<p>Actually, I was talking about replacing vegetable soup with bacon and eggs a little more often. I tend to not have a lot of protein at lunch, usually going with soup or a salad. Canadian bacon is good, too. But, I love me some thick-sliced bacon.</p>
<p>I mentioned the english muffin because my usual egg breakfast this past year has been three slices of bacon, two eggs over easy, and a buttered english muffin or rye toast. I’m going to have that a little more often, only ditch the bread.</p>
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<p>Today was good from a protein standpoint. I had a monster serviing of chicken breast in a chicken caesar salad for dinner:</p>
<p>It was at the grocery store last night and I spent a little time checking out the bacon.</p>
<p>Overall I think that Trader Joes Turkey Bacon is pretty good for protein. 0.5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein. It’s pretty expensive at 8 relatively thin slices for $3.99.</p>
<p>Breakfast this morning was half a matzo, two eggs over easy and fish. 333 calories, 44% fat, 38% protein, 17% carbs. That balance will change as I have a tub of broccoli for lunch.</p>
<p>I believe that I would be about 25 pounds lighter today if I started the Livestrong and low-carb thing a year ago. I had a regression in the last quarter of last year on weight due to fairly extreme stress at home and at work but I’m back in the groove now. If I had had these two tools back then, the Livestrong site would have been enough to keep me on track calorie-wise and the low-carb approach would have made it easier to do so.</p>
<p>I spoke to a friend about low-carbs and Livestrong at tennis last night. He’s been battling too much weight for a long time and he had his stomach stapled but it hasn’t done much good. The amazing thing is that he can play tennis well but his joints hurt a lot after playing.</p>
<p>He knew about the Livestrong site and about low-carbs. He’s going to give the Livestrong thing another try. He does do low-carbs but he still eats too much. I don’t see how this can happen but he says that his wife is generous on portions. So there is a lot of knowledge on this stuff out there but many that know don’t follow.</p>
<p>edit: one other thing that helps me on Livestrong is Firefox 4.0. It has App tabs which are little boxes on the tab bar for websites that you want open all the time. I always have Livestrong up on my home and work computers so it is convenient to enter data in. If it isn’t convenient, it doesn’t get done.</p>
<p>BC – you’re saying Firefox 4.0 has this feature and older versions don’t? I’m on Firefox 3.6.16 on a Mac. I’m always hesitant to upgrade until all the kinks are worked out.</p>
<p>To all using the Livestrong site – are you just using the free part or are you paying to “upgrade?” Are there any features worth paying for?</p>
<p>I believe that the main benefit of the Livestrong pay “gold” membership is much more extensive reporting capabilities. For example, in the free site, you can generate a pie chart with the protein/carb/fat percentages for a single day, but you can’t generate much in terms of longer term reporting – weekly, monthly, etc. To do that, you have to export data to Excel and play games there. The pay version lets you do all kinds of custom reporting.</p>
<p>It’s not worth it to me because I don’t have the discipline (or need) to track everything I eat every day forever. It has been sufficient to use Livestrong as a learning tool (to understand what I’m eating and get the outlines of diet that is at my calorie targets) and then as a spot check from time to time to refocus. For example, tracking this month has helped me refocus on not grabbing a tangerine every time I walk past the fridge.</p>
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<p>On this “low carb” thing. The Eades Protein Power book I’m reading (and Atkins) talk about very low levels of carb consumption (say 55 grams a day or less) as in “intervention” stage to kick start serious fat lass and reduction in cholesterol/blood pressure. I have never been anywhere near that level. A typical carb day for me is more like 100 grams. First, I’m not a fan of extreme diets. Second, I suspect that most of us (who are overweight) eat so much carbohydrate that cutting back to even a moderate level will show results.</p>
<p>I do understand the logic behind the extreme intervention phase. They are dealing with obese patients, often with severely messed up metabolism and they have got to break the carb>insulin cycle so that their metabolism will even allow them to start burning stored fat. For me, not eating a bag of Doritos and sour gummy worms and a sweet Snapple tea on the same day as pizza for dinner was enough of an “intervention”!</p>
<p>That’s called the induction stage for Atkins and it seemed extreme to me - I like to ease into things so that I don’t upset anything. It would be interesting to see the carbs percentage of the average person. My guess is that it’s about 70% and even dropping to 50% is a fairly big change in diet.</p>
<p>In other words, both fat and carbohydrate consumption (and calorie consumption, of course) increased over the years, but carbohydrate consumption increased by more (probably due to super size sodas and the like).</p>
<p>70% of calories from carbohydrates would likely be someone trying to do an extremely low fat diet (and following the diet better than most who try), or someone on a subsistence diet in the rural part of a poor country. It would not be typical of most Americans.</p>
Yay for you idad!!! Another 5 pound goal! So very happy for you!
Still plugging away at the same elusive 5 lbs that are being difficult for me. Nice workout on the bike today. HRM says it was over 500 calories burned so that’s good enough for the day. The sun is shining and supposed to be in the mid-50’s today. May have to see if I can walk outside.
<p>On the bacon front: we like bacon, but I’m not at all a fan of how fatty it is. I buy Farmland slab sliced bacon – nice flavor, relatively thick cut. I look for a package with a nice meaty representative cut along with a big fat edge running at least half way down the length. At home, I take the whole slab out, and put it on my cutting board, and cut away the big fatty chunk. That usually gets rid of about 25- 30% the weight (I’ve weighed it) of the package of bacon, and while the slices then look a little lopsided, my pan isn’t loaded with grease and it still has the great bacon flavor. Nobody seems to miss the extra fat. I don’t try and get all the fat out – just what I can slice away easily from the slab. Overall, I think this is much better flavor than the lower fat bacons that are sold. I find it easier to do all at once even though we use the bacon up over time. Just a thought. (It also greatly reduces spatters and leaves relatively little fat in the pan to pour off after cooking.)</p>
<p>And my good news: I lost five pounds! It took longer than I thought it would – menopause is not helping, and neither is a doctor-initiated drop in thyroid meds, but I’m pleased, and motivated to keep going. The strength training is beginning to show because clothes are looser than they should be just from the weight loss, so that’s gratifying too. I need to keep reminding myself of that, because I do not particularly enjoy the weight training. My trainer (who’s been a godsend, aka Ms. Adaptability) has been pushing me much harder than I’d push myself, and always mixing stuff up so I don’t get accustomed to it. I know that’s right, but I’m a bit worried about how I’m going to keep that up on my own after the 3 month commitment is up – I wish I could afford to do it permanently, but that isn’t likely. What’s she’d doing is working – with one exception, none of the “hurt” the next day has ever been anything more than good muscle soreness – and the one exercise that made my elbow give the tendinitis twinge got dropped right away. (Having been through that before I never, ever want to get that again. If it hurts “that” way, I’m not doing it.) I’ve made it up to doing plank on my knees and forearms, which might not sound like much, but believe me, it is major work. She also does a lot of touching to make sure I’m using the right muscles on exercises, and the mantra of keep your shoulders down is perpetual. </p>
<p>The other nice thing I’ve noticed with the functional training is that I am a lot more stable walking downhill, and my feet are tending to plant facing forward rather than duck-walking when I’m walking. I’m also noticing my glutes a lot more when I’m out walking now – apparently all those years when I was walking miles I was managing to do so without much glute “activation” leading to quads that were excessively overdeveloped compared with everything else. Who knew? I did a small hike on a good sized hill, and found that coming back downhill was a lot better. (Normally I’m the weird person who would prefer to hike to the top and have someone meet me there for a ride home.)</p>
<p>Good for you arabrab!!! Way to reach that 5 lb goal!!! So nice to have loose clothes and feel better. You should feel proud of yourself! Congrats!</p>
<p>I made the switch to Canadian bacon a while back. I’m not a big meat eater so I rarely have it. My protein mainly comes from egg whites, fish and some white meat chicken. Love the Whey protein powder at my gym but have been out for a few months. Thanks for the reminder to start back up! Hmmm…wonder if that has had an impact on me not losing as much lately?</p>
<p>I’m nearing the point of being ready to buy another can of protein powder – probably whey, as the egg-based ones have an “eggy” taste to me (maybe in my mind…) – I’m currently using the Jay Robb chocolate whey one, just whipped up in the blender with water and ice cubes for a late afternoon snack, but I don’t love it. It is sweetened with stevia, and is a little “sweet” to my taste. I can’t use Splenda, and don’t like aspartame. Any suggestions as to what might be a different variety worth a try given these constraints? (I’ve generally found the chocolate to be a lot more palatable than the fake vanillas. All of them would probably be better in milk, but I’m not having that at the moment.)</p>
<p>I use Lifetime Fitness Whey Protein brand and absolutely love the chocolate flavor. I put a few ice cubes , powder and water in a martini shaker and shake away! It is smooth and creamy and Did I say I love it??? D2 uses the vanilla and mixes with skim and fruit in a blender…she is a 0 and needs protein since she isn’t a meat or fish eater. When I have to have something sweet I eat the South Beach Living Protein fit Cinnamon Raisin bars. I have come to crave these as my only sweet indulgence. At 140 calories it has 8 g of protein, 7 g of sugar, 3 g fiber, 120 g sodium and 5 g of fat, total 17 g carbs. They satisfy my sweet tooth since I don’t really like dark chocolate.</p>
<p>Good for you! Five pounds is sweet. Take if from somebody who knows five pounds!</p>
<p>Sounds like you and your trainer are being smart. Working out, strength training, and body weight exercises aren’t supposed to hurt when you are doing a sensible program and doing the exercises right. Pain is a sure sign to stop what you are doing and either find something else or a different way. I shake my head at the people causing themselves pain in the gym.</p>
<p>As for how to proceed sans trainer, that’s why I’m always doing a specfic workout program. It keeps me on track. I have a one-page printed sheet with the day’s workout that sits next to my water bottle, sweat towel, and GYMBOSS timer. I just start at the top of the page and quit when I’ve gotten to the bottom. I suppose a trainer might push me a little harder. On the other hand, I get the diabolical Alwyn Cogrove designing workouts that are fun, crazy, and never dull. There are a lot of ways to skin the cat.</p>
<p>MOWC…I just get them at Target. They are in with the granola bars. I haven’t tried the other flavors as I read somewhere that these were the best. I am such a creature of habit! :)</p>
<p>Well, this is the first time I can remember having to bail on a workout halfway through. Warmup was good. First set of core was fine. Second set of core, I was dizzy at the end of the turkish get ups. I took a break and did the nex exercise, but I was still semi-dizzy and a little queasy, so I pulled the plug at that point. These workouts are too challenging to be doing them like that.</p>
<p>I get this benign vertigo every few months, triggered by movement from horizontal to vertical. I think the constant up/down, looking at the ceiling during the turkish get-ups set it off, big time.</p>
It is smooth and creamy and Did I say I love it???