MEN ARE SO LUCKY?

Friday is my weekly weigh-in date and I am absolutely thrilled to report that I was down 4.5 pounds this week! That is the morning after my yummy Egg and Chips :-). I know it is not all about the scale but it does make one feel good. Right? There is no denying that. It also reiterates my strong belief that you can indulge occasionally and still lose weight. Getting right back on track is the key.

I can almost hear it ringing in my ears though. The words I hear all the time: "Men are so lucky...they lose weight so fast!"

Of course I do have an opinion on this. Are you surprised?

Before we go there, however, let's deal realistically with the awesome weight loss I saw this week. The following words are not "taking back" my success at all. I am owning it and believe I deserve every one of those 4.5 pounds :-)

It is important to remember, however, that I have just finished a stint of struggling with my eating. When we don't eat well our body stores glycogen, a carb that is stored with water.

When you suddenly start to eat really well, the glycogen burns first and the water gets released. I am guessing that accounted for a reasonable amount of my loss. Don't you worry... as I said...I'm still taking it!

This is why so many people see big weight losses at the start of their journey.

If that didn't happen for you when you started eating healthier congratulations! It probably just means you were eating pretty well already and perhaps portion control is something to focus on. Only you know you.

Ok...onto the "men lose weight faster" thing.

There is no denying that there is statistically proof that, on average, this is true. Men lose weight faster.

I prefer to think of it as "some people" lose weight faster. I personally know quite a few men who lose weight slowly, and quite a few women who lose weight fast.

I do tend to lose weight fast so I am one of the lucky ones. Or am I? I'm not so sure I am.

My problem with losing weight fast is that I have the knowledge that I can "just take it off again", and that mindset gets me in trouble.

That mindset enables me to pig out all weekend and pull it back in check before I have to face the scale the following week. So I can eat all weekend and starve all week. Do I get the results? Yes...along with massive congratulations on my achievements.

Is it healthy? Absolutely not.

That mindset encourages me to make unhealthy choices.

That mindset played a major role in my joining and quitting Weight Watchers 11 times.

When you feel like you can "get away" with it, you tend to overindulge. When you overindulge too close to your "weigh-in" date you tend to skip the meeting (after all...next week will be better and no one will know...right?).

Sometimes that theory actually works but it is a ticking time bomb. It is not a question of "if" it will happen it is a question of "when" it will happen. After over-indulging, the first meeting gets skipped so you can "bring yourself back in check"...but you don't bring yourself back in check...so you skip the second meeting, and then the third, and then the fourth, and then you are gone.

Three months later you find yourself sitting on a couch, eating Doritos, watching One Life To Live, and telling a friend: "I'm going to go back to Weight Watchers as soon as I lose weight". Crazy isn't it? Believe me, I have been there.

I know myself well enough to know that I WILL lose weight at a good pace if I stick to plan, but I also know myself well enough to know that that is not always a blessing.

That my friends, creates the dichotomy of it all. It is critical that you step on the scale, ESPECIALLY when you know you are "up", but it is also critical that you don't let the scale rule your life. It can destroy you as fast as it pumps you up. Thinking with, but beyond the scale, really is the only way to succeed long term. That is my opinion anyway.

So I ask the question: Are "people" who lose weight fast lucky? I'm not so sure.

So let us just accept the journey we are on, whatever it may be.

Here is to feeling healthy and fantastic going forward and keeping the focus on that! :-)

My food intake yesterday:

Given my indulgences Thursday and what I just wrote above, I decided "Friday" just had to be a normal day as much as possible for me. I knew we were going out to a restaurant for Ramen, however, and had to make it work.

Breakfast was Blueberry-Almond Muesli from the WW "Year Round Fresh" cookbook (I love this book!). It is great for those mornings when you need to eat "on the go". Super easy to make but you have to plan ahead as it soaks in the fridge overnight.



Lunch was a Chicken Vegetable Noodle Bowl (this was really just leftovers from earlier in the week). Be forewarned: I still have more of this and won't get home for lunch today...so it is today's lunch too (and that means your going to see it AGAIN tomorrow). It is really good but I will be glad to move on from it I think.

Dinner was Ramen out in a Restaurant. I chose a simple one with chicken and an egg.



Perhaps more important than what I ate was what I didn't eat. I left the sodium infested liquid behind, It was really just flavouring for the food anyway. So this is what I DIDN'T eat.

 


Looking back it was a lot of noodles for one day but I stuck to plan and stayed within my points.

Feeling good!

Alan

MUST HAVE BEEN FRIDAY THURSDAY

I think yesterday must have been Friday.

Why? Because I spent 62 Smartpoints! (If you aren't a Weight Watcher member "Smartpoints" is the "points" system we count with). My daily allowance is 36 Smartpoints. That sounds like a Friday and Friday night to me!

It wasn't really planned but I am completely good with it. I don't feel like I "pigged out". I still have 12 weekly Smartpoints left and if I delve into my "Fitpoints" I am good with that. I have set up my Fitpoints so they can be swapped for food if I run out, but I know if that does happen, I am going to be extra sure the level of activity really warrants using the points. So far I have earned 86 Fitpoints this week, 70 of which are technically "eatable" if I really need or want them.

Breakfast was a simple omelet with leftover veggies and salsa and just a bit of bacon (I have to get more creative with breakfasts...too many omelets I think).

We decided to have a conscious indulgence at lunch. We had "Egg and Chips". Yummy!!!! It brings me back to my roots.

I remember as a child watching my Dad bring this tub of fat out of the fridge. The tub was a collection of the remains of every bit of fat that had dripped off anything he had previously cooked. He would heat that fat up as high as he could, dump the fries in, and we all watched in awe (from a distance) as there was this big whooshing sound and the fat splatted up from the pan. The fries were always delicious and he served them with two eggs sunny-side up, and bread and butter (white bread cut into match sticks so we could dip it in the egg of the yoke). Oh my god it was good! Of course the leftover fat went back in the tub for next time.

Our version was a bit better but the lunch still came in at 22 points. We each had two sunny side up eggs, two potatoes cut into fries and cooked in an ActiFry (which only needs one tablespoon of oil for both of us), and a toasted English Muffin cut into match stick steps (it had to be white bread for memories sake) with a teaspoon of butter. It tasted as good as when I was a kid and I don't regret it for a second. It may not look good but it WAS delicious!

The plan was to have a point friendly dinner. A Rice Noodle Green Curry dish. Problem was I forgot to buy the Rice Noodles and Tofu for it.

My partner is very much like my Dad. He just can't stand leftovers.

Sooooo...we had Fried Rice that was still hanging around from last Sunday (before I restarted this journey). My original plan for the fried rice plan was to wait until it went green and then throw it out...cause that's the way I roll.

Anyway. I did throw in more healthy crap. Lots of cauliflower and spinach and green onions and cilantro etc.. I added shrimp too.  It was also yummy!

So...lots of points gone but not feeling even remotely off track because this isn't off track. We have to indulge sometimes and I wasn't drinking a whole bottle of wine or eating Doritos:-)

Still looking for people to join me for the May challenge. One month of eating healthy (yes...indulgences will still be allowed). Remember..if you don't allow yourself to have fun sometimes you are on  a diet...and they never last.

At 10:10pm I realized I was at 14,104 steps. I didn't really feel like going for a walk to get to my 15,000 step goal so I walked around the house until I made it. This Fitbit obsession is kind of insane but I swear these things are life changing.



Alan

GIVE IT THREE DAYS. IT ONLY TAKES THREE DAYS!

I suppose I should not unequivicolly say that it only takes three days because I understand that everyone is different, but time and time again it has been proven to me. It only takes three days! Do you have three days?

This is the amount of time it takes for you to start FEELING healthy after you make healthy choices. Once you have done it for three days you will WANT to keep going.

I swear to you. I feel cleansed and I feel "ripped".

Just one look in the mirror tells me I am most certainly not "ripped" but it sure feels that way. My body literally feels like it is "tight" and everything is in place.

The short duration to my feeling healthy has nothing to do with my current weight or activity level. I can remember feeling this way when I weighed 50 pounds more. Throughout my life I have noticed that whenever I eat very healthy I feel fantastic in three days.

Want to feel amazing before the weekend is over? Simply start eating well right now! You know you can do it!

I decided that yesterday I would go to the gym and actually work out rather than puddle around pretending to. In fact I went twice. I went to Goodlife first and then I met my trainer at another gym. Some may say "that's too much" but my new theory is that I should get a good long work out in and then have a day of rest. It makes sense to me anyway :-)

Just to prove I worked out, if you have a few hours here is a video of me working out with my trainer. I say "a few hours" as it accidentally flipped over to "slow mode" just after we started and then sped up again toward the end. It's really just over 3 minutes. It's different anyway :-).



My food intake was good.

I forgot to take a picture but I had an Omelet comprised of a bunch of leftover vegetables and spicy Salsa for breakfast. I'm guessing you know what an Omelet looks like anyway.

For lunch I had a Chicken Noodle Vegetable Bowl with Rice Noodles, chicken, ginger, chicken broth, carrots , red bell peppers, scallions, peas, spinach, soy sauce, sesame oil and cilantro.



Dinner was Roasted Cauliflower "Steaks" with Tomato-Basil Vinaigrette and "Grilled Asian Chicken with Carrot-Cucumber Slaw"



I know it is only day three but I am feeling like I can keep this up until at least the end of May. The longer I keep it going the more my relationship with food will change.


I got my Fitbit Steps in too!

Who is in for a May challenge? One month of healthy eating! You can tell me how you are doing on this blog. Let's rock this!!!!

Alan

THE REAL QUESTION ONE HAS TO ANSWER IN LIFE IS "WHY?"

After I posted my first Blog, a fellow Weight Watcher Leader commented that for her, what keeps her going right now is the "why". In her case she wants to be fit and healthy so that she can run the Chicago Marathon this October. She has something to grab onto.

The comment really resonated with me. The answer to "why" is necessary for so many things.

I remember when I was training for last year's Chicago Marathon. I was in a running class and the instructor, Michelle, was talking about how important it is to really know "why" you are doing it. We were told that as we are getting closer and closer to the final 42K mark our minds will start to wander...we will find ourselves thinking about "aliens in space" etc.. When this happens the only way to centre yourself again is to find the "why" that you can really grab onto. It occurred to me that the weight loss journey is no different. Simple knowledge of what we should do doesn't really help when we need it most.

If I am at a party, half drunk, starving, and staring down a delicious buffet table, knowing that I should eat my fruits and vegetables is not going to do crap for me. I will choose the Chicken Wings and Doritos thank you very much.

It takes a strong "why" to keep me in check.

This doesn't just apply to "completing a Marathon" or "achieving a weight goal", it applies to life. If you want to move forward effectively you have to know why you want to move forward.

Like my fellow Weight Watcher Leader's "why" this year,  my "why" last year was the Chicago Marathon. A year prior I hadn't really run a day in my life and here I was training for 42K.

I am so proud that I achieved my goal.




Before I can establish my new "why" for moving forward, however, I think it is important to also figure out "why" I went wayward.

Ironically for me I think it was also the Chicago Marathon.

I was so pumped about working toward this goal that when it was over I felt I had achieved something so great that no other goal would compare. I relaxed and started to enjoy my Doritos (ok ok, it was wine...but for the sake of the story I'm sticking with Doritos).

Another problem I had was that all that training allowed me to increase my food intake for months, but when the training stopped the food intake didn't...oops.

So that is "why" I slipped. Now the question is: How do I get back on track. I need a new "why".

I actually have two awesome "why's". The first one kind of forces me on track and the second one is for the future "me" after I am solidly back on track.

The first "why" is this blog. I knew if I did it I would have to commit to it. I have made myself accountable. Now, if I am drinking and starving and staring down a buffet table, I know that if I do choose the Chicken Wings and Doritos, I will have to confess it in this forum. Maybe...just maybe...that will help me eat more fruits and veggies (and shrimp! I LOVE shrimp!).

The second "why" is because I am going to run the Chicago Marathon again this year. This time my "why" is different though.

Last year I ran for the Muscular Dystrophy Association's "Team Momentum" (now just called MDA as they support all kinds of Muscle Disease) but I really only did it because I had to run for a charity in order to get into the Marathon (I didn't win a lottery entry). My "why" was entirely about me. I wanted to cross that finish line.

The experience of running for MDA Team Momentum ended up being life changing for me. Meeting all of those families who live with Muscle Disease each and every day forced me to see a world I had conveniently ignored.

I was so lucky to connect with people like Devon.

Devon's father Josh has been reporting for a while about the amazing success his son has seen with a new trial medication. Sadly the FDA voted against this drug last week. It broke my heart to see his post on Facebook. It simply read "Guys, I'm totally bawling right now!". It once again brought home their struggle for me. I just can't imagine.
So this year I am going to run for MDA Team Momentum again, but instead of running for me, I am running for them.

Specifically I am running for two people. The first is Finn. His Dad, Patrick, is an amazing guy and seems to run tirelessly to raise funds for MDA.  I will be running for his son Finn.



The second is my friend Courtney's Father. I don't have picture of him but Courtney and I plan to run alongside each other this year. Her father has only recently started to be more public about his struggles with Muscle Disease.

So I have my "why's" in place and I think they are pretty darn good.

I didn't actually plan to do this, but if you wish to support me in my run for this amazing cause please click here: 

Please click and Donate to Alan's run for MDA Team Momentum

So what do YOU want to accomplish? Find your strong "why" and believe you can achieve what you want to achieve...one step at a time. It will happen.

Alan

P.S. I don't want to bore you with my food so if you aren't interested stop reading here, but I stayed within my points today and had the following:

Breakfast: Green Smoothie with Spinach, Greek Yogurt, an Orange, Honey and Ginger.



Morning Snack: An apple and six dates (It was hard to stop eating them!)

Lunch/Afternoon Snack: Tuna sandwich made with real Tuna Steak (not canned) tomatoes, pepper, Watercress, and Miracle Whip (I know I know, processed and crap but I like it). I actually had one of the sandwiches for lunch and one for an afternoon snack.




Dinner: Brown Rice Pasta with Fava Beans, Chick Peas, Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes, Parsley, Mint, lemon, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and crumbled Feta Cheese.






I'm also happy to report that I went for a short run (4K total) and got 22,880 steps in on my Fitbit:-)



Feeling pretty chuffed with myself :-)

See you tomorrow!

ONE HAS TO START WITH FOOD AND DRINK

Hi friends!

I am not going to write blogs that are entirely about Weight Watchers because it would bore, well, almost everyone, but I learned a very valuable piece of information yesterday that I think every Weight Watcher Member has a right to know.

Did you know that a 4 oz glass of wine it 4 Smartpoints but a 3 & 7/8 oz glass of wine is only 3 Smartpoints?! You're damn right I used that valuable piece of information when I had three extra points sitting around at the end of the day :-).

I have to admit that although my determination was there yesterday, and I totally succeeded from a food perspective, getting started did take its toll. It takes a while to get back in the rhythm I think.

I knew I had a busy day ahead of me yesterday and didn't want the second blog I wrote to start with "guess what...I screwed up" so I got my butt out of bed at 5:00AM to start preparing for the day.

I had planned ahead and purchased the groceries I knew I would need the day prior. Trust me...being prepared saved me.

Be forewarned...today's blog is all about food because that was my focus for the day...so apologies in advance if I make you yawn, but other days will be more interesting...and hopefully deeper. Promise!

I decided the easiest way to start this off was to cook from the WW cookbook I love. This is it:



Today I will tell you what I made, what the ingredients were, and what the end product looked like. I am doing this partly because "food" was the focus yesterday, and partly because I really want my nutritionist friends and other "Non Weight Watcher" friends to understand that Weight Watchers isn't about dieting. It is about eating healthier most of the time and allowing yourself to indulge when you really want to have fun.

So for today we will stick with food. This is what I ate today.

Ham and Goat Cheese Frittata with Spring Vegetables.  I had one serving for breakfast and a second serving for my morning snack.

Breakfast and Morning Snack:

Lunch: Grilled Tuna with Cucumber-Noodle Salad

Dinner: Spice-Crusted Roast Pork Tenderloin with Watercress Salad 

I'm not a fan of Canola Oil so I substituted in Olive Oil for this one (the points are the same).

 


















Snack: Frozen Fruit

I was given a Yonanas Machine by an awesome friend. You put frozen fruit in it and it comes out like frozen Yogurt. There has been a lot of discussion around "point count" for this, because fruits and most vegetables are zero points, but if you liquify it you have to count the points, so technically it does have points. I decided to follow the rules and count the points. The only ingredients in this are frozen mixed berries and banana (I'm guessing there is a lot of hidden crap at the commercial outlets selling a similar product):

Wine: 

This is what 3 7/8 oz looks like. I totally could have used my weekly points and had more but it was Day 1 of my Blog...I wanted to be perfect...if just this once.

So food went well. What else?

I am supposed to think about activity and make time for myself, but at 9:30pm yesterday I hadn't done either.

I wear a Fitbit and compete with friends and other WW members. We can see each others steps online and at about 1:30pm I got a message from my friend Susan that said "What is it with the slow step count?". Geez...I can't get away with anything! Lol.  I had been busy all morning but I wasn't "active" all morning.

I aim for 15,000 steps a day and at 9:30pm I was sitting at 11,474. Nothing to sneeze at but the friendly nudge earlier in the day made me decide I needed to meet my goal. The only question was: How do I do it?

I decided I would go for a nice walk to clear my head. I would be getting "steps" in AND doing something "for me". If I stopped at the supermarket on the way back I could pick up whatever I needed for today's groceries. It was a great plan until I realized it was raining out...and the rain was frickin cold! So I drove to the supermarket, walked around enough to get to 13,400 steps and came home.

At this point I was on a mission. I wasn't going to bed without reaching my step goal...so I paced the first floor of my house until I did.





















Yes... I am certifiable.

There is one other thing I forgot about...sleep...I need sleep!

Oh well...one can't do everything all at once.

Hope you have a great day!

Alan

MY JOURNEY BEYOND THE SCALE TRULY BEGINS TODAY

One would think that as a person who has spent over a year attending classes at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition, and who has spent the last four years as a Weight Watchers Leader, I would have it "down" right? Man I wish that were true.

I learn so much from the groups I lead at Lawrence Park Community Church here in Toronto on Saturday mornings, as well as from the meeting I attend as a member at the Weight Watchers Store on Danforth Friday mornings, but at the end of the day I am human like everyone else...damn I hate that.

In order to succeed I need support but I also need to make personal commitments and keep them.

I want to be clear that I am OK with where I am in my journey right now and I am not being negative about myself. I am just confronting myself. It is a different, and positive, thing. When I look back at how I looked, and more importantly how I felt, when I started this final journey with Weight Watchers in 2003 (I originally joined in 1989 then quit and rejoined about 11 times) I am excessively proud of what I have accomplished. I look at the shirtless picture I took of myself yesterday and I am ok with it. I don't love it, but I am not embarrassed by it either. I'm 52 years old for goodness sake!

Lately I haven't been feeling completely "onboard", however. I am not talking about being onboard with Weight Watchers, but being onboard with life. I feel like the paddle is half in and half out of the water. I am not sad or depressed, I just feel a little "outside of myself" if you know what I mean.

Many of you know that the past year has been a difficult one for my partner and I, and I have no doubt that the trials and tribulations of navigating our way through it has played a significant roll, but in my heart of hearts I know that that isn't it. Believe me, it has given me plenty of excuses to indulge, but I know myself well enough to know that that is not what is throwing me off base.

Do I exercise? Yes. I go to the gym ALMOST as much as I used to...but I'm not invested in it the way I used to be. Historically I have always pushed myself to do more, but now I find myself thinking: "Well...at least I showed up".

Are me eating habits good? Often they are. Those 50 plus pounds (and more) would be back on faster than I could ever imagine if I wasn't making good choices a great deal of the time. At the moment, however, I am finding that I "slip" more then I would like to admit, and when I do behave properly, it sometimes feels as if I am doing it begrudgingly. I used to get so excited by new and exciting "food finds".

Ironically the changes to the Weight Watchers Plan for 2016 are absolutely everything I have always felt the Weight Watcher Plan should be. The 2016 program "Beyond the Scale" is not about eating low calorie this and low fat that. The philosophy now is more along the lines of: "Eat like a healthy person does, be active, and find fulfillment in life". Take this holistic approach to life and everything will fall into place. Everything in me believes this to be true. Thank goodness for that, as it is this strong belief that allows me to lead my meetings with truth and sincerity. I know the program works...but you have to work it.

As I reflect on this I have to ask the question: If the program represents everything I believe the program should represent, then why am I struggling?

To be honest I know the answer. It is because, at this particular point in time, I am sometimes talking the talk and not walking the walk. I walk the walk a lot...just not enough lately. This is not the way I like to work.

I can do every single component of the program. I KNOW how to eat well. I KNOW how to exercise. I KNOW how to make time for myself.

I do all of these things...sometimes.

The reality is I am not pulling all of the components together, and if I don't pull it all together then there is nothing holistic about it.

As a Weight Watchers Leader it is really easy to tell other people what to do. When a member is struggling we are trained to ask them to think back to what they were doing when the program was working well for them.

If I want to pull it all together I have to ask myself the same question.

I do know one thing that I was doing when I was "in my prime". I was writing a blog about my journey.

So here we go. I am not going to commit to doing this blog forever, but I am going to commit to doing it until July 1st. We will see where we go from there. It will be a particularly interesting timeframe as I will be in Hawaii for a month of this time. That is a big part of why I want to blog about this starting right now. If one truly changes their relationship with food, the vacation should not be an excuse to go back to old ways. I will indulge a little more for sure. I will not, however, take a vacation from my journey.

It is time for me to fully embrace the Weight Watcher philosophy of thinking "Beyond the Scale".

I will weigh in and report how I did each week. It may sound odd to simultaneously say I am thinking "beyond the scale" and reporting my weight gains and losses, but I did not say I was thinking "without the scale". Weight is only one component of the journey but it is still an import component.

My focus, however, will not be on the scale. It will be on fully rounding things out and finding that positive healthy balance.

I'm excited now. Tomorrow I will let you know how "Day 1" went. Please feel free to join me on this journey,

I think I just motivated myself :-)

Alan

P.S. If you enter your email in the the "Follow by Email" field on the top right hand side of this page you will be emailed my journey each time I post.