Seven Pound Drop

Since last Sunday I've dropped seven pounds! Now my son (no shirt) is quick to point out that "most likely it's muscle weight loss!!!" He's a wrestler, and apparently is an expert on weight gain and loss! But I beg to differ.

I've been working out all this week and I've been eating very cleanly. What is interesting is that I've had less or no beans with many of my meals. I've been wondering for awhile if changing up the Ferris "4 hour body" diet has run it's course for me and my body needs a shift. so ever so slightly I'm eating less or no beans. I'm still keeping the protein intake up and having lots of vegetables. But still no sugars (including fruit), dairy and wheat.

So a typical breakfast will be to sautee some bell peppers (I'm still high on the reds), some onion, drop in a few beans, and then crack two eggs on top and scramble. It's easy, fast, and hits the key elements to start the day right.

My goal at the start of this week was to get into the low 160s by the end of the week, and the scale told me 161 this morning! By Saturday morning if I can be 159 I'm going to have A LOT of fun cheating this weekend for my daughter's 21st Birthday!!!

Are You Still Blogging?!

Good question! Given the lack of communication I wonder if there is anyone that is still reading this blog! If you are, let me know...I may let this thing quietly go away! Perhaps that is reflective of my current energy around reaching 12%. If you recall this all started September 1st as a "great experiment" - to see if it was possible for a 50 year old man to get to 12% body fat and discover if there really was a six pack underneath that fat after all.

Six months later I'm a lot closer to that goal and I've dropped about 20 lbs. I feel good, like how I'm fitting into my clothes, and know I'm healthier for it. BUT...I'm not at 12% yet. At the last bod pod reading I was still a few percentage points off.

And the "big deadline goal" of my birthday has come and gone. :-(

Now what?!

Do I push on and say, "hey, I'm turning 50 all year long! I've got 12 months to hit this goal!" Do I say, "I'll keep working this hard until I hit the goal, then let up!" Do I not care that much anymore? Is my goal still valid?

When I read things like this (above) I KNOW that I'm wanting to run harder, work harder, keep loosing the fat and reach my goal!!! So if you'll keep reading, I'll keep writing and we can do this together!!!

When a 50 year Celebration Collides with 12%

Well today was the "big day" the "big 5-0" the "over the hill" day...and I certainly wasn't going to let 12% stand in the way of celebrating! Not like I really had a choice in the matter!
My day started with being kidnapped at 6am by some of my CrossFit buddies and was taken to
Juciy-Os for breakfast.

When I arrived at work I was met with posters that apparently said I was "outta time" but seemed to feature my health and wellness! ha!

I found myself at White Chocolate Grill for lunch with some "old" friends. I enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich (less the bun) accompanied by grilled beets, goat cheese and nuts with a champagne vinaigrette dressing that was out of this world. We ended with a white chocolate bananna cream pie that we shared.

(Don't you think she looks older than me!?)

When we got back to work I was surprised with a healthy celebration of beans and veggies!

(Carrott cupcakes are veggies...right?)

My wife had 50 daffodills on the table at home where we ate my new favorite: a Stallone Burger from Jack Straws for dinner.

To cap off the day and this 50th birthday celebration, Deanna made me a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting! Let's just say that one bite of this cake puts a party in your mouth!

Well, it was fun while it lasted...tt's back to CrossFit and the diet tomorrow! On Friday I have my annual physical and just hope all this sugar is out of the blood stream by then!

Vacation Diet

Speaking the sentence "I'm on a diet" in proximity to the sentence, "I'm on vacation" can cause people to assume the sentence "I'm on a vacation from my diet!" Au Contraire mon ami!

Deanna and I spent an absolutely fabulous week in Sanibel, FL last week. In years past that meant a lot of sweets from the bakery and desserts after lunch and dinner! This year we changed things up a bit and kept to the diet and enjoyed lots of al fresco dinning on our screened porch while enjoying our view of the Gulf (below).

So to fill you in on our week of how to have a vacation and still maintain a diet, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

A typical breakfast on the porch: massive quantities of sauteed green/red/yellow peppers with onion and a few eggs! (Note: Deanna has the toast and grapefruit...I'm a good boy and don't.)

A typical lunch: tuna with white beans, veggies, veggies, and more veggies. The side next to the carrots is a eggplant ragu! delicious!

Dinner of some yummy protein (like this garlic marinated pork), spaghetti squash and a side of veggies. Normally I don't have tomatoes, but when you're in Florida and it's 85 degrees, they beg to be eaten!

And finally a picture to prove that I'm not all talk. When I started this diet I knew that Sanibel was in my future and shortly before my goal date, when I was turning 50 in March. It felt good to be able to hang out on the beach as I approach 12percent! I'm not there yet, but it was inspiring to know that I can do this and still enjoy myself along the way. And that, after all is the bigger question of lifestyle eating as I past the  big 5-0 and have to decide if 12 percent will be a new normal or just a goal to hit and then go back to 20 percent. What do you think?