My personal Battle of the Bulge

[BVickery]

I tried everything - gym daily and pretty much going without eating. After nearly a year it had made no difference. Since I have decided that I'm stuck with whatever weight I am. I go to the gym every day but Sunday and have a different regime MWF from TThS. My goal is to go to the gym - period. I no longer weigh myself and I don't look at calories burned or distance. I go to do the exercise without missing a day and it's entirely to complete the routine. I'm just as heavy (5'10" - 225#) but much happier.

Remember, if you goto a gym and lift weights you can end up replacing fat with muscle. Muscle is twice as dense as fat. I did this once and lost weight super slowly and was hard to measure, but when started to flex the muscle, it actually was defined.

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Today was a bad day with a platinum lining.

I ended up putting back on 5 lbs. But the platinum lining was when the food chemistry type speaker came in and talked about the various fats. Basicly bad choices on my part combined with more poor choices at the SB party.

During the class learned about all the bad fats (Saturated, PartiallY Hydrogenated, Trans) As well as some of the good fats (to a point) such as Cholesterol, Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated Fats. Also went in about the new Trans Fat replacement called Interesterified Fats.

From what the speaker told us (B.S and Masters in Nutrition/Dietician/Food Chemistry Science who is currently pursuing a PH.D in this) about Trans Fats and the Interesterified Fats are bad basicly because the enzymes in our body are for the most part unable to attach to them and allow for proper digestion. Body doesn't know what to do with it and ends up depositing the fats onto the liver.

Went on to say the best 'good' oil is Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Of important note was that ALL fats contain 9 Cal per gram. Compared to Proteins and Carbs which have 4Cal per Gram (I may have missed the protein one, so if any of the medical people know I got this wrong, please tell me so I can correct). Also of note that Humans digest fats better than proteins or carbs. You will digest/absorb about 93% of the Fat compared to much lower digestion/absorbtion of Carbs and Proteins which can be as low as about 74%.

So, I came home, had my little sheet with some of the basics and went through my fridge/pantry and got rid of stuffs that had Trans Fats and high amounts of bad fats. Wasn't to bad, but I had enough to notice.

When I went shopping, picked up some EVOO, also instead of buying Margarine or the various spreads, just picked up normal unsalted butter. It isn't as good fat, but is def. better than the Trans Fat and Interesterified Fats that where in my margarine.

Also, seems Smuckers has Low Sugar and No Sugar Jelly and Jams. Picked up some Concord Grape and will inform how those are.

 

[BVickery]

Had free time and did some figuring out how some positive changes to my eating habits will affect my weight loss. Here is an example.

For groceries I normally eat, per week, 3 loaves of bread, 1 1/2 dozen eggs and about 1 pkg of margarine (used for buttering toast as well as an oil to cook in).

Here is what I am doing.

I dropped 1 loaf of bread, I buy 1 doz eggs and switched to Butter instead of Margarine.

Let's start with eating 6 less eggs per week. One egg is approx 78 cals per serving. Over the course of a week it comes out to 468 calories. For the year I cut out 24336 calories, which is equivalent to around 7 lbs. Not an eye shocker, but every pound helps and every so often I may decide for 3 eggs instead of 2. So it is nice to know if I do indulge in an extra egg every so often it's not going to really impact my weight loss.

For the bread I buy 1 serving = 120 calories, approx 12 servings per loaf. That's 1440 calories per week. Over the course of 1 year that amounts to 74880 cals, or approx. 21 lbs worth of calories no longer being consumed. That's a noticeably difference. This is definitely a noticable drop in weight, one that get's you excited and cheering and such.

Now for the biggee. I am no longer buying margarine, instead I am using Butter.

Now, eliminating margarine was a huge deal. I used almost a full pkg every week. Again, some weeks more, some weeks less, but it's an average. Used it to butter toast, cook with, bake with etc. But here are the numbers.

Each serving of margarine is around 98cals. I used up the entire package so I consume 3136 cals/wk just from that. Over the course of a year it comes out to a staggering 160,772 cals or around 47 lbs.

Now, some will critiqe my use of butter. But look at how my diet has now changed.

Right now I budgeted 1 pkg butter per month, and given how my diet has changed, may be even better. I only use better to every so often butter toast (instead of jam) or to use on pans when I need a fat to help protect from sticking/burning. I still use it every so often for baking/cooking (like a pat of butter over fish before broiling). The added benefit is the fat is one my body can actually recognize and metabolize when needed. Most margarines have trans fats or the trans fat substitute or really unhealthy fats for it. So lets get to the math.

1 serving of butter is about 100cals, and each package has 32 servings. That comes out to 3200 cals for the month. Now, under margarine I was consuming that per week. Now, over the course of a year this change will mean I will have consumed 38,400 calories, or about 11 lbs.

So, lets add it up.

Eggs - 7lbs
Bread - 21lbs
Margarine - 47 lbs.
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total = 75lbs.

So, since I am also still using butter, I will be consuming 11lbs worth of fats my potential weight loss changed.

75lbs - 11 lbs = 64 lbs of potential weight loss.

These are just potential weight loss numbers. But a woman in my group weight loss class dropped almost 50lbs in under 1 year by a simple life change. She is very active in a local biking club here in the city and they have lots of rides/cookouts, and she loves hotdogs. So, all she did was no longer eat hot dogs at these cookouts, which the way she described it were used as a sort of snack for the group.

 

[GreatLifeFitBev]

I've lost over 40 lbs the past year and kept if off. I started working out, eating better and drinking a magical healthy shake with over 70 super foods. I've also become a wellness coach and helping people achieve their goals as well. I am leading a healthier positive life. Nothing drastic all baby steps. I would love to have you join me. You can follow me on FB at Great Life Fit Bev or message me at greatlifefitbev@gmail.com for more info.

With that being said I bought a new wetsuit last year and now need to sell it.