Steve v5.0

Posts Tagged ‘food’

So, the days roll on and I continue to plod on through; gym, smoothies, little plates, all that stuff I’ve learned over the past several years, etc. It has been quite a trip thus far and I have learned a lot though I’ve probably forgotten more than I’ve learned.  I guess that is why I strive to write stuff down.  Hey, sometime I may even read what I’ve written instead of just doing some kind of brain barf here on the keyboard and never looking at it again.

 

Hmm… why don’t I try it now? I mean, what was I like back in the day? Let me see… How about a little flash from the past….

 

An entry dated 9/27/2007 (a.k.a. “one of the good lo days)

 

(Day 129 / -83 lbs.) Failure is as Easy as Pie

Today was a track day and I was lucky to have been accompanied by my wife. She’s been recuperating from her first race last Saturday and was feeling good enough to give it a go. I’m really proud of her. She started running less than a year ago and she’s already competing- and placing. She placed 6th in her first race and is completely jazzed about continuing on to more competitions. She’s awesome!

With that kind of inspiration how can I possibly fail?

Easily. It’s all about choice.

I could have chosen to stay in bed this morning; cuddled up in my nice warm comforter, pillow just-right, room just cool enough. I chose instead to head to the track, hand in hand with my wife, to burn some calories.

I could have loaded up on pancakes, eggs and sausage for breakfast this morning. Instead I chose my usual protein smoothie.

I could sit here and snack on M&M’s while I work, but I won’t. I choose to stick to my plan and eat small, healthy meals at regular intervals throughout the day.

Choosing is such a simple activity. “I choose to make the right choices.” There, done. How simple was that? Notice I say simple rather than easy.

Choosing becomes easier when I consider the consequence/reward resulting from my choice. I know what happens when I sit all day and pound the M&M’s. I know how much better I feel after going to the track or the gym. I know how great I feel when I’m putting on a pair of pants that haven’t been able to wear in ten years- and they fit! I know. I know.

A simple choice yields either failure or success. I choose success.

 

Wow, that takes me back. I was such a fired-up mess. I hope to recapture some of the enthusiasm from yesteryear.

 

Rock on.

Twenty-three days left and I’m sweating bullets.  No, not literally. I’m just back from the gym and I’m literally sweating some mixture of water, salts, and anxiety– my own special par-fume du stank cocktail of hopes, dreams, and massive action that signifies my verve and dedication to literally (yes, there’s that word again) working the bulk of my ass off, my gut off, my love handles off, etc (or, at the very least, reducing their girth).

 

Massive action is kind of a short-term thing with me and not all that desirable. I consider myself more long-haul than flash-in-the-pan.  I’ve said it many times over the past few years (starting circa Steve v4.6) that I wasn’t into the quick fix and that whatever path I took/take was to be one I could/would/will maintain long-term. As far as physical activity goes, I think I’ve stayed true.  Food-wise… not so much.

 

What have I learned? More than I knew.

 

I learned that for me, calorie consumption is the largest factor in determining how much weight I lose, maintain, or gain. I have been religiously (can I get an ah-man?) consistent with my workouts (similar things/duration). There were a couple of periods since Steve v4.6 (the past 3+ years) that I stopped woking out– a couple of times lasted about 2 weeks, during which I didn’t exercise at all. The weird/unexpected thing was that, after returning to the gym and weighing in, I discovered that I really hadn’t gained much, if any, weight during the preceding period of inactivity. Conversely, there were a couple of times when I was working out regularly but went on an eating binge and gained weight immediately.  It seems that, for me, my weight is most immediately affected by food quantity and more specifically, carbohydrate quantity.

 

Short story; missing a week of the gym is not as bad as eating pizza three days in a row (FOR ME, your results may vary).

 

Rock on.

Today is officially my first day back from hunting mule deer in the wilds of central Oregon. Now before anyone goes all PETA-licious on me, know that i’ve never during the course of my existence, ever, shot a deer. I’ve had them in my crosshairs many times– the thing is, I’ve never been compelled/hungry enough to pull the trigger. I suppose that if my family were hungry enough or deer suddenly developed a taste for me I could do it and we’d be having some delicious venison for dinner tonight. So as it is, I like hunting but I’m not really into killing.

What do I like about hunting? For me it gives purpose to camping. Don’t get me wrong, camping is OK. Sleeping outdoors for brief periods of time, cooking over a campfire, neglecting personal hygiene, and getting away from it all is… something. The thing is, I like my bed, my shower, and all the comfortable stuff we work so hard to afford. Abandoning it seems a little illogical. Illogical fun for the whole family!

When I’m hunting, I do all the fun camping stuff– but I do it because I’m camping where the deer are. I sleep in a tent or our camp trailer, cook outdoors, and hike all over creation while carrying several pounds of gun and gear. Not just hiking, but employing all the concentrated observation and stealth I can muster. If concentration burns calories, well, I’m on a high simmer while hunting. All the stalking, sneaking, and chasing is a pretty good workout– and looking at a deer through a 3-9x scope just makes my heart go pitter-pat for some reason. I blame it on testosterone and having watched TV westerns as a child.

Food-wise, the past couple of weeks was a little weird. I literally lived on trail-mix bars and apples the entire time. It’s true. Most days my diet consisted of three (140 calorie) trail mix bars and an apple. Couple meager consumption with all that hiking and you’ve got a recipe for a camo-loosening couple of weeks, and loosen they did. About halfway through the trip I was feeling pretty good and less like a big pile of lumbering landscape wearing an orange hat. Good times.

Rock on.

I went to a funeral about an hour ago. It was a nice, respectful affair followed by a pretty spectacular barbecue. Family gatherings typically do center around something edible. Over the past several years it seems as though the meals are getting bigger. This one came together around a fairly abundant spread.

As I look around the room, I see some amazingly nice and profoundly rotund people. I wonder what they’ll serve at my funeral and if there will be enough. Lots of robust eaters here.

Rock on, hungry mourners.

I guess I have to blame it on blunt trauma. “Blunt trauma?” you ask. Yes, thanks for asking. You see, I haven’t been to the gym in about a week. I know, I know, terrible- right? Here’s the thing; I just about knocked myself out the last time I wa there. How? Glad you asked. With the friggn’ bicep-curl machine. Damn cable snapped when I was in the middle of a rep and my follow-thru hit me right in the head! I had the machine loaded to 175 lbs. at the time and let me tell you what- it packed a wallop! What followed were several seconds of stars ala an episode of Looney Tunes and several minutes of what Aunt Kate referrs to a “loopiness”. I slalomed my bike home from the gym.

Hey, onward and upward.

So I’m here at the beach just now and feeling sorry for myself because my role for this trip has become “dog-sitter”. It was me who stayed back and held the dog’s leash while the rest of my family played in the surf. Why not let the dog play too? It won’t. Its afraid of water (and cameras, flashlights, telephones, wind, pizza crust, the list goes on) and prefers to stay dry and whine. I don’t like our dog. Its one of those fun breeds that can’t go off leash, is relatively untrainable, usually smells bad even when it isn’t farting (which is constantly- I think thats how it exhales), and is more cat-like than most cats- which would be fine if I was a cat person (and I’m not). So, here I stand with a whiny, malcontent dog who’s wrapping its leash around my legs and with each lap bringing its’ gawdawful stench ever-closer. Yummy, yummy day.

Moving on…

Vacations can be a real trap when it comes to watching calories. I think in our case nutrition takes a back seat to convenience.

Rock on.

Yahoo!  Back from the gym and feeling dull, lifeless, and ready to crawl back in my hole… NOT!  I’m feeling great!  Pushing excessive amounts of weight in repetitious bursts augmented by grunt, grimace, and sweat absolutely friggin’ ROCKS!

“Ho hum,” says the 20-something guy who’s metabolism hasn’t yet begun to slow.

“Whatevers,” quips his spandex-clad, size “0″ wonder twin.

The thing my imaginary friends don’t realize and can’t begin to appreciate is how important it is to me; to be able-bodied enough to pedal or run my aging carcass to and from the gym each morning and move those weights when, less than two years ago, I wouldn’t/couldn’t do any of it- when the only exercise I was doing was focused on processing food into fat and waste.  Oddly, that too was augmented by grunt, grimace, and sweat.

Another thing they fail to realize is that, once upon a couple of decades ago, I was just like them (well, one of them).  I never thought that I would blossom into something resembling Poppin’ Fresh, the Michelin Man, Stay Puft, or some other marketing icon.  I naively thought I would always be able to eat and drink as much as I wanted as often as I wanted– forever.  The thing is, time and metabolism have a way of winding themselves down.

So here’s the deal, I’m moving it until I lose it.  I’m cutting back on what’s going in and making sure I’m exercising enough so that it doesn’t stick around.  The cool thing is that losing weight doesn’t require much more than that.  I’ve come to realize that it’s merely a process of commitment and follow-through; committing to eat less by putting less on my plate and driving right on past the fast food places instead of using their drive-thru.  It’s consistently doing things like going to the gym, walking more and driving less, and applying physical movement at every opportunity.  It’s sustainable activity motivated by constant internal desire for improvement rather than relying on someone else.  It’s me making me better because I want to.

I may never be able to cram myself into spandex- but that isn’t my goal.  You’re welcome.

Rock on.

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I’ve been working on a plan to re-energize my weight loss efforts by focusing on the things that have worked so well for me in the past. My primary focus was food- what kinds, how much, and how often. Because I usually start out each day at the gym and follow it with a protein smoothie, I decided to look at options for making smoothie preparation easy and consistent.

I’ve been using my Magic Bullet for smoothies. It’s easy and convenient- mixes my smoothies right in mug and takes up very little space. It was cheap to buy. It’s also built that way. Pieces have been breaking off and it’s been leaking. In short, it was time to start looking for other options.

I recently had the opportunity to demo one of Blendtec’s Total Blenders and used it while preparing foods that make up regular diet. I put it through it’s paces and I have to tell you, I was impressed on several levels.

I should probably mention that I’m a guy- and I mean that in the most Neanderthal way possible. This caveman likes tools, tools with power, and this thing has lots of it. Spinning the blades is 13amp/1500 Watt motor putting out about 3 peak HP of mixing power. This thing can grind up just about anything- just check out the videos at willitblend.com.

I didn’t run a rake handle or my iPod through it but I ran plenty of ice, frozen fruit and berries through it when I was making smoothies. It had no trouble ripping through it at all- even when stuff was obviously pretty well frozen together before I pushed the smoothie button. That’s a lot more than I can say my Magic Bullet or my Waring. This thing is a beast.

It’s also a noisy beast. There is no mistaking this thing for any other appliance in the kitchen (sound-wise). Crank it up to level 10 and it roars. It’s not wake-the-neighbors-loud, it’s more a honey-would-you-mind-holding-that-thought-and-while-you’re-at-it-hit-pause-on-the-Tivo kind of loud. The thing is, it doesn’t have to run very long to get the job done- so loud isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. My morning smoothie runs about 25 seconds and comes out perfectly. I don’t have to plunge, scrape, or put ingredients in the container in any particular order. The thing just works fast, it works well, and it does it every time.

It’s a versatile beast as well. I made some butternut squash soup with it that totally rocked. I just dropped in the ingredients, seasoning and some warm water, pushed the soup/sauce button and had hot soup in less than two minutes. The energy expended by the spinning blades is enough to heat the soup. It really was impressive. I also used the blender to make salsa and some other things I would have used a food processor for and found that it did a great job each and every time.

With all that power comes a warning; make sure you have the lid on securely before you hit the button. Slack on that and you’ll redecorate your kitchen. I made it a point to hold a kitchen towel on the lid for the first few seconds each time. No muss, no fuss.

All in all, I recommend it. The Blendtec blender is powerful and versatile- and was the most-used appliance in my kitchen.

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