Diet, Day 36

I know that I am feeling better, mentally & emotionally, about myself right now. So I don't know if the fact that I seem to feel better physically is just an extension of that, or if I am actually feeling better. I have more energy, which I attribute to 2 things. First, B12 shots. Simple medical fact- they increase energy levels. Second, I am just excited about the progress I am making. Even when my knees ache, I am eager to get on the exercise bike because I continue to see results. No matter where the root of my improved outlook & seemingly improved health may lie, I am glad for it.

Oh... in a few weeks, from April 25 thru May 5, I'll be on vacation. For part of that time, will be going to North Carolina with many of the nation's MINI Cooper clubs to take on U.S. highway 129, a.k.a. "The Tail of the Dragon." 318 hairpin mountain curves in 11.8 miles. This trip has become an annual tradition for me. Even though I now drive a Mazdaspeed3, the MINI club (at least here in FL) is still very welcoming, and it's not really about the cars for me anymore- I've made a lot of good friends and have no plans to leave them behind, so I am glad they still wnt me around, too.

The reason that comes to mind now is that I know I won't be able to stay on this diet while I am in the mountains of NC/TN. So I am planning to take that week or so of from the diet and enjoy myself a little. I'm not going to go eat 3 pints of Ben & Jerry's every day, but I will probably enjoy my first Guinness of 2009 and eat some old favorites like pasta, Chinese, Mexican, and sushi. All in moderation, of course- just enough to enjoy each one.

So I ran this by the medical assistant at the doctor's office yesterday & asked her if all I would need to do is revert to Phase 1 of the diet (all protein) until ketosis kicks in again. She said that's exactly how to handle it. So I am going to ask for some more ketosis test strips in the next few weeks and see if I can escape 10 days of vacation time without gaining weight while I enjoy some of my favorite foods. Anyone wanna start a pool? LOL

Today, 3/31/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz tilapia (8 vlp) ad 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)

Meal 2- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp) and 1 cup raw red bell pepper (1 veg)

Meal 3- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp), 1/2 cup cooked green beans (1 veg) and 12 black raspberries (2 fruit)

Meal 4- 2 oz turkey bacon (2 vlp)

Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Holy cow, you huckleberry!!! (RIP Phil Rizzuto)

Diet, Day 35 & Doctor's Visit #6

I am happy to report that I continue to waste away at a brisk pace! Weighed in at 275 today, down 6 pounds from last week. Body Fat also measured in under 50% for the first time... again, I'll buy that if it stays below 50 for a few weeks running. Blood pressure also continues to look good, 120/62. Would like to get that top number down 5-10 points. All in good time, I suppose.

I bought another 2 cans of the salt-free green beans today, even though they are a crime against taste buds. I figure I'll try them out with that Goya ham seasoning & see if that makes them edible. The ham seasoning has a little less salt in it than a can of green beans with 50% reduced salt. So if I go with salt free beans, then add less than half that salt back, I'm still better off than eating the lower salt beans by themselves.

I have noticed a minor, odd problem. It's a lot less annoying than having your own measurable gravity field, but embarrassing nonetheless, and something I knew I'd have to face sooner or later. The skin on my thighs & midsection, where most of my extra lard resides, is starting to feel slightly... loose. That may not be the right term. It's just feeling less than full. I guess the fat is exiting the building faster than the building can contract.

So no matter how difficult it is, I am eventually going to have to get to working on toning my midsection, back pain be damned. I really don't want to go to a gym & work with a trainer, so I am going to see what sort of exercises I can do at home- maybe some modified situps, crunches, etc. But I think I have some time yet before that becomes imperative.

Today, 3/30/09:

Weight: 275 (Net 31 pounds lost in 5 weeks)
Body Fat: 49.8%
BP: 120/62

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 1 cup each yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, measured raw (3 veg)
Meal 2- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp) and 1 small Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Meal 3- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. On like Donkey Kong!

Diet, Day 34

One of my mother's friends who is on a different diet told her a great trick to add flavor to green beans. Goya makes a Ham Seasoning that comes in packets. No fat, no carbs. I put 2 cans of green beans in a pot with 1 packet of the ham seasoning and honest to goodness, it's darned near as good as cooking the beans with bacon. I'm sure I will find more uses for that seasoning.

After taking a day off from cardio, my legs & knees felt very strong today, even on the bike. Maybe I just need to know my limits & not push too hard. 7 days a week is not required, after all.


Today, 3/29/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 2- 4 oz chicken (4 vlp) with 1 cup bell peppers, measured raw (1 veg)
Meal 3- 8 oz tilapia (8 vlp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 4- 1 small Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. The kick is up, and it's good!

Diet, Day 33

Very tired this morning, and I have a lot to do today (tonight, when I am awake). So I'm just going to keep it short & sweet...

Today, 3/28/09:

All supplements taken as directed except final appetite suppressant, as I am goint to bed early, so no point in it.

Water: 1 gallon

Cardio: Taking today off.

Meal 1- 7 oz chicken (7 vlp) with 1 cup each: bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, measured raw (3veg)
Meal 2- 5.1 oz hot dogs (5 vlp) and 2 cups raw cucumber (2 veg)
Meal 3- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp) and 1 small Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. Slam dunk.

Diet, Day 32

Nothing interesting to report. Last night was the first without the optional extra supplements. Easier to track them this way, at least.

My legs are getting a little achy from the exercise bike. I only really notice it when I get ON the bike, but it's there. I'm having to try a little harder just to get my 30 minutes in. But I am determined to keep getting it done. I'm allowed to take Aleve on the diet, so I may make it part of my regimen, because years ago, the prescription forerunner of Aleve was my arthritis medication. Hoping it'll help.

I ran short of options for vegetables, and was out of fruit last night, so there's not much variety in the meals. Gotta go shopping today.

Today, 3/27/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 45 minutes, just to spite myself. Hehheh.

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 2 cups mushrooms & 1 cup spinach, measured raw (3 veg)
Meal 2- 3 cups mixed red & green bell peppers, raw (3 veg)
Meal 3- 1.25 cups fat free cottage cheese (5 vlp)
Meal 4- 3.4 oz hot dogs (3 vlp)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 6 servings veg. DONE.

Diet, Day 31

***WHOOPS... when I wrote this yesterday, I must have hit "Save" instead of "Post." Oops. here it is, a day late...

I took the last of the optional Omega 3 & Polyphenol supplements this evening, so those are off the list unless I decide to re-up them later. So going forward, the daily regimen will include 1 multivitamin (which smells like ass covered in dead fish), 3 doses of phentermatrazine appetite suppressant, and 2 doses of calcium pyruvate fat burner. I'll try to pay attention & see if dropping the extras makes any difference. If it does, and I decide to reintroduce them, I will try to find them from a cheaper source.

Side note about this darned blog formatting... from one day to the next, I can never get the line spacing the same. I haven't made any changes to the default format, yet yesterday a carriage return skipped one line, and today, it skips 2. More annoying than that, I cannot go back & delete the extra blank lines- the editor sees them as single carriage returns, but spaces them as double.

Today (Yesterday), 3/26/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 35 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 1 cup each spinach & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)

Meal 2- 2 cups raw bell peppers (2 veg)

Meal 3- 4 oz turkey bacon (4 vlp) and 4 oz low fat sharp cheddar cheese (4 lp)

Meal 4- 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 6 servings veg. Fish in a barrel.

Diet, Day 30

So yesterday, I set my alarm for 5pm to get out to the MINI club meeting. But I also set 2 more alarms for 7:40-7:45pm, incase I couldn't bear to wake up at 5 & skipped the MINI club meeting. Well, I shut off the 5pm alarm & crawled back into bed. I remember thinking/dreaming that it was getting late, but I was asleep, so what did it matter? Well, my phone rang. My phone wakes the neighbors, it's so freakin' loud. I sat bolt upright, saw the clock- 9:35 pm. I knew it was my Mom calling to see if I was awake. (We share a house) Looks like I set the time, but didn't activate the darned alarms. Grrrr.

I usually leave the house between 10-10:15pm. Waking up at 9:35 & having to cook/prepare 2-3 meals, pack them, count out the supplements, take some, pack some, fill my water jug, shower, shave, brush teeth, etc.? Not good. I was like the Tasmanian Devil, flying all over the house. And I found a way to pack food I didn't have to cook, which really saved me as far as the diet goes, since I can't exactly use the Taco Bell drive-thru as a substitute when I am in a hurry. So here's how it went down...

Today, 3/25/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp) and 2.5 cups raw broccoli (2.5 veg)
Meal 2- 5.1 oz hot dogs (5 vlp) and 2.5 cups raw red bell peppers (2.5 veg)
Meal 3- 4 oz tuna (4 vlp)
Meal 4- 1.25 cups fat free cottage cheese (5 vlp) and 1 cup raw celery (1 veg)
Freebie- 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 6 servings veg. Preeeeee-cisely.

Diet, Day 29

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that the assistant who did my vitals said that at 30 pounds of weight loss (that's 5 more pounds), I will hit my first "benchmark." This will mean additional foods added to the diet. I didn't ask her if that meant more servings per day, some slightly higher carb foods (maybe carrots, tomatoes & other veggies that are currently no-no's), or something else entirely. Hopefully, I'll find out in the next week or two. I did ask if the benchmark was based on a percentage of final goal achieved, or an absolute number of pounds, and she said it was 30 pounds. O.K.

Today, 3/24/09:

All supplements taken as directed.

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 35 minutes

Meal 1- 9 oz tilapia ( 9 vlp) with 1.5 cups cooked green beans (3 veg)
Meal 2- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)
Meal 3- 1 cup raw red bell peppers ( 1 veg) and 12 black raspberries ( 2 fruit)
Meal 4- 5.1 oz hot dogs (5 vlp)
Freebie: 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. He puts he biscuit in the basket!!! (Sportscenter fans will get that reference)

Diet, Day 28 & Doctor's visit #5

Went to the doctor's office after work this morning and things are moving right along. Blood pressure stayed in the healthy range, at 118/72. Body Fat, while a pointless measurement, registered at 51.6, once again up a point or so. Weight was 280, down 5 pounds from last week & a grand total of 25 pounds in 4 weeks.

Sadly, I know there probably won't be a lot of 5 pound weekly losses on the horizon. The fast start was expected, although I did not expect 25 pounds in a month. But things will level off. And that's where the real test of my willpower & determination will begin. For now, I am taking some satisfaction in the quick start, and using it as motivation to keep on the program, as I have been.

Oh, and this morning, I got weighed on both of the scales I have been using at the office. of course, they were only off by a few ounces from one another. Personally, I wonder if they were calibrated during the week. But who cares? Still making progress.

I had to get a new supply of multivitamins and calcium pyruvate (fat burner) today. (required to be on the program) I opted to forego the Omega 3 fish oil and the Polyphenol blend, because, frankly, their supplements are overpriced, and I want to see if there's any noticeable difference without the extras. I probably should have started without them & added them in later, but hindsight is 20/20.

Today, 3/23/09:

Weight: 280 (net 25 pounds lost in 4 weeks)
Body Fat: 51.6%
BP: 118/72

All supplements taken as directed.

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) w/ 1 cup each bell peppers & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)
Meal 2- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)
Meal 3- 12 black raspberries ( 2 fruit)
Meal 4- 4 oz tuna ( 4 vlp), 2 oz string cheese ( 2 lp)
Meal 5- 2 cups raw broccoli ( 2 veg)

Totals: 14 servings very lean protein, 2 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Me über alles!!!

Diet, Day 27

Not much to report. Boring day.

Today, 3/22/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) w/ a cup each red bell pepper & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)
Meal 2- 4 oz turkey bacon (4 vlp)
Meal 3- 3.5 oz hot dogs (4 lp), 2 cups raw bell peppers (2 veg)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg. Deprived of 2 servings veg/fruit! I actually ran out of vegetables & the fruit I had left on hand was either not appealing or looked to be a little beyond the peak of freshness. Oops.

Diet, Day 26

Today has been weird. My sleep habits were way off, and I've kind of melded Saturday into Sunday, and am starting my next day's meal count, etc. without having slept considerably in between.

Oh, and I am wearing my 44" jeans now. They're just slightly snug, but not uncomfortably so. When I got dressed today, I thought it was going to be a short day, and I figured I'd see if they fit, and I could move comfortably, etc. for just a few hours. HA! They've been fine all day. So, w00tzes for me!

OK, enough self-congratulations. here's the deal..

Today, 3/21/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon+

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz tilapia (8 vlp) & 1.5 cups cooked broccoli (3 veg)
Meal 2- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp), and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 3- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp) and 1 cup raw celery (1 veg)
Freebie: 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 6 servings veg. POW! Right in the kisser!

Diet, Day 25

So I noticed as I was about to try those Ballpark fat free hot dogs that they contain 6g of carbs per hot dog. I went ahead & ate 2 of them anyhow, but I gotta be honest- the Hebrew national 97% fat free dogs taste a lot better. The Ballpark ones aren't so great. And I think I'll NOT eat the rest of them.

Today, 3/20/09:

Missed one dose of appetite suppressant & fat burner because I was so busy at work that I forgot. Oops.

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 40 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (6 vlp) with 1 cup each red bell peppers & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)
Meal 2- 2 cups raw cucumber (2 veg)
Meal 3- 4 oz sirloin (4 lp), 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 4- 2 hot dogs, 3.5 oz total (4 vlp)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 6 servings veg. Banzai!!!

Diet, Day 24

I haven't slept in nearly 40 hours, so there'll be no cardio today, and...

Today, 3/19/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: Only if I sleepwalk later

Meal 1- 4 oz turkey bacon (4 vlp) and 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)
Meal 2- 1.5 cups fat free cottage cheese (6 vlp)
Meal 3- 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)
Meal 4- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg. I would've had a grapefruit (2 servings fruit) & hit the target, but when I peeled it, the inside was drying out, so I tossed it. And I'm not staying awake now to stuff food in my face. G'night, kids.

Diet, Day 23

I'm trying to get to bed earlier in the day & wake up earlier so I'll be in less of a rush before work. More time to plan, cook, and eat dinner (breakfast?), etc. So, let's just cut to the chase...

Today, 3/18/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 35 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz bay scallops (8 vlp) and 1.5 cups cooked green beans (3 veg)
Meal 2- 4 oz turkey (4 vlp) and 1 cup raw cucumbers (1 veg)
Meal 3- 4 oz turkey (4 vlp) and 1 cup raw cucumbers (1 veg)
Meal 4- 1 cup raw red bell pepper (1 veg)
Freebie: 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 6 servings veg. Short & sweet.

Diet, Day 22

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!



It just dawned on me last night that most of you probably don't get the "Dingoboy" reference. Dingoboy was a radio skit performed in the early 90's by the then unknown Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel. Bob Lassiter, one of the crankiest SOB's ever to grace the Tampa airwaves, played the whole series one day. Apparently, he had been getting this CD of free content from some promotional company for months, and never listened to them. But once he did, he loved Dingoboy. It was irreverent and strangely hilarious, and had a theme song that sticks to your brain like a venereal disease. The Batman episode had me in tears. If you are curious, go to http://www.boblassiterairchecks.com/wsun/ and download the file called "wsundingo.mp3."

So I went grocery shopping today and made a minor find. I like the Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dogs just fine. But when I saw that Ballpark, of all people, makes fat free hot dogs, I had to grab a package. I'll let you know if they are worth a darn once I try them.

I want to know why it is that you can't buy turkey breasts in Sweetbay the way you can buy chicken breasts. The only forms of turkey they seem to have are cold cuts, ground turkey, and either whole or breasts- but not the little 8 oz cut & trimmed things- the one that looks like a half eaten Thanksgiving turkey & weighs 4-6 pounds. I don't want ground turkey, and most of the cold cuts have all sorts of salt & sugar (carbs!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!) in them. Luckily, I found some sliced turkey with almost no carbs, so I picked it up.


Today, 3/17/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 40 minutes


Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 2 cups bell peppers, measured raw (2 veg)
Meal 2- 1.5 cups fat free cottage cheese (6 vlp)
Meal 3- 1 Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Meal 4- 4 oz sirloin (4 lp) with .5 cup cooked spinach (1 veg)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 3 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. Short by 2 serving of veg. I had 2 cups of cucumbers soaking in vinegar & ready for Meal 5, but work was so busy that I ended up bringing some of my lunch back home. There just wasn't time for a Meal 5 today.

Diet, Day 21 & Doctor's visit #4

I had a crazy busy day today, so I'm going to keep it brief. It's already WAY past my bedtime. Asked a different girl to look into the discrepancy between the scales in their office, as it seems to have continued. We'll see if she follows thru. Not getting into the details, but I firmly believe that I did not lose any weight this week, despite what their records say, thanks to the discrepancy between the scales.

Today, 3/16/09:

Weight: 286 (net 15/20 lbs lost, depending on which scale you believe)
Body Fat: 50.4%
BP: 122/60 (Holy cow!)

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: WAY too busy. I need to get some sleep... 4-5 hours overdue already

Meal 1- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp) w/ 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 2- 1.5 cups cottage cheese (6 vlp)
Meal 3- 12 fresh strawberries (2 fruit)
Meal 4- 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)
Meal 5- 4 hot dogs (6 oz) (6 vlp)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 2 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. All your base are belong to me!

Diet, Day 20

I've found the turkey bacon to be a little tricky to cook. First, tried nuking it. Cooked it OK, but it seemed like it was never getting "Done." So tonight, I tried pan frying it. Since there's hardly any fat in it, it doesn't fry in fat, and it really doesn't get crispy. But somewhere between when it shrinks down just a tad in size & where it starts to blacken, it's gotta be done. Only it's hard to tell when that is. Seems like it just gets kind of stiff.

Still tastes fine, though. It's not as yummy as greasy, crispy porkfat-riddled bacon, but it does have a slightly salty, smoky flavor. Actually, I would imagine that turkey jerky would be not entirely dissimilar to turkey bacon. I wonder if I could make turkey jerky with one of those countertop food dehydrators. Bet I could. Might look into it.

Tomorrow morning, I go for my next doctor's visit. Hoping to see continued progress.

Today, 3/15/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 4 oz sirloin (4 lp) with 1 cup each: green bell pepper & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)
Meal 2- 4 oz turkey bacon (4 vlp) and 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)
Meal 3- 8 oz shrimp (8 vlp) with 1 cup cooked spinach (2 veg)
Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear & 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O (No, not at the same time. Ick!)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 6 servings veg. Exactamundo.

Diet, Day 19

I bought some turkey bacon the other day, Jennie-O brand, because it had the least fat. The nutritional info on the package stated 1 serving = 1 slice = 15 grams. So 2 slices = 30 grams, which is just a little more than 1 ounce, which = 28.4 grams.

So the math was easy. 1 gram f fat in 30 grams of the product. If 1 gram per ounce (28.4g) is acceptable as "very lean protein," then 1 gram per 30 ounces is even less. YAY! Turkey Bacon is VLP!

But wait. The front of the package says "95% fat free." Lemme review... 1 gram out of 28.4 = 96.5% fat free. 1 gram out of 30 = 96.7% fat free. Why would they only list it as 95% fat free on the label if the math actually works out to nearly 97%? If it really is only 95%, that means it would be on this diet's "lean protein" list, and not the "very lean protein" list. Makes a difference when planning your meals.

After some thought, I decided that the info on the nutrition label is probably held to a higher standard of accuracy than the big splash graphic on the front that declares "95% fat free!" So I am going to count turkey bacon (at least this brand) as very lean protein from now on. Tonight, however, I avoided having beef for my final meal, as beef is definitely not on the "very lean" list, and would have put me over my 4 oz. of "lean."

Today, 3/14/09:

Due to bad timing, I did not take my final appetite suppressant & fat burner today. All other supplements taken as directed.

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) w/ 1 cup each red bell peppers & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)
Meal 2- 12 strawberries (2 fruit)
Meal 3- 4 oz turkey bacon (4 vlp)
Meal 4- 1 cup cottage cheese 4 vlp), 2 cupe red/green bell peppers, raw (2 veg)
Freebie: 2 dill pickle spears

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Surgical strike.

Diet, Day 18

I've decided that when the 2 optional supplements I bought run out in about a week, I'm just going to get them OTC or online. The doctor's office charges a bit much. (Omega 3 & Polyphenol/veggie capsules)

The last 2 days, when I got on my exercise nike, my knees & calves ached at first. I'm fine walking around, but for some reason, they stiffen up when I start to pedal. Not unbearable, but noticeable. I'm trying to do my cardio 7 days a week if I can. And at least once or twice a week, I'd like to go for 40 minutes instead of the minimum 30. Eventually, when I can get off the bike after 30 minutes & my legs don't feel like Jell-O, I'd like to make 45 minutes the routine, with hour long workouts once or twice a week.

Something that never srtruck me before, but I have noticed while trying to calculate fat content in meat products: most diets give you limits of "x" grams of fat per ounce, or express the fat content as a percentage of total weight. This is odd, because grams are a metric measurement, while ounces are the old English standard. We're getting our ratios in mixed formats!

And then, when you read the package, you get even more confused. Because the labels list fat per serving. And a serving can be defined in terms of grams, ounces or other random units like "1 hot dog." So, I see the label says the package net weight is 12 ounces, but there are 7 hot dogs, and there are 1.5 grams of fat per serving- or hot dog. But how much fat is that per ounce? Luckily, I'm pretty good with doing simple arithmetic in my head, and I can at least get a good ballpark figure, but I would imagine most folks don't have the patience to figure it all out.

In this case, 12 ounces, divided by 7 hot dogs means each hot dog is 1 & 5/7 ounces, or about 1.7 ounces. So 1.5 grams of fat is less than 1 gram per ounce, which is why the hot dogs I am buying are on the "very lean protein" list. (Made by Hebrew National, all beef, and actually very tasty!)

Oh, and an ounce is about 28 grams, so 1 gram of fat per ounce means the meat needs to be about 97% fat free to qualify as very lean, or 90% fat free to qualify as lean, according to this diet's plan.

OK, enough geekery. I need to get some sleep.

Today, 3/13/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 40 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp), 2 cups raw cucumber (2 veg)
Meal 2- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp)
Meal 3- 24 grapes (2 fruit)
Meal 4- 4 oz sirloin (4 lp) w/ 1 cup each: red bell pepper & mushrooms (measured raw) (2 veg)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. WWwwwwwwEEEEEEEEE are the cham'pyuns, my frie-hend!

Diet, Day 17

I got an e-mail from Old Navy tonight because I buy jeans & shirts online from them frequently. I am thoroughly convinced that online shopping was invented by men for men, so we can avoid all that hassle of fighting thru the crowds of slow-moving browsers & window shoppers at brick & mortar stores. But that's a subject for a different blog.

I figured maybe I would buy a couple of pairs of 44" jeans, which will be my next step down, as motivation. Of course, when I get to their web site, the color choices are limited in the larger sizes. Tonight, they also had one color of the loose fit painter's jeans on sale- the DARK ones. I don't like dark jeans, and the lighter ones weren't available in my size.

So I looked for Bugle Boy & Lee Jeans online. I had worn both in the past, for years each. I stopped wearing Lee jeans when I could no longer find them in the usual stores, probably over 15 years ago. Switched to Bugle Boy because they were cheap & fit well, and they had an outlet store not far from my home. Which closed, and I started ordering them online, until Bugle Boy shut down their online store. Looks like it is still closed. So, Lee jeans it is!

Lee had their carpenter jeans on sale for $23, and offered new online accounts a one-time 20% discount, so I signed up & got 2 pair of 44/30's sent my way for under $40, total. Now I have to make sure I find my way into them. Hehheh.

Today, 3/12/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon+

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 4 nearly fat-free hot dogs (6 oz total) (6 vlp), 2 cups raw celery (2 veg)

Meal 2- 24 grapes (2 fruit)

Meal 3- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp), 1 cup each mushrooms & red bell peppers (measured raw) (2 veg)

Meal 4-2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Targt acquired, target eliminated.

Diet, Day 16

Today was mostly uneventful. I keep forgetting that I can eat lettuce as a freebie, and I'm eating all of my raw veggies on their own, when I could be making salads. I need to add that to my repertoire. Just need to make sure I have allowable salad dressings, or that I get some.

I'm also starting to miss starches a little. Bread, potatoes, pasta, rice. All among my favorites. Which is probably part of my original problem, I suppose. I know that as I get down to being just "overweight," as opposed to "obese," I will be able to add them back into my diet in moderation. But right now, that seems light years away.

Today, 3-11-09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon+

Cardio: 40 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz shrimp (8 vlp)

Meal 2- 2 cups raw red bell peppers (2 veg)

Meal 3- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp)

Meal 4- 1 Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)

Meal 5- 4 oz zero-trim sirloin (4 lp), 1/2 cup cooked spinach (1 veg), 1 cup (measured raw) mushrooms (1 veg)

Freebie: 1 pre-packaged cup-o-Jell-O (sugar free)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. AWOL: 1 serving fruit/veg.

Diet, Day 15

Last night, in a flurry of activity, I goofed. I was trying to watch TV, cook dinner, pack lunch, eat dinner, count servings, get ready for work, perfect cold fusion, force toothpaste back into the tube, and a million other things, and I completely forgot my supplements. Normally, I take most of them with my first meal, around 8-9pm, and pack my last 2 doses of appetite suppressant & fat burner in my lunch container. Oops. I did discover that yesterday, I packed both of my supplement doses into my lunch container, and since I was only supposed to take one dose, I had one left tonight. So that's all I took tonight.

Today, 3/10/09:

Missed most supplements, took one dose of appetite suppressant & fat burner.

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp), w/ 1 cup cooked spinach (2 veg)

Meal 2- 2 cups raw cucumber (2 veg)

Meal 3- 2 oz low-fat string cheese (2 lp)

Meal 4- 1 grapefruit (2 fruit)

Meal 5- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)

Meal 6- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp)

Totals: 14 servings very lean protein, 2 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Bingo.

Doctor's visit #3 and Diet, Day 14

Once again, before today's doctor visit, I weighed myself at home. My scale said 284. If that held up, it would mean I had lost another 8-10 pounds, and I was skeptical. For this visit, I was back in the same room where I was initially weighed in at 306, which seemed significantly higher than my home scale. And I weight in today at 290. Only 4 pounds less than last week (only?), but a large difference between home & office scales.

I told the girl that I was pretty sure there was a significant difference between the scales in their office, since one nearly matches my home scale & one is higher by 5-6 pounds. So, from now on, since I cannot guarantee that I will be on the same scale at every office visit, I'm going to track my weight by my home scale. Even if it's not all that accurate, I just want consistency.

But at least judging from visit #1 to visit #3, there was a 15+ pound difference on that same scale, so that gives me a good idea where I stand. 15 pounds in 2 weeks is fantastic, if I do say so myself. Doesn't really matter if it was 11+4 or 8+7, as long as the trend continues in the same direction.

My blood pressure checked in at 120/76, and I'll take that any day & be happy. 2 weeks in a row of good results there.

Body fat measured at 55.3%, but again, I just don't put any stock in the method used and I basically count that as unchanged until/unless I see a change of 10% or more and it is sustained over several visits.

I have already noted my cardio for today below, so I had better get up off my posterior & get to it. 30 minutes, coming up!

Today, 3-09-09:

Weight: 290.5 (Total 15.5 lbs lost)

Body fat: 55.3%

BP: 120/76

Skipped one dose of appetite suppressant, so as not to break the "3 doses in 24 hours" rule. All other supplements taken as directed.

Water: 1 gallon+

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp), 1 cup peppers & mushrooms, measured raw (1 veg)

Meal 2- 2 cups raw cauliflower (2 veg)

Meal 3- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)

Meal 4- 24 black raspberries (2 fruit)

Meal 5- 1.5 cups fat free cottage cheese (6 vlp)

Freebie: 1 pre-packaged sugar free Jell-O cup

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. I did it, I did it!!!

Diet, Days 12 & 13

One of the inconvenient aspects of working the graveyard shift is that if you want to blend in with society, spend time with friends, etc. on the weekends, your sleep habits get tossed to the wind. You sleep when you can & try your best to be awake when you want or need to. I had a heck of a weekend, and it messed with my diet a little, but it's not like I was out having pizza & ice cream. Just a schedule glitch.

Despite normally being asleep no later than Noon, I was awake until about 5-6pm on Friday. Now, my diet schedule has me awake around 8, and starting the supplements & meals around 9. Wasn't going to happen. I slept until about 3 a.m. When I awoke, I spent a few hours watching Friday night TV shows on my TiVo, and I began to crave a hamburger. (I blame commercials) Instead, I went & got some diet-approved food from the fridge and took my supplements around 6 a.m. This meant that I'd be finishing my supplements by the afternoon.

It also meant that if I slept during the day today to prepare for my work shift tonight, as I planned to, my supplements might get off schedule. Specifically, the prescription appetite suppressant. The doctor was very clear that I was never to have more than 3 doses in a 24 hour period. So I didn't get all of my supplements or food today, but that's OK, since it was a short day. (Assuming I get to sleep quickly after posting this)

Dinner yesterday was a barbecue with the local MINI club, at which I played grillmaster. I got the meats & veggies prepped for shish kebabs to feed 16 people. Everyone assembled their own kebabs, and I grilled them. In order to maintain my diet, I measured out my meat & veggies into separate containers before the gathering.

Because I did not post yesterday (I was awake for about 22 hours by the time the barbecue was over), I will post 2 days' info today.

Yesterday, 3/07/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon

Cardio: 0

Meal 1- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp), 2 cups raw celery (2 veg)
Meal 2- 4 0z each: shrimp, chicken, sirloin (total 8 vlp, 4 lp), 1 cup peppers & mushrooms, measured raw (1 veg)
Meal 3- 3 cups raw peppers (3 veg)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 6 servings veg. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!

Today, 3/08/09:

Supplements: Did not take dose 2 or 3 of appetite suppressant, did not take dose 2 of calcium pyruvate fat burner. All others taken.

Water: 3/4 gallon

Cardio: 0

Meal 1- 80z chicken (8 vlp), 1 cup peppers & mushrooms (measured raw) (1 veg)
Meal 2- 1.5 cups fat free cottage cheese (6 vlp), 1 Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Freebie- 1 container sugar free Jell-O (pre-packaged)

Totals: 14 servings very lean protein, 1 serving veg, 1 serving fruit. Room for improvement.

And now I go to sleep, in the hopes that I can stay awake at work tonight!

Diet, Day 11

I've been awake for about 24 hours straight now, so I am just going to record the important data today & go crash...

Today, 3/06/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 0

Meal 1- 3 hot dogs (5 oz, <1g fat/oz) (5 vlp), 2 cups cauliflower (2 veg)
Meal 2- 1 Granny Smith apple (1 fruit), 4 oz cheese (4 lp)
Meal 3- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp)
Meal 4- 6 oz tuna (6 vlp)
Meal 5- 2 cups cucumber (2 veg)
Meal 6- 3/4 cup fat free cottage cheese (3 vlp)

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. OOPS! I must've gotten confused when counting servings as I packed my food before work. Went over on protein by 4 servings, and under by 1 on fruit/veg. Thinking maybe I forgot to count the cheese from Meal 2, and led to me finishing the last of a container of cottage cheese after I got home.

Diet, Day 10

If you have never tried sodium free beef or chicken broth, I highly suggest you do not start now. I had bought some broth, as it is a freebie on the diet plan. Thought I could just sip a cup every so often. And since I do have hypertension, when I saw the sodium free stuff, I thought that would be even better for me. Yeah, it tastes so incredibly bland that it is mildly offensive. I ended up grinding some salt into it.

I was planning to take today as an off day from cardio, but when I got home from work, I was actually looking forward to it. I absentmindedly went in & started a workout, forgetting my plan to rest. I think I maybe coming down with something. ;-)

For those of you whose weight doesn't fluctuate much, you may not quite be familiar with how your pants, especially jeans, will stretch with you as you expand. Of course, every time you wash them, they tighten up again & you stretch them out again as you wear them for a day.

A few months back, I was wearing 46" waist jeans, and I ordered some new ones to replace them, as they were wearing out. When the new ones came, I absolutely could not fit into them, so I had to order some 48's for the very first time. And 48 is as large as Old Navy goes. That was part of my wake-up call, by the way.

I mentioned in a previous post that those 48's were always a bit loose, but they as I started losing weight 2 months or so ago, they slowly got looser. By the week before I started this diet, I had to put my hands in the pockets to discretely hold them up as walked. So I switched back to my old 46's.

A few days ago, I decided to pull those never-worn 46's (the ones I couldn't get into) out of the bottom of my closet, and to my surprise they fit rather well. Another tiny sign of progress. While I don't want to spend big bucks on clothes, I am looking forward to buying smaller sizes as time goes by.

And I noticed today as I was puttering around the house that my belly flab- the spare tire portion that kinda leans/droops over my beltline, is lightening up. Not as jiggly as it was a few weeks ago. Again, a small victory, but it feels really good.

Today, 3-05-09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon+

Cardio: 35 minutes

Meal 1- 6 oz chicken breasts (6 vlp), 1 cup mushrooms, measured raw (1 veg)

Meal 2- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp)

Meal 3- 2 cups raw red bell peppers (2 veg)

Meal 4- 6 oz chicken breast (6 vlp), 1 cup mushrooms, measured raw (1 veg)

Meal 5- 1 grapefruit (2 fruit)

Freebie- 1 cup sodium free beef broth, with sodium added. LOL

Total- 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. BOOM! Head shot!

Diet, Day 9

I hadn't given it much thought in a few days, but my hunger has remained minimal and energy has remained strong. Could simply be the diet affecting my metabolism, and it could also be due to the supplements. Whatever it is, I feel better already than I did just a few weeks ago.

I forgot to mention that in my Monday doctor's visit, I was informed that it may take some weeks for my intestines to settle down, and that's normal. "Disturbing," says me, "Normal," says the doctor.

Since my friend who did this plan was on a more restrictive diet than I am, I began to wonder if I was staying in ketosis. After all, I am eating some fruit almost every day. I pretty much assumed that wouldn't be enough to break ketosis, but since I had all the extra test strips lying around, I used one this morning. Sure enough- still glowing pinkish-purple. Good sign. If & when they advise me to raise my daily intake of any of their food groups, I will probably check again, just to be sure. I'm curious like that.

Today, 3/04/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 40 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz bay scallops (8 servings), 1.5 cups cooked green beans (3 servings)
Meal 2- 1 granny smith apple (1 serving), 4 oz cheddar cheese (<3g fat/oz) (4 servings)
Meal 3- 4 oz tuna (Starkist pouch) (4 servings)
Meal 4- 2 cups raw cucumber (2 servings)

Total: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. Bingo.

Note: Cardio ran long by accident. It's amazing what you can do when you zone out to some good music... I will try to limit myself to 30 minutes for a while, and maybe increase duration in a few weeks.

Diet, Day 8 - Let's do cardio!!!

I only slept for about 4 hours yesterday, so I was dreading being tired this morning. I did not want to have any excuse to say "I'll put off the cardio until tomorrow, when I'm well rested." Well, I just finished my 30 minutes on the exercise bike, and I'm not as completely wasted as I expected. Sadly, some of the programming buttons on the bike are no longer functional, so I cannot set it to automatically increase & decrease the wheel resistance for pattern workouts, etc. It also no longer displays my speed, time, distance, or calories burned, which kinda irks me- especially the timer. The only thing I can do is manually adjust the resistance & it still displays my heart rate. I may see if I can find the computer unit for the bike used online somewhere.

Yesterday, one of my errands was to find a 2 quart insulated jug I could use to carry filtered water to work. Every Verizon building I have ever been in seems to have slightly funky water and I don't like to drink it. (I even use bottled water to brush my teeth at work) Anyhow, I ended up finding a 1 gallon jug, which is convenient, since that's the minimum quota- as long as I finish that before bedtime, I'm good to go.

Nothing else to report, other than the day's data. I will say that I am happy that so much seafood is on the "very lean protein" list. I loves me some seafood.

Today, 3/03/09:

All supplements taken as directed

30 minutes cardio completed

1 gallon+ water consumed

Meal 1- 8 oz bay scallops (8 servings), 2 cups raw broccoli w/ 1 tbsp dressing (2 servings)
Meal 2- 4 oz tuna (Starkist, in the pouch) (4 servings)
Meal 3- 2 cups raw red bell peppers (2 servings)
Meal 4- 4 oz 93% lean ground sirloin (4 servings)
Meal 5- 1 grapefruit (2 servings)

Total: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Spot on.

2nd Doctor's visit & Diet, Day 7

After an uneventful night at work, I had my 2nd doctor's visit today. The regular doctor (an Osteopath) was out of the office taking recertification tests & her stand-in was apparently from another part of town. And he misjudged traffic, arriving over 30 minutes late. Oops.

I arrived early this morning & noticed something odd. The office staff was seated in the lobby & they were having some sort of meeting. I could not hear details thru the closed doors as I waited outside, but it started to sound like some sort of pep rally. The only thing I heard clearly was the very last thing- whoever was leading said "What are we gonna do today?" and everyone shouted "Kick ass!"

Now, a positive attitude is great, but this sounded like the way they pump up salesmen before they go into the field to make cold calls. And that could be a little disconcerting. After all, this place is supposed to be about health care, not sales & marketing, quotas, etc. I certainly hope that's not the way they are doing business. But maybe I'm being paranoid.

I should note that I weighed myself on the scale at home before leaving for their office so that I could compare the 2 readings. Home read 293.5. Much to my surprise the doctor's scale read 294.4, meaning that me home scale only reads light by about a pound, and I lost over 11 pounds this first week. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that.

Now, they use a scale/body fat monitor that uses the electric pads under your feet to send a low voltage charge thru you to estimate body fat. Everything I have read from all reputable sources says that this method is inherently inconsistent, as it can vary with body temp, hydration levels, etc. The tech who did my measurement today told me that last week was 52.3%, but I am 99.9% certain it was over 56%. I was looking at the meter when the first tech wrote it down. This week, it read 57.8%. Not encouraging if you just look at the number, but since I am fairly certain that these machines are only a ballpark estimate, I'm not even concerned.

My blood pressure was spot on today- 110/70. I know that my pressure varies quite a bit throughout any given day, so last week's high reading wasn't that big of a deal, and I'm not celebrating this week's normal reading. Once I see normal readings week after week, I'll call that progress.

The doctor went over my blood work as well. Liver & thyroid functions are excellent. My total cholesterol is 184, which is in the acceptable range. Triglycerides were 111, which he said was excellent. HDL was 44, and he said that ought to be more like 48-50. LDL was 120, which he said needs to come down, but he did not specify the normal range. The HDL/LDL ratio was 2.7, which he also said ought to be around 2.2. He was confident that the diet would take care of the HDL & LDL within a few months.

Oh, he also mentioned that I was a little dehydrated the previous week when the bloodwork was done. This could explain the body fat reading low. It also explains why they had a hard time getting an EKG done. They used 3 sets of contact pads, 2 sets of leads & 2 machines before getting something usable. Maybe my magnetic personality was interfering with its readings. ;-)

I ended up having a boatload of errands to run after the office visit, so I now have no time to do my first cardio. But I will have plenty of time tomorrow, which is when I am supposed to start anyhow. I'm actually looking forward to it, after seeing the progress in my weight thus far. It's rather motivating.

Today, 3/2/09:

Weight: 294.4 (Doctor's scale)
Body Fat: 57.8
BP: 110/80

All supplements taken as directed

1 gallon+ water consumed (1.5 quarts with Crystal Light drink mix)

Meal 1- 7 oz chicken breast (7 servings), 1 cup mushrooms (measured before cooking) (1 serving)
Meal 2- 2 cups raw cucumber (2 servings)
Meal 3- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 servings)
Meal 4- 1 whole grapefruit (2 servings)
Meal 5- 7 oz chicken breast (7 servings), 1 cup mushrooms (measured before cooking) (1 serving)

Total: 16 servings very lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. On the nose.

Diet, Day 6

Looks like I spoke too soon yesterday when I said my intestines were heading towards normal. 'Nuff said. Will discuss with the doctor on Monday morning.


I moved my exercise bike inside this evening, since it's going to be getting warm out soon. Technically, I am supposed to start cardio on Tuesday, but I think I might go ahead & do a little Monday morning before bed.


Nothing interesting today... just the basics:


Today, 3/01/09:


All supplements taken as directed


1 gallon+ of water consumed


Meal 1- 7 oz chicken breast (7 servings), 2 cups raw broccoli (2 servings) w/ 1 tbsp low fat/cal dressing (allowed up to 2 tbsp as a "freebie")
Meal 2- 4 oz ground sirloin (93% fat free) (4 servings), 2 cups celery (2 servings) w/ 1 tbsp low fat/cal dressing
Meal 3- 1 small apple (1 serving)
Meal 4- 1 1/4 cups fat free cottage cheese (5 servings)
Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear (0 servings)


Total: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. Short by 1 serving fruit/veg for the day.