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?

I LOVE my DIET (not)

OK, I need to be completely honest...on this Valentine's day when people are confessing their love for one another...or wishing they could or would, I need to tell you that I'm not feeling a lot of love for my diet these days.

As a matter of fact, last night I nearly left it...walked away...said it was too hard...she could keep the beans, 1/4 measuring cup, and all the veggies she wanted. I was tired of the constant trying to make this relationship work or giving up my wants and desires for her. Why does she get her own way anyway?!

But I was reminded by this little voice in the back of my head asking, "John, what do you want? What do you really, ultimately, want?" And the answer to that question kept me from slamming the door, jumping into the car and driving to Dunkin Donuts!

You see, what I REALLY want is to prove to myself (OK, and to you my faithful fans) that I can push my body beyond what I thought possible...to get to a place in my 50s where I don't need to hear the doctor scold me for being over weight. I want to walk on a beach with my wife and not have people think, "how cute of that father and daughter to be walking together!"

So while I may not be IN LOVE with my diet right now....I am COMMITTED to it. And for now that is good enough...it is keeping us together and I know that my emotions will come around, that I will smile about this later and be glad that I didn't let a hard day ruin all the work I've invested.

And on a final note...I love YOU my readers, whoever you may be, I thank you for reading my rantings!

Slogging it Out

Is Slogging a real word? Not sure, but it seems to describe well the feeling around the diet this week. I'm doing the right things, saying so to the foods that would not help me get to my goal, working out...

For example, last night after group we went to Mrs P & me and when my burger showed up I took away the bun, pushed all my fries onto Chris's plate, took his pickle and beans, and said NO to beer. Did I want to eat everything on my plate (those fries really did look good!)? Yes! But if I'm ever to know if it's possible to hit my goal I've got to make these kind of choices! Right!? Please say "right."

So, the bottom line is that I've been eating lots of carrots, beans, and protein. My weight is consistently low 160's and I wonder if I've hit bottom. I've got four weeks to go to my goal date (March 7). I've toyed with changing up the diet, but don't want to mess with the formula yet.

Therefore, I slog on...

The Truth I Don't Want You to Know

Saturday was a sad day for me. Not totally unexpected, but sad nonetheless.

It had been a while since I was in the BodPod and I knew that since my last testing of body fat I had not been as stringent with the diet. I could tell that my clothes weren't as loose as they had been before and that my weight was up from the end of October.

My hope was that I would have at least held where I was...maybe gone up a little bit...but I was not expecting to hear FIFTEEN PERCENT!

What is interesting is that my measurements did not change that much...up an inch in the hips, down three-quarters an inch in the mid-thigh...

What is also interesting is that when we finished using the PodBod we did another body fat measurement tool called a "Skindex" that takes a reading at chest, abdomen and thigh to give a composite body fat score. Using that measurement I had 13.8% body fat. I REALLY like that measurement much better!

	10/29/2011	2/4/2012
weight	160 lbs	163 lbs
mid bi	13.25	13.25
waist	33.5	33.5
hips	37.5	38.5
mid thigh	21.75	21
% fat	13.8%	15%

While my first reaction was to go drown my sorrow in cinnamon buns, I pulled through and opted for a healtier solution - Peanut butter & Banana French Toast! I've been craving a banna, so I had two on my cheat day...along with OJ. I've never enjoyed fruit so much as on this diet since I only get in once a week.

Lunch consisted of pizza, trail mix, and pumpkin pie (Alex made it in his high school culinary class, so I HAD to try it). Dinner was a favorite - The Stalone Manburger and best ever fries from Jack Staw's. Dessert came later in the evening - icecream and cookies.

Sunday breakfast and lunch was strict diet since I knew that the Superbowl party that was coming was not going to be what I call a modle meal. And it wasn't! What it was...was loads of cheese, chips, dips, beer, pork, meatballs, more cheese, more beer, brownies, icecream, a few more chips...and a bit more dip!

All in all I went up 2.5 pounds for the weekend but I know that I'll drop it plus some this week. I'm prepared with my veggies for the week and am in my final push of this "greeat 12 percent experiment" that I started last August!