<p>I like the suggestion of the loaf of bread in the freezer.
From to time, I do enjoy a big, thick sandwich, but haven’t wanted to have the bread around. At some point, I am hoping that two pieces of rye every once in a while will be acceptable, so going the freezer route sounds perfect.
My pre-diabetic friend who is constantly monitoring blood sugar, reports no discernable spike after eating rye bread vs. sky high results after the same amount of white bread, for what it’s worth.</p>
Today’s workout
usual dynamic stretches
4 rounds of
10 double unders jump rope
10 clapping push ups
10 OH medicine ball slams
3 rounds as many reps as possible with 60 second rest between exercises
60 sec. jumping pull ups
60 sec. wall ball with full squats
60 sec. 12 kg. KB swings
60 sec. box jumps (jump up, step down)
cjread - congrats on your weight loss and on finding success with the changes. i find the same with me in that if i try diets with whole grains and fruit, i tend to gain weight, not lose weight. the low carb diets seem to work best for me. what seems to work is the chicken/fish/veggies.
glad your almond flour quiche was a success. i haven’t tried anything with almond flour yet but we do use almond milk. it’s a challenge to be restricted and not be eating grains because they are everywhere it seems. but an all or nothing approach does work best for me. i can’t have just a little bread…or i want more. have you also tried coconut flour items yet? it would seem that the almond and coconut flours would be workable for folks like us, more so than rice flour items.
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<p>My preference with veggies is sautee’d with a little olive oil or butter!</p>
<p>I think I’ve probably had two potatoes this year. Maybe a baked potato back in January and another one cut up and put in a beef stew and some little pieces in Progresso Beef Veggie soup. I try to stay away from potatoes and sweet potatoes.</p>
<p>I’m not as successful with corn. We get fresh farm stand sweet corn in late summer and I can’t resist corn on the cob. That and frozen lima beans stand in the way of me being truly low carb. I figure that, in the grand scheme of things, some corn, some lima beans, and apples as treats probably won’t be the end of the world. Beats Pringles and Red Twizzlers washed down with a 2-liter Pepsi.</p>
<p>Spicy chicken Caesar Salad for me tonight. instead of anchovy and worceshire flavor in the dressing, I season the chicken with ancho chili powder and make the faux-Caesar dressing with a minced canned chipotle pepper. It’s another Bobby Flay inspired twist, although I can’t remember his recipe at all. I still use freshly grated Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese. It was fantastic.</p>
<p>No workout for me tonight. I’m really trying to give my back a break. We’ve been loading up a dumpster and clearing out attic, garage, and basement of decades of junk and old furniture and stuff, so I’ve been doing some serious lifting and carrying up and down stairs. That, on top of my weight lifting workouts, has just been a little too much for my ol’ (formerly) fat bones. I may take the whole week off and just do some interval cardio stuff.</p>
<p>CJ, I get a loaf of Pepperidge Farm or Beefsteak rye or pumpernickle (which is kind of like half a loaf anyway) and then just stick it in the fridge from day one. It seems to keep for 2 weeks no problem. So I might have five tuna or turkey sandwiches over a 15 day period and that will be my little bread/sandwich fix for a month or so. Both brands thin slice their loaves, so it’s not crazy calories or carbs. I think two slices of Pepperidge Farm rye is 160 calories and 28 grams of carbs. The tuna or the turkey are both good protein. The mayo is the killer, but the whole sandwich still comes in under 400 calories.</p>
Hmmmm.
I think maybe everyone is wired differently. I could not function without grains. My parents – in their late 80s – were never overweight and are in ridiculously good health and start every day with oatmeal, toast and an orange. But I totally don’t think diet is a one-size-fits-all world. You have to figure out what foods make you feel good and support health.
I think it’s a fabulous achievement to figure it out for yourself and then stick to the plan.
<p>My main grains are Trader Joe’s Low Calorie Bread - 40 calories per slice and 5 grams of fiber. I have wanted to do some oatmeal before running but haven’t gotten up-to-speed on that yet due to a busy fall schedule. These days I have a heavier focus on beans which provide a decent amount of fiber and protein. Overall, though, I’ve cut back considerably on grains.</p>
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<p>Yes. It all depends on genetic and hormonal regulation of energy balance and fat storage. Generally speaking, naturally thin people are thin because their regulation tends to resist fat storage and favor burning the available calories. If they eat something, their bodies are compelled to get up off the sofa and burn it rather than storing it as fat. Generally speaking, thin people can, and need to, eat carbohydrates. They have no stored fat to burn and would crash without the instantly available fuel eating carbs provides. The danger is trying to apply eating principles suitable for this “runners’ metabolism” to somebody whose genetics and hormonal balance favors fat storage.</p>
<p>One of the complicating factors is that insulin resistance (which causes fat storage from eating carbs) tends to increase with age, so that naturally thin person can start packing on the pounds later in life. People who are more insulin resistant respond very differently to eating carbs than people who are less insulin resistant.</p>
<p>Sounds like me in my twenties and early thirties. My weight loss this year has been diet and exercise but being a naturally active person for the first half has made it much easier to maintain it evev when older.</p>
<p>Oatmeal and toast are healthy carbs in my books. I eat them quite regularly. I would not touch any cereal, though - there is too much hidden stuff that my body does not need. We all need carbs, just not the ridiculous amounts of sugar and starches a typical American eats.</p>
<p>DH brought home a large, soft chocolate chip cookie (I estimate it to have at least 400 calories!) that he got at work as the “dessert” part his co. provided lunch. In the past, I would open the package and nibble on its sweet contents while cooking dinner, but I think I developed resistance. Even though I was very hungry, I had no desire to touch that cookie (or the contents of the box of Belgian chocolates DH brought from Europe).</p>
<p>I decided that I need to get rid of the last tiny “pouch” on my belly (DH says there is none -what does he know!), so planks and other wonderful ab strengthening activities will be my friends for the next month. :)</p>
<p>Today the plan called for a practice 5k so I drove down to the location of my turkey trot and ran approx. what the race will be. According to my garmin, the total time was 28:36, and the moving time was 28:30. So garmin experts, is my time 28:36 or is it 28:30? I was supposed to run the first mile 30 seconds slower than goal pace, and the next 2 miles at goal pace. The problem is that the course is kind of down hill the first mile, and the last 3/4 mile is all up hill (well, more incline than hill, but still…) so it’s hard to follow that plan.</p>
<p>3 miles, 8:55 pace. Stretching and abs video and weights early morning and Smith Machine and more weights in the office. Scale said 179.5 so it looks like I’m finally moved out of the 182-183 range that I’ve been stuck in for the last two months. It’s interesting that it feels like I can crank up the speed with even a drop of a few pounds.</p>
Stuck to my plan to take a few days off from weight lifting. Wasn’t so hard on a beautiful, sunny 70 degree November afternoon. I suited up in shorts and a t-shirt, cranked up the iPod, and went for my usual 5K walk/jog. Added a 7th 2 minute jogging interval, so I’m up to jogging nearly half of the distance.
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blankmind, your time would be the shorter of the two times. One feature of the Garmin is that it can be set to AUTOPAUSE and stop timing when you are stopped (or alternatively when you are moving below a specified pace). If you had to stop for traffic, it probably went into autopause for a few seconds. Or, you might have pressed the START button a few seconds before you were actually moving. Or, you might have stopped at the finish line and fiddled around for a few seconds before managing to press the STOP button. It took me a while to not have to think about what buttons to press with the Garmin.
I generally turn that feature on when I’m doing a walk/jog in case somebody stops me to ask directions or whatever. I have to remember to turn it off when I’m doing Airdyne or weight lifting, because obviously I’m not moving, even though I still want the timer going.
<p>Any suggestions for a good pedometer? My mom wants ideas for a holiday gift for me. I do not run, don’t need anything fancy – just want something reliable. TIA!</p>
<p>iPod Nano 6th gen?</p>
I once scouted out a race course - it was something like 11 years ago. I didn’t run it because it would have been moderately dangerous to do it (it’s in a downtown area with a lot of traffic). Completely different when they hold the race and cars are blocked off from a fairly large area. I do recall in last year’s race that a car tried to get through the race venue and the driver was promptly arrested.
<p>BCEagle – glad your time dropped along with your weight. Nice combo!</p>
<p>Now that the weather is a lot colder, I’m looking for fish recipes that don’t make the house smell. Any suggestions? </p>
<p>Today I tried a full set of strength exercises, and so far, so good. I only did two sets of the ones that hit the back (I didn’t want to push it too hard after last weekends back issue) but so far, so good. </p>
<p>I’m at the annoying stage of weight loss where I’m a little stuck on business-type slacks: the old stuff has already been taken in as much as the tailor suggests, but I don’t really want to invest in a bunch of new stuff while I’m still dropping weight. I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and go buy a pair of nice black slacks and another pair in gray. Tops aren’t causing me as much trouble luckily. I did have to get some new, smaller exercise gear for the cold weather, but that was a purchase I was delighted to make. (And with elastic waistbands, likely to cope nicely with some more weight loss.)</p>
<p>Feeling sorry for H – now starts the holiday season at his office, and people just bring in a huge parade of home-made goodies – every time he gets a cup of coffee they’re just sitting right there. That would be a heck of a challenge for me.</p>
<p>When I’m dropping and the bigger stuff is too big, I buy one of the smaller size and make do with other stuff. It’s a pain buying stuff knowing that it won’t fit down the road.</p>
<p>Here’s one of my family’s favorites. Steamed Salmon with Pink Pickled Ginger, from Victor Sodshook’s True Thai cookbook:</p>
<p>Steamed Salmon With Pink Pickled Ginger</p>
<p>2 pounds salmon fillets
12 garlic cloves – minced
1 red onion (medium) – coarsely chopped
2 serrano peppers (fresh) – finely minced
1/2 cup pink pickled ginger – see note
2 stalks lemongrass – trimmed and sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup lemon juice – (fresh squeezed)</p>
<p>Cut the salmon into serving size portions (or smaller).</p>
<p>Put salmon in a ceramic serving bowl along with the other ingredients. Put ceramic bowl (uncovered) in a covered steamer. Steam for 20 to 30 minutes over constant boil until fish is cooked through.</p>
<p>NOTE: Pink Pickled Ginger is a thai product sold in jars in asian markets. However, I prefer to use the pink japanese sushi ginger available in most grocery stores. It’s more flavorful and more edible. I generally omit the lemongrass and the recipe is still fantastic. You can use bottled minced garlic to save time. You can slice the serrano chiles instead of mincing them if you have family members who want to pick out the “hot things”. No big deal either way.</p>
<p>Serve over Jasmine rice (or brocolli or snap peas or whatever for low carb). I have also added red bell pepper slices to jazz it up.</p>
<p>This last size change has killed me as all my sweaters, fleeces, and fall/winter jackets no longer fit. LARGE was always too big on me in the shoulder, but I needed to fit around the fat belly. Now, they are swimming on me. What’s even worse is that I cleaned out closets a year ago and sent a bunch of stuff that would fit now to Salvation Army because when I tried it on (after losing 40 pounds), it was just laughable to think that it would ever fit. Doh. Fortunately, I’ve found some fantastic bargains.</p>
<p>The only thing I kept is a bunch of size 38 sport coats, but must of those are too snug in the chest because I’m fairly broad shouldered and they were all Euro cut slim fit to begin with. I can fit in them, but are just a bit tight to button comfortably. I do fit in my old Pierre Cardin double-breasted navy wool overcoat. Been a long time since I’ve had that on – long enough that it’s even back in style!</p>
<p>40 sport coats are too big around the belly. A Calvin Klein slim fit sport coat I found at Marshalls, size 40, fits me perfect in the shoulders and waist. But, most of the “slim fit” stuff these days is styled for hipster geeks with horn rim glasses, pencil legs, and no butt. Just looks stupid on a geezer.</p>