An old number becomes a new number

I stepped on my Tanita digital scale yesterday morning and saw an old number at the beginning of the 4 number display. It was a ONE! As in 199.5 pounds. I can't recall the last time I was below 200 lbs. It was probably back in the late 90's when I was on my feet all day doing warehouse work. Strangely enough it's been that type of work that's helped me drop another 5 lbs the past two weeks. I'm what you might call a gray collar warehouse manager and with us starting our busiest season of the year this month I've been more blue collar than white collar. Today was my first weight workout in the past two weeks, and I could feel it a bit. It's amazing how quickly you start to fall off if you don't keep up with the weights. It wasn't horrible or anything but I could certainly feel my muscles being challenged a bit more than my last workout a couple of weeks ago.

So the only other goal I had in mind was reaching 180 lbs. This was the weight I achieved way back in the late 80's with Weight Loss Clinic. I'm just going to continue doing what I've been doing and listening to my body and hoping the pounds keep falling off at a steady pace. I can certainly still see and feel fat on my body, mostly in the torso area, particularly around the waist, the pecs and behind the armpits. That reminds me, I need to take another set of progress photos. I'll check back in when I've reached 190 lbs.

30lbs lost! Another mini milestone reached.

I see it's been 3 weeks since my last blog entry. Well that's about right since I stepped on the scale this morning and saw 204lbs on the digital readout. That means I've dropped 30lbs since I started on the TYT program or about 8lbs per month. I'm still doing the Week 4-6 exercise routine and following the food guidelines fairly strictly. I do have a weekly cheat meal or two and you notice a pound gained after one of those, but it's back to losing again the next day or so as long as you keep exercising and stay within your caloric intake. The whole program is so encouraging because you continue to see results if you stick with it. My next mini milestone will be breaking the 200lb mark. That's another 5lbs and about 3-4 weeks away. I'll check in again then.

Magic Bullet........FTW!

I can't recall (and I'm not back reading now) if I've mentioned the Magic Bullet in this blog before. In case you haven't heard of this little gizmo before, it's a small "personal" size blender/food processor and it's great. My wife had actually bought one of these for herself and my younger son a while before I started on the TYT program, but I'm the one using it the most nowadays. I basically use it to make my "Popeye" smoothies. I nicknamed it a Popeye smoothie because, why else, it contains spinach. I found the basic recipie on the web and modified it slightly. Here's how I make mine.

Take one of the Magic Bullet cups and stuff about 6-8 large spinach leaves into the bottom of it. Then add a half cup of frozen (or fresh) berries and a half cup of ripe, frozen (or unfrozen) bananas. Then add one scoop of your favorite protein powder. I favor the chocolate flavor. Then add one cup of unsweetened almond milk, or whatever type of liquid you prefer. I also use non-fat milk sometimes, but I prefer the almond milk. Put on the MB blade attachment and blend away. I let it go for about 10-15 seconds and then let it sit for about 5 seconds and then go for another 10-15 seconds. By doing this you let any chunks of fruit work their way to the bottom and get a second chance at getting blended properly. I find that if you're using the frozen fruit you will get a much thicker style smoothie, but it makes the MB work a little harder and you sometimes get an air pocket which you will then have to unscrew the lid and work out with a spoon. It's not a big deal though and the taste is AMAZING! I love the cold, refreshing temperature and the thicker texture. And don't fear about the spinach taste. The banana and fruit completely mask the spinach taste so you get the benefit of the spinach nutrients in a sweet tasting drink. Often times I will also set-up two of these for later by just adding the spinach and frozen fruit and letting them thaw in the fridge with the lids on. Then all you need to do is add the powder and milk and you're good to go. I find you do end up with a thinner smoothie this way though.

I buy the bags of Kirkland brand frozen berries (blue, rasp, marion) from Costco. I also buy over ripe bananas on the cheap from our local grocer. Some stores set them aside for like $1 for a huge bunch(es). When I get them home I peel them, slice them into 1/2 inch chunks, lay them out on a baking sheet and freeze them for a few hours before bagging them into a large Ziplock bag. This is a trick I read on the web and it works great. The bananas barely stick together this way, whereas just slicing them and bagging them right away makes a big frozen mess. I also buy fresh bunches of spinach and wash and trim the stems when I get home. I then place all the leaves into a 7 cup Rubbermaid container that comes with one of their wonderful 28 or 40 piece sets. This takes a little bit of effort but is much, much cheaper than buying the pre-washed spinach. I find the spinach keeps very well in the container, even up to two weeks, which you should have made enough smoothies to have finished it by then. I highly recommend a set like the Rubbermaid I linked to as I use at least 3-4 of the different containers everyday for my lunch. I will put a salad in one, canned chicken or tuna (or whatever leftover meat from dinner) into another, dressing into one of the smallest ones, and cut up apples and whole grapes into another two. Throw a banana into the mix and you're good to go.
 

210 and beyond!

I reached 210 lbs last Friday. That was the next target on my list. I then had a couple of small cheat meals over the weekend that saw my weight bounce back to 211, which is okay as long as you get back with the program the next day. I'm at 208.5 as of this morning, so all is on track. My next target is 200 lbs. and I "should" be there around the third week of October if all goes according to the way it has so far.

I'm still doing the week 3-6 routine using 12 lb dumbbells. I have upped the number of crunch reps from 30 to 40 and I only do the bicycle style sit-ups now. I found the traditional crunches started hurting my back even though I wasn't putting my hands behind my neck and pulling on it. I still split the squat presses and squat lifts into 2 sets of 15 repetitions each. It's fine as long as you only take a 15-30 second break between sets like you should do for all the exercises. Push ups are still the most challenging part of the workout for me but I am able to do 30 with pretty good form. I have my hands on the second step, feet together and arms about double shoulder width apart. I try to keep my butt level. You can feel your ab muscles twitch if you're doing this properly.

So it's 25 lbs down with at least 15 more to go..........    

20 down.......20 to go!

I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and it touched 214 lbs. That means I have lost 20 lbs since starting out on this lifestyle change and I'm halfway to my goal of losing 40 lbs overall. I have to say it hasn't been a struggle whatsoever to this point. I am rarely tempted to cheat and have been able to stay with the program. I kinda look forward to the workouts now, whereas in days gone by I would have found almost any excuse not to workout. I am still using the basic Week 3-6 routine. I figure if it's still working then why change things. I can always add in the optional exercises if I hit a plateau in the coming weeks.

I popped into Value Village on the weekend to look for some "tweener" sized cargo shorts. It's nice having to buy clothes because I'm getting smaller, rather than larger. I found a couple of nice pairs for $8 each. It's a great way to go if you know you are in between sizes. I'll probably go back for some jeans in a month or two.

First Goal: Achieved!

Well, I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and I was pleased to see that I had hit my first target weight of 219lbs. Why 219lbs you say? Well, that was my weight when I started working at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory almost six year ago. I remember making a point of weighing myself when I got the job so I had a reference point to gauge any weight gain by. As it turned out I gained 15lbs over 67 months. A combination of more desk work and a mostly sedentary lifestyle contributed to this sad statistic. Thanks to Christine and the TYT program I've been able to turn the weight clock back on those 67 months. And there's no going back to my old ways now! My next target is 210lbs. That was my weight back when I was 24 years old and engaged to my wife to be. I made a decision at that time to drop some weight and managed to lose 30lbs with the help of Weight Loss Clinic. I've already shared how that turned out in the long run. So, I've got another 9lbs to drop and then my next target will be an even 200lbs. We'll just have to see where things go from there.

Six weeks in

Well, since the TYT book's subtitle is "6 Weeks to a Leaner Younger-Looking You" I guess we should assess things after following the program for six weeks. Actually, today marks six weeks and three days to be exact, but what's a few days here or there when I know I'm going to be following this program for a while yet. In terms of being a leaner "me" there is no doubt, I am. All my clothes fit better and I'm sure I've dropped close to 3-4 inches off my waist. I'm almost two pant sizes smaller in six weeks! My entire body has strengthened, especially  my arms and shoulders. But my legs have also benefited and I am walking with a more confident stride and my slight limp (due to my right hip) is becoming less and less noticeable. There is definitely some shape-shifting going on and some fat weight being traded for muscle. In terms of pure weight loss I'm now at 220lbs, which is about 10lbs less since I "officially" started the program, but it is 14lbs less since I "unofficially" started eating healthier, which was about 10 weeks ago. I guess that's pretty good, but the weight loss has definitely slowed down the past 2 weeks. Whereas I was losing almost a .5lb every 2 days or so, it's now more like a .5lb every week. And while I've missed the odd workout here and there, I haven't done much cheating at all. In fact there is little that tempts me anymore. I have no problem with cravings or saying no to sweets when they are offered to me. I keep telling myself that there's no going back to the way I was. So would I have liked to have lost a bit more weight by now? Sure, who wouldn't. But I'm not discouraged and I'm going to keep with the program for at least another six weeks and see what the results are. I can always add the few optional exercises of the week 3-6 routine if I want to ramp it up some more. I was hoping to hold off on that for a while longer yet though. I'll keep you posted.

Taking it up a notch

Well, this past Saturday I decided it was time to move on to the Week 3-6 fitness routine. As I mentioned in an earlier post I was trying to milk the Week 1-2 routine for as long as possible but I had hit a plateau in my weight loss the past week and a bit so I decided it was time to move on to the more challenging routine. The main difference between the two routines is the addition of the Horse Curls exercise and the extra reps for the exercises you've already been doing. I have to say it certainly is more challenging. I was huffing and puffing in no time and perspiring more than before. And for some reason the 12 lb. dumbbells I had been moving fairly easily with the Week 1-2 routine now felt like 50 lbs. It's amazing how the mind works in these situations. The moment you think the weight might be too heavy it's like your muscles just want to stop working. You really have to will yourself to complete all the reps for some of the exercises. In some cases I had to split up the exercise into three mini-sets of 10 reps with a 15 second break between each set just to get through them. I can certainly feel my muscles being challenged and growing but I'm mildly disappointed that after three sessions my weight is still the same at 222 lbs. I was hoping to start seeing a .5 lb drop after every session or two. I'm not cheating on my eating so I can only hope it's muscle being traded for fat at this point and the weight loss will start to kick in again soon. I'll keep you posted.

Dr. Dukan agrees

I just opened my e-mail and found a message from "Diet Dr. Dukan". I had checked out his site and signed up for his newsletter back when I was researching weight loss sites and books. One of the links (Slimming Secrets) on his site made me curious so I checked it out. It's basically confirms everything that Christine talks about in her book and I thought it was worthwhile sharing it with you. Here is what he had to say. 

slimming secret of Dr Pierre Dukan 

Work hard at developing your muscles and create a whole team of fat burning muscles!

"Your muscles and your brain are your only organs that you can use deliberately to lose weight, the only ones used to burn up calories. A muscle that you get working flat out against maximum resistance uses up an enormous amount of calories. When it stops working, it continues to burn up fuel and calories. Less, much less then when exercising but even so throughout the day and then while you are sleeping. This activity goes on in the background for 60 hours, i.e. two and a half days. Then it comes to a halt and nothing more happens. Conclusion: so that you don't let it come to a halt, take exercise for 10 minutes, just 3 times a week but make it intense. Moreover, get as many muscles and muscular areas involved as possible, by encouraging those that never do any work to become part of your arsenal of calorie burners. Shoulders, arms, legs, buttocks, abdominals, back muscles, calves and the vertebrae extensor muscles that make you tall. You only need a minute per muscle but with maximum intensity so that you get them working for another 60 hours. The benefit is disproportionate, so go on indulge yourself."

Back to losing again

Rather than move to the week two fitness routine I thought I'd try upping the weight of my hex dumbbells first and sticking with the week one routine. It worked! I'm down another pound and a half over the weekend and that included a bacon cheeseburger cheat meal with a beer on Saturday night at Cactus Club Yaletown! I was doing the first two weeks of the routine using 5 lb. dumbbells. While slightly heavier than a can of soup as suggested in the book for beginners, it was still a pretty sad statement for how low I had dropped strength wise. After two weeks I moved on to the 10 lb. set. You could feel the increased resistance immediately and the related after burn was more pronounced. This is what you REALLY need to keep an eye on. As soon as you are able to do all the reps of any exercise comfortably it's time to up the resistance.

This weekend I moved up to the 12 pound set and while it's only 2 lbs. more per arm you could feel the difference immediately. I am also trying to get to 30 reps for each exercise now, or at least to the point where my muscles start to tremble. You don't want to push yourself too far though and get an injury. One or two reps after you start to feel the tremble is enough I think. I am able to do 30 reps for most all of the exercises save for the bench dips (hard stuff, even at the novice level) and the squat raises. I can't remember if it's mentioned in the book or not, but another thing that is important to keep in mind is that you should not take too long a break between exercises. If possible just move from one to the next. I usually take about 10-15 seconds between each one just to wipe my face and have a small drink of water. You want to keep your heart rate up there for as much of the 20 min. (approx.) as possible.

I'm now on the lookout for an adjustable set of dumbbells as 12 lbs. is the largest I have. The hex set belongs to my wife but it's time for me to get a set you can add plates to in order to incrementally increase the resistance. I will be looking for a set comprised of 5 and 2.5 lb plates. The 10 lb. plates have too large a diameter for my liking. Plus I see myself topping out at around 25-30 lbs. per arm anyways. That's about four 5 lb. plates plus the weight of the dumbbell itself. The 2.5 lb plates allow you to gradually up the intensity rather than go a full 5 lbs at a time. Plus, you don't necessarily have to add equal amounts of weight to each end of the dumbbell either. Just go 2.5 lbs on one side first, then add another 2.5 lbs to the other end later. There are expensive dumbbell sets out there (i.e. Powerblock) but I don't want to spend $250 (shipped) on a 3-33 lb. dumbbell set. Rather I'll be looking for something like this from York Barbell. These are available through my Direct Buy shopping club so I'll have to price them out. Maybe I'll go with the regular steel ones instead of chrome. :-)

My first plateau

Well, it happened this week. I was wondering when I was going to hit a plateau while still following the first week exercise routine. I've lost 10 pounds so far and it's been holding at that for the last 5 or 6 days now. I had a few whole wheat pasta meals with lean ground beef during that time just to use up the penne that was sitting in the pantry. I hate penne, but my wife had bought it a while ago and I was tired of looking at it. I also had a couple of side dish servings of potato and rice this past week. But I doubt that's what is causing the plateau. It's time to up the intensity level to the week two routine. So I'll be reviewing that this weekend and starting on it. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully it'll get the metabolism fire going again. I'm not depressed or disappointed in any way though. I was curious to see how long one could go on the week one plan before hitting the plateau. For me it was about 3 weeks.

Supplements

Part of the TYT program includes taking supplements in addition to eating the healthy foods outlined in each step. The main two supplements are fish oil and a multivitamin. I also take a calcium and Glucosamine HCP supplement. Christine recommends a fish oil with a 2:1 ratio of EPA to DHA. I buy my supplements at Costco and I was able to find that ratio in a product from Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd called Omega-3 and sold under the Health Balance banner. These are softgels and come 240 to the bottle. They claim to be ultra-purified and I believe them, as there is very little, if any, aftertaste with these. They go down fairly easy and stay down. There is ZERO fish oil taste at all for me. And I am old enough to recall the horrible liquid cod liver oil days. The combined content of the EPA and DHA is 600mg per softgel and Christine recommends 2400mg a day, so that would equal four softgels a day. Truth be told, I have only been taking three per day. Basically one with each meal.

The multivitamin I take is produced by Pharmetics Inc. for Costco's Kirkland banner and is called Formula Forte. It has a long list of ingredients and the levels seem to be right on track with what Christine recommends. It only has 200mg of calcium though so I supplement that with another Kirkland product called Calcium Plus. It is manufactured by WN Pharmaceuticals. Each of those tablets is 600mg so I cut them in half to get a total of 500mg a day which is closer to what one should be getting. I take these two together with a fish oil softgel during lunch.

The final supplement I take is Glucosamine HCP (Hydrochloride). Hydrochloride sounds like something you'd put into your swimming pool to keep it clean. Actually it's even grosser than that. It's made from shellfish exoskeletons. It claims to help build/maintain healthy joint cartilage but my doctor said there has been no definitive study to prove it. It's not that expensive so I decided to go with it. At least during the early stages of the program when I'm placing extra stress on my underused joints. The one I bought is also sold at Costco and is produced by Nature's Bounty and they come 175 per bottle. They are triple concentrated 1500mg caplets so you only need to take one per day. I take one of these in the morning along with a fish oil softgel and my tiny high blood pressure capsule. All four of the supplements are about equal in size and are on larger side as far as caplets go. They are about the size of a Mike & Ike candy piece if you know what that is. Not that I'm eating any of those any more :-)

If you are reading this in the United States then most of the brand names I mentioned probably won't mean much to you as all of these companies are located in Canada with the exception of Nature's Bounty which exports into Canada through a company called Vitaminol Inc. The important thing is to make sure you are taking high quality supplements, in the right dosage as outlined by Christine in the book. If you are unsure about anything then check out the forums on her web site. That is where I got a lot of my questions answered about these supplements. Of course you can also do your own web research too.

Day Sixteen

Well, I've been delinquent in updating this blog as you can see. I see two weeks have passed since my last entry. A weekend trip to Seattle back on the 17th started the delinquency and it went from there. Nevertheless, I'm back to report that things have gone extremely well so far. I even managed to behave on our weekend trip and while I was not eating as often, or as well as I would have liked, I did not overly indulge in anything and even managed to sneak in two workouts in the hotel fitness room. The net result was no gain or loss over the 3 days.

I was committed to get back on track starting on the Monday though. I should mention that the first two days of exercise proved to be crippling. I could barely walk after day two. In fact I took the next three days off to let my confounded muscles recover a bit. Since then, each workout session has become better and better, with little to no pain or stiffness the next morning. I can feel myself becoming stronger with each passing workout. And boy, do those exercises get you huffing and puffing. Christine has put together an excellent combo of exercises and you can feel the large muscle groups get challenged. I am noticing an improvement in my right hip and am walking with much less of a limp now. I feel stronger and more confident in my stride. I guess the lack of activity really was taking it's toll on my body. I can't wait to see how I feel a month from now.

You're probably wondering how I'm doing weight wise. Well, like I said it's been extremely encouraging. Since I "unofficially" started the program back about a month ago I've lost 10 lbs. And no it isn't mostly water, as the common saying goes. I've been drinking plenty of water and the workouts, while challenging, are only about 20 minutes in length and do not leave you perspiring a lot. You work up a mild sweat but nothing crazy. So all in all I've been on pace to lose about a half a pound a day. I'm sure this will plateau soon enough, but I'm still working on the Week One meal and workout plan. I've upped the reps a bit (20 > 30) for some exercises, but I'm going to keep on the Week One routine until I start to see a plateau. I'm fine with the food and I'm still doing the novice level of the exercises. My body will tell me when it's time to move up.

In my next entry I will talk a little bit about the foods and vitamins I'm eating. I won't be exercising the next 2 nights as my oldest son is graduating this week and we have two functions to attend. I do not plan on cheating much if at all. In fact it's been fairly easy to say no to all the forbidden foods of the past. I hope the hotel meal on Thursday night is somewhat nutritious and the next 2-3 days show no weight gained back.

Day Two

Well, I'm not gonna lie. I woke up a bit sore this morning. But it was a good sore. Last night was my first run through of the Week 1 exercise routine. It was tough going and I didn't make it through all the reps for all the exercises. That's what you get for doing diddly squat for two years. I will say this though, the routine is not complicated and I can see myself sticking with it. It really does get your heart rate up and you can feel your muscles working. I feel it most in my shoulders and thighs. The thing I keep telling myself is that it's not all going to happen in one week. I have lost a fair bit of muscle over the past two years. It's going to take a while to build it back up.

I took some "before" pictures on Sunday night. I'm saving those for after I've met my goal. I still need to take some body measurements though. I modified the progress tracking sheet in the book to include a few more body parts as well as BMI. I stepped on the scale this morning and was down another pound so that's encouraging. I'm trying not to get too caught up with the weight thing right now though. I really want to get past the soreness and get my muscle memory activated again. It'll be nice to be able to get through all the reps and gradually step-up to the more advanced routines. And with that, I'm off to the basement for some more pain and sweat.

Day One!

Hello and welcome to Ten Years Thinner: My Personal Journey. As the blog title suggests, this is a diary capturing my personal thoughts while living the book Ten Years Thinner authored by Christine Lydon, M.D. After a bit of internet research I decided upon this book and purchased it via Amazon.ca. I have now finished reading the book and am ready to begin it's 6 week program. In truth, I have been slowly gearing up for today over the past 3 weeks (I wasn't in a panic to start) by finishing off some forbidden foods around the house, researching the internet for recipe ideas and buying some of the supplement items (vitamins, fish oil, protein powder) required by the program. I have gradually started cutting back on my sugar and carbohydrate intake over this time and have already noticed some improvements in both weight loss (4 lbs) and digestion (no Tums in the past 3 weeks). Today marks the official beginning of the start of the program for me though and I wanted to record my experience with it, both for myself and for others who are considering the program.

So why did I decide to buy this book and choose this program? Well, I'm 48, male and weigh 230lbs. I am about 40lbs over the weight I should be for my height of 5'11" at my age. I have struggled with weight for most of my life despite playing sports (hockey and baseball primarily) since I was 5 years old. I was always one of the heavier if not heaviest kids in my class. Not crazy heavy, but just bigger than I needed to be. I took my fair share of taunting over the years. Again, not anything crazy, but enough to shame me from time to time. By the time I was in my mid 20's and engaged to my wife to be (still going strong 23 years later) I had reached 210lbs and was getting sick of looking at myself in the mirror. I decided I had to do "something" so I joined Weight Loss Clinic. They had a pretty basic program that looked like something I could follow. There were dietary restrictions and a pill to take each day and then the weekly weigh-ins. Truth be told, it was the weigh-ins that kept me on track. The accountability of having to stand on the scale, in front of one of the "nurses" and weigh more than the week before petrified me into following the program. And you know what? It worked. Coupled with my regular ice hockey schedule, I lost 30lbs over 10 months. What an accomplishment I said to myself. The staff at WLC were supportive the whole time and were excited for me too. However, my initial WLC program had ended now and if I wanted to continue with them on their "maintenance program" I would need to continue shelling out bucks each month. Of course I figured I could manage on my own from that point and opted not to continue with them. By the time the wedding came 6 weeks later I had already put 5lbs back on!

Maybe you've experienced something similar in your past. You see the problem with almost all of the diets, clinics and programs out there is that they don't really teach you "how to eat" they only tell you "what to and what not to eat". I hadn't really changed my lifestyle that much or learned how my body uses the foods I put into it. At least that was my experience. Fortunately I have not been on another "diet" since my WLC experience so my body has not experienced the harmful effects that yo-yo dieting can lead to. It's only experienced the harmful effects of adding about 2lbs a year over the past 23 years and the lack of any regular physical activity for the past 2 years. I am now stiffer and sorer most days than I have ever been in my life. When I stepped on the scale a couple of months ago and it touched 234lbs I knew I had to do something about my weight or I'd be 250lbs soon enough. In fact I had known for a while. At least since my doctor had put me on blood pressure medication 2 years ago due to slightly elevated BP. But I was also tired of feeling tired and stiff each day, like I had been in the ring with a boxer the day before. Now was the time to TAKE ACTION. But what to do? Where to start? I didn't want just another "diet" or "quick loss program", I wanted something I could learn from and take with me the rest of my life. So I started researching on the internet. There are many, many things to choose from on the internet as you well know. Some sound and seem real good at first until you dig deeper and read the "true" reviews and testimonials. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money on DVD's or equipment. So I did a broad search on Amazon under weight loss and started filtering through the results. That's when I encountered Ten Years Thinner. From the online snippets it sounded like just what I was looking for. It was all about lifestyle change and education. There was a web forum with real info and there were several positive reviews for the book. Hey, it's only $15 I told myself, what have I got to lose. Except for the weight of course, lol. Plus the cute picture of Christine on the front cover didn't hurt either. So that brings me to today. The official start of the program and hopefully a change in eating and exercising for the rest of my life. I'm determined to stick with it until I start seeing results. Thankfully not every blog entry will be as long as this one, that's for sure. I just felt I should share a bit of my background and what brought me to this place in my life. I will pop in regularly to update my progress and share thoughts and tips as I experience them. Thanks for stopping in.