Keeping it Between the Lines

Just a quick post to say that since I have been "Keeping it between the Lines" (between 20-30 grams of carbs a day) things seem to be clicking again after stalling out for several weeks! I have continued losing down to 316 lbs this morning. Pretty nice to see the scale moving again!

Someday soon I will be an easy hundred pounds down, and shortly thereafter I will break into the 200's! I can hardly wait!!

So if yer having trouble keepin the weight loss clickin, get the Low Carb "Po-Leece" on yer backside and do some careful carb counting! It is so easy to have some "carb-creep" go on and loosten the reigns a little on yourself without realizing it (after you get used to things, after awhile on the low carb life). Anyhow, it was a little scary seeing things flatten out, and I was glad it was simply me getting out of whack. Getting things back in-whack (opposite of out-of-whack) helped me get back to regular and consistent weight loss again.

Keep on Keeping on! You can do this low carb thing too!!!

Harvard Medical School & U of CA Study: Having Fat Friends Makes You Fat!

In a study of 12,067 individuals and 38,611 of their friends and relatives it was determined that fat people have fat friends and family. OK - more than that. They discovered what they believe is an actual causal relationship.

It goes without saying that fat people might have fat friends and family. Family members might share the same genetics, the same upbringing, the same environment, fondness for the same types of foods, and would likely have the same instruction and examples from their parents growing up.

Overweight people having overweight friends is also something that on the face of it would seem obvious to me. It's not like someone who is seriously morbidly obese is going to be hanging out with all the athletes and fitness fanantics (or more to the point, visa versa). Anyone who has been there knows the stigma of being overweight. Those who discriminate against folks who are overweight are likely to not want to have them as their closest buds. Let's face it.

But supposedly this study, conducted by Harvard Medical School and the University of California has factored all that into their study, and has determined that there is a causal relationship actually in effect. One person in the study gets heavier and as a result their friend is likely to get heavier too. According to this study, in same sex friendships, where one person put on weight, the other is 71% more likely to put on weight as well. I wonder if it is in part that people tend to have friends their own age and folks at certain ages tend to put on weight (women have babies, men get too busy at work for softball and regular excercise,...).

If the study is correct, I guess it all goes to the power of influence we all have. I would imagine we all don't even have an inkling about how much we influence others. As a general statement, I would bet that even those that are beyond our immediate sphere of influence are affected by us, and may have never even met us before!!

We all know this at some level (conscious or unconscious). Just look at how concerned parents are when their kids starts running with kids who might not be a positive influence on them! And how happy we are when they are with really good kids (well behaved, successful, positive, happy, well adjusted, respectful, etc). This is especially true when they start dating and begin shopping around for a husband or wife (times a thousand)!!

I know that when I meet someone who tells me about an exciting new movie, or a good new restaurant, or some new activity that is really working for them I pay attention - and if it makes sense I might even jump in and try it (for better or worse). This is especially true of folks who are enthusiastic and have alot of facts and reasons to back up thier arguments.

At work we recently worked for a couple of months with a couple people who were rabidly enthusiastic about the Apple Macintosh laptop computers. It wasn't long before we were plotting on how we could buy one. As a result (in this one example) I believe that the wives of at least two of my coworkers (who met and listened to the Mac-o-Philes/Mac-Vangelists) now enjoy computing on Macs instead of PC's! All as a result of the exposure of my team to the influence of these two fired-up people. Hey, as a result... I'd LOVE to get one for myself!! :sigh:

Before I started eating low carb I watched a bunch of folks go on diet after diet. When someone was particularly effective I would ask what they were doing. It peaked my initial interest in this low carb way of losing weight, eating, and living. They included a couple of folks at work, my very own brother, and a new doctor I met due to some health circumstances. So even I am here where I am as a result of the influence of others.

Once I started losing weight I was waiting for someone to notice. Nobody did for a long time. I lost 10 lbs. Nothing. 20 lbs - Zip! It took some fairly longish time for the very first people to notice. That is probably on account of how large I was to start with (Around 410 lbs). A big giant overweight fellow. When you start out lsoing weight being that heavy, as a percentage it probably takes a bit more weight loss to be noticeable to others. When you do something like this - you do actually WANT to have your weight loss at least noticed by others!! And it is awesome to actually think about potentially having some influence on others in a positive way too! To be able to help others move towards better health and a better life!

In a few months (November) I will be a year into this and I am about 89 lbs down now and I am really only just starting to get lots of comments from folks at church, at work, and who just know me casually. It is so refreshing to hear folks ask me about my weight loss - FINALLY!! :smile: I have a very long way to go. I may be doing this for another couple years before I hit GOAL/rock bottom (if the Lord tarries and allows me to live that long).

Hopefully, I will be able to have the same positive influence on my family, friends, coworkers, church members, and acquaintences as well! And hopefully some of the great new changes I have made in my life over this past year will also be something to encourage others to give Atkins or low carb life a try!! Today I am aware that a brother in-law has gone on the program, and my brother has reportedly restarted after getting off the plan for a bit. Who'd a thunk it?

IHT report on the Harvard Medical School and University of CA study:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/25/healthscience/fat.php

The Good Doctor Atkins

I sure am happy that Doctor Robert C. Atkins developed and promoted the Atkins low carb approach to eating and living!

I know that he didn't "invent" the concept of low carb eating himself, as at least some people have likely eaten low carb for many, many thousands of years! Take the Inuit (for example) and other groups of people on the planet who have subsisted on a primarily low carb diet for ages.

Doctor Atkins did develop a specific plan towards eating low carb that (I believe) is healthy and so very easy to follow, and produces tremendous results. More importantly, it is a sustainable way of eating and living for the long term! Doctor Atkins, along with William Banting and countless other low carb legends are responsible for so many people losing weight and attaining improved health and vitality in their lives (including me) - for which I am so tremendously appreciative!!!

It just riles me that some folks out there are under the misconception that the late Doctor Atkins died of heart problems or in any way as a result of his diet - or that are knowingly spreading misinformation about the doctor or the diet program. I know lots of folks have written about this, but I thought I ought to do my part to correct misinformation out there regarding his death and the merits of the way of eating he proposed.

Here are some excellent links for those who might want to read about this online:

USATODAY.com - Atkins wasn't obese, hospital file shows

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-02-10-atkins_x.htm

Statements on Atkins' death

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-02-10-atkins-statements_x.htm

Snopes.com - Death of a Diet Doctor

http://www.snopes.com/medical/doctor/atkins.asp

As I go through my life and see so many enormously obese people - morbidly obese, without hope, in dispair, with lousey and deteriorating health I want to shout from the housetops that there is hope! That this plan works! That *YOU* C-A-N DO THIS!!!!

It is easy!!! EASY!!!! It doesn't have to be an awful struggle or a white-knuckle test of wills. Losing weight and improving your health doesn't have to be a giant endurance test of starvation and desperation! You don't have to be hungry all the time! You don't have to excercise yourself into the ground! There is a way you can lose weight, get healthier, and not suffer or feel so deprived (as you have to do on so many weight loss programs)!

The folks who spread this misinformation - whether they are sincerely misinformed or have an agenda... are potentially affecting the lives of so many folks who can be helped by this way of eating! I hope that the links posted above clear up any questions any reader may have about this... and may be able to open someone's eyes about the tremendous benefit to the Atkins low carb way-of-eating and weight-loss program.

Granted - even if Doctor Atkins was the very picture of health, ...or, even if he was not - the relevance of any single individual is probably not statistically highly relevant in evaluating the efficacy of any of the many ways of eating, dieting, or weight loss. The many, many folks that have consistently lost weight on low carb ways of eating, who have maintained their weight losses over the long term, and the many scientific studies that have concluded that the Atkins and similar low carb diets *ARE* effective - are the real measure of the effectiveness of this program!!

Like Finding Money in Your Pocket!

Found Money! Isn't that the best most exciting thing? You are going through some of your old stuff, maybe an old suitcoat or pants or a jacket you haven't worn in a long, long time - and there it is! A wad of money long forgotten. HUZZAH! WONDER OF WONDERS! It is like winning the lottery on a much smaller scale (of course). This hasn't happened to me often in my entire life, but found money is a wonderful thing!

So, ...I didn't actually find money. What I did find (still in it's original unopened plastic wrapper) a box called "The Essential Atkins for Life Kit", that my wife had purchased long ago and stuck on a counter next to alot of our cookbooks and similar books. I just noticed it for the first time! I could hardly wait to open it and thumb through all the secrets and hidden treasures that lay inside.

It contained an Audio CD called "Atkins - Staying Motivated for Life", some handy references ("Choosing the Right Carbs for Life" and "Staying on Track for Life - Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Lifetime Maintenance"), a bunch of LC recipes, and alot of good advice on living the low carb life. I will probably be going through this for the next month or more pouring over things and maybe trying a recipe or two or three.

Kindof a very nice surprise! My wife got it on sale at "Books a Million" ages ago, she said. I had no idea!!! "Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Maintaining a Low Carb Lifestyle, Permament Weight Loss, and Optimal Health", it reads on the front cover. For some reason I had never ever seen this before! Opening the wrapper was a little like Christmas!

I have already listened to the first few tracks on the CD and it was kinda nice to hear the voice of Doctor Robert C. Atkins himself as well as some others talking about the Atkins program, the results seen, and about the program itself and how it works.

Now this is really a kit for ongoing maintenance as the carb counts indicated are for 45, 60, 80, and 100 Net Carbs - something WAAAAAY Waaaaay beyond what I need to be doing right now. I am needing to be alot closer to induction levels to continue to lose. Recently my carbs creeped up to the levels mentioned in this program and my losses slowed and probably even stopped. Ketosis was extinguished or at the very least slowed down. Now I think I am getting back on track and am watching closely as my weight is once again moving downwards. It has taken a bit for me to tweak my menu hard enough to put the breaks on the excessive carbs and get things back in swing again. It probably took a week to get rockin again - and the juries still out. I will be convinced when I break past my last low to new territory and start seeing my losses at the old familiar level.

Someone else indicated that a phrase had already been coined for this phenomena - carb creep. Well, that's just what I let happen around the magins (no donuts, just cheese, nuts, and other things a little too much, too often). And so I am now doing something that is proving to undue carb creep - some personalized course correction and mental adjustment, and increased metrics on what I am doing. Holding myself accountable. Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. God's absolute law in effect, You reap what you sow! Sowing higher carbs reaps a stall. ARGH!

Anyhow, even though this Kit is meant probably for Ongoing Maintenance, and is not for the phase of Atkins where I am at right now (at least not by my own tracking and measurement) it is still appreciated and a neat find! I can still learn how to eat low carb for life, and to maintain whatever I manage to lose (hopefully a great deal more than I have lost already)!

And it is motivational! One thing I have noticed that many low carb heros (I admire) do, is to constantly read and learn about this way of eating/living. They read the science and studies going on. Books by experts. Information about related diet plans. Books about the psychology of changing how we think and act.

Some are nearly amatuer nutritional experts, and a few actually are recognized experts. Others mearly learn a little more info, techniques, tips, etc, as they continue eating low carb to ensure that they make better choices, they stay motivated and on-track, and so that they avoid pitfalls. There is nothing like thinking you have arrived to derail you in whatever you are doing! You always have to continually work to improve at everything!! I have found that true in many areas of my life. You are either going forwards or backwards. Making progress or losing ground.

Abandon Hope... All Ye Who Enter Here!

The other day (OK, more than a couple days ago), some super sharp expert-like people at some University somewhere (in California) reported in major publications everywhere that on the basis of SCIENTIFIC reviews of many major weight loss studies (Brace yourself, here comes the hard part...) ..DIETS DON'T WORK!

Now who am **I** to argue with the REALLY SMART folks like all these experts who did all this crackerjack analysis and studying using the latest in scientific methods and statistical analysis (I'm Sure)?!!

After all, they are probably RIGHT. I am DOOOOOMMMMMEED! Doomed to a hopeless existence in some enormous carcass. Probably better lay down on the couch right now and start barking to the family to run and get me some LARGE SUPER VALUE BURGER MEALS, so I can hurry up and GROW my skin into the sofa(http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html), and wait for the Fire Department to come RESCUE FAT ME cutting large holes in the side of my house and so they can take me to a hospital on a FLATBED TRUCK! :sigh:

So they can X-RAY me at the ZOO, and weigh me on some scales at a truck stop somewhere. ARGH! So Richard Simmons can rush to my aid and maybe feature my pitiful story on an infomercial somewhere. PERSPIRING to the Oldies. Doctors can intervene with some magical weight loss shakes.

I mean WHY TRY?!! It's Hopeless!! Might as well start looking on eBay for some 17-X Shirts and I dunno if they make pants that big. Wow, I guess I should start PLANNING FOR MY INEVITABLE FUTURE! I am doomed, after all (if you are to believe all the super geniuses). Better find a good PIANO BOX for a casket and a good COUPLE ACRES to plant myself in!

OK. I am being a little dramatic and more than a little sarcastic. I admit it.

I actually haven't lost hope! At all!!

Like I said in my prior posts - I have met folks who have been there, done that, and they got the WAAAAAY Smallerish T-Shirts to prove it! There is no way I am going to get discouraged by all that negativity! In fact, I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the reports and analysis. Most folks probably do start and then quit on some diet, and rebound right back to above where they started. I have noticed this for years in my own life and with others all around me. So it is real. Just not for me. :snicker:

I am changing the equation. I am not going back to the way things were. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT! I am rewriting my future (not simply accepting the past as the equation for my future). I am learning to eat differently. I am learning to live differently. Over the long haul. Not a diet. Not a temporary thing I GET ON, and then GET OFF.

I saw this piece (entitled "Dieting Doesn't Work") over at CNN's homepage (linked to "The Onion" - An online satirical look at the news) and it inspired me to vent a little. http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/dieting_doesnt_work?utm_source=cnn00

Actually, lots of folks are writing about this directly or indirectly. Jimmy Moore is writing about someone who told him he couldn't do something (to find out what, read his blog at http://livinlavidalowcarb.blogspot.com/) and follow the links.

I am impressed and challenged too by people too who tell you that you cannot do something. I always remind the fellows who work for me that Henry Ford was told by his engineers that the V-8 engine was absolutely impossible (till they figured out how to invent the camshaft and make it happen). He kept sending them back to the drawing board till they made it work! At least that is how I recall the story.

Anyhow - it is your choice! Wallow in self pity and doubt and dispair, eating donuts and canollis or get up off yer large behind and go do something about it. Make some changes. Rewrite history... that is, your future. The script for your life. If you are to buy what all the super-scientific folks in the University of California are writing for your script, or if you want to rewrite it to be something else. That is my choice. And I am so glad I decided to try the low carb lifestyle! It has allowed me to take control of my decisions and eat in ways that have resulted in a healthier me. THANK YOU DOCTOR ATKINS!!!! THANKS JIMMY MOORE!!! THANKS J13, ValerieL, Victoria (size8), Bob2112, Calianna, Diemde, JudyNYC, SparkysGirl, PJ, and so many many other really super (ordinary but still majorly overachieving) awesome people online!!! You guys give me HOPE! You guys give me encouragement! I CAN DO THIS!

YOU CAN TOO!

Interesting Related Articles/Reading:

Certain Factors Associated With Weight Regain After Weight Loss http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/558092

Dieting Does Not Work, Researchers Report http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070404162428.htm

Why dieters have fat chance of losing weight http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2054265,00.html

Dieting does not work, researchers report http://www.physorg.com/pdf94906931.pdf

AND LAST, ONE OF MY FAVORITE RECENT ARTICLES:

What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2D61F3EF934A35754C0A9649C8B63&sec=health

NY Times: The Hideous Masters of Gluttony

The New York Times (the Sports Section of all things) has an interesting article about the world of competitive eating, and in particular, the Nathans Hot Dog eating contest entitled "The Hideous Masters of Gluttony". It is a funny name for the NY Times article in and of itself, just thinking about that alone.

You can read this article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/sports/othersports/06sandomir.html?ref=sports

It is kinda interesting reading and thinking about these world champion competitors that prepare their bodies for so much food, so fast - food that they cram by the handfuls into their gullets (Hot Dogs in their Buns, Twinkies and Cannoli's, Pies, Quesadillas, Jalapeno Peppers, SPAM, donuts, etc.).

It is an intentional spectacle of gluttony to the point of pain, and to the point where containment of the massive quantities of food ingested becomes a problem. The most skilled eaters even study and practice the science and techniques of eating so much food so fast, and at keeping it down.

I suppose we have all had times where we have overindulged, and eaten too much in one sitting, for the shear pleasure of the tastes, and textures, and simple satisfaction of eating pleasant food - though it is doubtful many of us have gone to such extremes as competitive eaters do. Watching these things or reading about them has kind of a tabloid or Jerry Springer quality to it. Like a bad accident you stop and watch amazed and revolted and shocked at the same time. In this instance it entertains us and disgusts us at the same time. Sort of like watching the freak show at the fair, or seeing someone eating glass or swallowing swords.

So much of our lives revolve around food. The connections we have with food are so visceral we remember vividly the great meals we have had, and we even build much of our lives around food. Birthdays, celebrations, wedding receptions, closing business deals, anniversaries, dates, picnics, parties, fairs, carnivals, pot lucks, and other great times would not be the same without food.

Now that I am low carbing it, working hard to watch (be aware of and control) what I eat, and how much I eat, and even when I eat, I probably find more of interest in reading about these competitive eaters than I would have ever had before. Watching them eat with a passion to try to surpass perhaps even their human limits reminds me that I have overeaten myself in the past. Eaten myself into a condition testing my own limits and impacting my own health in the process. Reaching a whopping 410 pounds (or so).

Too much good food. Great food. Too much stuffing high carb sugary stuff down my gullet. Too much fast food. Too many Cokes. Too much desert. Too much bread and pasta and rice and potatoes. Too many good times. Too many excellent restaraunts. Looking back on it, though I did not eat the volume of these competitive eaters, I wasn't eating right and I was eating too much of the wrong stuff over a long period of time. To me, today, looking back on it - it is just as much as spectacle and just as disgusting.

Now I am celebrating low carb heros - more than these spectacles of overindulgence. I celebrate those who have carefully considered and controlled what they eat. Cutting out the carbs and sugars, and controlling their portions. Making wiser choices. Eating meat and eggs and veggies and other low carb choices. Cutting out the sweets and the sugary drinks. And the potatoes, and rice, and bread, and pastas that so quicky turn to sugars in our body.

It's funny too that a number of these competitive overeaters are thin. Kobiyashi (sp?) and others are not the big heavy & overweight folks you might imagine. And I got enormous and I never once ate giant plates full of hot dogs or pies like they do. I often ate no more or no more often than the folks I was with, though occasionally I did just a little.

That tells me that the consistancy over the long run is so very important, and that the food choices I make are so important. I got huge eating a little more than I should, too often, for too long. I got seriously overweight and in seriously lousey health eating foods that satisfied my desire for taste and sugar and texture (with lots of carbohydrates) for too long. Now I am reversing the trend.

By eating great food, great meat (steaks, burgers, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, pork, turkey, chicken, tuna, salmon, tilapia, turkey, etc) and plenty of good low glycemic veggies, nuts, and lots of eggs - I am full and satisfied and still losing weight. I am never suffering. No white-knuckle test-of-will diets here. I eat till I am satisfied. I eat healthier foods than ever before. My health has improved. I even snack. I eat low carb deserts - low carb cheesecake and low carb ice cream.
I no longer have blood sugar issues: where I get shaky if I haven't eaten, and sleepy if I eat alot. I no longer have acid reflux and esophageal spasms. I no longer have gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). My blood pressure is lower. I have more energy. I feel so much better - better all the time. I am wearing smaller clothes. I fit in booths and chairs and tight spaces better. I have lost the better part of a hundred pounds so far, in less than a year.

Without suffering. Without really going without or feeling that I am. Without missing the sugars. Without being hungry. Without that starving sensation where you are about to gnaw your arm off (you are so hungry).

It is wonderful!! If you find yourself in the same situation I did last November (and haven't necessarily personally set any world eating records in your recollection) - and want to improve your lot, this is the absolute best way to do it. I highly recommend the Atkins or other similar low carb way of eating for you (Atkins, South Beach, Protien Power, Carbohydrates Addicts Diet, Kimkins, Sugar Busters, etc). You too can have great results and better health before you know it!

YOU CAN DO THIS!
IT IS EASY!

IT WORKS!

If you want to jump in on the low carb way of life I recommend the following:

1.) Get one of the good low carb books and read it - and follow the directions to the letter. Wait to modify the program once you have been on it a good while. Keep your carbs low 20 grams or less each day to start - and get into ketosis (not to be confused with ketoacidosis - a potentially life threatening condition that is *NOT* associated with these low carb diets) and stay in ketosis.
2.) Get some online support from other low carbers. There are about 4 or 5 online low carb support sites available - some linked off this site! Introduce yourself. Participate. Setup a journal. Post often.
3.) Remove the low carb temptations from your environment
4.) Plan ahead and work hard to learn about all the low carb and low glycemic options and recipes out there. Try them. Learn what to avoid.
5.) To start do not count calories or fat grams or anything else - just count carbs and keep them low. Make sure you are making good choices with your carbs - eat healthy and satisfying veggies!
6.) Get a scale or find some place to weigh. Weigh yourself and keep track of your weight daily or weekly (or at some interval that works for you).
7.) Drink lots of water each day!
8.) Visit low carb web sites and read and learn all you can about this amazing way of life!!

Good luck on *YOUR* low carb journey!!!!

Water Weight

I guess you can't try dieting and losing weight too long before you encounter the concept of "water weight". After all, our bodies are made up of mostly water, they say. And like oil in your car, you need it just to survive. What do they say? Three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food? Something like that! Anyhow we are made up of alot of water, and our body has some sort of built in regulation of the water level in our bodies "tank" - so to speak.

If you just start a diet, then you will drop a good bit, before your weight loss often slows to a certain level that is consistent for awhile. That first big drop everyone is quick to assure us is "water weight". The slow ebbing away that you struggle with after that first rapid loss is fatty tissue.

If you eat too much salt in your diet you will find that your body will retain water. Beware of processed meats (lunchmeats, hot dogs and sausages, bacon), dill pickles and some other pickled foods, as they are highly salty! They dope these things up with so much salt that I suppose you could have them sit out for a while in a buffet or picnic serving with little (or less) worry of spoilage or bacterial contamination.

I have been tracking my own weight loss and it tends to cycle up and down and up and down. Each cycle I hit lower new weights, and then my weight rides up, up, up, then back down, down, down. For more people on a low carb diet they observe a similar body behavior on their scales. Typically it is 4-5 lbs for many. For me I fly up and down at least ten pounds each cycle. Occasionally I will only have a five pound variance, but mostly more.

So it got me to thinking. Just how much does water weigh???!!! I mean, ten pounds is alot. How much water is that exactly? Well I went to the source of all information (Google) and "Googled it" - and found a bunch of helpful answers at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_one_gallon_of_water_weigh.

It turns out that the helpful phrase "a pint is a pound, the world around" is an easy way to remember water weight at a rough approximation of it's weight. "Close enough for government work", as they used to say when I was in the military ages ago. So a gallon of water is somewhere between 8.34lbs or 8.35 lbs if you were to weight it, with a pint actually being a smidge over a pound.

That is interesting to put into perspective, as that means the difference between a "water-lean" me and a "water-porky" me it actually about a gallon and a couple pints or so. Hmmm. And a 5 pound weight shift on account of water retention is a pint or so more than half a gallon (or a pint or so more than two quarts).

I have noticed a few things about when I am water-lean. My skin is tighter. I look better. People comment on my weight loss more. I also get leg cramps on occasion when I wake up in the morning. My belt goes a notch or more tighter.

When I am water-heavy, my skin looks baggier all over - but especially in my face. I feel a little demoralized too. It's depressing to go from better looking to jowly and baggy looking. And the scale - ARGH! It is so depressing and frustrating to see it ride up ten pounds over my new low weight.

Anyhow, that's life. Low carb life for me. But I have a little visualization of the amount of water that I now trade on and off in these weight loss cycles. Hope this helps you too!!

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.

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.

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!!!

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)!!!