Make your own healthy food

Kristi has been on a tear lately. First she started making her own bread. And I'm not talking about making it with a breadmaker. No, no. We got rid of that thing a long time ago. She makes the whole works by herself from scratch. I don't eat a lot of bread these days, but I've sampled what she has made on several occasions and it really is delicious.

She also started making yogurt. Sounds strange, I know. I'm not even sure if she's doing it because it saves us money or if she just likes telling people she does it. Either way, it's less expensive and more healthy than store-bought yogurt. Here's the recipe she uses:

Homemade Yogurt Recipe

(Did you happen to notice where that link sends you? Associated Content. Just thought I'd point it out since I've talked about it here a few times already.)

I don't eat a lot of yogurt these days either, but this homemade stuff is good. The biggest problem I have with it is not being able to track the calories. I've been logging my meals, calories, and macros (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) for about a year and a half now and I'm not ready to give it up yet. It's a great way for me to feel like I'm in control of my body by knowing exactly how much I'm eating each day, week, and month. There's no guessing; no accidental overeating.

Kristi even talked about making cottage cheese. Now there's a food I eat a lot of each week! Once again, though, there's no way to track the contents so at this point I think we've decided against it. Although Presley now likes cottage cheese (as well as bread, toast, and yogurt), so you never know.

Next up? Cows and chickens in the backyard. Plenty of milk, beef, eggs, and chicken breasts for the entire neighborhood!

Weight loss secrets across the globe

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately. I slacked quite a bit last week as what was initially an entry almost every day suddenly turned into only a couple. I've got a list of excuses prepared, but I'm not sure it really matters. You fellow bloggers out there understand where I'm coming from. It can be difficult to find the motivation to write when you're not sure anyone's reading what you've got to say. I'm not complaining, really. This is just the way things are with blogging...and Facebook....and Twitter....or just life in general. I think we all go through it, periodically.

So now that I've got the self-pity out of the way, I do have something to share.

19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around The World

I'd like to comment on all 19 "secrets", but I'll just touch on a few:

*A world without "Super-Sizing"? Who-duh-thunk-it possible? Portion control is clearly a major contributor to obesity in the U.S.

*The average American family spends a whopping 37% of its food dollars at restaurants and fast food joints. Seriously? Wow. More on eating out in another entry this next week.

*Eat breakfast. Seriously. It wasn't until 1996 that I began doing this religiously. It has made all the difference in the world. There's no way I could keep from gorging myself later in the day if I didn't have breakfast.

*Naps. When you think you're hungry, you probably just need to lie down and take a nap. I like that. I wish I could do it at work.

*Lengthen your meals. Take your time. Eat slow. Hey, I think I've said that on here before!

*Exercise, exercise exercise. It's mentioned no less than four times here. There must be a reason they're so adamant about it.

Green Tea

It wasn't until recently that I became somewhat of a tea drinker. It's not my thing. I'm not a fan of the taste. But it got to a point where I was reading so much information about the health benefits of tea drinking that I could no longer ignore its super powers, especially green tea.

Nine Reasons To Drink Green Tea Daily

For me, the number one reason to drink the murky looking stuff on a daily basis is to help fight/prevent prostate cancer. My father had the unfortunate experience of losing his life to this disease almost a decade ago, at a time when prostate cancer was known as a cancer that men were more likely to die with rather than of. That theory has changed these days as prostate cancer is now a silent, scary disease that can creep up on middle aged men. Since genetics play such a large role, I'm trying my best to keep my prostate in check.

I question whether or not green tea can really "target belly fat", but what can it hurt? It certainly isn't going to put on belly fat. The calories in a cup of green tea are so minimal I don't even track it with the rest of my daily intake. Keep in mind if you're trying to watch your caffeine consumption, regular green tea does contain it, but like the above article states, not near as much as coffee. Like everything else, you can buy a caffeine-free version of green tea and still get the natural health benefits.

The three cups a day that the "experts" recommend seem like a lot. I was drinking that much for awhile, but have scaled it back to 1 or 2 at most. I've also been drinking some occasional black tea just to mix it up. I don't like the taste of it much either, but sometimes it's not about taste. For me it's about getting into a routine/habit of doing things that are good for me. If that means eating chicken breast and broccoli two times a day, sobeit.

For a little info on the benefits of black tea (including heart attack and stroke prevention) you can check out this link:

The Health Benefits Of Black Tea

What's your inspiration?

I was watching an episode of All In The Family this morning that got me to thinking about the inspiration behind my health goals. Archie had been ordered by his doctor to lose twenty five pounds. During his struggle to diet he fell off the wagon like so many people do and ended up at a restaurant eating as much artery clogging food as they would serve him. There he ran into his 92 year-old friend, Quigley, a man of great health and in fantastic shape for his age because of his activity level and eating habits. After spending some time explaining to Archie why it was so important for him to lose some weight, Quigley left Archie at the restaurant by saying: "Bunker, take my advice and don't end up just a fat memory in somebody's wallet. Stick to your diet and you'll live to dance at your grandson's wedding. Think it over, sonny." On the surface, like everyone else, my so-called inspiration is simple: I want to look good. I don't want to look old when I'm old. I was fat and unhappy for roughly the first 25 years of my life - that was plenty, thank you. But what about the unselfish reasons? How do others, especially my family, inspire me? I already mentioned in my last entry how much it would mean to me to be able to retire someday since my father didn't (technically) get that chance. But there's also my beautiful little daughter to think about. We had her, our only child, later in life. I was almost 37 when she was born. The day I found out Kristi was pregnant was the day I started doing all the math...and freaking out: "Holy crap! I'll be 55 freakin' years-old when she graduates from high school! I'll probably be in my 60's when she gets married and has children! I'll be lucky to be alive!!! What have I done!?!?! We should've had children EARLIER!!!" This continued after she was born. It took me about a year to calm down enough to let everything sink in, especially just being a father. One day it finally dawned on me that I had a choice. I could either lie around and be a fat, unhealthy, lazy father who worries constantly that he will not get to see his little girl grow up, or I could at least try to combat these concerns with an effort to live as long as possible. The rest has been history since February, 2009. All of this effort just might pay off. Of course, there's always the chance that it won't. But at least I can say I tried. It's worth the effort for the next 30, 40, or 50 years. Every day I remain alive is one more day of joy for me and my family. Happiness that, as far as I know, might be because of my diet and exercise routine. So what's the inspiration behind your health aspirations? Footnote: The actor who played Quigley (Burt Mustin) died a year after the aforementioned episode aired. He was 11 days shy of his 93rd birthday.

To my father on Father's Day

It pains me every year that I no longer get to show my dad the appreciation he deserves on Father's Day. Worse yet, the last F's Day we had together...well, it was so long ago I don't remember it.

But just because he's gone doesn't mean I can't celebrate his life. Today I've been reflecting on how easy my dad made fatherhood look. I don't know how he did it because it sure is a difficult task to work, be a husband, son, friend, and father...all while keeping your cool the way he did all those years. Since becoming a dad myself, all I've wanted to do is model myself after him. Unfortunately, I seem to stumble so regularly I can't help but feel like a failure sometimes.

There are so many things I wish I could still talk to him about or ask him. Instead I do the next best thing and ask myself what he would say if he was here...if I could talk to him...How did you do all that you did and do it so easily?

I'm pretty sure of his answer. He'd tell me that it might have looked easy but that he had just as many difficulties as I did through it all. The key is to keep things in perspective when it all reaches a boiling point. In other words, what's most important at this very moment? Ten times out of ten it's going to come back to the love and compassion you have for your family. After all, you don't get married and have children so you can put them at the bottom of your list.

My father only made it to 63. These days he's part of my inspiration to leading a healthy lifestyle. In his honor, I'd like to be able to retire someday and not have to do it from a hospital bed like he did. On that day I hope to raise a glass his way and let him know that my retirement is his retirement...because he deserves it more than I do. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here today...and I mean that both literally and figuratively.

My dad might be gone, but I'm doing everything I can to help his spirit live on...through me.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

Jumping rope

Although weight training is my current passion, cardiovascular exercise is still very important to me. I've done many different types: running outside, walking outside, walking on a treadmill, running on a treadmill, interval training on a treadmill, interval training outside, elliptical, stationary bike, and the one I tried last month for a short period:  jumping rope.

It all started when I read in Maximum Fitness that you can burn nearly 900 calories an hour by jumping rope. I thought it sounded easy. Even when I was fat I was actually pretty good at jumping rope. So the first thing I did was head out and buy a speed jump rope. I wasn’t about to use one of those thick, 70’s-style, heavy pieces of cable that most people think of when they hear “jump rope”. A speed jump rope is thinner and, of course, fast. You can actually concentrate on the jump rather than worrying about the three pound piece of coil that’s sailing over your head repeatedly.

My next problem was where to jump rope. The gym certainly wasn't going to work. It was too crowded and too small. The ceilings were too low inside both my house and garage. I could have done it in my driveway, but I wasn't about to let my neighbors have the satisfaction. The best option I could come up with was the warehouse at work.

So one day when the office had closed and everyone else had left the building, I confiscated a large clock with a seconds hand from a wall and went into the warehouse. My plan was to use a program that Maximum Fitness had laid out. It simply required jumping rope as fast as you can for 30 seconds, resting for 30 seconds, jumping rope for 30 seconds, resting for 30 seconds, and so on. MaxFit suggested doing this for 15 minutes, but I was wise enough to know I’d have to work my way up to that much time, so I started with 10 minutes.

I still remember the first 30 seconds like it just happened. To put it mildly, every single part of my body was jolted like never before. I even had pain in areas I’d rather not talk about here at The Magic Pill. When I was done with the first leg, I contemplated quitting. But when you've worked out as much as I have over the last 15 years you understand that sometimes the first couple of attempts at a new exercise can be the most difficult. I hoped and prayed things would get easier as I progressed through the 30 second segments. And for once in my life I was, to an extent, correct.

After completing the 10 minutes, I was definitely winded. But I also noticed over the next day or two how sore my legs were…my knees and thighs, and especially my calves and ankles. And even worse, I discovered I have a bad habit of keeping my knees together while jumping.  I think this comes from my “fat guy days”. More than likely when I learned to jump rope back then I was concerned that if I didn't keep my legs close together, the rope would hit my legs as it came around - because my legs were so fat. It just goes to show how a fat person looks at themselves. Because of this bad habit, the insides of both my knees were killing me for the next couple of days. They had been banging against each other for ten 30 second sessions of jumping rope. Ouch. Needless to say, I broke myself of that habit rather quickly.

I ended up jumping rope only two times a week, but worked my way up to 14 minutes. Unfortunately, during that period I realized some of my soreness was coming not necessarily from the exercise itself, but from the hard concrete floor in our warehouse. The pounding was still jarring my body, but now it was affecting me in a different way: my ankles and feet were swelling. This wouldn't happen during or even immediately after jumping rope, but I would instead discover it the next day when running on the treadmill. There's more to this story but it didn't take me long to realize I needed to stop jumping rope on a rock solid concrete floor unless I wanted to end up in a wheelchair before I turned forty.

I still think jumping rope is a fantastic form of cardiovascular exercise. I really want to do it again in the near future. It's not near as easy as it sounds or looks. It's a challenge. A huge challenge. Aside from the obvious, the reason I want to try again is to push myself even harder because I don't feel I pushed myself hard enough on my first go-around. So hopefully in the near future I’ll figure out a way to continue jumping rope on a weekly basis in a manner that does not involve such a hard floor.

I do have one more form of cardiovascular exercise on my mind, but I'll save it for another entry. This particular type of exercise, like jumping rope, is one from everyone’s childhood. More details down the road when (if) it actually happens.

More on almonds

Several days ago I mentioned how much I value nuts, especially almonds. Here's a link I happened to come across on ATT.net the other day that helps further explain the wonderful health benefits of my favorite nut:

Health Benefits Of Almonds

Did you happen to notice the fourth word of the article? Moderation. It's pretty much the key to losing weight and staying healthy. When you think about it, it makes a hell of a lot of sense. I've already preached the obvious here at The Magic Pill...to lose weight you must simply burn more than you eat. It's not what you eat, it's how much you eat. Moderation. Unfortunately, that's the problem most of us have. Is there any chance we could sit down in front of a pepperoni pizza and have just 1 piece for a meal? Nope. Not in a million years could I ever do that. In the long run, for most of us, removing yourself from those situations and eating healthier foods regularly is the easiest way to not fall off the wagon.

The only other additive that is an absolute must to succeed is willpower. You have to want to lose weight. And as many of you know, that "want" runs a lot deeper than just looking in the mirror or stepping on the scale. But more on that in a future entry.

Eat ice cubes, lose weight...sorta.

Associated Content has officially published my previously published piece. Huh? Yeah, that's right.

The Importance Of Combining Diet With Exercise - Associated Content

See? I was trying to tell you that you've already read it. Hopefully you still clicked on the link and stayed there for a little while. It's how I get paid. And by "getting paid" I mean if I'm lucky I'll see a $20.00 check before I retire. As I've already implied, writing for these places is a joke of a "job". I only do it so...well, I don't really know why I do it. I just do.

Now here's something I might need to write about soon for Associated Content. Maybe I can get an advanced payment for the piece:

Ice Cube Diet

I love how they say "no known side effects". How long before this thing is taken off the market because everyone using it is growing a tail?

I will say...this product/company is going to make a mint. They've created the latest "Magic Pill" - the same illusion I named this site after...tongue in cheek, of course. Maybe it's worth the money to some people. But it's important to understand that using an aid like this is not a license to eat whatever you want. One still must be dedicated to dropping pounds, eating less and yes, exercising. If you keep the commitment in perspective, using something like this to help you along is not necessarily a bad idea...as long as you don't mind sucking daily on a frozen plant called Hoodia Gordonii.

Food scale issues

Today was the last of a 4-day weekend for me. Not that this has anything to do with food scales; I just wanted to mention it.

As I was about to crack my eggs for breakfast this morning I realized my food scale had gone haywire. I was really hoping it was just the batteries so I called Kristi who was running errands and asked her to pick some up for me. As luck would have it, we soon discovered the problem was not the batteries. My food scale had died. It was time for a new one.

By my calculations this would be the third food scale I've had since I started getting back into shape 16 months ago. Kristi thinks it has only been two scales. She might be right, but I do specifically remember being the person who purchased the one that's now in our trash can because I spent more than usual on it (around $30) and had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to be worth the extra dough. Premonition? I get those sometimes.

After doing some quick research I decided to hit Bed Bath And Beyond for a change instead of Wal-Mart. When I got there I was immediately overwhelmed by five different food scales. Decisions, decisions. I immediately eliminated the one that was not digital and the $50 one that also displays and stores the nutritional information about the food you are weighing. That's all fine and dandy but I already do this on my own at FitDay.com. Plus, storing that kind of vital info inside something that uses batteries just doesn't sound reliable, does it? Two down, three to go. While evaluating the others I was also trying to figure out what type of batteries each of them used. I now had 4 lithiums sitting at home that I would have no use for unless I found, fell in love with, and purchased a scale that used this exact same kind. Unfortunately, one of them took AAA's, one took a 9V, and one (the cheapest at $20) didn't say what kind of batteries it took on the box. Upon further examination it occurred to me there was not much difference between the $40, $30, and $20 versions. The nail in the coffin came when I examined the display model of the $20 scale and noticed that it did, indeed, take the same kind of lithium batteries we had at home. Hurray! And even better? The cashier accepted the 20% off coupon Kristi had given me even though it expired last week so I spent less than $20 on this puppy. Today was definitely my lucky day! I know, I know. I get excited about stupid, strange, little things.

Here's the new member of my family....

Update

No sooner did I hit "Publish Post" on my Examiner/Associated Content blog entry the other day when Associated Content finally decided to answer my question regarding "previously published writings":

Hi Brad,

Yes, publishing the article on your blog, or anywhere else, counts as publishing. Thank you.

No big surprise there, I guess. So today I submitted this piece to them for consideration:

The importance of combining diet with exercise

We'll see if they accept it.

I also have posted it on The Examiner:

The importance of combining diet with exercise

Granted, they'll be sending an email to me soon to tell me that it's not local. So...fire me then. Ha!

Before and After pics

You might have noticed something new at the top of the page. Yep, that's me up there. Not big enough? Here, let me blow it up for you:

I contemplated using pictures with less clothing for both but decided against it for a variety of reasons...at least for now. Besides, look at that first photo. Do you really want to see that guy wearing nothing but boxers? Ugh. I did have fun putting those two pics together, though, so I might make more "B&A's" at some point. And my guess is eventually they will show more skin.

Looking at these pictures is a great way to remind myself where I started a decade and a half ago. The truth is, for as much as I've changed physically, I still see myself as the guy on the left most of the time when I look in the mirror. Now mentally, I admit I have changed tremendously. Confidence seems to come out more easily, and I now have the mental capacity to know I can do anything I put my mind to if I really want to sink my heart into it. I've become a goal-oriented person. When I decide I'm going to do something I'm going to go all out and do the best I can with whatever resources I can get my hands on. Losing weight, exercising, weight training, proper diet...these are all things that I can have total control of. For better or worse, it's who I am today.

Side note: My head was cut off in the original version of the "Before" pic.

Yoplait's Red Velvet Cake Fat Free Yogurt

I used to eat a lot of fat free yogurt. I actually mixed it with my low fat cottage cheese. Everyone who saw me do this thought it was disgusting, but I swear the two taste very good together. I believe I got the idea from the book, Body For Life. Anyway, despite this great food combination I stopped eating yogurt awhile back because it didn't really fit into my dietary needs. Don't get me wrong. It's good for you! I just stepped away from it for awhile...until the other day.

I happened to catch a commercial on the tube (a rarity since I'm always fast-forwarding through them because I rarely watch anything live) for Yoplait's new yogurt flavors, one of which is Red Velvet Cake. Now, I'm a big fan of red velvet cake so I thought it might be worth a shot. I picked up one at the stored and gave it a whirl. I even mixed it with some cottage cheese for old time's sake. The verdict?

I give it a "B". It's good, it just doesn't taste like red velvet cake. It more resembles one of their berry flavors. The real problem is it lacks a cream cheese frosting bite to it. Let's be honest...that's what makes a red velvet cake a red velvet cake. So in my opinion Yoplait kind of missed the boat with this opportunity. Instead of putting out a product that looks and tastes extremely similar to their previous ones, they should have added a second flavor and color and swirled it together in the container to create a real red velvet cake taste. With all the aspartame they use to make these different flavors, you can't tell me they wouldn't be able to make one kick-ass cream cheese flavor.

So to Yoplait I say "shame on you". You're better than this. Maybe you could go back to the drawing board and try again??

PS - your Orange Creme and Key Lime Pie are awesome!
(Mama always said after knocking someone down, pick them back up and leave them with a high note.)

The Examiner experience

A few months ago I applied to become a Kansas City Weight Loss Examiner Writer. Little did I know at the time, they "hire" everybody who applies as long as they can form a complete sentence. Shortly after being accepted and around the time I was writing my first article, it was brought to my attention that The Examiner requires/wants/prefers the writers to compose things in a local, newsworthy manner. This was a bit disheartening because my initial impression was it would be more op-ed or blog than news reporting. I couldn't imagine trying to skew my weight loss/fitness writing to a local audience. Regardless of this big snag, I decided to give it a go. The first article I wrote was about figuring out how much food you are really eating:

How much are you eating?

Shortly after I posted the article I received the following email from The Examiner:

As part of our Local Incentive Program, we are reviewing local Examiners’ articles to ensure that the content is relevant to a local audience. The article you recently published...doesn’t meet the criteria for a local article and doesn’t qualify for the Local Incentive Program payment. However, you will still earn your usual payment based on the traffic your article receives. As a local Examiner, it is important that you localize your articles so that you can establish yourself as a credible source on your topic and in your area.

Whatever. At least they didn't say "we're going to hold your daughter hostage and take away your peanut butter until all of your articles have a local twist". But I decided to make an effort at writing something local anyway, just to see if I could even do it. Unfortunately, I failed miserably:

Kansas City fitness center continues to grow 

It was a forced piece of writing. But at least it qualifies for the local payment, whatever that might be. Yippee.

Shortly after writing my first two articles I decided it would be a good idea to peruse The Examiner to see what other writers were putting together. How were they localizing fitness and weight loss with their articles? Wouldn't you know, several of them were treating it like a blog. Their philosophies seem to parallel my thought that the "Local Incentive Program payment" is not worth the struggle. Why not just treat it like a blog? What's the worst they can do? Take it away? Boy, that would be sad.

So I wrote another article that was somewhere in between opinion and "how to", but definitely not localized:

5 easy steps to losing 5 to 10 pounds in 2 weeks 

And I haven't written another Examiner article since. But now I'm thinking of adding some of these blog entries here at The Magic Pill. Again, why not? It seems to be common practice for Examiner writers. Plus, Examiner stuff shows up at the top of Google searches. Go to Google and type in "Brad Carl". The first thing that pops up is my Examiner page.

But wait, there's more. I recently came across another site called Associated Content. You simply submit your articles and hope they get accepted. If they are accepted and have not already been published elsewhere, you can get paid upfront for your piece. If it has been published elsewhere, you are not eligible for advanced payment but can still receive a performance payment that's based on how many times your article is viewed/read. Here's the problem. Nowhere on the site do they define what a "previously published" article is. Does this blog count as being published? You would assume it does, but for clarification sake, I'd like to know the policy. So I sent Associated Content a note and asked them. Twice. Still no reply. To either note. Makes you wonder how long it would take to get paid, doesn't it?

All in all, it's not about the money. I'm not going to get rich writing and publishing stuff online, although some people claim to do so. I just like to share my thoughts in as many places as I can and maybe get some feedback/comments. So I might start posting some of my blog entries on my Examiner page. Maybe I'll even submit some of them to Associated Content as previously published material, just to see what happens. After all, I'm a man who likes excess...

I have no idea why I just typed all of this out. I guess I just wanted to share something that's been on my mind. 

Getting yourself to your next meal/snack

Before I dive in to today's topic I wanted to make one statement. One I never imagined I would utter until recently. I just want to type it so I can see what it looks like:

I can't wait to finish my current weight training routine so I can try out Mario Lopez's shoulder workout!

There, I did it. Doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. At least not until you get to the word "Mario".

Lopez is gracing the cover of the latest issue of Maximum Fitness and has been kind enough to share his shoulder workout inside. He's got some great looking shoulders, too! (I'm not gay. I just sound like it when I'm jealous of someone's physique.) The article consists of some exercises and pointers I've never considered, especially for the anterior deltoid, one of my weaker muscle groups. Anyway, enough about Slater...

Whether you're trying to lose weight/fat or gain weight/muscle, it can sometimes be tough to get from one meal to the next if your goal is to eat every 2-3 hours. I've already mentioned that chewing sugarless gum can be a life saver during those waiting periods, but another thing I've found that works is running an errand. Help yourself pass some time by changing it up a little and getting away from the grind. Today, for example, I finished my mid-morning snack around 11 AM and decided 11:30 AM would be a good time to leave the office and pick something up we needed. I was gone until 12:15 PM. When I got back it was time for a cup of black tea followed by a piece of gum. At 1:20 PM, I began preparing my lunch. Now here's today's irony...for the first time in a long time, I accidentally ate about 100-125 more calories than I usually do for lunch. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, other than the fact that my gut has noticed the difference this afternoon. You might be asking yourself, how does one "accidentally" eat more than usual? Well, I'm still experimenting with food combinations as I continue to increase my calories during the 6-week German Volume Training routine I recently began. Apparently an entire avocado and an entire large sweet potato is going to be too much food (with a chicken breast) for lunch . Duly noted.

On the weekends or on days off it can be especially difficult to hang around the house and not think about food half an hour after I've had some. In addition to running errands, I've also found myself using another method: take a nap. Sleep is very important when it comes to muscle growth and fat loss, and when you have a small child, you get it when you can get it. Our 2 year-old daughter takes a nap every afternoon, and the schedule usually works out well for me to take one at the same time she does on Saturdays, shortly after I've eaten lunch. Usually by the time I wake up/come back to life, it's time to eat again. Hurray! Hey, make no mistake. Eating is still my favorite past-time.

One more thing...I hope to get some before and after pictures posted here as early as this weekend to prove I really am a former fat guy.

Are you nuts? You should be!

When I tell people I'm a big fan of almonds, I'm also reminded of a particular story.

One day at the office I had an informal meeting with my boss, the company President/Owner. We were sitting next to each other at the head of his big desk and using it as a table for paperwork and my mid-morning snack. Just before we began our meeting my boss reaches over towards my baggie of almonds and says "I'm just going to have two almonds - "

Instinct took over. He didn't even get the entire word "almonds" out before I slapped his hand and said something to the effect of "Get your hands out of there!"

Now thankfully, we're pretty close...so he took it well. The problem was he then played twenty questions about why two almonds makes such a difference. I first told him we both knew it wouldn't end up being just two almonds. He'd take more. Second of all, when you're tracking your calories every little bit counts. Sure I eat seven times a day, but my body and mind are in tune to be ready to eat each of those 7 times, and when I weigh out 1 ounce of almonds, I want to eat 1 ounce of almonds. Not .88 of an ounce. Not .95 of an ounce. I want ONE WHOLE FREAKIN' OUNCE EVERYTIME!!

Needless to say, this issue has not occurred again.

Many people don't realize how good nuts are for you and I can only assume this is because of their high fat content. The low-fat diet craze of the 80's and 90's was probably the main culprit. I remember eating fat free cookies, crackers, and chips everyday in 1995 and 1996 like they were going out of style. I was very successful at losing weight, but what I didn't realize at the time was that it's all about the calories and nothing about how much fat is in the food. But I handled things correctly by only eat two fat free chocolate cookies per meal instead of twenty two.

And that reminds me of another story told to me by a personal trainer acquaintance of mine. We were discussing nuts and the downside of him telling his clients about their nutritional value. As he was giving a training consultation at the gym, the following conversation took place:

Client: "Nuts and seeds are okay to eat, right?"

Trainer: "Yes, you definitely want to add a wide array of nuts and seeds to your diet. They've got vital nutrients and are a good source of fat."

Client: "Okay. That's good to hear because I just had some before I came here."

Trainer: "How much did you have?"

Client: "Just one can."

See what I mean?

Cheating is fundamental...if you know how to get away with it.

I should clarify something I wrote in an earlier entry. In a nutshell, I said that dieting, exercising, and losing weight are similar to the purity of marriage. I made it sound like cheating on your diet makes you a failure. This is not exactly what I believe. Cheating can lead to failure. Keeping it in check and under control is the key.

I cheat. Oh believe me, I cheat. But I also don't let it trip me off the wagon and send me back to "Fatslobville". I have an entire day dedicated to cheating: Sunday. In fact, I affectionately refer to the fat I still have around my mid-drift as "Sunday". It's quite possible (although time will tell) that my cheat Sundays will cause me to never completely lose the rest of my abdomen fat. Ultimately, this choice will be up to me. But for someone who doesn't have their heart set on an extraordinary looking beach body, a little cheating now and then is perfectly fine.

We should not deprive ourselves. We love food, that much is evident. It's how we got into this predicament in the first place, right? Ironically, limiting ourselves too much will more than likely lead us to failure on our quest to lose weight. Or drive us insane...

I chose Sunday as my "free day" for several reasons. First, it's the end of the week. I look at it as a reward for staying on track for 6 straight days. And as you can imagine, when you cheat off and on for an entire day like that, well, let's just say your insides don't handle it so well. By the end of the day I'm more than ready to get back on track Monday morning, but I'm also happy to have gotten the cravings out of my system.

Some would say you ruin your progress by eating whatever you want for an entire day. My belief is for the majority of people who are trying to lose weight, this is not the case. Based on my own experience I have found that the more weight/fat you have to lose, the less an entire cheat day will hurt you. Let's use a pretend man as an example. We'll call him Hypothetical John or "HJ" for short.

Let's say HJ is tipping the scales at 285 pounds and one day he decides it's time to lose weight. He begins to diet and exercise religiously for 9 months. During that period he also has one cheat day per week. At the end of 9 months, HJ has lost 85 pounds and thanks to some weight training he is in excellent shape with only 15% body fat. He looks so good these days that he'd like to do some modeling, but to do so he feels he needs to lose another 5% from his body fat. This is where things could get tricky for HJ. Fat comes off our bodies in a frustrating manner - it ultimately has a mind of it's own - and in general you can bet that the less you have to lose, the more difficult it will be to lose it. Contrary to some people's belief, you can't control where the fat comes off. So HJ might discover on his journey to 10% body fat that he needs to limit his cheat eating.

So now you're reading this and thinking to yourself, "but I just want to lose this extra weight, I don't need to be on the cover of a magazine". And to that I say, "yep". This was exactly my point when I stated earlier that for most people trying to lose weight, a cheat day will not slow or halt their progress. In all honesty, I'm not even certain that Hypothetical John will need to eliminate his cheat day. Based on my own body and current situation, my abdomen flab is still slowly disappearing...and I'm still cheating on Sundays. Time will tell. But I'm also not anywhere near 10% body fat. Well, sort of. According to the various formulas, scales, and calipers I've used recently, my body fat right now is somewhere between 13% and 23%. Ugh. Screw that baloney. The mirror, how your clothes fit, and how you feel are really the best ways to measure your progress.

So don't be scared to indulge every once in awhile. If you feel an entire cheat day isn't for you, maybe try a couple of cheat meals throughout the week. Whatever works for you. As long as you stay committed to the task at hand and don't let the occasional treat put you back in that "bad place", all will turn out fine and you will continue to make progress. And if you can have success without cheating, more power to you!

Wrigley's 5 and gum in general

I have an oral fetish. I hadn't noticed it until recently, but it has always been there. It started with thumb sucking. Then it turned into biting my finger nails. Then cigarettes, but the nail chewing never stopped. And let's not forget how much I like having food or drink in my mouth. So here I sit nowadays being healthy and stuff, getting into shape...and I still have this desire to have something in my mouth most of the time. Thank God he created sugarless gum on the eighth day! I don't chew a lot of it - about three sticks a day - and at only 5 calories or less per stick, I'm not throwing a wrench into my diet and nutrition. If you're eating every two to three hours, it's a great way to help you get from one meal to the next. The key is finding a flavor you like that lasts longer than five seconds. Wrigley's seems to have hit the nail on the head with their "5" series. I've been so enamored with one of the new flavors, "React Mint", that I actually sent them an email and told them how much I love it. I don't have a copy of what I said in the note, but the emphasis was basically "don't you dare ever take this flavor off the market". I was impressed with how quickly they responded. Part of the reply reads canned, part of it seems more direct and personal. Not that it matters. All I know is they didn't send any free product. Kristi told me it's because I wasn't complaining. I guess that makes sense. Strange how that works. Wrigley's response: Dear Mr. Carl, Thank you so much for your kind words. Your taking the time to share this the way you did means a lot to us. We're glad to hear how much you enjoy Five® Mint Gum. At the Wrigley Company, we've always felt that, even in a little thing like a stick of gum, quality is important. After more than a century, we continue to feel that way about all of our products. That's why we so appreciate hearing from you. We'll be sure to share your comments with the Five team, who'll certainly appreciate your encouragement, as well. Again, thank you and if you have any additional questions or comments feel free to contact us at 1-800-WRIGLEY Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. By the way, the React Mint gum itself is actually black and transforms to a slight purple when you're chewing it. Good times. One more plug for Wrigley's...I'm also a big fan of several of their "Extra" flavors. I prefer peppermint during my weight training. Whoops. I guess I chew about four pieces a day on weight lifting days. Still not anywhere near as bad for you as a can of Coca Cola. Oh, and to this day I still bite my nails. I just don't do it when I'm chewing gum. ...unless I'm really, really nervous....

Maximum Fitness highlights

Years ago I was a Men's Health guy. It was a good magazine for me at the time, but eventually it began feeling like every issue contained the same stuff, spun differently. After a few years, I canceled my subscription. This year I've become a MaxFit guy. (Thanks, Mom.) Maybe down the road I'll feel the same way about the content in Maximum Fitness as I did about MH, but at this point I really enjoy the reading, information, meal recipes, and workout recommendations.

The magazine is also full of short little tidbits based on study results from universities or laboratories. Here's a couple of ones I found enlightening from the most recent issue:

"Five recent studies confirm that watching more television puts you on the fast track to a wider waistline."

They went on to say that the average number of televisions in an unsuccessful dieter's home is 3.4. People who keep better tabs on their diet own 2.6 T.V.'s. Makes sense, right? My home is below the average with exactly 2 T.V.'s, but don't let that fool you. I must admit, they're turned on a lot. The real key to the number of televisions per household is exactly what the rest of the study concluded: people tend to eat more and zone out in front of the T.V. And, of course, the more time you spend in front of it...the less active you are.

Here's the other study that caught my eye even though it's a no-brainer, but I wanted to pass it along here because it's one I really try to practice at every meal:

"You already know that eating meals quickly almost guarantees that you're not chewing your food properly (which doesn't do your digestive tract any good), but recent research from Greece indicates....the savoring type stays fuller longer because pacing yourself at the dinner table can help your small intestine produce two hormones that keep your gut full."

I firmly believe this to be true. Subconsciously, I think I began eating slower awhile back just to make the meal last longer. But I also started it due to some digestion issues, one of which is associated with nuts. Now that I eat more nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts) I want to be sure to chew them properly. In time it has progressed to other foods. I have, in fact, mastered the art of eating slowly in front of the television, which is somewhat of an oxymoron when discussing these two studies. In the morning, before leaving for the office, I find myself taking a bite or two and then sitting back to watch a few minutes of television. Sometimes I forget I even have food in front of me. Go figure.


Maximum Fitness excerpts are from the July/Aug 2010, Page 39.

Some quick notes

Back to work today after what was actually a four day holiday weekend for me. Good times. I'm looking forward to several more four day weekends this summer...and soon! A special thanks to Andrea at http://losinthisdangfat.blogspot.com/. She has used a piece of my previous entry as her "Quote Of The Day". Andrea has had quite a ride of success. Her hard work and determination have helped her to lose a lot of weight, or as she would say, "losin' this dang fat". Nice work, Andrea - keep it up! On a quick personal note, I began German Volume Training yesterday. I have to say it was the most intense weight training session I've had in quite awhile. I was pretty pooped out by the completion. It just goes to show how easy it can be to fall into the trap of going through the motions with your weekly workouts. There are many reasons why this happens to me, but I won't dive into them right now. No excuses. I just want to learn more and more about my body as I continue my personal quest to someday take my shirt off when I mow the lawn. Although I am somewhat sore and achy in certain areas today, it's not near as bad as I expected. This makes me question whether or not I pushed myself hard enough. I guess I'll just have to try a little harder tomorrow morning, won't I?