Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Losing Weight For Jesus To Get A Bod4God

A few days ago, when I confessed I'd ballooned way over 200 pounds and had grown what amounted to a minor beer belly, that I had acquired without the pleasure of drinking beer, I said whenever I have detected shrinkage I would blog about it, along with a piece of interesting info of the weight loss/health variety.

Well, my ongoing shrinkage has now shrunk my pseudo beer gut to being under 37 inches in circumference.

After I blogged about my ballooning beer gut I discovered that several pairs of pants, which used to be baggy on me, no longer are. Discovering this has increased my desire to shrink.

As for a piece of interesting info of the weight loss/health variety.

Well, there is this preacher, Steve Reynolds, head pastor at the Capital Baptist Church in Annandale, Virginia, who has tossed aside all the usual reasons people motivate themselves to lose weight, you know, like me, to fit into jeans that are now too tight, to return to a high school reunion, to feel better about yourself, to lower your blood pressure.

Toss all those familiar weight loss reasons out the window.

Pastor Reynolds wants you to do it for Jesus.

Pastor Reynolds has written a book titled "Bod4God."

Since 2007 Pastor Reynolds has led his congregation to lose over 12,000 pounds.

Pastor Reynolds practices what he preaches. He has lost 120 pounds.

Pastor Reynolds says, "I want to show people, all types of people, especially Christian people, that we're made by God, but we're also made for God, and we need to honor him with our bodies,"

So there you have it, lose weight for Jesus and get yourself a good Bod for God.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

To Lose My Beer Gut I Want to Lose Weight Like the Japanese

A couple days ago I fessed up to the fact that not only did I re-gain the weight I lost on last year's Super Bowl Goal Diet, I went past that previous high, to a new one in the 220 pound zone.

But, like I said in my fessing up blogging, My 2011 Super Bowl Weight Loss Disappeared with a Beer Gut by the Start of 2012 the weight this time is concentrated in my waist zone, creating a beer belly without having had the pleasure of drinking too much beer.

For my 2012 Beer Gut Reduction Plan I am not going to document my ongoing weight loss. I am not even going to get on the scale. All I needed to know is I have gone over 220. What I am going to do is document the shrinkage of my waist.

When I am in non-beer gut mode, my waist is around 30 inches. My beer gutted waist is currently over 37 inches. I am calling 37 inches my starting point for shrinkage. Whenever I have detected shrinkage I will blog about it, along with a piece of interesting info of the weight loss/health variety.

This blogging's interesting info of the weight loss/health variety came from FoxNews online in an article titled "Want to Lose Weight? Eat Like the Japanese" by Valerie Frankel of Health.com.

Want to Lose Weight? Eat Like the Japanese
7 ways to become healthier today

Think it's time to make some healthy lifestyle adjustments? Dan Buettner, author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest," is right behind you. Buettner is crossing Iowa in a bus, attempting to change American towns into healthier places. "More than 40 percent of Americans smoked in the '60s, and only 20 percent do now," he points out. "We can turn around our diet and lifestyle, too."

One thing we Americans have going for us: We are always up for a challenge. So try these healthful ideas inspired by healthy women around the world.

1. Take 20 percent off
Blue zones—like areas in Italy, Japan, Greece, California, and Costa Rica where the people have traditionally stayed active to age 100 or older—are some of the healthiest in the world. "In every Blue Zone, they eat less than we do, by at least 20 percent," Buettner says.

One trick for slashing portions: "Instead of putting big platters of food at the center of the table, fill each plate at the counter," Buettner says.

2. Pile on the plants
Not only are plant-based diets rich in antioxidants and other good-for-you nutrients, they're also better for your waistline. "A plate of food in Okinawa has one-fifth the calorie density of a typical American meal," Buettner says. "You can chow down for a fraction of the calories."

Buettner suggests thinking of meat as a condiment rather than the main event, and subbing in more beans, legumes, and nuts.

3. Love the foods that love you back
A diet of berries and elk or tofu and sea vegetables might seem utterly foreign—but taste buds can be retrained. "Americans love fat, salt, and sugar because that's what we're used to," says David L. Katz, MD, founding director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. "But studies show that if you eat more wholesome foods, you can learn to prefer them."

An easy way to start: Search for stealth sugar, which Dr. Katz says is found in many packaged foods. "Once you get rid of that hidden sugar, you'll start to prefer less-sweet foods," he notes.

4. Sit down—and slow down.
It might be too much to cook every meal. But we can sit at a table to eat our takeout instead of scarfing it down in the car. Savor each bite as the French do; stretch your meals out for 20 whole minutes. You'll end up eating less and enjoying more.

5. Get up
"The longest-living people don't think of exercise as a chore," Buettner says. Instead, little bits of movement are a constant part of their everyday lives. Make like a French woman and take a short walk after dinner.

Shovel your own snow instead of paying the kid next door; make extra trips carrying laundry up and down the stairs.

6. Get out
Every Blue Zone is known for its strong social and family bonds. Besides spending quality time at home with family, surround yourself with healthy-living friends—good health habits are contagious, research shows.

Be sure to get involved in your community, too, whether it's at church, a gardening group, or a volunteer organization. These connections can add years to your life, Buettner says.

7. Take it easy
Even the world's healthiest people get stressed out sometimes. What they all have, Buettner says, are daily strategies to shed stress. Meditate, go for a run, make a dinner date with your best friend—and don't worry about your inability to be a French woman or a Greek farmer.

It's OK to enjoy the occasional cheeseburger. What matters is a cumulative lifestyle pattern of enjoying healthful food, staying connected to others, and keeping yourself moving.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

My 2011 Super Bowl Weight Loss Disappeared with a Beer Gut by the Start of 2012

I use this photo for illustration purposes. It is not me in the picture.

In December of 2010 I started this blog you are reading right now. The reason I started this blog was because I had once again gained weight and gone over the 200 pound mark.

I knew at the start of every New Year millions of people make a resolution to lose weight. I thought I'd do the same thing and track my weight loss on this blog.

Well.

My goal was to hit 190 pounds by the time of the Super Bowl. I forget what I had ballooned to before I began re-shrinking. I think it was, maybe, 211.

So. I got to my Super Bowl goal. And then proceeded, as 2011 progressed, to gain the weight back, til I surpassed my old high and nearing the start of the New Year of 2012 I was closing in on 220.

I have not weighed myself in weeks.

Yesterday I was horrified to find that multiple pants that fit me loosely, what seems a short time ago, are now uncomfortably tight.

I was appalled.

I am down to two pair of pants that are comfortable to wear.

I somehow had convinced myself I was getting more muscular, hence the size gain. Maybe there is some of that. I do get a lot of exercise.

But, added muscle does not explain the swelling of my waist.

I pretty much have a beer gut without having had the pleasure of drinking a lot of beer.

In April of 2006 I returned from an annoying visit to the Pacific Northwest. At that point in time I weighed something like 205 and comfortably fit into the pants I tried on last night, hoping to wear them to an event, that caused me to realize I've reached a new low of getting fat.

When I returned to Texas in May of 2006 I amped up my exercise routine, mostly really long bike rides of the mountain bike sort. I began to shrink. I did not actually go on any sort of diet.

By July of 2008 I returned to the Pacific Northwest again. I had shrunk down to around 170. I was skinny. People made note of me being skinny. Some said gaunt. I felt good. And the plane ride was the most comfortable ever, due to being skinny.

Upon my return to Texas, in August of 2008, I was again annoyed with my visit to the Pacific Northwest. This time, apparently, the annoyance did not cause me to shrink, instead it caused me to swell.

Like I already said, the last I weighed myself I was approaching 220. I have not weighed myself again, because I don't care how much I weigh.

What I care about with this bout of shrinking is to shrink the pseudo beer gut. The last I measured I was 37 inches around my waist. On some people that would be skinny. When I weighed 180 my waist was 29 inches.

So, during this latest, and I hope, my last bout of losing weight, I am not going to keep track of my weight. I instead am going to keep track of the number of diminishing inches around my waist.

Every few days I will blog my progress.

I am hoping the shrinkage occurs quickly. I don't see why it won't. I get a lot of exercise. I eat very nutritionally, albeit, obviously, too frequently in too large a quantity, for too long.

I need to get myself shrunk back to being comfortable on a plane size by the late March/early April time frame. I am planning on getting on a plane in early Spring. I don't want that seat belt to feel like it is squeezing me.

The current size of my "Beer Gut" is 37 inches. The goal is 30 inches.