouragement, information, advice, pep-talks, course corrections, etc. It is better not to go through life alone, if you want to accomplish many big things. The results will be better if you are part of some larger group of folks pulling together and working towards an objective. Even if that objective is building a road or a bridge, or working to get to heaven with as many folks as we can get to go with us, or just mastering the mechanics of our bodies to lose weight and achieve better health.

Anyhow - to all those that help me build my bridges - THANKS!

Low Carb Goodness! Italian Sausage from Johnsonville!!

Looking for something that tastes excellent, is low carb, and quick and easy to prepare? Johnsonville makes some really awesomely outstanding-tasting, mildly seasoned Italian sausage. It is precooked and frozen. All you have to do is open the bag, defrost for a couple minutes in the microwave. Cook on high for about 1 and 1/2 to 2 minutes, then cover with some Sargento Pepper Cheese slices and cook some more on high till the sausage is sizzling and the pepper cheese is seriously melted over the sausage. MMMMMmmmmm!

It is quick! It is easy! It tastes just super! The sausage is seasoned just perfectly in my opinion, and is flavorful and reminds me of good eating at the finest italian restaurants - something I have not really done since going on LC (no pasta for me anymore).

Carbs are low, flavor is high, and time and hassle of preparation are at an all time low. Precooked. All you have to do is heat and smother (with cheese), offer thanks, and eat!

Mappin it Out: A Look Into the Future

THIS ISN'T A SPRINT - IT'S A MARATHON!

I decided to map out the graph of my progress and extend it out - and see what it looks like. Wow! I spent a few minutes putting the graphic together this evening and extended a band that is my current rate of loss into the future - not that I can count on anything, let alone my losses remaining consistent into the future. They could go slower or faster.

One thing that is apparent is that I got a whole giant boatload of flab to lose, and it is going to take some time, for sure. No wonder. I didn't get into this situation overnight and it will take more than a short while to lose the extra weight I have put on since I was about 18 or 20 or so.

Although I can be rational and mature and all that, ...it still **is** difficult to be patient and go through all the time and effort to reach my goal. The one upside of this taking so long is that as long as I am focused on losing weight, I'll likely not be gaining any back. So that bodes well for my health for the immediate future - the next few years at least.

I think that it is better that it takes time probably, as I will spend more than a couple years learning the skills I need to learn to maintain this as an ongoing way of life into the future.

Anyhow I am posting my long term chart as a graphic so everyone can see what a journey this is just to hit my goals. It may take longer - who knows? And in truth - the journey is one that I hope doesn't end. This isn't a diet. This is the way I eat from now on.

What - Me Worry? HA! Down into the 320's!!!!!

Negative Self Talk and Worry - Internal Battles

Well it appears I have hand-wrung and worried myself into a mini-whoosh-like breakthrough into the 320's (see prior blog post). I wonder how many calories are burned in hand wringing, worrying, and the like? Does that count as excercise? Should I log that in my "Fit-Day" journal entry? Hand wringing - 2 days (>14,000 calories)??!!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am big on positive self-talk and staying positive in outlook and all. Yet the truth is, when I start worrying all the negative thoughts get in there and do battle internally - these kinds of things **do** pop into my brain. I try not to dwell on them or give them any place to hang out, but the truth is you do start to worry and have negative thoughts if positive things aren't happening like they used to. So it is a battle! One we got to hang in there and stay the course on!!!

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SMALL VICTORIES! This morning on the scale I read 326.2 lbs - so I am finally making it into 320-land. "EEEEEE-Doggie!" Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!!

That is a new all time low for me (last low I saw was at 331 lbs), and makes it over 80 lbs down now. Actually 83.8 lbs. So, I'll take it!

Given that I stay true to form, I will now roller coaster ride back up again and then back down again in a few days time. That is so frustrating, but I guess it's how this whole deal works for me. I would like my weight numbers to be much more linear and consistent, instead of oscillating all over the place like they do (riding up and down on water retention). Another week or two and I will be out of the 330's, I would hope (based on past experience).

Anyhow. I feel good. I feel REAL GOOD!! It's been a long long while in coming and I was seemingly never going to break thru out of the 330's.

The Time's: They Are A Changin'

I dunno - but I think things have been slowin down for me lately. My wife has noticed it herself and has commented to me on it. She thinks I am stuck in the 330's. I am spending more time here than I have at weights previously, I think. My rate of loss has slowed some. I am still losing. I am on the verge of busting into the 320's, still. Just way more slowly. I noticed I am about down another belt notch lower than the last one, and it is about time to drill more holes or get a smallerish belt. That is one good thing!

The cycling of my weight up and down has continued - retaining water weight and riding up, then dropping down to new lows. But I am dropping less lately than before. On one cycle recently I noticed a .4 lb drop (POINT FOUR) from one new low to the next!!! Still it **IS** in the right direction.

ARGH!! I have been getting disgusted enough that I stopped logging my daily weight (something I probably shouldn't do I suppose) and have mostly been logging my weight online when it hits new lows.

I am probably getting to the point where things I did in the past with impunity - still losing weight - I can no longer get away with. I have been reading online alot and thinking about things. Am I in a stall? Have I just hit a levelling off period? Or do I need to crank things up or cut things back just to get things going again??

I am not eating massive amounts of carbs. My average is still 1.9 lbs loss a week since January, but still lately I am certainly doing somewhat less which is frustrating. I still have plenty of bodyfat tho. So it's not even like I am leveling out at rock bottom!

I have been contemplating all kinds of things. Beginning to work-out or doing something to raise my metabolic rate. Jumping on to some lower calories low carb thing to bust things loose (perhaps do a Kimkins or a M/E kinda thing for a short period)? It's probably just me needing to cut back on the cheese and salad stuff a bit. Get more ON PROGRAM than I have been lately. I probably haven't been counting carbs tightly enough, and that is perhaps the deal. I haven't been going nose-down into carbs, but maybe overdoing it on cheese or the salad bar or the like. I may need to get back on fitday and do some fascist level logging of things and tracking day to day much harder.

The past couple of days I have had the stomach flu bug. Massive intestinal disruption in very socially unacceptable contexts (if you know what I mean). I have had a bad headache and stomach ache. I am hoping that going through this might be enough to propel me into 320-land. We'll see.

Hanging in there. Keeping on Keeping on. Staying the course.

Low Carb (Coffee Drinking) Thoughts...

In one of the LC forums I find myself visiting often someone mentioned that Dr. Atkins was opposed to caffeine consumption as it provoked an insulin response. I thought that surely couldn't be correct - as I have lost weight consuming probably vaster amounts of coffee and caffeine-laden diet sodas than most. But I checked online and as they say... "Sho Nuff", I found studies saying just that. Not grocery store checkout line publication types of "studies", but real honest to goodness doctor/scientist type of studies. Wow!

I started really drinking lots of coffee once I read a study that in Finland (I think) where they drink more coffee than anywhere else - they have lower incidents of circulatory problems and diabetic issues than elsewhere. Having my own personal issues with circulatory problems in my legs - I jumped in with both feet, becoming a very important contributor to Starbucks (and other places serving bean juice) annual revenues.

Now I am about silly with with IV lines running from our Starbucks Barista stainless steel coffee maker direct to my veins (JUST KIDDING - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!)!!

I am not sure what to do as I don't want worse circulatory problems than I have, but I also want to whoosh on down to new lows if I can - and would hate to slow that down.

Also, I wonder if I am really low on carbage and glucose producing sugars if it is really that significant of a factor for me to even worry about it. Any ideas? Weigh in with your thoughts!

I may run my own highly unscientific 2 week test and just drink water and see the difference and if it is measureable or significant in the difference.

Links to a couple of the coffee & insulin response studies I found online:

Caffeine ingestion elevates plasma insulin response in humans during an oral glucose tolerance test

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=11478588&dopt=Abstract

Caffeine ingestion increases the insulin response to an oral-glucose-tolerance test in obese men before and after weight loss1,2,3

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/80/1/22

One other thought - at least one of these studies showed that excercise actually works the other way - decreasing the insulin response. Maybe that would cancel the caffeine effect out? Or maybe the effect is so short lasting and of so little consequence when there is little sugar in the system that it doesn't matter. Or maybe the sugars from gluconeogenisis is enough to be elevated. Or... maybe the increase in metabolism from caffeine is enough to offset the effects?

Before Going Low Carb: Fear of Scales

BEFORE LOW CARB: Fear of XXXXXXXL Pants

Before Low Carb Phobias - Fear of Crowded Elevators

The Last Post Got the Ol' Artistic Juices Flowin...

I know, I know. "Keep your day job", you are thinking!

Leonardo DaVinci I am not!

But I thought that the last post wasn't complete without perhaps an additional drawing of a similar phobia I hope to conquer at some point in the future. I am not quite there yet, but at least there is hope....

Fear of breaking flimsy chairs....

Sigh...

I guess I will leave off here. I am tempted to do "Fear of Splitting One's Pants While Tying One's Shoes", but this is a family rated blogsite, and that is a little over the top (or under the bottom) anyhow....

Kewl-Ness of Weight Loss!

Well, I am almost down about 80 lbs. Not yet, but almost! I have been on-plan (or mostly always on-plan) since November 1st, 2006. No significant cheats or carb binges, or falling off the wagon as of yet. A couple minor indulgences here and there, but nothing really out-of-bounds so far.

We went out to eat tonight as a family. For YEARS, I have always asked restaurant staff for a "Table and Chairs, ...Not a Booth". Fear of booths has been a constant thing for me since I have had to jam my too big body into someplace way too tiny, and try to look like I am eating comfortably. What a scene I must have made....

Anyhow, that is one phobic tick about me that is seemingly going away with the weight loss, as I progress further and further towards a more normal weight for my bod. It used to be that my wife would ask (in recent weeks) "Are you SURE you want to sit in a booth?", and lately I have been bravely trying to see if I could make it work. And lately, more and more of the time it is no big deal. I fit comfortably, and can eat well, and enjoy my meal.

Tonight was the first night my wife didn't ask, "Are you SURE...??"!

So here's to smallish victories and improvements in the quality of my life!! I now fit into most booths, without a problem! That probably doesn't mean much to you if you have never had the problem I have had over the past years. It means alot to me, and it is a significant landmark on my journey to eat healthier and get healthier on a low carb life!

My drawing at the top is a tribute to the award winning graphics featured on the "Lovin Low Carb Life:By Sparky's Girl'" lowcarb blog... if she can draw pictures of herself there, well ...then I can too!!! [smile!] :)

Sure these are low-budget graphics no-doubt, but hopefully you get the point of the picture... It can be a tight fit when you get too out-of-whack with your bod and sometimes have to fit into smallerish places like the typical restaurant booth!

Getting Others to Jump In to Low Carb

In something of a surprise to me, my brother in-law has decided to jump in to eating low carb. I am very excited about this and hope he has the commitment to really do this with no cheats. I am sure he will see major results if he does! Rather than commit to a goal of losing X-number of pounds in Y-amount of time, he is planning on committing to this way of eating for 52 weeks. That would be awesome if he did so! I really think that this is the way to go, and the way to long term weight and health improvement.

I have been hoping to have an influence on a number of folks but so far have been striking out. My stepson went on and off the program in a couple days time. I was hoping he would be motivated enough to really truely try it, but no. My wife has been teetering, but hoping that something other than watching what she eats will do the trick and suddenly result in massive weight loss (She is somewhat invested in the CPAP breathing appliance, as some sleep center doctor told her that folks who use it lose weight. I wonder if she asked this doc if it would make her breasts larger or her IQ higher if he wouldn't have told her it would do that too....).

I hope that someday my wife will also join me in this way of eating, as I know it would make her feel so much better, and would better regulate her blood sugars and all - and would probably result in weight loss, better cholesterol numbers, and more.

My brother, who was one of the few folks who originally inspired me to do this (he had lost about 80 lbs on Atkins) has since gotten off the way of eating and back to high carb eating, and has regained much of his weight. Even after I threw down the gauntlet and proclaimed him the new heavyweight champ of the family, he has still struggled. For some reason he will eat low carb all day, then eat donuts or some cake or the like. It's almost like - why bother? I suppose restricting some of the carbs and sugars is beneficial, but the whole deal is to get into and stay into a ketongenic state - ketosis. If you are avoiding ketosis by filling your body/liver regularly with sugars, it seems like nonsense to me. But my bro has the same body type as me & my dad and I am pulling for him, and hope that he too can get motivated to get on this plan again 100%.

Anyhow, I am getting to the point where I want to stop and tell everyone that I meet who are grossly overweight (severely morbidly obese) that they don't have to be that way - that there are pretty easy ways to avoid that way of life if you want to. But I've been biting my lips a bit. The few times I have spoken to folks they haven't really gotten it, or don't want to get it. I feel like maybe like me, they need time to get to the place where they too are ready to commit to this way of life and way of eating.

Ah well,.... I am still:

Keeping on keeping on. Staying the course. Keeping the faith. On plan and on target.
Hanging in there...

AHHhhhh.... GO EAT YER DONUTS YOU,... DONUT EATERS!

Ah well. I have resisted the temptation of gourmet sweets, and gourmet pastas and even donuts this past week. Work had me at a conference at a swanky hotel with giant boatloads of good-eating. I stuck to big piles of green beans and some chicken. And big piles of green beans and some barbeque. And other low carb goodness. Passed on many things that would have made my pancreas simply self destruct and explode, for sure.

For all of this I hit 331.4 lbs yesterday, staying on-track and on-course. Almost 80 lbs down, and near hitting the 320's. Probably will be another week or so and I will dip into the 320-land ranges. THAT WILL BE SWEETNESS THERE!!! Can't wait!

Tonight my lovin wife ate ice cream in my face in slow motion, making orgasmic sounds in the process, trying to punish me for saying something she didn't like so much. Man, I got Super Lowcarbman armor on, and that kinda stuff just bounces off of me. Like I want to go nose-down into some ice cream after all this. Don't think so. Not happenin.

I am livin a life here and a way of eating that is keeping me healthy, helping me lose weight, reduces my blood pressure and blood sugar problems. I feel better. I am fitting into smaller clothes. I hope to be here for my children - to raise them, Lord Willing, if I should be able to live long enough and the Lord doesn't return before then. That is worth more than ice cream.

I am not working out at all yet, but I have started occasionally walking up the stairs more at work, instead of the elevators - and parking a little further away than in the past, so I am walking more. Just doing a little bit more here and there.

Anyhow - just a quick update. Staying the course. Laughing in the face of danger and donuts.

BuWah-Ha-Ha-Ha!