Starting again
I'm back on the POW diet. I didn't really gain weight after coming off it, but didn't lose any more, either. So I'm beginning to think that, if no social occasions are going on, I should always eat that way...I'm on day 3 and I'm now hungry. Oh well, trying to resist. It's a little difficult because I'm stressed today. I will try to drink a lot of non caloric fluid.
Jackie: Cholesterol
WOW! My cholesterol has changed a LOT over the last 40-45 lbs!!!
Trust me, I haven't increased my exercise, but my guilt over not exercising has gone up quite a bit. This radical change has also had nothing to do with meds...I'm not taking anything that would affect it. It's all about weight loss, pure and simple. The fat content in my foods is WAAAAY down, as is my body fat. That's all it is. Wow, I'm so relieved.
| Name | CHOLESTEROL (mg/dL) |
| Standard Range | <239-> |
| 7/22/08 | 245 |
| 7/11/09 | 194 |
| 10/1/09 | 176 |
Second month down!
Yesterday was the end of our second "30 days" of calorie restriction. I didn't even realize it! As of today, I'm increasing my daily caloric target to 650--I get a whopping 50 more calories a day!
Going down a size
Well, I've now officially gone down a size. I'm making a pile of clothes in the spare bedroom that are destined to be rehomed, and I'm shopping at thrift stores during these intermediate stages to find clothes that fit. Still, I've gotten used to wearing baggy jeans and constantly pulling up my pants.
I won't lie. It feels good to have a room full of clothes that are too big!
However, I do have my slip ups. Slip up number 1 this week was my niece's birthday party. I had potato salad, chips, two hot dogs (no buns), tri tip, cake, and ice cream. My stomach definitely didn't see that coming. I felt awful the next day. My stomach didn't feel right, and I ended up not eating until about 2:00, when Jackie made our scheduled dinner.
Today, it was Pizza I had promised someone, and this weekend it'll be a barbecue. However, I plan to be particularly strict between now and the Sunday gathering. At a daily intake of about 600 calories, I don't think these splurges will do permanent harm, but this week HAS been worse than the others. My sodium intake alone has gone through the roof.
We are also coming close to the end of Month Two. I plan to raise my calories 50 calories every month until stabilizing at my maintenance intake.
Jackie: Fresh foods
Once again, we ate ice cream yesterday, but I'm still showing a good loss. Like Dawn says, if we TRY to keep it at 600 calories, and if we do make it that low on days nothing is going on, it won't kill us to eat 400 calories of ice cream once in awhile. In fact, some studies have shown that changing up the number of calories you eat each day actually keeps the metabolism from getting in a rut, and when the metabolism gets a rut, the dieter hits a plateau. Well, I am doing pretty well...some days 600 calories, some days 1200 calories (such as on a crabby day when I had to have 2 margaritas or else!). I've lost about 7 lbs since quitting the POW diet, so naysayers were WRONG about it ruining my metabolism or that I've just lost water. Since I am about 26 lbs lighter than before the Free Euna and Laura Diet, I seriously doubt that is mostly water weight.
Both Dawn and I are saving lots of money, too. We don't overeat, therefore we waste less and our carbon footprint is a lot smaller. There's no reason a farmer should have to produce twice as much food for me. I am eating fantastic stuff, mostly organic, mostly local, lovely fresh produce from the farmer's market; whole grains; beans and tofu and eggs for protein; either dried or fresh fruit--and right now the end of the fresh local fruits is looming, so mostly fresh. I am not suffering. I feel like I am indulging in wonderful stuff, without packaging or pesticides or any other unnecessary garbage cluttering up the planet. We can eat wonderful things when we eat less of them! It's also useful to note that organic produce has been shown to contain more nutrients than the conventional stuff, probably because of sustainable use of land that doesn't cause soil depletion. It's good for everyone if I eat less!
Splurge
by DMC
Today, Jackie and I went on a binge. Our binge consisted of approximately 1,000-1,100 calories! A whopping amount of food, indeed! (Yes, that's sarcasm!)
On a mission to get our fall garden planted, we responded to an ad for free dirt. Of course, we had to stop for lunch, and our destination of choice was Mountain Mike's pizza (since it was on the way--do not consider this an endorsement). We opted for the lunch buffet since I am incapable of stepping into a pizza parlor without actually eating pizza (Pepperoni pizza is my diet Kryptonite). The buffet pizza slices were tiny--mere slivers. From our perspective, that was a very good thing. So, we helped ourselves to salad and pizza, and I mentally tallied up my meal to be about 500-600 calories.
We then went to retrieve our dirt. That was a workout! Afterward (and with an SUV filled with buckets of dirt), we stopped by Big Lots, where we must have walked 200 miles around the store. (My apologies to the store manager for the accidental explosion of the Diet Hansen's iced tea in the aluminum cans).
After our mini shopping marathon, we stopped by Kaiser pharmacy to pick up something, and...well, let's just say the encounter wasn't pleasant for Jackie. We decided to take advantage of Happy Hour at the Elephant Bar restaurant. So, we added margaritas and sweet potato fries to our food log (we split the order of french fries).
All in all, it was a nice day. I came home and did my best to add up the food for the day, and it's somewhere in the arena of 1030-1100. I have to say, one of the things I really like about this 600-calorie target diet is that the "splurge" days are still within a normal "calorie restricted" weight loss diet.
Of course, these little hiccups help to keep my body's digestive and metabolic processes on its toes. At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Weight Log and Food Log
by DMC
I thought it would be beneficial to post my weight log and food log for the past few days. I started at about 195. That was before going on the initial "rice and beans" food strike for Lee and Ling. At the end of the 30 days, I was about 175. I took a week hiatus, and the scale jumped to about 183 but quickly went down to 179 after the first or second day of the new "calorie restriction" diet.
And the following shows my food log for a few sample days (the numbers show the calories) :
Now, I'm at approximately 172.75 (the scale keeps jumping between 172.5 and 173, so I'm guessing I'm in the middle).
So, here is my weight log in reverse chronological order (I keep track view an online calorie/food count database).
2009-09-07 | 172.75 | |||
| 2009-09-03 | 175.50 | |||
| 2009-09-02 | 176.00 | |||
| 2009-09-01 | 178.00 | |||
| 2009-08-31 | 179.00 | |||
| 2009-08-29 | 176.00 | |||
| 2009-08-26 | 176.00 | |||
| 2009-08-25 | 177.00 | |||
Mon, Aug 31 2009
Breakfast
English Muffins, Whole-wheat, Toasted 31
Egg, Whole - Cooked, Hard-boiled 78
Nonfat Cottage Cheese - Cottage Cheese 25
Lunch
ak-mak 29
Light Garlic & Herb 8
Bananas 45
Dinner
Bean & Cheese Burrito 303
Snacks
Bananas 45
ak-mak 29
Light Garlic & Herb 8
Total Calories Consumed 602
Tue, Sep 01 2009
Breakfast
Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds 85
Fat Free Milk - Conventional Products 23
Lunch
Salmon, Atlantic, Wild - Cooked, Dry Heat 155
Dinner
Bread, Reduced-calorie, Wheat 46
Turkey, All Classes, Meat Only - Roasted 24
Sliced Turkey Pepperoni - Pillow Pak 10
Salad Spritzers Honey Mustard Dressing 4
Snacks
Bananas 90
Walnuts, English 46
Kale - Raw 34
Olive Oil 44
Crackers, Saltines 26
Total Calories Consumed 585
Thu, Sep 03 2009
Breakfast
Home Pumpkin Pie, NO crust 100
Peaches 31
Egg, Whole - Cooked, Fried 72
English Muffins, Whole-wheat, Toasted 62
Lunch
Bread, Reduced-calorie, Wheat 46
Turkey, All Classes, MeaT Roasted 48
Sliced Turkey Pepperoni - Pillow Pak 9
Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw, 12
Salad Spritzers Honey Must. Dressing 4
Snacks
Pumpkin Seeds, Roasted - no Salt 5
Grapes 5
Pumpkin - Boiled, Drained, no Salt 17
Nonfat Small Curd Cottage Cheese 70
Total Calories Consumed 480
Sat, Sep 05 2009
Breakfast
Home Pumpkin Pie, NO crust 100
Lunch
home pizza - pita as crust 190
Dinner
Smoked Turkey Breast 27
Bread, Reduced-calorie, Wheat 46
Light Garlic & Herb 10
Sliced Turkey Pepperoni - Pillow Pak 10
Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw 3
Spinach - Raw 5
Snacks
Peaches 31
1/3 100 Calories Cupcake 32
Home Pumpkin Pie, NO crust 100
Total Calories Consumed 553
As you see, my diet is quite varied and emphasizes whole, nutritious foods. I incorporate tiny treats here and there (like 1 mini cupcake at 32 calories) so that I don't feel deprived all the time. I also have learned to bake my own pumpkin pie, reducing sugar, substituting splenda (in part) and leaving out the crust. It's important to realize that the calories shown may not represent all I ate. I try to keep the log up, but sometimes I'll have a few more pumpkin seeds that I don't count... and there are some days, like yesterday, where I'm out and about and just not keeping up the log. Instead, I keep a mental tally of what I'm eating. Yesterday, I probably ate about 700-800 calories because Jackie and I split a salad at a restaurant, had a half a slice of the premeal bread, then went out for frozen yogurt at a do-it-yourself place (so we could control the portion size). Jackie I returned later that day and helped ourselves to a slice of the home made pumpkin pie (actually pretty healthy stuff).
So, not every day ends up the same amount of calories, but every day we have a target of 600 calories (for this 30-day period). That gives us wiggle room. Some days my calories are lower than that, and some days my calories are higher than that.
Jackie's still around
...and still losing weight. I have discovered the art of sharing meals. I have gone out on a few dates with a guy who is more than willing to do the same thing, and he is careful about what he eats, so that is helpful. When I go out with Dawn, we usually split something nowadays, and it's usually a low calorie thing to begin with. This results in loss of weight and loss of waste!
I think I eat in restaurants a little too often, but this seems to be helping me immensely. For me it's way better than taking home half my meal, because then I just eat it when I get home! This way, there's only half to begin with. And it's half a salad or a stir-fry or some other healthful thing.
Huge portions, tiny price
by DMC
This weekend, during the birthday hiatus, I went out to breakfast with the family. We ate at a new restaurant in the Napa Valley--The Black Bear Diner. The restaurant is known for its huge portions and reasonable prices. Normally, that would be a good thing, but for someone trying to watch calories, that proved not-so good.
We had two children in our party, and their mother ordered one child's pancake plate and split it between them. Each "half" of the child's pancake platter (with chocolate chips!) was big enough to feed an adult. In fact, both children left over half their food on their plates, even after starting out with only half to begin with. So, if they had each had one child's plate, they would've eaten only 25% of the food on their plates--25% of the serving of chocolate chips, sweet cream pancakes, syrup and (just to make it "healthy") fruit! Oh, and I can't forget the orange juice. There wasn't an ounce of protein to be found.
As we stood up to leave, the younger child threw up. Her stomach knew what most of us have forgotten--the human body does not need nor want an entire meal made up of SUGAR and refined carbohyrdrates!
Not that I did much better. I ordered one of their most modest dishes -- the "shortstack" of pancakes. A shortstack is two pancakes. That sounded reasonable...until the pancakes arrived and each was the size of a small dinner plate!
The Black Bear diner does have a menu section titled, "A Little Less Breakfast" that supposedly offers smaller portions sizes. However, most meals listed in that section were still too much. For example, the diner offers a "small volcano." The small volcano consists of three pancakes stacked with egg on top and served with bacon and sausage. Another breakfast offers two eggs and two strips of bacon or sausage along with hash browns and a biscuit.
How about one egg and some fruit? Or one mini pancake and one egg? You know, a breakfast that most of us would consider a snack, with a price to match? Something 300 calories of less?
No wonder our nation is getting fatter and fatter. When kid's plates are four times the size they should be and restaurants offer single-serving platters that are big enough to feed a table, it's no wonder waste lines are getting bigger.
And for the record, I'm not against large portion sizes. I believe everyone should have that choice. However, I'd like to see more restaurants offering truly small portion sizes as another option. Doing so allows people like me to go out to eat with the family for special celebrations and still order something reasonable (sure, there's the option of taking leftovers home, but not everything keeps well. Who wants soggy salad or pancakes the next day?).
So, here is a shout out to restaurants like the Black Bear Diner and, while we're on the subject--The Cheesecake Factory. Offer TRULY SMALL meals and desserts. I'll be specific. Cheesecake Factory, your sesame seed chicken and rice meal is to die for. However, it's enough food for four people. How about offering a quarter size portion? And how about taster slices of your cheesecake? And, by a "taster slice" I don't mean half of the "feed a small nation" slice you normally provide, but rather a slice that's good for three bites. That's it. Three bites. Three normal human mouth sized bites, not three elephant-sized bites.
And Black Bear Diner, I have no qualms about how your food tasted and no qualms about the price. But when you have a section for "a little less," go the extra mile and truly offer "less."
My Weekend
My weekend wasn't nearly as eventful. Unfortunately, nary a glass of champagne did I touch. However, I had a binge on Saturday night...ate a cup of nonfat cottage cheese and about 3 chocolate graham crackers. LOTS of calories. Today I was right back on schedule.
I have found in the past that if I have a "binge," a word that to me means an overindulgence of fairly healthful foods, I find that my body stops bugging me, like it's ok with eating less as long as we (my body and I, who are apparently two separate entities with some disagreements about food) aren't actually planning to eat less EVERY day. Weird. Now I can be good for a week with no problem. I've read some interesting diet plans that involve eating different amounts every day so that the body doesn't get into a rut.
For that reason, there's no reason to beat oneself up for having a food freakout, as long as one keeps it within moderate levels and doesn't do it very often.
Birthday Excess
by DMC
Yesterday, I visited family to celebrate two birthdays, and as usual, the family served lots of food! Half the family also happens to be Muslim, and this being Ramadan, the food had to wait until after sunset--7:45 p.m.
I figured yesterday would be a wash in terms of the "waste less" food philosophy. I did my best to moderate myself, but I had a dilemma. I usually don't eat that late, and I knew it would be hard to fast myself until that time. I started off the morning with some of the leftover spaghetti squash and pasta sauce (about a tea cup's worth) and a peach from my tree.
That held me until about 2:00, at which time I was starving. My mother is not fasting, so we went to lunch and split a hamburger and fries plate at Marie Calendar's. I figured, while not healthy, at least halving the portion size was a step in the right direction.
Then the bulk of the food hit around 8 p.m. bechamel rigatoni, barbecued chicken, and bread. My family has not yet mastered the concept of volume estimation. My sister, mother, and I argued over whether five pounds of ground beef and X number of bags of rigatoni were enough to feed 10-12 people. We talked about the history of waste in the household (i.e., they always make enough to feed a small nation and end up with so many leftovers it takes a feat of creative restructuring to fit it all in the refrigerator).
Ultimately, my sister opted to get more rigatoni from the store. You know what happened, of course. Yep. There were leftovers. Not just a little, but she made TWO pans of the bechamel and the second pan never got touched. In fact, at the end of the night, the first pan still had about a serving of bechamel left.
Yes, we dutifully sent leftovers home with whomever would take them, but still there are leftovers in the refrigerator, crowding out the leftovers from previous nights.
I know the fear of having "too little" food. It's better to have too much than not enough when feeding guests, after all. But, on the other hand, if my stepfather didn't insist on plopping two pounds of bechamel on each person's plate, we'd never be in danger of running out! In fact, one of our guest's polite but insistent pleas for "just a little" were ignored as the heaping pile of rigatoni, beef, and white sauce made entirely out of butter and four was dropped on her plate.
Afterward, of course, there was cake and ice cream. A rich butter cream frosting enveloped the multi-layered white cake. In fact, butter cream frosting separated the layers of the cake itself. It was a white flour, white sugar extravaganza. Delicious, of course.
But I think my system is still in shock. After going nearly two months (with only a one week hiatus) of strict food moderation and little sugar, my body handled last night with admirable adaptability, but this morning I think it's still trying to process it all. I'll look at last night as a pop quiz for my digestive system--a way of keeping it on its toes!
Anyway, today it's back to the calorie restriction program.
Yesterday, I visited family to celebrate two birthdays, and as usual, the family served lots of food! Half the family also happens to be Muslim, and this being Ramadan, the food had to wait until after sunset--7:45 p.m.
I figured yesterday would be a wash in terms of the "waste less" food philosophy. I did my best to moderate myself, but I had a dilemma. I usually don't eat that late, and I knew it would be hard to fast myself until that time. I started off the morning with some of the leftover spaghetti squash and pasta sauce (about a tea cup's worth) and a peach from my tree.
That held me until about 2:00, at which time I was starving. My mother is not fasting, so we went to lunch and split a hamburger and fries plate at Marie Calendar's. I figured, while not healthy, at least halving the portion size was a step in the right direction.
Then the bulk of the food hit around 8 p.m. bechamel rigatoni, barbecued chicken, and bread. My family has not yet mastered the concept of volume estimation. My sister, mother, and I argued over whether five pounds of ground beef and X number of bags of rigatoni were enough to feed 10-12 people. We talked about the history of waste in the household (i.e., they always make enough to feed a small nation and end up with so many leftovers it takes a feat of creative restructuring to fit it all in the refrigerator).
Ultimately, my sister opted to get more rigatoni from the store. You know what happened, of course. Yep. There were leftovers. Not just a little, but she made TWO pans of the bechamel and the second pan never got touched. In fact, at the end of the night, the first pan still had about a serving of bechamel left.
Yes, we dutifully sent leftovers home with whomever would take them, but still there are leftovers in the refrigerator, crowding out the leftovers from previous nights.
I know the fear of having "too little" food. It's better to have too much than not enough when feeding guests, after all. But, on the other hand, if my stepfather didn't insist on plopping two pounds of bechamel on each person's plate, we'd never be in danger of running out! In fact, one of our guest's polite but insistent pleas for "just a little" were ignored as the heaping pile of rigatoni, beef, and white sauce made entirely out of butter and four was dropped on her plate.
Afterward, of course, there was cake and ice cream. A rich butter cream frosting enveloped the multi-layered white cake. In fact, butter cream frosting separated the layers of the cake itself. It was a white flour, white sugar extravaganza. Delicious, of course.
But I think my system is still in shock. After going nearly two months (with only a one week hiatus) of strict food moderation and little sugar, my body handled last night with admirable adaptability, but this morning I think it's still trying to process it all. I'll look at last night as a pop quiz for my digestive system--a way of keeping it on its toes!
Anyway, today it's back to the calorie restriction program.
Woman tries to feed family for one month without going to the grocery store
by DMC
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/08/27/mcguire.no.shopping.for.month.kusa
This woman has decided to try to go an entire month without visiting the grocery store. She's living on whatever food is in her home and working out balanced meals using the edibles on hand.
Good for her!
Food Waste
Here's an interesting website:
I've been thinking a lot lately about how much food we consume, especially obese children. Not only is it huge in amounts, it's also huge in carbon footprint, because even if kids ate whole, natural foods, it'd cost the planet in water and fertilizer and tractor fuel and everything else in order to produce it. Then, if it's highly processed foods, things get very complicated. Take into consideration the conniption fits currently being had by Kellogg and other breakfast cereal manufacturers because of a major sugar shortage going on (so count on the really crappy cereals costing lots more in the immediate future). But it's not sugar from the US; it's sugar from India and Brazil, predominantly.
OK. So, there's a bunch of carbon footprint involved in growing the foods, including destruction of trees and habitat, careless water usage, and the rest of the list of production details. Then the sugar gets transported to the US on big fuel-greedy liners, soon to be moved onto diesel-greedy trucks, and sent to the various jillions of food factories that use sugar in their products. Then lots and lots of plastic and cardboard gets used to put the various products into, sugar as well as the infinite number of other scary chemicals and maybe a little grain. So. The factory mills the garbage into pretty pastel little munchies that people give their kids for breakfast and then trucks take those boxes all over the ENTIRE US. Difficult to remember that WAY BACK THERE, some human in Brazil drove a stinky old tractor around the sugarbeet field.
OK. So, a jillion little American fat kids stuff themselves on this crap and then get type 2 diabetes when they are ten years old.
Can you even imagine the MASSIVE reduction in carbon footprint and HUGE improvement in health and very cool monetary savings, if little kids would either eat something natural or just cut their intake of garbage in half???
This is all a REALLY good reason for me to reduce my calories drastically. I guess it would be cool to figure out a way to send the unused calories to Haiti or somewhere else where politicians eat all the food and let their citizens starve.
I ate 650 calories today. I read that in the malnourished parts of the Sehalian zone, they eat about 2,200 calories a day (http://www.find-health-articles.com/rec_pub_12891821-food-consumption-patterns-central-west-africa-1961-2000-challenges.htm). I'm confused, at least in part because so few of the websites about starvation actually give calorie counts. Of course, in Haiti they eat mud cookies that are full of fat, which has calories but still leads to malnutrition. See http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/02/19/dirt-poor-haitians-eat-cookies-made-of-mud/4120/
Dinner
by DMCYum. Romaine Lettuce. Spinach leaves. Freshly-picked tomato. Small pear, chopped. Sprinkling of feta cheese and walnuts. 20 squirts of raspberry vinaigrette. This mega salad brought my calories for the day up to 764 (and I counted everything, even the lettuce and spinach--70 calories). I made a miscalculation at breakfast and only counted ONE of the pieces of light bread, so it wasn't until I was totalling up my dinner that I discovered the error. By then, of course, I'd already eaten the salad. So, today I went well over my 600 calories...but that's okay. As I said in a previous post, when one's target is 600 calories, a mistake here and there is nothing to sweat over. After all, anything under 900 calories a day for an adult (even a short one like me!) is considered a seriously calorie-restricted diet.
But...the salad is truly a thing of beauty, isn't it?
Lunch menu--variety is the key!
by DMC
Lunch today was half a raw red bell pepper filled with 1/2 cup of lowfat cottage cheese along with some raw, crunchy bell pepper scraps on the side. I also had one rye cracker (25 calories) and 1/4 of a wedge of the laughing cow garlic and herb cheese (one entire wedge is a mere 35 calories). I finished it off with a glass of water, and by the end of it all, I'm actually a little full. Not stuffed. Just nicely satisfied.
Don't worry, I won't bore you with my daily menu, but for the first two days, I thought I'd give everyone an idea of what kinds of foods I'm eating. I'm aiming for variety over the course of a week. For dinner, I'm planning a salad. I have about 250 calories left for the day, so the salad will work in nicely. I may even have some of the kale I bought.
My main concern is eating things before they go bad!
Woo Hoo!
by DMC
Well, I avoided going on the scale at the end of my week off because I made the mistake of stepping on it once during the hiatus, and it proclaimed that I had gained about 7 pounds! It should be nearly impossible to gain that much weight in only three or four days, which is what I told myself.
Well, this morning, after Day One of our new calorie-restriction program, I stepped on the scale and it was back down--way down to only 2.5 pounds higher than where I left off the last day of the food strike. So, obviously, I hadn't gained terrible amounts of weight during my week-long hiatus (and it was a bloaty time of month, which is what I'm pretty sure is responsible for the insane and temporary scale gain--TMI?).
This morning, my breakfast consisted of 1.5 ounces of deli cut, low sodium turkey breast with 2 slices of light bread, a few slices of garden tomatoes, and three or four squirts of the honey mustard salad spritzer--all for about 185 calories.
The good thing about having a target of 600 calories per day is that I don't have to be terribly concerned about being 100% accurate on my calorie count. Sure, this morning I weighed my turkey breast (on a postage scale!), just to get an idea of portion sizes, but when I go to my online calorie database, I don't have to sweat over finding the exact turkey breast brand. I just go with something general and look at the sodium level to give me an idea (i.e, carved off the turkey or pre-packaged, high sodium lunch meat). I do the same thing with the bread. All light bread has about the same number of calories (roughly 45-50 per slice). I just pick something that's similar (light, whole wheat bread).
If I'm off by 15% on everything, I've only missed 90 calories. That would bring my daily calories up to almost 700, which is still a highly calorie-restricted diet. This method gives me plenty of wiggle room to eyeball and estimate (with good faith) my portion sizes and let's me find suitable foods on the online calorie database without too much effort. The only thing I've so far had to manually enter was the Trader Joe's pasta from yesterday. It was an alternative pasta and not something in the calorie database. Even then, I didn't enter all the nutritional information--just the calories per cup.
If we kept our target higher--to something like 900 or 1000 calories--we'd have to be very conscientious about measuring our food and calories. That's too much work!
Dinner Review
Dawn made a great dinner. I don't think she needed the pasta, even if it was a healthful brand; I think that spaghetti squash was so darned good that it makes pasta redundant. I just had that and the delicious homemade tomato sauce, and a little of that ground parmesan cheese on it.
I don't feel like counting certain vegetables in my diet; it's just plain too much hassle to figure out the calories in salad, assuming that one sticks to the veggies on the so-called "negative calorie" list. I don't believe that some foods have negative calories, but then, I also don't believe it's WORTH figuring out how many cups of lettuce I ate, or radishes or mushrooms or whatever. If I'm to keep up a 600 calorie diet for more than about two days, I'm going to have to make it as easy on myself as possible.
I will obviously count everything else-- tofu, seitan, fruits, dairy, eggs, oils, etc etc, AND higher calorie vegetables. Just not the really puny stuff, such as spinach and celery and so on.
We'll see how that works for a week or two. But one thing is for sure: As I ate my salad today, I thought about the number of people in the world who don't get such luxuries. And then I remembered the Keyhole Gardens again. Everybody should see this:
Back to Day One
by DMC
Today marks one week since the END of our food strike on behalf of prisoners of North Korean labor prisons. Laura and Euna have been reuinted with their families!
Jackie and I continued our food strike to remind everyone (including ourselves) that there are many other victims unjustly imprisoned and starving in labor prisons. Today, after a brief hiatus, we have decided to embark on a program to eat modestly. By this we mean we are limiting our daily caloric intake to almost double what we had while on the food strike -- a meager 600 calories per day. We won't be eating beans, rice, and corn exclusively. Rather, we'll be eating healthy, unprocessed foods--lots of fruits and vegetables, whole wheat breads, eggs from home free-ranged chickens, etc.
Today, I'm making some pasta for us for dinner. I made pasta sauce from my garden tomatoes (no oil, just tomatoes and herbs with a dash of salt). I also have some healthier pasta from Trader Joe's and a spaghetti squash I picked up yesterday to mix in with the pasta. My breakfast a few minutes ago was one free-ranged "home-grown" egg scrambled and mixed with a tablespoon of low fat cottage cheese on half of a toasted whole wheat English muffin.
Wish us luck! I will be having one day every week where I can have one small indulgence (like a treat from a yogurt shop). I'm very excited to start this program. In the one week that I've gone off my food strike, not only have I gained weight, but my stomach has not felt good.
Now, I realize many people will proclaim that 600 calories per day is not healthy. We'll monitor ourselves closely and likely take a multivitamin, just to be safe. But remember - we're eating 600 calories of fresh, whole foods -- with lots of fruits and vegetables. We're not eating empty calories. In fact, if you google "calorie restriction and aging" you'll find a plethora of articles that show the benefits of a severely calorie-restricted diet (as long as the diet is packed full of nutritious foods). In fact, my undergraduate thesis analyzed that very subject.
Ugggh
by DMC
My stomach is not feeling well, and yes I've gained weight this week. Yesterday, I had a wonderful lunch and later went to dinner with my father, who is ending his visit here. He wanted to go to the Golden Corral, a buffet restaurant that I've never before visited.
I ate too much food (one reason I dislike buffet restaurants), and for most buffets, the food is lesser quality. That was true yesterday, too. Anyway, my stomach isn't great today, and I'm slated to go to dinner tonight for an event. Uggggh is exactly how I feel. Our hiatus ends tomorrow (i.e., we start our light eating program Monday). I'm actually looking forward to it! I made some fresh pasta sauce out of tomatoes from the garden, and tomorrow Jackie and I will take a trip to the Farmer's Market for some fresh produce.
Jackie: Weirdness...
I am tempted, just for the sheer strangeness factor...
From the Travelzoo Newsdesk:
SAN FRANCISCO--AUGUST 21, 2009-- Singapore Airlines has
released an unheard-of fare for flights to Seoul, Korea,
from San Francisco. Fly nonstop on the top-rated airline for
just $499 roundtrip -- including all taxes and fees.
Tickets must be purchased for two or more passengers to get
the $499 per person price. This fare is for departures
through Oct. 31 and returns through Dec. 31. Book by Sept. 1.
SAN FRANCISCO--AUGUST 21, 2009-- Singapore Airlines has
released an unheard-of fare for flights to Seoul, Korea,
from San Francisco. Fly nonstop on the top-rated airline for
just $499 roundtrip -- including all taxes and fees.
Tickets must be purchased for two or more passengers to get
the $499 per person price. This fare is for departures
through Oct. 31 and returns through Dec. 31. Book by Sept. 1.
Jackie: the Wastefulness of Modern Eating
Amazing how much weight a person can gain by eating maybe a plate of salad at Fresh Choice. The stuff must be painted with sodium, that's all I can say. I think I gained 2 lbs at Fresh Choice on about 600 calories, which is obviously not possible, so...come on guys, what do you put in that stuff? Anybody who thinks they are doing great by eating there...NOT. I bet the average person eats about 1500 calories there in one meal, and lots more if they really tuck in. I think I'm basically going to be removing Fresh Choice from my list because even if I AM very careful, I puff up. Bad. And Dawn, do you have any idea how much sodium there is in bread, tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni? Outrageous. You ate like a thousand mg of sodium in that one meal.
But that's no big, if it's just one meal. I've been pretty good besides that and the half-piece of cheesecake, which did NOT make my scales go up--not enough salt, probably!
It just really makes me think about restaurants. They have to keep the foods salty and fatty, or they won't be addictive enough.
This is going to sound really odd, but here goes. There's a premise in pornography (which I studied in Law Enforcement): viewers can't just keep watching the same level; the thrill wears off and they have to keep upping the ante. Well, it's the same with food. You eat one bite of brownie today, you are going to need two bites to satisfy you tomorrow, and then after a year of office birthday parties, you are grabbing seconds on cake, just to feel as satisfied as you once did on a single bite. That's how addiction works. We all know that heroin addicts have to keep doing more and more and more just to stay somewhat normal. And that's almost EXACTLY the formula that keeps people in fast food restaurants, and good luck getting second and third generation fast food junkies off the habit. I doubt it's possible; they are doomed to stroke and diabetes because their minds and bodies need garbage to feel normal.
Luckily I could never bring myself to eat in any of them except sub sandwich places, which at least have whole grain bread options and a bunch of veggies. I don't imagine any of it is the highest quality, of course, but at least it isn't french fried.
I have written out a shopping list. Not one of the items on my list has any ingredients listed; they are all basic staples, not processed foods. Well, maybe tofu is a little processed, but please, it's still just beans and water. I was going to buy hummus, but I've decided to buy the ingredients instead and make it. Less garbage that way, too.
This world I live in is phenomenally wasteful, and I want off the wasteful boat! This morning I put about 50 pieces of clothing that is too big for me on my front porch, and freecyclers have been coming by to rummage through it. It's 90 minutes later now and about half of it is gone. From now on, I don't want 4 green blouses when one will do; don't want 10 pairs of jeans when four will do. I am changing my ways.
And today is the first day in a month I've used my dishwasher. During the entire food strike, I just used it as a giant draining rack. Must be some energy saved there, too.
Oh, bittersweet regret
by DMC
Okay, so between Monday and Tuesday, the scale went up half a pound (after the Fresh Choice excursion). Between yesterday and today, it's up a pound and a half. Yesterday, I wasn't too careful. Four medium-sized pieces of pepperoni pizza and half of a brownie sunday cheesecake (Jackie and I split one after walking around the mall for about two and a half hours).
So, today I intend to be good, even though this is part of our "indulge in one thing" a day week (yesterday, technically, I guess I indulged in one and a half things).
This morning my breakfast was two scrambled eggs and a small plate of fruit--about 250 calories total. This evening, I am going to an ethiopan restaurant with friends. I'll have to be careful and choose my dinner wisely.
Jackie: Re Food
Yes, it sure did feel like the holidays! We did not, however, even eat a quarter of what we had been eating before the food strike, and we did discuss the phenomenal excesses that our society seems to encourage--such as the cakes and pastries Dawn mentioned in her old workplace. I can see how that would be nice once in awhile, but we all seem to do a whole lot more of that than is good for us, as everyone knows. But the nasty stuff is SO addictive. The champagne I toasted Nina with a few days ago...that sort of thing is plenty of sugar for me. Also, as a Recovering Fat Old Lady, I am quite clear about my own excesses...I can barely believe that I used to eat AT LEAST four times as much as I do now, and for no reason whatsoever. No hard labor.
In Kate Chopin's book The Awakening, there is a character, an older woman, who seems to pride herself on how little food it takes to sustain her life. I can totally understand that feeling now. I want to be proud of how little it takes to keep me alive...and proud of how little power I use to cook it and wash up after it, how little garbage I produce as a result of it, how little water is wasted to grow it, and how much healthier I am growing as a result of declining it. I cannot wait to hear about my blood test results next month.
It's true that I reaped a satisfying benefit of this hunger strike. It's also true that it was extremely difficult to break so many bad habits all at once in support of people I have never met and don't expect to. But I have learned a great deal about this American life just by eating like a North Korean for a month. I have also learned a bit about North Koreans, who never once crossed my mind in 55 years, until this year. I won't forget them ever, either.
PS. Dawn's photos below are of our LEFTOVERS, not what we ate!
FOOD!
by DMC
Aaaaah. Salad. Strawberries. Tuna Tarragon. Chocolate Chocolate Chip muffins. Hummus. Turkey Chili. Bread.
Yes, Jackie and I went to Fresh Choice for lunch. I finished less than half of what I piled on my plate. Except for the lettuce, I kept my portions of each "sample" small because I knew my stomach was used to only tiny amounts of food. BUT, this being the first day off the food strike, I was eager to try a little bit of all my favorites. I even took a corn muffin, hoping my 30 days of corn hadn't spoiled me on all corn-derived products. Thankfully, the corn muffin still agreed with my taste buds, though I only ate the top of the muffin.
Within about 1/3 of the way through our meal, our stomachs were starting to feel full. We picked at our salads for a few more minutes as we chatted, and we both left with full stomachs--a feeling we've not had since starting this food strike. The perpetual state of hunger we've become accustomed to finally vanished.
The salad (with sesame seeds and strawberries) had very little dressing, and it still was quite flavorful. The sweetness of the first strawberry instantly thrust my tastebuds into suprised delight. I only managed my way through about half the salad, though. As for the Tuna Tarragon, I took maybe 3/4 of a cup's worth, and I probably only ate half. The turkey chili tempted me, and I only put about 1/2 cup's worth in my bowl. I used that to top a small slice of sourdough bread.
Aaaah, bread.
Jackie and I ended our meal with a tiny vanilla yogurt/ice cream cone and walked around the mall for a little bit. Though we didn't start out this food strike to lose weight, we marvelled at just how much weight we actually dropped during these past 30 days. To the left are my before and after photos. I wouldn't say I present a dramatic difference, but I've gone down at least a full size--back to where I started before accepting a job where not-so-healthy food seems to magically appear around the office on a daily basis. And when it isn't magically appearing, it's being carried by helpers for birthdays, retirements, staff meetings, etc.
Well, gone are the days of office donuts, retirement cakes, and "surprise" Friday cookies.
We've decided to continue this blog because we intend, after a few days of modest indulgence, to work on losing the rest of our excess weight. Once a day, for the next five days, we'll each have one thing we've been craving. Tomorrow, for me, it's pepperoni pizza. For Jackie, it's Omelets with her mother. After our brief culinary "sabbatical," we'll resume a strict diet reminiscent of the old Weight Watchers quick start program, which, frankly, will seem like gluttony compared to how we've been living.
So, stay tuned! And, remember, there are people around the world who don't have the luxury of opting to eat a calorie-restricted diet.
Jackie: the End
Today is the first non food strike day. I have lost a total of 23 pounds. Two eggs from my pet hens are simmering in a poacher as I write this. I feel guilty because of the number of people who will never have anything quite this nice. Wish for today: no N. Korean inmates get beaten or killed.
Jackie: Corn
Luckily for me, it's corn season. That's about all I ate for the last forty eight hours, except one half a cheese sandwich that was nothing but french bread and thin cheddar. That's all I could find at the time that was the least bit like polenta, rice, and a few beans. Let's just say I didn't get full, and I didn't gain any weight, that's for sure. But the mountains in Calaveras County sure did me some good. I wrote in my little computer and I thought about the world of plenty in Sacramento, in comparison to the world of making do that takes place in some of these backwoods counties. Almost like backwoods Asia.
Well, I'm having one last day of fast. I don't think I ever did go over my calorie count except maybe for the champagne, which numbed the pain. I thank all my friends who came and saw the Grande Dame on her way to evolving into a higher state. They say that dog is the last step before becoming human; but Nina was already better than most people I know.
On this my last day of the fast, I am remembering all the starving people in N. Korea, prisoners or civilians. If I could send you something wonderful to eat, I would surely do it. I hope that at least a few of them know that I suffered along with them for a few weeks, and that they were on my mind, and that many of us know and try to understand the horrors that N. Korean lives hold.
The last day!
by DMC
Today is the last day of the food strike! Tomorrow is FRESH CHOICE day! I'm as excited about the prospect of eating salad, weak ranch dressing, and wannabe Pizza as I imagine the Obama kids were to move into the White House.
As of this morning, it looks like I've lost a total of 20 lbs since embarking on this food strike one month ago...and I certainly had and still have a buffer zone of weight to lose. I can only imagine how emaciated prisoners become after one month of hard labor, subsisting on about 350 calories per day--or less!
Well, today I'm thankful that Euna and Laura are home, but I'm remembering the many, many others who are still unjustly imprisoned, their lives threatened every day.
Goodbye, Nina
by DMC
Nina died today. Last night we were at the emergency veterinarian with Nina, Jackie's senior German Shepherd. She survived breast cancer and a major intestinal surgery just a few months ago, but she suddenly stopped eating and started to vomit and poop blood. The veterinarian couldn't do much for her last night except give her subdermal fluids, take X Rays, and put her on some medications. He said to see how she was today and, if she wasn't feeling better, to consider the hard decision.
Well, today she wasn't feeling better, and Jackie knew it was time to send Nina on her way, away from the misery. She went peacefully, with Jackie, friends, and her daughter Ally around her.
We celebreated Nina's life. Jackie departed from this food strike briefly to have half a vegetarian Subway sandwich and three or four glasses of champagne. I had two glasses of champagne.
Jackie said goodbye, and she's left for the weekend. She needed to get out of the house, and she took Ally with her. I'll see her Monday, our Fresh Choice day.
Goodbye, Nina. We will remember you as the sweet old girl who put up with chickens trying to steal your food.
What a night
by DMC
Last night this food strike proved particularly difficult. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that Jackie and I spent much of last night at the emergency veterinarian's office. We waited in the lobby a few feet away from a jar of Oreo cookies and a container of coffee.
Both of us opted for a taste of comfort food -- one half of one oreo cookie (the half with the cream, of course). Not "POW" approved, of course, but oh well. I was up way later than usual, so my stomach complained loudly. I tried quieting it with water, but it wouldn't shut up.
I haven't really had sugar for a while, so the small half-cookie tasted particularly sweet, and the sweetness lingered on my tongue for quite some time.
What we both ended up discussing, in between talk of the patient, were apple fritters and pie.
On a separate note, this morning, I read a story that a high fat diet has a quick and significant effect on physical exercise and cognitive function. Since I've had a mainly low fat diet, I cannot say whether I've noticed any particular changes in my cognitive functions. Of course, I'm not going through mazes or taking tests, either.
The scale hasn't dropped any since yesterday. However, I've noticed my favorite pair of jeans are now a smidgen too big.... even after a good wash.
Laura Ling reaches out to supporters and countdown begins
by DMC
Laura Ling issued a statement to her supporters. You can read it on News 10. It's Day 27 of this diet. August 16th is our last day (technically Day 31, I think). It's getting HARD. Today, I was going through old food in the fridge and was about to throw away a stale sandwich from my housemate. I took a small bite instead and tried to force myself to throw it out. I had to get in one more bite before it went into the trashcan.
God, it tasted good. Stale, and all. Don't worry, it wasn't deadly or anything. It had only been in there about two days, wrapped in a paper towel. That made the bread stale, of course.
I'm going out of my mind. I need something other than rice, beans, and corn. I've even thought of trying to go to the store for the last few days and find all natural corn tortilla chips, almost convincing myself that that wouldn't really be cheating... corn is corn, after all.
Of course, there is more than just corn in chips. Thus far, I've managed to resist the urge.
The scale tells me I've almost lost 20 lbs. I'm down about a size, I think.
I'm so very much looking forward to Fresh Choice on Monday...even if I have nothing but a salad!
Jackie: stomach problems
I may have reached my limit, but I'm going to try to hold out. For two days I have been extremely nauseated, but of course I don't know if it has anything to do with the fast or if I just have a bug. Today I am going to trade in my usual rations for ginger tea with honey, in order to try to defeat it. My usual stomach meds aren't quite cutting it. I am going to do this remedy for a day or two before I find myself forced to quit.
Euna Lee thanks supporters
by DMC
Euna Lee wrote a thank you letter to her supporters. You can read that letter at News 10's website.
I'm trying to imagine what it must have been like to be in a small, guarded room for months, away from your travel companion, your family, and your friends, but I really can't. I can only try. Here I am with the full comforts of home on a self-imposed food strike, and my angst right now is that I can't have a glass of wine to unwind! I don't have wine often, but geez, every once in a while, I get the urge to pour myself a glass and watch T.V. I have that urge now, and unfortunately, wine isn't on the "POW diet," as my friends have come to call it (though of course, Ling and Lee weren't POW's--they were, essentially, political prisoners).
My angst is pretty pathetic compared to the months of involuntary incarceration Ling and Lee endured. I'm glad they are home with their families. I'm relieved they're reasonably unharmed.
I hope, someday, North Korea will ends its harsh prison labor camps. I hope it will stop killing newborn infants of prisoners. I hope for a lot of things, but I know none of those things are likely to happen in the near future.
Myanmar (Burma)
by DMC
I just thought I'd draw attention to another area of the world with an oppressive regime and horrific human rights violations
One week
by DMC
I don't know why sticking to this food strike has become so hard lately. Yes, it's always been hard, but not quite as hard as it is now. I just want tastes of things. A cashew. A chip. A bite of a sandwich. Anything other than rice, beans, and corn.
Jackie: SALT
I did a little research, and apparently N. Korean prisoners are fed a very salty soup every day. So they are getting sodium chloride, anyway, which I don't eat; I use natural sea salts. This is apparently to keep them from fainting with dehydration during their hard labor. So Dawn, maybe that's how they keep their inmates from losing water weight. You are still probably eating less salt than hard-labor camp inmates are.
I think our bodies are in starvation mode, which is gratifying since I'm pretty sure I'm starving to death. At least it's not all in our heads.
I made some FANTASTIC canario beans last night. Do N. Korean inmates care if something is tasty, or do they just want MORE? At this point, I want tasty. I'm not far gone enough to just want more. I feel like if my little ration isn't yummy, I don't want it...which comes from the pretty privileged position of choice.
Here is a recipe for Korean cabbage soup. I'm making it tonight.
Korean Cabbage Soup Recipe (Baechu Gook)
By Naomi Imatome-Yun, About.com
Baechu Gook
Naomi ImatomeThis cabbage soup is not often found in restaurants but is a staple in Korean households. Healthy, low-fat, and rich in nutrients and vitamins, Baechu Gook is Korean comfort food and is especially popular in the winter months.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 head Napa cabbage, chopped
- 4 cups beef broth*
- 4 Tbsp Korean soybean paste (daenjang)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp black pepper**
- 2 scallions, chopped
Preparation:
In a large pot, bring beef broth1 up to a
boil. Add soybean paste when the soup is
very hot, stirring to dissolve. When it
begins to boil, reduce to a simmer and add
cabbage and garlic. Cook until cabbage is
very tender, about 20 minutes. Turn off
heat and add black pepper and chopped
scallions.
(Serves 4)
**I like my baechu gook very pepper-y, but
you can also replace this with red pepper
powder (kochukaru) if you want that type
of spiciness instead.
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