Hello.
I'm still here.
Yes It's been a while. But I've got almost 30 good reasons why I haven't been here. Yes, the "D" word. To all the foodies out there, you know that word. Yes. "D" equals "Diet".
For those of you who know me, my size is a presence. For those of you who don't know me, i'm 6'4" and when I first started writing, I was about 245 lbs. Big Boy!!!! But my height didn't make it look as bad as I really was.
I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I owe so much to my parents. They gave me my sense of humor, my vast music appreciation but most importantly, my love of food and cooking. Our lives were and are surrounded by food. Whenever the whole family gets together (all 5 siblings with kids and parents) every meal is an event and it ends with what are we doing for the next meal. Really. We eat lunch so we can plan for Dinner. My parents introduced me every ethnic food they were able to get their hands on and I tried everything that was put in front of me.
Unfortunately, I did eat everything that was put in front of me. But as many do, I ate with my mouth and not with my stomach. Every meal for me was until I was really full. If Chewing and tasting were a job, I'd be the CEO, CFO, COO and any other C initials that are involved in corporate america. So with all that eating, and really not enough moving, I gained weight. All my life I was always sort of out of shape. I tried all the diets. Liquid Diet, Low Carb Diet, Vegetable Diet and many of them worked. I lost weight, but with all failed diets, I eventually gained it back. Usually with some extra bonus weight. YAY!!!!
So after doing all these diets, it finally hit me. The only thing that really works is that you have move more and eat less. That's really it. But that is a really big IT. Especially for someone who loves to cook and eat as much as I do. Not only was it the mantra of eat less and move more, but for me, the diet is very much a mental obstacle. If my head isn't into it, there is no point in even trying. I feel like I'm just fooling myself if my head is not in eating properly mode. So it has to click in my head.
Well Click it did. My previous post to this one was for my trip to Taiwan. I was at the airport in New York getting ready for the flight. I have two hours to kill and decided to get something to eat. I was in the mood for a real juicy burger. There was a Chili's in the airport and said that is my burger. Now, in New York, it is now a law, and a good law, that all fast food and fast casual restaurants have to list the calorie content of their meals. Fast Casual for those of you who don't know are restaurants like chili's, Applebees, Red Robin, TGI Friday's and that sort. So I looked at the burgers and I think the one that had the least amount of calories was about 1700 for the whole dish. From eating my whole life as much as I did, I knew the average that anyone should eat is around 2,000 to 2,500. Or something like that. Add a beer to that meal and you have almost you whole day's worth of calories in one meal. I was floored. I'm a very visual person so seeing those numbers had an effect on me. Even the salads were high in calories. In the end, I had them make me a salad with Grilled chicken and dressing on the side.
In Taiwan I was e-mailing with my brother and he told me about an iPhone app called Loseit! I downloaded it and took a look at it. knowing that I was in traveling, it would be difficult to diet, I watched what I could. But really didn't start till I got home from the trip.
The app basically is a calorie counter. Its as good as you are honest with putting in the app what you put in your mouth. And that is what I did. You put in your starting weight and your goal weight. You then decide if you want to maintain your weight or lose up to 2 lbs per week by 1/2 lb increments. So I chose 2 lbs a week and a goal weight that the number began with a number "1". It was 199. let's not get carried away. I haven't been under 200 lbs since Anita, my wife, and I started dating. I think I even had a pair of spandex shorts then. sorry for that image and the mess you made in a bucket close by. What it does is it tells you a calorie count that you need to be under and you will lose that amount of weight each week if you stick to it. If you exercise, then you add calories to your daily intake. So exercise is good for your health and allows you to eat more.
So, It is now about two months later and I'm down almost 30 lbs. That included a trip to Vegas mind you. Yes I even didn't write about my trip there this time. I handled Vegas but working out almost 2 hours a day. Sensible breakfast and lunch and enjoying dinner. My weight loss graph had a bit of spike during that trip but I'm now back on the loss scale.
If you like Salad, then you can do pretty good with this diet. I love salad. one of the things that has really helped me with this diet has been salad. lots of it. Basically, lunch and dinner is only that. A large salad of lettuce, tomato and cucumber and a protein. If I really get tired of salad, I will grill or bake some fish and have some roasted or grilled veggies to go with it.
I have stayed away from almost everything high in calories which includes carbohydrates. The only real low cal stuff that I'm eating is low cal ice cream and low cal mayo for a dressing on a salad I make. Yogurts, cottage cheese and fruit. Lots and lots of fruit. grapes are a great nibble fruit.
As of today, I'm down to 215 and my goal was to be at 215 by thanksgiving. I'll be well ahead of that by next week. My next goal was to be by 210 for New Years and Honestly think that if I keep this up, I'll be at my goal by New Years.
That is where I've been. I know I'll be back again writing as I will always have food in my life. I still go out for dinner but watch what I order and eat. I just needed a step back. so I've stepped back and will have many fun meals ahead of me. I have an Indian restaurant reservation ahead of me this Saturday and I've offered to make Curried Butternut Squash soup for thanksgiving. Perhaps you'll see it here shortly.
Sorry for the delay but I hope you all understand.
If I don't speak to you, Happy Thanksgiving.
