312.2

'nuf said sadly.

Another Milestone!

I weighed-in today with Martha for the first time since before Christmas. I weighed 312.1 lbs. Which means since I entered the program I have lost 50.6 lbs. that I am no longer carrying around.  My friends, that’s over 50 pounds of ugly lard!

Happy New Year 2011!

I have really enjoyed the Christmas break.  I don’t start back to the Institute until Tuesday. So it’s been wonderful!

Actually I’ve missed home, family and parish very badly, but I’ve received tons of mail, lots of emails, texts and phone calls.  So I’ve felt very much in touch.

What I’ve done (at least on the positive side) is this:  I’ve gone to the gym every single day between Christmas and New Year’s (for a total of 20 days in December!) My workout is now up to a heart-pumping 40 minutes on the treadmill or the Nustep (a reclined stepper). Plus I went in twice on Tuesday, the second time to get checked out on the strength machines.

Now I’ve also applied for the “Y Weight Challenge” – a 12 week competition (in small teams with a personal trainer – a la the Biggest Loser). I’ll find out tomorrow whether I’ve been accepted in that program.

So while it seems I’ve fully embraced my athletic self (sigh), it’s still an effort to get to the gym.

Plus (again on the positive side) I’ve seen lots of movies!  The best of the bunch is “The King’s Speech.” Some bad language in it, but Oscar worthy in my humble opinion. I also enjoyed “The Fighter.”

On the negative side, I didn’t focus much on the diet.  But while I didn’t do great on the diet over the holidays, I did alright.  I’m not sure I lost any weight, but I’m sure I did not gain any either.  It just puts be behind schedule. However I don’t weigh in with Martha until next week. So we’ll see.

On the whole it’s been a great break!  Happy New Year to you all!

A White Christmas in St. Louis!

After the 7:15 AM morning Mass on Christmas Eve (Friday), it began snowing in St. Louis and continued all day. It was great! And today, it is beautiful here on the banks of the Mississippi!

For the first time in almost 35 years, I had no special Christmas duties – no Masses (other than my own), no homilies to deliver, no liturgies to prepare for and… and… my Christmas shopping was done, online and early!) so I took advantage of the situation.

I went to bed early on Christmas eve, and we had a quiet Mass this morning at 8 AM in the La Salette Chapel. There were 5 of us – 4 priests and 1 brother. It was peaceful and lovely.

I celebrated my Christmas Mass for you, my friends, supporters, family and benefactors. I find myself surrounded by cards and letters and thoughtful remembrances and generous gifts.  I am very grateful!

May you and yours experience a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Better!

Monday means weigh-in-with-Martha-day. I did it (finally). I broke the 320 lb. barrier – which was my immediate goal.  This morning I weighed 318.4 lbs. – a loss of 3.8 lbs. from the previous week and a total loss of 44.3 lbs!

I feel better.

Thanks be to God.

My "Real World" Diet

I don’t think I ever mentioned that I never did go on that strict Medifast diet (cf. Lettuce Rejoice, below). The medical team feared complications given my diabetes (diabetic ketoacidosis). So it was decided I would go on a “Real World” diet.

That consists of a carefully planned, balanced diet of three meals and three snacks daily. I can have up to 8 portions of meat/protein (1 portion = 1 oz. lean meat or 1 egg); 2 or 3 dairy (8 ozs. skim milk or 1 light yogurt is a portion); 2 to 3 fruits (a banana is considered 2 fruits!); 4 portions of vegetables (1 portion = ½ cup steamed veggies); and 5 grains/starches/cereals/breads.

It’s a diet that gives me a great amount of flexibility, but it requires that I keep a detailed log of my intake which is reviewed weekly with my dietician.

For breakfast the "gold standard" is 1 cup cheerios with 8 ozs. skim milk (and possibly a banana or even just ½ banana.) But with proper planning for the day (and enough time in the morning – or even in the evening) I can make a wonderful veggie omelet.  I use Pam spray to sauté the veggies and cook the omelet. I use one whole egg and up to 3 egg whites. Add a little salsa and toast, perfect!  So the omelet breakfast counts 2 meats, 1 veggie, 1 grain with plenty of room to eat for the rest of the day.

For lunch, I usually pack a sandwich (2 or 3 ozs. of lean deli meat is great) and a salad with an apple or a yogurt. Martha, my dietician, lead me to discover Sarah Lee's 45 calorie bread, two slices of which counts as merely one grain which makes a sandwich quite good!

And for dinner, I imagine the plate quartered: 1 quarter for meat (2 or 3 ozs. – the size of a deck of cards), 1 quarter for grain (a small baked potato or ½ cup rice) and 2 quarters for veggies (salad or steamed veggies) and I could have a yogurt for dessert.

My snacks between meals consist of a piece of fruit (apples are a miracle food!), a 100 calorie yogurt (never used to enjoy them, now they’re part of my life!) and for my salty/savory cravings the 100 calorie mini-bag of popcorn or an ounce of pretzels (that’d be a generous 48 pieces of the small stick pretzels!)

My diet is quite satisfying. I don’t find myself hungry. It takes some discipline, some thinking and some planning, but it’s working for me – at least so far!

And here’s the fun part: with proper planning, I can go out for a steak (a 6 oz. filet rare), baked potato, salad and even… a martini!  Isn’t God good!

Sadly Something of a Setback

I weighed in Monday with high hopes.  My goal was to have broken the 320 lb. barrier. Instead, I hit the scales at 322.2 lbs. That's down only .2 of a pound for the entire week. (For a total loss of 40.5 lbs.) I was disappointed and frustrated to say the least.

I felt that I kept to my diet something like 98%. Plus, I’d hit the gym four times that previous week and increased the time spent on the exercise machines by more than 20% per day. I was confident that I had reached that 320 lb. goal.

Martha, my dietician, urged me not to be too disappointed.  She said she's seen this before, that something’s going on in my body, that it feels like it’s being starved and is rebelling by trying to hold on to its fat.  She believes that I will make significant progress by next weigh-in next Monday.

I hope she’s right.

She also pointed out that at least I did not gain weight and that a loss is a loss, that I’m getting in the exercise component and now’s not the time to slack off.  Others have echoed her.

More later…