Halfpounder’s Blog

It’s been a few days since I’ve updated the blog. Sorry about that. No excuse other than being a bit lazy…

I’m happy to report that the scale and I are once again on friendly terms. I weighed in last week and showed a four pound loss and maintained the loss with today’s weigh in. I haven’t been good about journaling my food, but I have really kicked up the exercise during the last two weeks. My knee is feeling great—much improved than before the arthroscopic procedure. I’ve been meeting with my personal trainer once a week and I have been riding my bicycle every day.

This morning Linda and I took the bikes 12 miles from home to the lake and this afternoon we made another 10 mile ride from South Fork, up Provo Canyon, back home. My boys offered to go collect our stranded van. Both rides were very nice. The morning ride took us past freshly cut hay fields and it reminded me of a smell from my childhood when there were more farms and less homes in the area. The ride this afternoon was pleasant, but crowded with many people out enjoying the sunshine. We had to slow down and ride carefully in several places, especially near Bridal Veil Falls where families with little ones were splashing and enjoying themselves.

So exercise is helping me get back on track with my diet. But I’ve really struggled this week with cravings. I’ve wanted bread and sweets and have felt like I must have them or die. They have been very strong cravings that I couldn’t lose by simply filling up on something else. I gave in and tried two new recipes: one for New Orleans-style beignets (French fritters coated with powdered sugar) and a sweet bread roll recipe. They were both fabulous… and I’m impressed I could maintain my weight given that I was totally out of control with the bread and sugar this week.

How do you deal with cravings? If you have any great ideas please respond to this post and let me know. My will power is usually strong enough to avoid the impulses, but this week I have given in to just go for it. I have felt like it has been better to have what I’m craving and then move forward. I’m not really happy with this concession to weakness, but I really found it a challenge this week. My son made chocolate chip cookies at our home last night and left two dozen on the counter. They were stored in a zip-lock bag and stared me down this morning. I won. I’ve sure wanted to dip into them all day. We had two of our grandchildren come over this afternoon and Grandpa has been pushing cookies and milk. They are now all eaten and gone and I didn’t give in to them. (how pathetic…)

Where has all my will power gone? Bread, margarine, fried foods, ice cream, sugar, cookies… these have not been problems for me since April of last year! Why now? Why am I struggling with the cravings this week? I don’t have the answer. Hopefully I can come out of this phase a little stronger and not put any weight back on. In the meantime, I will make sure to have my pantry filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. Bananas, apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, and corn on the cob will save me this weekend.

When Weight Watchers introduced the Momentum plan last January, one of the new key concepts was learning how to control hunger by listening to how you feel. The goal is to avoid becoming too hungry and at the other extreme eating into oblivion. The benefits are many, but basically by eating smaller portions more frequently you keep your metabolism fired up and consume less overall calories. It has been working quite well for me. I work really hard to eat something every three hours or so—usually a piece of fruit—and I rarely feel “screaming gotta eat right now” hunger and have only occasionally eaten to the bloated feeling.

I read recently another reference to the hunger/fullness scale. It is from the Duke Diet and Fitness Center and is very similar to the Weight Watchers material. What I like most about the Duke material is the description of how your stomach speaks to you. I hope this information is helpful for you. I feel strongly it is a key to successful long-term weight management.

I promise to be better about posting. I hope you are doing well and finding success in your health management goals.

Take care,
Kirk

Hunger/Fullness Scale

Are you actually hungry? Use this scale to measure your hunger and to better manage the way you eat.

From the Duke Diet & Fitness Center

The Hunger/Fullness Scale was developed by Barbara Craighead, PhD, to help people gauge their hunger to determine whether they need to eat or not. The next time you feel hungry or finish a meal, take a moment to rate your feeling of hunger or fullness on the scale

1 – Very Hungry
2 – Moderately Hungry
3 – Mildly Hungry
4 – Neutral
5 – Mildly Full
6 – Very Full
7 – Much Too Full
(The desirable zone is 2.5 to 5.5)

Here’s a little more about what the numbers mean:
1: Very hungry; starving; desperate. Your stomach is “screaming.”?
2: Moderately hungry; ready to eat. Your stomach is “talking.”?
3: Mildly hungry; beginning hunger. Your stomach is “whispering.”?
4: Neutral. You feel no sensations of hunger or fullness.
5: Mildly full. You feel satisfied.
6: Very full. Your stomach is beginning to feel a bit distended.
7: Much too full. Your stomach feels stuffed.

This is a subjective scale — it isn’t objective in the way that counting calories is. For that reason, it can be more difficult to use. However, continued focus and practice will help you become more sensitive to your body’s signals of hunger and fullness. Here are some tips:
• We recommend staying between 2.5 and 5.5.
• Never allow yourself to get down to 1. Have healthy snacks planned in advance and eat one if you fall below 2.5 on the scale. It typically takes three to four hours for the stomach to empty, so you should try not to go too much longer than that without eating.
• Stop eating at 5.5. Eat slowly — it takes 20 minutes for your brain to know your stomach is full.

The really important question to ask yourself before you eat anything is “Am I really hungry?” Tune in to the physical sensations you’re experiencing. Rate your hunger on the Hunger/Fullness Scale. If you aren’t really hungry, what else may be going on? You may be eating in response to emotions or stress.

From the renowned Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University comesThe Duke Diet (published April 2007) and The Duke Diet & Fitness Online Weight-Loss Program. The book and its companion online program pay special attention to the behavioral and emotional aspects of lifestyle change, teaching strategies for breaking unhealthy habits, curbing cravings, reducing stress, and much more.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/emotional-eating-feature/hunger-fullness-scale.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthDietandNutrition_20090715

I’m often asked how I have lost so much weight. I tell people, “Diet and Exercise.” (usually something like, “Weight Watchers and exercising my butt off…”) The reaction I get from most people is comical. The faces they make–like they just smelled something disgusting.  It usually kills the conversation immediately (they just don’t want to hear the “D” and “E” words.)

Most people, it seems, want a magic fix. They want to lose weight by taking a pill. Get a prescription from their doctor and sit back while the pounds melt away. (Wouldn’t it be so nice…) Telling you this reminds me of an experience I had a few years ago with my general practitioner. The doctor was concerned about water retention around my ankles. He prescribed a diuretic and then told me, “You are going to lose a LOT of weight this week.” (heavy emphasis on a lot of weight–it was the way he said it.) Now when you tell a morbidly obese person they are going to lose a LOT of weight they are probably going away with an image of miraculous proportions. A LOT of weight to a fatty is at least 40-50 pounds! I mean, come on…. let’s please be a bit more specific.

I told my wife after the visit to the clinic and filling the prescription that the little pill was the answer to all my woes. The doctor told me I was going to lose a LOT of weight. Finally the answer to quick and easy weight reduction. (Not so much… ) I did lose a few pounds and my ankles started to look more normal, but it was hardly the cure for my obesity. (I knew what the doctor meant… it just sounded so funny. Don’t tell a fat guy he is going to lose a LOT of weight when 5-10 pounds is insignificant in the big scheme.)

My knee is feeling good enough to get in a good workout. Last night we rode 11 miles up the canyon and back. (The ride home is always a payback for the hard work to get up there.) This was our longest distance up the canyon. I wanted to see if we could push it a little from where we usually turn around. We rode from our house up past Bridal Veil Falls all the way to Vivian Park.

After the ride I cooked up some summer squash and corn on the cob. We were eating a little late, but the food sure tasted good.

I read this article today. It has good information about how much exercise is recommended daily.

Have a great day,
Kirk

How Much to Exercise Each Day
Losing It with Jillian!, Online with Jillian Michaels, July 9, 2009
by Jillian Michaels

You may have heard the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendation of 30 minutes of physical activity a day. This is intended for people who want to maintain the most basic level of fitness — but not for people who want to lose weight. In a week, 30 minutes a day works out to an expenditure of about 1,000 calories, which is fine if you are looking to maintain your current weight. But if you want to lose, you’re going to have to be prepared for a bit more work.

I much prefer the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 60 minutes at a time as a starting point for my clients — an hour is ideal to get the most out of your workout and see significant results. Your 60-minute workout sessions should always include a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 50 minutes of your primary cardio or strength-training exercises, followed by at least 5 minutes of cooling down and stretching.

Of course, putting in more time will get you more results — but there’s a limit. Excessive intense physical activity releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, into the body. This can actually inhibit weight loss, causing your body to react by storing fat and retaining water out of self-protection. So, to reach your goal, I recommend limiting intense exercise to no more than two hours a session.

JILLIAN’S TIP OF THE DAY
Interval Cardio

One of the most effective aspects of my program is the mix of resistance exercises with cardio bursts. Cardio intervals will keep your heart rate up while you use weights, which enables you to get results in a shorter amount of time. Butt kicks are a typical interval cardio move: Stand with your feet hip-width apart and jog in place, bringing your heels up to your buttocks as you lift your feet. Keep your pace as fast as possible and really try to kick yourself in the butt.

Sleep. Get too much of it and people think you’re a lazy slug—and when I oversleep, I usually don’t feel alert and refreshed. Get too little sleep and it is definitely unhealthy. At least that’s what I’ve always heard. I haven’t taken the time to study much about sleep deprivation, but I know it’s hard on your body when you don’t get enough rest.

A daily rest period isn’t the only thing that improves our health. We need a break from our daily work. We need a time to rest from our hectic schedules. I noticed a guy I follow on Twitter mention yesterday that he is, “Taking an Internet vacation. No email, Twitter, blog reading, etc for a week starting tomorrow. Will it make me sane or drive me crazy (er)?” I like his idea. It would probably be well if all of us could take a regular break from the world-wide web. Even the Bible teaches us to rest: one day in seven (and I really enjoy my weekends.) Just how important is rest and relaxation? How critical is rest and sleep to help us lose weight and maintain good health?

My Grandfather often said a change is better than a rest. Of course, he was a workaholic—a young man during the Great Depression and through experience and necessity learned the value of industry. But I don’t think he had the best overall policy. Maybe choosing a different activity is good mentally and emotionally, but we definitely need time to physically shutdown and relax. (I must give him a bit of credit though… he closed his business one day a week and he did enjoy taking his grandson fishing—although he probably didn’t go often enough.) To maintain good health we must make time daily for sleep, take time weekly in a relaxing weekend, and annually with planned vacation time.

The article I would like to share with you today focuses on the importance of sleep. I was surprised to learn about the hormones released during sleep. I didn’t remember hearing about that before (maybe I didn’t pay close attention in health class.) I hope you find the article helpful and that it might encourage you to change your habits if you are falling short of your body’s need to rest.

Have a great 4th of July weekend,
Kirk

Get Seven Hours of Shut-eye for a Healthier Mind and Body
by Jillian Michaels, Losing it With Jillian, Online July 03, 2009

A full night’s sleep is not a luxury — it’s a basic necessity for healthy hormone balance. Once you dip below seven hours a night, you are increasing your risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, and obesity.

Some researchers believe that slow-wave sleep — the deep, dreamless sleep that you ideally sink into about three or four times a night — may actually regulate your metabolism. Sleep researcher break down sleep into five stages. Stage 4 slow-wave sleep, which begins about an hour after we fall asleep, is when we release our greatest pulses of growth hormone, the hormone that prompts the body to burn stored fat. When we’re young, we spend about 20 percent of our time asleep in slow-wave stages 3 and 4. But as we get older, we may only spend about 10 or even 5 percent there.

Sadly, just two nights of bad sleep will cut your satiety hormone leptin by 20 percent and increase your hunger hormone ghrelin by 30 percent. That one-two punch makes you much more likely to snack on high-carb treats, which couldn’t come at a worse time for your insulin levels. In a recent study, University of Chicago researchers found that just three nights of poor sleep made the bodies of young, healthy test subjects 25 percent less sensitive to insulin. This level of insulin resistance is comparable to that brought on by carrying 20 to 30 extra pounds.

In order to block fat-storage hormones and allow the full release of fat-burning hormones, you need to get at least seven hours of sleep a night!

JILLIAN’S TIP OF THE DAY

No Carbs Before Bed

To slip into stage 3 or 4 sleep, you need to have a high level of ghrelin before bedtime. Carbs depress ghrelin faster than any other nutrient, so eating anything, especially carbs, before bed can delay your entry into deeper sleep for several hours. If you don’t get enough restful sleep, you’re likely to be hungrier and eat more. So to help you sleep well and deeply, let the hormones do their thing and don’t eat after 9 p.m.!