Okay, I've been really bad

I've had a rough couple of months with my diet, in case it's not glaringly obvious to anyone reading this!  Yes, if I'm not posting here, it's a bad sign. 

Well, the good news is I haven't totally given up, although I have put on a few pounds.  Time to straighten up now and get back on track.  I'm not in any hurry to get the weight off, but I do want to get there eventually! 

The plan at the moment is to go back to Slim-Fast.  I have done a lot of different diets, but I think Slim-Fast is by far the easiest to stick to.  Also, I need to get back to going to the gym in the morning.  I'm not going to be able to go tomorrow because I'm recovering from the flu at the moment, but hopefully by Wednesday I'll go back again.

Oh, my goodness, I'm missed!!!

LOL  Ella, thanks for noticing I'm gone!  Sometimes I wonder if I'm just spinning my wheels with this blog, but it appears I do have a reader out there, so I guess I'll just have to update today.

Well, the Biggest Loser II challenge is over, and I should have been kicked out because I quit sending in my progress.  I quit sending in my progress because I quit having any!!!  Oh well, the damage wasn't all that great.  It's not like I gained back the whole 30 pounds I lost.

With that being said, I got on the scale this morning and was HORRIFIED by the number I saw!!!  I'm still under 200, but just barely, if this morning's weigh-in is to be believed.  Now, I'm sure some of that is retaining water from all the salt I've been consuming, but still it doesn't make me feel very happy.  When I weighed on Friday I was 196.6, and this morning claimed 199.6.  I know for sure I didn'really eat enough to gain three pounds in three days, although I wouldn't be surprised if one of those pounds is for real.  It ain't been pretty, that's for certain.

This morning I'm back doing Medifast again for the time being.  I'm not doing it exactly right, by their standards anyway, but I want to take off those holiday pounds quickly before I get back to my old slow progress again.  Medifast, I've found, is fine in small bursts.  I just don't like doing it for too long at a time because I start feeling tired and my complexion doesn't look pretty.  I'm adding a little of my 100-calorie popcorn as an afternoon snack.  Carbs, I know, are naughty, but honestly I know I will lose weight just with the calorie restriction anyway, regardless of how many carbs I'm getting.

So this is my update.  Hopefully I'll have some better news to post here soon.  The battle continues...

BL2 Challenge Week 3: 197-195.6-187

Okay, for two weeks now I have not been so sterling!  However, I am not really concerned overall.  This week showed a gain over last week of 0.8; however, I think that's mostly due to eating a lot of salt lately -- I don't regret any of it, by the way! -- and retaining a little fluid.  Hopefully net week I will show another loss.  I'm still netting a 1.4-pound loss over the last three weeks, so I'll take it.  :)

BL2 Challenge Week 1: 197-194.8-187

I haven't been working very hard on the "eat less" end of the equation this week, but I have continued exercising daily and showing some restraint.  This weekend I went on a trip too, so I'm very proud I showed some restraint there.  Usually vacations equal license to eat everything in sight!

I started the challenge at 197 and am down this morning to 194.8.  I was down to as low as 194 a couple weeks ago, so mostly what this means now is I am almost down to the weight I was at when I started this little bit of gain/whole lotta of bloat cycle I've been in.  For the challenge, I'm 2.2 pounds down for the week, so I'm happy.

Progress report and a new tool I am really excited about!

Holy cow, I feel great!  Now if I can just get through the holidays, hmm!  

I haven't mentioned on this blog yet that with my new-found weight loss, I have finally gotten up the nerve to join a band.  I sing and play keyboards and wear sexy dresses.  It is so much fun.  I can't wait to lose some more weight.  Sexy dresses are easier to find in size 14 than they are in my current size 16 -- but at least they're available in 16s, as opposed to 20s, which is where I was when I started!!!

This weekend my daughter's Rainbow Girls group had a sleepover party, and the girls and I stayed up half the night playing a game called "Dance Dance Revolution."  And then we slept the rest of the night on the hard floor of the hall.  I am so proud of myself, that I was able to "dance dance" for hours in my pajamas and then sleep on the floor without calling an ambulance in the morning to get me up.  What a blast!

I am so out of the loop when it comes to video games.  When I was a kid, I played Pac-Man for hours on end, and I think it really helped my piano playing and typing/stenography skills.  But this Dance Dance Revolution thing was so much fun, I now really want a Playstation just so my daughter and I can play this particular game at home.  What a great way to improve concentration and get a workout.

When I got home the next morning from the sleepover, I found out that there are lots of grown-ups who love this game just like I do, and they're losing weight with it.  In fact, Dance Dance Revolution even has a "workout mode."  And schools are using it also to combat childhood obesity and improve concentration and self-esteem.  WOW!  All that from a video game! 

If you're interested in more about that, here's the website:
http://www.getupmove.com/

While researching this stuff, I ran across one other -- well, for lack of a better word -- "game" for Playstation to improve fitness.  This one looks really wonderful to me too.  This one is by Yourself Fitness and features "Maya," the virtual fitness trainer.  The website for this one is at:

http://yourselffitness.com/

And people on Amazon.com seem to love this application!

Anyway, since I have a lot of weight still left to lose, I'm always happy to find fresh ideas, so today I'm thrilled!  I hope these ideas are helpful to someone else out there too.  Drop me a comment if you're out there.  ;)

Interesting points made by this guy

I really think what he had to say was terrific.  Excess fat does indeed create a liability!  It's a liability to me too!

'Jelly bellies' memo costs police chief his job

WINTER HAVEN, Florida (AP) -- Police Chief Paul Goward was tired of looking around his department and seeing blubber hanging over the belts of some of his officers. So he sent out a memo exhorting the "jelly bellies" to shape up.

In the end, the department lost 190 pounds -- all of them belonging to Goward. He was forced out as chief because some of his officers took offense at the memo.

The October 11 memo bruised feelings on the 80-member force, drew at least one anonymous letter of complaint from officers about the chief's management style and made his department the butt of jokes about fat cops and doughnuts.

"If they got their feelings hurt to the extent of `Do something about it,' then I did what I was intending to do," said an unapologetic Goward, a trim 6-footer who was forced to resign his $92,000-a-year post last week.

Some of the chief's defenders said his ouster was a big overreaction.

"He offered tremendously good advice, yet he was sacked," wrote Thomas Roe Oldt, a columnist for The Ledger of Lakeland.

In his memo, titled "Are You a Jelly Belly," the chief never singled anyone out, and apart from the title, didn't call anyone names.

Instead, he provided a list of 10 reasons police officers should be in shape. He said overweight police poorly represent the profession, poop out when chasing suspects and might have to resort to "a higher level of force" if a criminal got the upper hand in a fight. He said out-of-shape cops are a liability to the city and their families.

"Take a good look at yourself," he wrote. "If you are unfit, do yourself and everyone else a favor. See a professional about a proper diet and a fitness training program, quit smoking, limit alcohol intake and start thinking self-pride, confidence and respectability. And stop making excuses for delaying what you know you should have been doing years ago. We didn't hire you unfit and we don't want you working unfit. Don't mean to offend, this is just straight talk. I owe it to you."

Winter Haven cops must pass physical examinations to be hired but are not regularly tested for fitness thereafter.

Goward, 60, said he is not a fitness freak, was not "asking for a department full of Arnold Schwarzeneggers here" and did not order his officers to stay away from fast-food restaurants or doughnut shops. In fact, the 36-year police veteran, who has also worked in Kansas and South Carolina, said Winter Haven's force is no less fit than the others he has served on.

David Greene, manager of the central Florida city of 30,000, said through a spokeswoman that he was too busy for an interview, but told the local newspapers the anonymous complaint letters made it clear the police department had a morale problem because of Goward's abrasive management style during his 21/2 years there.

"Emotions within the police department and the relationship with the police chief became raw," he told The Ledger.

Winter Haven officers contacted by The Associated Press said they were told not to talk to reporters about Goward's departure.

One of the anonymous complaint letters described the force as "upset to say the least" about the chief and called the "Jelly Belly" memo "the icing on the cake."

"This letter shows the type of harassment and hostile work environment we have. The chief of police is constantly 'bad talking' us in every way possible and we have had enough of his arrogance," the letter read.

Mandy Rohrbaugh, a 40-year-old nursing student and Winter Haven resident, said Goward had the right message, but perhaps could have delivered it differently.

"I think honestly our police force needs a lot of shaping up, and I think they should be fit not just when they're hired but through their time," she said.

All-Time Best Weight Loss Study Ever

Study: Fat, boozing mice stay healthy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Huge amounts of a red wine extract seemed to help obese mice eat a high-fat diet and still live a long and healthy life, suggests a new study that some experts are calling "landmark" research.

The big question is, can it work the same magic in humans?

Scientists say it's far too early to start swilling barrels of red wine. But they are calling the latest research promising and even "spectacular."

The study by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging shows that heavy doses of red wine extract lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice.

Fat-related deaths dropped 31 percent for obese mice on the supplement, compared to untreated obese mice, and the treated mice also lived long after they should have, the study said.

Astoundingly, the organs of the fat mice that got the wine extract looked normal when they shouldn't have, said study lead author Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. And Sinclair said other preliminary work still being done in the lab shows the wine ingredient has promise in lengthening the life span of normal-sized mice, too.

For years, red wine has been linked to numerous health benefits. But the new study, published online in the journal Nature on Thursday, shows that mammals given ultrahigh doses of the red wine extract resveratrol can get the good effects of cutting calories without having the pain of actually doing it.

"If we're right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry," Sinclair said. "It's the Holy Grail of aging research."

Resveratrol, produced when plants are under stress, are found in the skin of grapes and in other plants, including peanuts and some berries.

The resveratrol-treated 55 obese mice on a high-calorie diet (one scientist called it a "McDonald's diet") are not only about as healthy as normal mice, they are as agile and active on exercise equipment as their lean cousins, showing what can be considered a normal quality of life, higher than usual for obese mice, said study co-author Rafael de Cabo of the National Institute on Aging.

"These fat old mice can perform as well on this skill test as young lean mice," Sinclair said.

The only major body measurement that didn't improve -- aside from weight -- was cholesterol and that didn't seem to matter in the overall health of the mice, Sinclair said.

The study is so promising that the aging institute this week is strongly considering a repeat of the same experiment with rhesus monkeys, coming the closest to humans, after succeeding in using resveratrol on yeast, worms, fruit flies and now mice, said institute director Dr. Richard Hodes.

Hodes cautions that it's too early for people to start taking non-regulated resveratrol supplements because safety issues haven't been addressed adequately. He pointed to past hyped medical treatments, such as estrogen, that turned out to cause more harm than good.

Sinclair has a financial stake in the research. He is co-founder of a pharmaceutical firm, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., which is in the middle of a study testing the safety of using the extract on humans for treatment of diabetes.

Sirtris is working on a high-dose resveratrol pill that unlike unregulated supplements on the market now, would be used as a drug and require Food and Drug Administration approval, said company chief executive officer Dr. Christoph Westphal. And that development and federal approval is about five years away, he said.

Sinclair's results are so promising that he rushed the study into the science journal while the obese mice are still alive, not waiting several more weeks or months until they die. That raises some issues, including specific figures about mortality, but is understandable, said outside experts.

Even would-be competitors are praising the study.

"It's a fairly spectacular result," said University of Wisconsin medical professor Dr. Richard Weindruch, who co-founded another biotech company that looks at the genetics of aging and drugs that could expand life spans. "People will go to McDonald's and afterwards they'll do super-sized resveratrol."

"This is fantastic," said Brown University molecular biology professor Stephen Helfand, who was the first reviewer for the journal Nature and not part of the team. "This is a historic landmark contribution."

Helfand said he won't be taking red wine extract supplements -- but he has put his elderly mother on them. He said he's waiting to see if there are long-term ill effects for humans. Mice, he said, are good initial test subjects for human drugs because their bodies function more similarly to humans than differently. However, he added that those differences can prove crucial.

Sinclair said he takes resveratrol supplements, but doesn't recommend it for others. Sinclair's mice took such high doses of resveratrol that it would be the equivalent of an adult drinking 100 bottles of wine daily.

Resveratrol works by spurring activity and regrowth in cells' mitochondria, which Sinclair called "the energy powerhouses of the cell."

Some scientists, such as Weindruch and Hodes, worry that the research may encourage people to forget about their diets and wait for a red wine cure-all that may never come.

"It's not an excuse to overeat," Sinclair said. But he added that for mice at least, this shows you can be "fat, happy, healthy and vigorous."

missy's totally awesome diet plan

After much evolution, I finally have a plan that works for me.  I wanted to share what I'm doing, just in case anyone out there needs some ideas.

Materials:
-- A scale that measures to the tenth of a pound.  I have a HealthOMeter Weight Loss scale, and it is the best I have ever had.  It remembers your start weight and does all the calculating for you as you lose weight, even gives you little stars as you progress. 
-- A gym membership at a local gym that isn't too popular.  There's a Gold's right around the corner from my little gym.  Everyone goes over there to pick up on each other.  Those of us at my little gym are a little older and fatter.  I love it.  Those are my people! 
-- A camera cell phone.  I'll explain that one in a minute.
-- A cheap DVD player.
-- A Netflix subscription.
-- The CalorieKing desktop software and (opt.) monthly membership.
-- Smart Start cereal, milk, and fruit

Okay, here's the plan. 
-- Set your cell phone's alarm function (I think they all have it) to get you out of bed at 4:30, go to the gym at 5:30, start doing your hour on the elliptical at 5:50, and go to work at 7:15.  Obviously, I don't know what time, if any, you need to leave for work, so adjust accordingly.  The point is to get started earlier than you normally would.  This is one of the small sacifices necessary to lose weight.
-- I choose to use the elliptical trainer because my knees are shot from having carried too much weight for too long.  This apparently is a problem with many, many folks.  The elliptical trainer burns more calories in a shorter amount of time than anything else at our gym and with very low impact.  It is by far the best machine there.
-- In order to keep getting out of bed, I personally need a payoff, and the payoff in the long term of getting skinny just isn't enough.  I need a reward for working out right now!  So my payoff is I get to watch Netflix while I'm working out.  Get at least 2 CDs so that you always have something new to watch.  If you can position yourself near a plug, you don't have to worry about the battery running out.  I've been working my way through "The Sopranos" to start with.  It takes hours and hours to get through it all, and the characters are so interesting, you will find yourself really getting hung up in the story.
-- Try to eat at least one or two meals of Smart Start cereal every day.  It is the most healthy cereal I can find that still tastes good.  Total and Special K are also good.  You want a cereal that has some fiber and protein but doesn't taste awful.  If it tastes awful, you won't want to keep eating it, believe me.
-- If you eat at a restaurant during the day or do some generally unplanned eating, use your camera phone to take a picture before you dig in.  That way you won't forget later what you need to log and the approximate amounts.  It only takes a second to snap that picture.  If you're quick about it, nobody will even notice!
-- In the evenings when I don't have anything else to do, I actually work out a second time and reward myself with more DVD watching.  This time it's just a slow walk (2.5 mph) on the treadmill.  It's surprising however how much that slow walk will burn after awhile.  This is time I would ordinarily be sitting on my rear end watching TV anyway. 
-- If you enter all your food in the CalorieKing software, you can estimate with some accuracy about how much weight you have lost that day.  Go to reports --> daily summary, where it will say, "On an average person, these figures would lead to a loss of..."  Divide that number by 31 days, and you will get some fraction of a pound.  If you keep track over time, you will notice that that calculation is not far off from what you're actually losing.  I find that so motivating, to know that I lost some fraction of a pound from all my efforts on a given day!

Well, there it is in a nutshell.  I hope this helps someone.  It helps me just to write it down.  Happy losing!  :D

Big losers

I'm taking part in the Biggest Loser 2 Challenge.  You can too!

http://thefoodaddict.extrapounds.com/comments.php?id=79641

BMI Calculations

Started: "Morbidly obese"
Currently: "Obese"
At 169: "Overweight"
At 140: "Normal weight"

http://www.caloriesperhour.com