Redirecting myself (a bit long)
 

A little background information. I'm working towards 58 years of age and I've slowly moved from being around 195-200 lbs to 225-230! A year or so ago a blood test showed an increase in the bad cholesterol and a decrease in the good kind and my blood pressure was high enough that I needed medication to lower it. Also my glucose levels were point towards being per-diabetic as they call it now. Why was this happening? No one in my family has or ever had heart disease or diabetes. The answer I had to accept was that I was overweight and not exercising enough. Up until a few years ago I had always remained very active. Everyone used to joke that I never seemed to take a rest or sit still for long. Now I seemed to find reasons not to get up and move about. I enjoy just about every kind of food, funny but about the only thing I don't like is really processed food and junk food. But the reality was I probably was eating too much food, even good types of food. I also seemed to get more stressed out. Now that the kids are grown and the parents are gone I seem to have focused my worries more on me and my wife and retirement, etc.

So I decided to make some changes. The doctors I had seen (heart Dr. for BP and a family Dr. for general stuff) both wanted to medicate me further and run all kinds of tests. Neither suggested any kind of lifestyle change. So I decided to just change what I eat and eat less. I switched over to mostly eating steel cut oats for breakfast. However I never liked sweet stuff much, funny but I rarely ever eat any sugary or sweet things. So I created savory oatmeal breakfasts. One of the things I really loved when in the UK was parts of the Full English Breakfast, especially fried tomatoes and mushrooms. So that's what I put over my oatmeal. Call it gross if you like but it works for me. I also put in a handful of walnuts, cashews, almonds or whatever nut makes me feel good. I also make my oats in a rice cooker with a handful of wild rice or farro or quinoa or other old world grain. I do eat eggs but just once a week, maybe twice. and no bacon. Yes I know, BACON!!! I do still have a bit of ham once and awhile!

I also started following a more vegan diet for 2 out of my 3 daily meals. I got the idea from Mark Bittman's book VB6 (Vegan Before 6). So most days lunch and breakfast are vegan and the only restriction on dinner is not to eat too much and not anything with too much saturated fat. I also began walking more... a lot more. I got a pedometer and my goal was 10,000 steps per day which is like 3.5-4 miles depending on my stride.

So after few months I had a blood test and my cholesterol had reversed and the numbers were pretty good. Not sure yet about the blood sugar as they didn't include that. Then I was in a used book shop and picked up a book by Bob Green. He was the diet/exercise guy who turned Oprah Winfrey's life around, I think it's called The Best Life Diet. Interesting book although I don't like how he keeps plugging his website and joining ($$) so you can get more information. Still I read it and he pushes 3 points in his diet plan. First of all just move more. Get up and walk or run or move and if you already are then perhaps increase that. Second, a basic healthy balanced diet eating more healthy things and less unhealthy things... very basic stuff indeed. Third, focus on what may be making you turn to food or less movement, perhaps stress from work or family, etc.

So I began to really think about my lifestyle and diet and why I wasn't loosing more weight. The exercise and improved diet made me feel better and have more energy but it wasn't enough. I came to the conclusion that my love of a few glasses of wine every night might be holding me back. I've been a wine drinker most of my adult life, my parents were international in many ways and they had wine most nights that I can remember. I enjoy paring wines with food and have a fairly good collection of fine wines as well as good ordinary wines for daily consumption. But I realized too much of a good thing is not good at all. So one night 3 weeks ago we had a really nice 2000 Bordeaux I'd been saving. I decanted it and my wife and son drank it and it was really a perfect wine. And that was the last glass I had. I decided the next morning that if I was really going to make changes this was a good one. No, I am not saying I will not drink wine anymore but at least not until my birthday in late July! On that day I will see where I am health wise and might open another nice bottle for dinner. The other thing that prompted me that for a week I was taking care of my 5 grandchildren as their parents were doing a cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary (never did a honeymoon so this was to make up for it). I wanted to give myself fully to them and they have busy schedules with school and soccer practice many nights of the week. My wife was also away on a job so I had the opportunity to focus on my new diet without the burden of having to worry that what I was eating might not be what she wanted.

I also increased my walking and now typically do 6-8 miles per day, well I usually miss a day or 2 each week but I typically walk on 5 days of the week. I'm also working on portion control and slowly phasing down what I put on my plate. Another thing Mr. Green strongly advises is to not consume any food 2 hours before bed time. So I eat earlier and I am also getting up earlier to get my longer walk in. Funny thing is I am sleeping more soundly and have increased energy during the day. I through in a few healthy snacks like fruit, carrots, nuts, dried fruit and an occasional slice of cheese but not too much.

The reaction from family has been kind of amusing. My wife thought it was a great idea and has started to mirror my plan although a lot of things I eat she won't and her work schedule makes exercise more challenging. Last night we had a big family gathering for Mother's Day at my step son's home. I overheard one step son talking to the other about me, "He's not drinking anymore... has something to do with getting healthy." I even brought out some nice wines for them to enjoy and asked at one point how the wine was. Funny thing is I thought I would miss it and I do at times like as I prepare dinner which is when i used to pour a glass. Now I just keep drinking more water and also green tea which is the tea I really prefer. All I can say is all this water and a few glasses of tea and I pee all the time now! 4-5 times every night I wander into the toilet to let the taps flow! I also don't have reflux, something I only had infrequently but usually if I ate to late or drank too much.

So, for now I will keep on track with this. I plan to weigh myself after a month as Bob Greens suggestion. In the second month I will increase activity more, maybe through in more aerobic movement or weights. Also will cut back on cheese (I really love good cheeses) and continue to cut down meat consumption. I already only eat meat 2 times a week or so and eat a lot of seafood.

Well, this all I have to say about this now. I want to get back to the 200lb or lower range and try to get back to a 34 waist from the current 36. I'll post a followup at some point to tell how it has worked out.

Wow, Chris. Sounds like you are taking charge and on a good tack. Keep us all posted, it's inspirational to me and I'm sure many others of us.

Good for you, Chris. Seriously. It's hard to make lifestyle changes. But when you are motivated, it's a but easier.

A lot of this sounds familiar. I've also been making changes to get the blood test numbers in the right spot. More exercising and better food choices.

I've been sitting in this desk chair for over 20 years now, and it isn't doing my body any favors. I try to walk every day at lunch, but it's starting to get warm out. Walking in the heat sucks, so we'll see how the summer goes.

Good for you! I need to get myself checked too. Maybe some bad numbers will motivate me to follow suit, which I'm sure I need to badly.

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You ought to try it in Houston! Even though I walk on shaded trails once the weather warms up I come home with a soaking wet shirt! I will probably switch to more bicycle riding next month through September because at least you get the wind blowing on you!

I used to ride in KY, not as bad as TX, I know, but...

You're still gonna be soaked.

I've been jogging around 8am. It's not so bad...yet. I mean in tolerating the heat. Sweat, you just gotta.

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Turned on the house's AC today. Tried to last longer, but last night was too hot to sleep well. at least when I get home tonight, it will be cool in the house and doing my exercises will be more pleasant.

We've already been running the AC here in Houston. Nice rain today which is needed as we have gotten very dry. I may have to go do a walk at the mall or the local medical center so I can burn some calories indoors.

Right now I get this feeling just before dinner, "a glass of a nice Cote du Rhone would taste great right now. Then I think about all I've accomplished and that it would be breaking my streak of no drinking days and how it will taste better when I am several pounds lighter and maybe wearing an older pair of jeans. So I have another glass of water! :rolleyes:

I think a lot of people only think of women as being conscious of their body size and that is not the case. I've gotten to where I seldom look at myself in the mirror when I get out of the shower, don't like what I see. Now I look to remind myself of what I want to change.

you mean y'all actually run without someone chasing you??

It's the grim reaper that's chasing all of us.

"It's a Mr. Death or something, he's come about the reaping. I don't think we need any."

@ footfootfoot: LOL

@ glatt: what is this "AC" you speak of? it's in your house?

Well I started this lifestyle change on May 1st so here it is about 1 month later. I am walking just about every day. I try to get out early before it heats up and I pretty much quit doing the 2 or 3 mile routes I had mapped out and mostly walk a 4 mile route or longer. Over the weekend I went camping in west Texas with my 13 year old grandson and hiked 9 miles on Saturday on hilly terrain. I'm also doing a pretty good pace, I have an app on my phone called Map My Walk (also have Map My Ride) which uses the GPS in the phone to map your route and gives you other data like the total time and a split base as to how many minutes to the mile. I started at 18 minutes or so to a mile but now am in the 16 minute/mile range. My pedometer says I am doing on average 12,000- 16,000 steps per day which is like 6-8 miles. The pool at my grand kids house is warm enough that we have started swimming again. It's a small back yard pool so laps are hard but I think I will start doing laps in the morning at out community pool after they open full time next week, the lifeguards are high school kids so it doesn't open on weekdays until school lets out. Bike riding will also increase as the mosquitos and deer flies are sometimes out on the walking trails and with a bike at least you get a breeze blowing while you get your exercise.

I also didn't drink much in the last month, I think my wife and I opened a bottle of wine twice. And I'm consuming more fruit then I used to, usually for a snack or after dinner for dessert. We have been having really fresh strawberries so I have 3 or 4 big ones at a time as well as oranges and grapefruit. Also I made a galette, sort of an open face pie and I only added a bit of sugar and lemon juice and a bit of flour to the berries before putting them in the pie crust. I figured it was a pretty unadulterated fruit pie. And I'm drinking lots of water, 8-10 glasses a day and I really feel it especially at night as I have to get up and pee a lot!

I'm thinking of starting a cardio/weight work out routine. I saw a workout by that fitness lady, Jillian Michaels. I feel kind of stupid doing something in front of the TV but I figure no one is home during thd day so no one will see me. I can just put on the YouTube channel on TV and go along with it.

So, yesterday I weighed myself for the first time. The Bob Greene book says in phase one you should only weigh in after the first month and then once a week afterwards so you aren't dissapointed when you get started. I had been running around 230lbs and had a doctor visit back in April and they said I was 226 which I felt good about as I had dropped a bit so I used that as my starting point. Well, now I weigh 212 so I guess something is working. I feel pretty good about it as my major goal is just to get back under 200. My next big goal is to eventually get in the 185 lb range like I was 12 years or so ago. 175 would be ideal but that will take time to get there. Maybe it is a good thing I never threw out those 34 and 32 inch jeans.

Oh well, that's the news on this topic.

Well done, Chris!

I'm having a hard time staying with the strength exercises. I was doing them 2-3 times a week, but now have to make a point of doing them and wind up doing them just once a week. It was much more comfortable exercising in the winter.

I still walk every single day though. Around 3 miles at lunch and 2 miles total during commutes.

Still eating more fruits and veggies and fewer carbs. I need to get better about cutting carbs though. I have to come up with a different breakfast. Wheaties are killing me. That's around 70 grams of carbs in the morning. At least they are whole wheat.

You know, I think controlling carbs is a good thing in the initial plan but I am not in favor of the Adkins or South Beach or Paleo diets as I don't think they are healthy in the long run or really doable for a long period. Plus so many cultures with healthy lifestyles (Asian and Mediterranean to name 2) rely on a broad mix of good carbs as well as fruits and vegetables and protein in moderation.

I typically eat a mix of grains for breakfast ever day, steel cut oats, brown and wild rice, farro, bulgur, and several nuts such as walnuts and cashews, pistachios, pumpkin and sesame seeds and ground up ones like almond and flax and chia. Not all in one meal but this is the variety of what I eat. I know they have helped me turn my cholesterol around and are good for my colon. I usually eat a couple scrambled eggs once a week. I don't eat much bread anymore but if I do it's a fairly robust dark wheat type, sometimes whole wheat tortillas or corn ones. I also eat hummus once a day so that's a good carb and also good fiber.

Cheese is my one vice I still love, not a lot but a slice or 2 or 3. Just trying to limit it a bit more and also move away from the really creamy ones like brie, etc and more hard cheeses or ones lower in fat. I like the thick Greek style yogurt that is 2% or less in fat.

I'm not pushing carb cutting as a thing for everyone. Recent blood tests have shown I'm slightly prediabetic, which means my body isn't responding like it should to the insulin I produce. When I eat a lot of carbs, my blood sugar spikes and takes a while to come back down, and never really gets down to where it should be. I can make my body more responsive to the insulin by exercising more, so I'm trying to do that. And I can also cut back on carbs and sweets so the insulin has less work to do. Ideally, that's all I'll need to do.

Not everybody has some resistance to insulin, but it's more common than most people realize. Something like 20% of US adults, IIRC. And it eventually leads to full blown diabetes, where you need to give yourself shots of insulin and track your blood sugar by pricking your finger all the time and testing the blood. I really don't want that. So I'm moderately cutting carbs now and trying to exercise more. But Wheaties have a ton of carbs. It's dumb that I eat them so much. I need to find a good, quick, satisfying breakfast alternative. Something ready to eat, healthy, and satisfying. I don't want salad for breakfast. Yuck.

Oh I agree on that and that as we age I think we might just generally build up a resistance to responding to insulin as we do when we are younger. I know various doctors have told me after a fasting blood test that I was pre-diabetic. And they mostly told me to avoid sugary drinks, pasta and sweets, all of which I avoided anyway. I think drinking 3-4 glasses of wine every night and a lack of aerobic activity probably had more to do with it than anything else. Alcohol can really mess with your blood sugar.

I'm supposed to have a complete blood work test done in August as well as a tread mill heart test so I will be interested to see what my numbers and weight look like by then.

It's not for everyone, to be sure, but I don't know what you mean by "really doable for a long period." We've been completely grain-free and sugar-free for over three years now, and I have many friends who have been doing it for a decade or more. Anything's doable if you decide to do it.

Clod what do you typically have for breakfast in your house?

I usually have a cut-up banana with strawberries or blueberries, with homemade granola on top (made from cashews, almonds, and coconut.) Sometimes I'll have yogurt involved in there as well. The kids have small meat patties, a coconut flour muffin, and some kind of fruit. Every once in awhile I'll do eggs and bacon, but I don't like cleaning the pans so it's rare.

does the coconut flour muffin have a strong coconut flavor/smell?

I'm thinking my new routine might be to make some sort of muffin out of fake flour like that and make a big batch each weekend to have the next week for breakfast.

Clodfobble, no I realize some folks to go carb free or close to it and can keep it going and you and your family are to be commended but from most of what I have read, statistically most people who go on a close to zero carb high protein diet for weight loss do loose weight but gain it back because the eventually revert back to bad food choices. I know that my wife and I did Adkins back when he was still alive and making all the talk show circuits and we lost weight but eventually gained it back either because we ate too many of the wrong things or didn't get enough exercise.

I've followed your food blog off an on and agree that for some people wheat and dairy can be the route of a lot of problems. I was asthmatic as a child and had a doctor tell my mother to limit wheat and dairy to decrease congestion and it did help me. So I think for medical reasons a variety of dietary changes will help.

So to clairfy I'm just not a big believer in the long term benefits of low carb/high protein diets for the average person trying to drop a few pounds. I think that in general eating less and eating better foods coupled with increased activity is probably the healthier way to go and will have a lasting effect it it is kept up to some degree after the goals are reached.

Not to me, but I have notoriously under-sensitive tastebuds. Most people comment on the honey flavor though, not the coconut. You can also use almond flour if you don't like coconut.

I agree that many people try to just replace carbs with protein instead of produce, and that's a bad idea. And I also agree that it can't be about specific numeric goals, but I think that's true of all supposed weight-loss plans. Whatever the change is, it has to be a permanent lifestyle commitment, if you expect to keep the results.