Month: October 2012

Hurricane Sandy Avocado and Yogurt Chili Recipe

This used to be a roller coaster at the Jersey Shore

When Hurricane Sandy hit, we were just about the bulls eye  We’re about an hour inland, and the ground is high where I am and we were lucky – very lucky compared to many other people.

But we’ve had no  power since Sunday, and have been told that it could be out until Monday.

While I don’t have a generator (note to self: buy one!), I do have an inverter – a gizmo that attaches to your car battery and, through a series of electrical cords running through the house, allows for the charging of devices, keep my sump pump running, and brew the occasional pot of coffee to keep me warm as the house is about 60 degrees a I write this. I *do* have to avoid draining my battery, however. Heat, warm showers, and teevee are out of the question, however. Continue reading “Hurricane Sandy Avocado and Yogurt Chili Recipe” →

Making the World a Better Place One Bite at a Time

Please forgive the off-topic post, but I can’t help myself.

This is a blog about weight loss, but it is also about the love of food, in all it’s good and bad shades, and about enough – the notion that there is an amount for all of us that is just right – not too much, not too little – a measure that fulfills and sustains, and allows us to find peace of mind and happiness in not only the act of eating, but life itself.

I often remind myself that I have an embarrassment of riches. I write this from the comfort of my home, a refrigerator stocked with food I’d rather not eat too much of nearby, and have written about this dilemma and the remedies to this for over 5 years.

Sadly, for many people in the US in this day and age, there are people for whom my problem of eating too much is a slap in the face: they go to bed hungry, not because they are on a diet by choice, but because their circumstances have left them without food. Continue reading “Making the World a Better Place One Bite at a Time” →

Can You Eat All Butter You Want and Not Get Fat?

A few weeks ago my wife wanted to take a long, long car ride to a Japanese grocery store maybe 50 miles away. As this was my wif’e’s idea and I already drive too far because of my commute, she offered to drive as part of our negotiated settlement for me going. I brought my Kindle and read ‘The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Lving‘ – or rather struggled to read. This is the second time. I am going real slow, as this book is by 2 researchers and written more for their colleagues than dopes like me.

Something that blew my mind was right there, in the text, it explained why a few months back as an experiment, I was able to eat phenomenal amounts of butter and not gain weight. I wasn’t losing – but I could add 1,000 calories a day and not gain weight. I didn’t understand why until I read this passage: Continue reading “Can You Eat All Butter You Want and Not Get Fat?” →

Atkins Induction: How Does It Feel at Day 30?

On September 2, 2012, I was 207.6. This morning, October 10, 2012, I am 193.0 – 14.6 lbs down in 39 days.

Today, if I haven’t messed up in my counting, I have been on a strict ketogenic-type low carb diet – pretty much a long-term Atkins Induction for 30 days straight and am less than 10 pounds away from my target weight of 185, which is when my wife starts to complain that I look too thin.

I am on day 30. I haven’t been in ketosis this long for a long, long, time.

I have proven conclusively something that I thought I could do but had no proof: that after another 9 years older, I could have the same kind of results I had on Atkins the first go-round.

There’s a notion in the low carb community about ‘The Golden Shot’ – that low carb only works once, and if you lose it and gained it back, you can’t repeat it.

In actuality, it seems you can do this – it just takes a little longer. But what I am finding is that I don’t care about how long it takes because  the diet is making me, in general, feel better. Continue reading “Atkins Induction: How Does It Feel at Day 30?” →

My Ode to Joy

‘Ode to Joy’ is from the last movement of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. I am not in particular a classical music fan, but a friend long ago sat me down and made me listen to this symphony carefully, and I am glad he did.

‘Ode to Joy’ starts out low and uncertain, almost fearful, but then resolves into something lighter, gentler, beautiful, something you want more of, something you don’t ever want to let go. But as the music continues, this theme that started the piece disappears, as other themes arise and replace the original theme. The themes that replace are in turn soft and harsh, light and heavy. They span a spectrum of moods and are beautiful in their variety, but regardless, they are different. They have arisen from the first theme, but aren’t part of it.

After a while you wonder if the theme is gone forever, that faint thread that arose at the beginning but was never fully expressed. Would the other themes that arose bury it forever?

But in the end, Beethoven’s 9th symphony returns, in full resplendent force, to ‘Ode to Joy’, perhaps the single most beautiful piece of music ever written. Ascendant and powerful, it is from where all the other previous themes sprang from. It was the beginning and the end, and there it was all the time in between, even when the other themes wove in and out, and performed the illusion of making it disappear, when in fact it was before us all the time, quiet and ever-present throughout.

On our Anniversary, my Love, my Wife of 16 years, you are my ‘Ode to Joy’.

Jillian Michaels Would Never Do a Low Carb Diet on ‘The Biggest Loser’

I have been doing a ketogenic Atkins-style low carb diet since September 10, and have been in induction for about 25 days straight.

How boring.

Jillian Michaels would ‘never’ get a gig doing a TV show about my diet: I don’t look uncomfortable,  I am not dying of hunger, I’m not exercising, I eat til I’m full. There’s no emotion, no drama to it – no one needs to scream into my face: “This is for your own good!”

It’s about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Despite the lack of excitement, of hunger, of straining, of drama, I have lost about 10 pounds – I am currently 193.6. The week before I had started this I was 207 and had gone down to 203, so I think it is safe to assume I lost all my water weight prior to my experiment and the 10 pounds I’ve lost since then are mostly fat.

That’s about 2-3/4 pounds per week – a little too much weight loss, really. You should only lose about 2 pounds per week. Perhaps I should eat more. Or maybe I’m getting too much exercise – I did mow the lawn today…

At this point, all of the goodies in the house that surround me hold little interest – I don’t even notice them anymore. There’s no struggle, no willpower required.

With all the extra time I have not exercising and not struggling, I like to lie in bed and read a book.

How boring.

If you are looking for an exciting diet, one where you will struggle and strain, heroically resist near constant hunger and temptation, exercise until exhausted,  challenge yourself physically and emotionally, and perhaps question whether your life is even worth living,  I recommend a low-calorie diet with plenty of exercise.

It might also prove entertaining for TV watchers and provide a steady income for Jillian Michaels – ‘America’s Toughest Trainer’.

You can check out her awesome site – and her $4.99 per month ‘no gimmick’ diet plan of ‘self, science, and sweat’ here.

Me? I think I’ll pass. I like my diets boring.