Damn it

So, after all the talk about being a good boy and going into an all-you-can-eat sushi place with a plan, I ate too much.

In my defense, both my daughter and my wife decided they didn't want very much after we ordered our second round, and as with most AYCE sushi places, you get charged if you leave a bunch of stuff on the table. Diet or not, I'll be damned if I'm paying someone $10 to scrape good rolls into the scrap bin.

So yes, I'm pissed at myself, and yes, I probably should have seen it coming. But welcome to fighting your weight, right?

Probably the best moment of the night: Just when I had finished, I looked across the table at my wife and said, "Well, I guess I'm done with this diet." She immediately started telling me not to give up and that it was just one night before I could say I was kidding.

But I thought it about afterward, and she was right to assume I was serious. In the past, that would have been it. I would have thrown up my hands and said the whole thing was ruined (or ruinged, if you're Stewie Griffin).

But it's not. It's one stumble in a long race, and damn it, this morning it was a protein shake and a banana and we're back in stride.

I hope you all are as positive going into the weekend.

Man vs. sushi

It's my wife's birthday today, and she'd really like to have sushi at our favourite sushi place down the street. This would not normally good news on a diet, I don't think, but I have two big things going for me.

Firstly, this is an all-you-can-eat sushi joint. I know -- you just did the Scooby Doo double take, but hear me out. AYCE means I have a nice and unlimited supply of tuna and salmon sushimi. I can nibble at some bad menu items (sesame chicken, crab cakes), but go nuts on the raw fish without much regret.

Secondly, I have my newfound willpower. I went for sushi the first week of this diet, ate until I was full and still knocked it out of the ballpark. I'm not too scared I'm going to flip out and start grabbing tempura shrimp off the plates of my neighbors.

This place also has excellent miso soup and tofu goodies, so I'm really looking forward to this -- almost as much as my wife!

The third weigh-in

Just back from the third weigh-in. I didn't stick around for the meeting this evening, as I've been sick all week and my bad back is being extremely bitchy tonight.

Weight, Week 1: 373.6 pounds
Weight, Week 2: 364.4 pounds
Weight, Week 3: 360.2 pounds
Weight, Week 4: 357.4 pounds
Total Lost Thus Far: 16.2 pounds
Percentage of Body Weight Lost: 4.3%

Amazingly, the same guy who has been pacing the class dropped another 6.5 pounds this week. He only started at around 250 or so, so I'm not how he's doing it. He still has both his arms and legs, so that's not the secret. Good on him, though.

Made myself a nice big chicken breast and spinach salad with a little sherbet afterward and am settling in to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs drop another game.

Hope your week is going as well!

Thank God for Nyquil

After a couple of days with the worst sore throat I've ever had (worse even than the tonsilitis I used to fight as a kid before they got yanked out), my body is finally letting up on me.

I'm actually now able to talk on the phone without sounding like a pervert, and walk around the store without wobbling too badly. Hope things are good with all of you with your health.

My in-laws came last night and took our family out to dinner in advance of my wife's birthday. We hit our favourite local restaurant, where I would normally tuck in to a nice slab of prime rib and a piece of cheesecake afterward.

Instead, I had a delicious fillet of sole with scallops and mushrooms, a small baked potato and a little rice pilaf. Not quite as yummy as the prime rib (and little more butter than I would have liked), but still very satisfying. Surprisingly, I couldn't finish the rice -- my tummy must be shrinking.

I did hop off track for a fried dill pickle. I only ordered them because they're unusual in Canada and I wanted some of my family to try them. Reviews were mixed, but how can you poo-poo anything deep fried?

I also abstained from the chocolate mousse cake my mother-in-law brought. Instead, I had a protein shake made with chocolate soy milk and some strawberries, slammed some Nyquil and slept for 12 hours. Anyone know how NyQuil counts against your diet?

Back to the protein shake and banana this morning. Weigh-in in two more days!

A shake by any other name ...

As you may know, I'm in a weight-loss challenge that's tied to the Herbalife system. I bought both my original meal replacement shake mix and my extra protein powder from them.

Not surprisingly, it's much cheaper to buy other versions of both from your local supermarket or health-food store. What I'm wondering is -- are they exactly the same, or am I screwing up the delicate balance of Herbalife's plan by buying some cheaper imposter.

I'm still using their meal replacement stuff, but I bought the Joe Weider 90% Protein stuff, which was about half the price of the Herbalife product.

Any thoughts?

Is this good or bad?

I'm not feeling at all well today. I've picked up the flu, I suspect from one of the other people in my weight-loss challenge class. The guy was a bit of a close talker and after a couple minutes of conversation, he informs me he's sick as a dog and heading home.

Thanks.

So normally I'd look on this is having a bit of a bright side -- I'm completely not hungry. But the program has me taking in around 200 grams of protein a day. I've already done my morning shake and a protein bar, and I feel like I'm going to keel over.

Any thoughts on what I can eat that's high in protein and not too heavy?

Fat people need not enter

Budweiser holds a contest every year to see who can pull vouchers for rides on the Bud plane down to the Super Bowl. Neat contest, and you can some of the video from last year's trip right here.

Interestingly enough, however, the commercials never seem to feature anyone who isn't:

a) between 21 and 30 years old
b) rain thin
c) buy all their clothing from Hollister

Is this smart marketing by Budweiser? I mean, the average person who drinks Bud is not necessarily the svelte, younger type. Wouldn't it make sense to have a couple of fat guys in the back of the shot to at least let us know, "We won't take your tickets from you if you're a little overweight."

I guess not.

The second weigh-in

I just got back from the second weigh-in. As expected, I didn't lose nearly as much weight this week, but I'm not terribly disappointed, either:

Weight, Week 1: 373.6 pounds
Weight, Week 2: 364.4 pounds
Weight, Week 3: 360.2 pounds
Total Lost Thus Far: 13.4 pounds
Percentage of Body Weight Lost: 3.6%

I celebrated with a nice turkey burger with cheese and some salad and cottage cheese. I attribute the lesser loss this week to my aforementioned slip on Sunday (damn you, football Sunday!) -- scan down a few posts.

There were fewer people around this week, maybe six or seven empty seats. I can understand that, dropping out almost as soon as you start.

Get back on that horse, people!

Enjoy your sawdust!

Good God, what is the deal with these protein-laden meal replacement bars? Is this all the wood pulps shavings from the local mill, gussied up with a bit of sugar and a fake chocolate coating?

I stopped at the Zehr's this morning for some supplies and found these -- President's Choice FastTrack Bars -- in the health-food section. They're good for the program I'm on, but it is just completely not fair to lead me on to believe they might actually taste even remotely like chocolate or peanut butter.

The packaging is a hoot, too. There's a little sunburst in the top left corner -- "NEW TASTE!" Assuming they mean the bar now tastes better than it did before, what was the old taste? Powdery Ass?

At least I feel full now. At least, I certainly don't want to eat another of those.

Bad boy, bad boy (whatcha gonna chew?)

So I slipped. Stumbled. Backslid. Whatever you'd like to call it.

I ran out of the extra protein mix that I add to my shakes on Saturday, and Sunday I paid for it. I was hungry all damned day, and I snacked every hour or two.

I didn't think not having the bump in the shakes would make that big of a difference, but it really does. For the first two weeks of this program, I can truly say I wasn't hungry at all. Between the shakes and the copious amounts of protein I've been eating, I don't think my stomach had a chance.

But take away that extra goose and man, I went nuts. I guess I should actually be doing what the nice people at the meetings are telling me to do.

However, there is a bright side to this. I felt pretty lousy about my lack of willpower and complained about it to my wife. She then asked me what I had eaten during the day. Well ...

1 protein shake
1 banana
3 servings rice chips
2 servings 1% cottage cheese
1 serving whole grain pretzels
2 big helpings of stirfry (chicken, shrimp and veggies with a little white rice with the first serving)
2 big spoons Cheez Whiz
2 servings gelato
1 serving cherries

My wife laughed. She pointed out that two weeks ago I probably would have eaten one snack that encompassed more calories than my entire "bad" day.

So I feel better this morning -- and I ran to the store and got some protein powder. I doubt I'll lose nine pounds this week -- but I also don't feel like I'm totally off track.

I hate the grocery store

I used to love going grocery shopping. It was 30-45 minutes of solitude, wandering through the aisles and picking up goodies here and there.

I could spend five minutes picking between brands of cookies. Do I want Oreo Double Stuffs, so I can screw the tops off and make Oreo Quadruple Stuffs (patent pending)? Or do I want those soft-batch cookies, which I know have to be laced with enough preservatives to keep Pam Anderson looking fresh for another century, but they taste oddly great?

I could peruse the chip section. Do I feel adventurous enough to try some of those new and exotic flavours of potato chips -- Steak N' Onion, Dill Pickle, Ketchup -- or do I just want the old standbys? Speaking of that, what is the point of Ketchup-flavoured chips? Couldn't you just eat fries and dip them in ketchup, and even just dip the chips in it? Is that too hard for some people?

Do I need some lunch meat? What's on sale in the deli? Liverwurst? Genoa salami? Macaroni and cheese loaf? Hell, give me a pound of each of them!

I never walked out without a 12-pack of soda, and maybe something dessertish from the day-old bin, and of course several loaves of bread which would go moldy before I got through the second.

I thought about all of this standing in the checkout line the other day. In my cart? Spinach, fat-free chicken and turkey breast, one loaf of whole-wheat bread, soy milk, egg whites, pretzels and some grapes. It barely made a dent in the huge cart I had pushed around. So why was it more than I used to spend when the cart was damned near full?

No matter. I still get the same number of meals out of it, and I don't feel like I'm wheeling my death around in front of me.

The first weigh-in

The group reconvened last evening for its first weigh-in. Turnout was surprisingly good given the awful weather conditions and slick roads. I arrived early, having navigated the highway quicker than expected, and talked briefly with a couple of the coaches.

As other people filtered in, we started lining up at the scales. My understanding of this deal was for our weights to remain private, but the first woman hopped up and immediately announced she had lost just more than three pounds -- which may not seem like much until you realize she's 4'7".

Two guys then took their turns, one losing two pounds and the other somewhere around seven. Then it was me.

All week I have felt like I wasn't losing anything, mostly because I haven't been hungry. There hasn't been the gnawing urge to go get a soda of a coffee. I'll chalk that up to packing away as close to 200 grams of protein a day I can.

So I had girded myself for a disappointing week. I'd even brought some change to pay a fine if I'd actually gained a pound of two. I mean, I had been eating pretzels at night, and what about that trip to the sushi place on Friday?

Weight, Week 1: 373.6 pounds
Weight, Week 2: 364.4 pounds

I lost 9.2 pounds, the second-largest amount in the group. The fellow who beat me was charted as losing 14 pounds, but even he thought that was bunk -- he's a bit over six feet and maybe 40 pounds overweight, and thought they weighed him improperly last week.

Still, I'm very happy. I celebrated with cottage cheese and turkey last night when I got home (if you can call that celebrating) and this morning it was a triple/triple shake with a few strawberries. I'm full again.

I'll post more about the meeting later today.

The coach's response

Here's the reply I received from my coach:

The faintness could be due to the sugar detox...YIKES!! If you could try to eat some kind of protein snack when you feel faint, or a piece of fruit instead of the coke, you will be much better off...remind me when the last time was that you had a physical...if there is any possibility that you could have developed diabetes since your last appointment, you should get in to have some blood work done and find out. It won't change what you need to do in terms of your diet, but it is important for you to know for sure, and be armed with the right types of foods for the times when you do feel a little faint....and based on how much sugar you may have been getting before, it is certainly a possibility that it has developed. You may also want to try adjusting the amount of powder you put into your shake...If you are only using two scoops of Formula 1 meal replacement, you could add 3, and 2-3 scoops of the protein powder to it, which might make a difference in keeping your blood sugar more stable. Hope that helps. You've made some really big changes lately, and I'm very proud of the effort you are making. Keep up the good work.

Sugar detox? Well, it's apparently a real phenomenon, which is pretty damned scary. I've upped my morning shake to three scoops of each, so we'll see if that makes any difference.

I feel great this morning, though.

A letter to my coach

Things have been pretty good from my end. I've done pretty well sticking to my guns, although I had some trouble the first couple of days finding stuff to eat that was high in protein, but my wife has now switched to making fish or chicken at night and sending it with me to work.

I'm doing a couple of shakes a day and not feeling hungry at all. We have fruit and vegetables around in the house and I have V8 and soy milk at the store to drink along with my water.

One issue I have had -- feeling faint. I don't know if it's because I've cut out so much of the sugar from my diet or what, but a couple of times I've been really close to passing out. I've had a Coke in both instances and felt much better afterward. Thoughts?

I'm also learning to read the damned labels on stuff. I've been sucking down the vanilla soy milk, which only has one gram of fat per serving. This morning I thought I'd try the chocolate stuff and drank half the carton before I read 4.5 grams of fat per serving. Nuts.

I was also really sick Wednesday night, but I think it had to do with the shock to my system. After 20 years of fried chicken and chocolate bars, I think my body was just screaming for something fattening. I've been fine since then.

I'll check out the information you sent me when I get home this evening. Thanks, and see you Tuesday night!

Avoiding the scale and reading the label

The urge I have to find a scale and try to chart my progress thus far is almost overpowering. I don't really feel like I'm losing weight, but on the other hand, considering the dramatic change in my diet, I don't know how I couldn't be.

The group's first weigh-in is Tuesday night. I'd be happy with four or five pounds, but I get the feeling my coach is thinking I might lose double that -- which I'd also be happy with, obviously. If it averages out to three to four pounds a week for the 12 weeks, I'll be thrilled.

I'm also learning to read the damned labels on what I'm buying at the grocery store. I just bought a carton of chocolate flavoured soy milk. The vanilla soy milk is just one gram of fat per serving. The chocolate? Four and a half grams. Damn it.

I also have been snacking on these terrific honey mustard multigrain pretzels from Zehr's -- President's Choice, I think. Just one gram of fat for 17 pretzel braids and absolutely delicious. Of course, I didn't bother to look at the 42 grams of carbs for the same amount.

Those two experiences have opened my eyes, though. From now on, everything I pick up at the store gets a thorough once-over before it goes in the cart.

My wife has been terrific. Last night she made cajun catfish with baked seafood and steamed broccoli. My friends will think I'm lying, but I finished the vegetables first.

She's also stocked the fridge with fruits and other stuff that won't get me into trouble. Even my daughter is benefitting. She'd never eaten grapes or cherries before this week, and now she loves both.

Tonight is salad with chicken breasts and more protein-based whatever I can jam in my mouth. Nearly 200 grams of protein a day seems like a lot -- and it is.

I'll check in tomorrow on my day off after my chiropractor visit. All of this change is being complicated by what I think is a pinched nerve in my back. I can barely walk, and sitting for more than 15 minutes is pretty tough also.

I know -- wah wah wah. We'll see if I feel better after I get adjusted.

Have a seat

It may be time to think about putting a TV in the bathroom.

I don't know whether this is just a shock reaction to the sudden change in diet, an allergic reaction to something I've started eating or what, but I spent a good six hours on the can between midnight and 8 a.m.

Because this program is tied to Herbalife, I'm eating a lot of soy protein and drinking soy milk. I don't know whether my body doesn't like the stuff or is just trying to force me to pick up a Ho-Ho or something, but I guarantee you this -- if we had the weigh-in right now, I'd win. I'm so dehydrated my legs were cramping this morning.

I'm going to email my coach about it and I'll posted the answer here. I'm also curious to see how quickly she responds.

And it begins ... again.

I attended my first Biggest Loser Weight Loss Challenge meeting last night. The set-up is the same as the TV show (or I assume it to be, as I've never watched it).

The challenge is 12 weeks, and there is a monetary prize for the three people losing the largest percentage of their weight. That doesn't interest me much, although there are 40 people in my group and first place would be better than $400 -- a trip to Great Wolf Lodge for my family.

This is another attempt for me in trying to trim down and shape up. As you can see from the posts below, there have been several recent tries -- all of which ended in a Chinese buffet somewhere, buried under mounds of General Tso's Chicken or Torpedo Shrimp.

Why will this one be different? I can't say with any certainty it will. Having to weigh in every week in a room full of people provides some external pressure, but I could always quit. There was a $29 fee which is non-refundable, but that's barely a good sushi dinner.

I am glad to have a personal coach who seems to be very interested in my progress -- or at least in trying to get me to buy the Herbalife products which are tied to the program. That was not disclosed until I went to my health assessment, which didn't please me, but I've been given plenty of alternatives to dropping some serious coin on goofy little drinks and bars.

Today started with a protein shake (not bad -- tasted like a malted) and some soy milk. I've had soy nuts as a snack, a glass of V8 and part of a huge salad I bought from the grocery store. I'm full, and that's a blessing.

I suppose you want to know the gory details. They are pretty much the same as they were in an earlier post:

Weight: 373.6 pounds
Height: 6 feet
Waist: 50"
Age: 38
Sex: Male

What are my goals? First off, I just want to stick with the damned program for the full three months. Hopefully making these dietary changes and holding to them for some time will give me a better chance of making them permanent.

I hope to lose 30 pounds during the 12 weeks. That's a pretty modest goal, I think, and it stretches into the longer-term goal of getting down to 250. I think that will take at least a year.

I'd like to be able to wear nice clothes and buy a belt from the normal rack, not the one with two belts that look big enough to tie down the Goodyear Blimp.

I'd like to have enough energy to pick up my kids without huffing and puffing.

I'd like to have a woman turn back and look at me as we pass on the street. My wife loves me, but she'd like me thinner, too.

I'd like to see my dick again in the shower.

So, we're off again, and I'll try to write at least a little something every day. That will help keep me involved and active and thinking about the program.

If you have tips, recipes or stories to share, feel free. Comments are open and welcome.

Now, for a big glass of V8 ...