2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 8: Down to 211 Again

Day 8 of my New Year's Resolution to get down to 180, which actually started a few days before the New Year.

I am still stuck in Diet Plateau mode, though this morning's weigh-in did show a slight, but insignificant drop from yesterday.

Not significant enough to indicate I have traveled past the current Plateau.

I am expecting the Diet Plateau to be circumvented by tomorrow, if past experience is any guide to the present.

This morning I did my regular pre-breakfast weight and yoga routine, followed by a grapefruit, glass of skim milk, slice of pineapple, slice of whole wheat folded over with Gorgonzola inside and a stalk of celery. Lunch will be chili today, followed later this afternoon by some hill hiking.

Observing The Amazing Struggles of the Amazingly Obese.

I have blogged previously about observing the feeding habits of the only two morbidly obese people it has been my displeasure to observe up close.

That pair of morbidly obese people was one of each gender. Of the female of the pair I also observed the incredible difficulties carrying that much girth caused whilst attempting the most usually easy of activities.

For instance, getting out of a car, the obese person you see in the picture has to grab hold of the side of the car above the door, then rotate her torso to get her legs outside the car. And then with great effort pull on the door jam to yank herself into a vertical position.

How does one get to the point where that is what one goes through to get out of a car? Is it a gradual thing? Or is it just one day this is what you have to do to exit a vehicle?

From a sitting position on something like a couch, to get vertical this particular obese person would rock back and forth, gaining momentum, til enough momentum is gained to make one final rock forward into a vertical position.

If you are sitting on the couch, beside the rocking obese person, it can be quite a bumpy ride until verticality is achieved.

Once verticality is achieved this particular person will stay vertical for long periods of time, due to once that position is achieved it is easier to stay vertical than to sit down again.

An entire phone conversation, like the one you see documented in the photo, will take place while firmly planted to one location, This can go on for an hour. Or more.

The most horrendous incident I witnessed, courtesy of this particular obese person, was in a McDonald's in Gig Harbor, Washington.

There was a round table with 4 stools surrounding the table. Both the stools and the table were bolted to the floor. The obese person approached the table and stools with her bag full of 3 Quarter Pounders with Cheese, 2 Large Fries, 2 Apple Pies and a Chocolate Shake, sat the food on the table and then proceeded to try and get on a stool.

It was a stool that really was not all that far off the ground. Obviously, it was McDonald's, do you think McDonald's is going to have some sort of stool requiring gymnastic ability to mount it?

So, the obese person first tried to get on the stool via conventional means, but she could not lift her heft high enough to get on the stool.

And so she leaned forward and grabbed the end of the table, pulling hard to try and lift her heft on to the stool. Completely unaware of what a disturbing spectacle this was making for the rest of the fast food diners.

The table began to quake. I realized that the amount of torque her considerable mass was exerting on the table's grounding bolts would soon rip them from the floor.

I yelled, STOP it! You're gonna pull the table over.

We then moved to a regular booth where she was able to squeeze herself in between the table and the bench and blissfully consume her bag full of McDonald's goodies.

The McDonald's Table Incident etched itself deeply into my sub-conscious and regularly surfaces in various iterations in nightmares during the past 2 and a half years since the McDonald's Table Incident occurred.

My observers on the scene tell me that this particular obese person has increased by at least another 100 pounds since the McDonald's Table Incident of 2008.

Appalling.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 8: Still at 212

The Dreaded Diet Plateau still has me in its throes. In fact I think I have taken a slight northerly turn, maybe de-shrinking a bit to the plus side of 212.

I am currently scheduling breaking from from the Dreaded Diet Plateau by Thursday. Maybe as early as Wednesday.

I made Avgolemono Soup for lunch. That is a Greek soup with lemon, eggs, chicken and rice.

I don't think the authentic version uses rice. Orzo instead.

Avgolemono Soup is low calorie and highly nutritious. And it tastes good.

I did the weight room/yoga thing this morning, as usual, before breakfast, which was a glass of skim milk, white egg omelet, grapefruit, celery and fresh pineapple.

I'll be heading out to do some hill hiking before having the Avgolemono Soup lunch.

See you on the hills and back here for lunch.

How To Break Free of the Dreaded Diet Plateau

I have reached that point everyone reaches when trying to lose weight.

The Dreaded Diet Plateau.

Weight reliably drops. And then suddenly stops dropping. Still eating less, exercising more. But the weight loss stops.

Temporarily.

The "Plateau Effect" is a big motivation killer for a lot of people. It really should not be. It is just part of the way dieting works, what with the human body being amazingly adaptive, working hard to keep some sort of balance, or equilibrium, not letting you waste away.

If you don't feel like waiting out the Diet Plateau, there are ways to get your body back in sync with what your mind wants it to do. As in shrink.

1) Add muscle. As in do strength training, building lean muscle mass, boosting your metabolic rate. (I already to the strength training thing, so this is not my plateau excuse)

2) Change when you eat. And the amount you eat. Try more of a foraging eating style, fooling your body into not thinking you are starving. (I already do this)

3) Change your nutrient intake. As in, switch it up. One day eat a lot of protein and few carbos. The next day reverse it. (I have not tried this)

4) Vary your calorie intake. One day take in 1,000 calories, then the next day 2,000. Don't stay to a rigid pattern of a certain amount of calories a day. If you do, your body will try to slow your metabolic rate to that caloric intake level. Mix it up. (I have also not tried this)

I think you can see the pattern here. To break out of, or never suffer a diet plateau, change up your routine, don't stay static and your weight won't stay static.

Now, I need to go take my own advice to break out of this 212 plateau I am stuck on.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 7: Back up to 212

Well, I am now at the end of the first week of my program to shrink myself back to 180 pounds.

I must mention, I am on Day 7 of my New Year's Resolution to lose weight, even though it is only Day 3 of the New Year, because I got an early start on the shrinking.

And this morning the shrinking reversed slightly. Yesterday morning I was down to 211. This morning I'm back up to 212. Such is how it goes with the weight loss thing.

I suspect I may be at my first plateau. A plateau is a weight loss thing where shrunk fat cells are replaced with water, for who knows what reason. Something to do with the physiology of metabolism and fat storage. When you hit a diet plateau it can last a few days. Then there will be a sudden drop of several pounds via the purging of excess water.

It'll be clear by tomorrow morning if I am at a plateau, or not.

Join The Millions Of Americans Walking To Get Fit

Of all the various forms of exercise available in America, apparently walking is the most popular form of exercise, with over 70 million Americans walking for exercise.

Walking is an easy exercise to learn. Most of us have mastered walking by our 2nd birthday.

Walking on a flat terrain at about 3 miles per hour, a 100 lb. person will burn 15 grams of carbohydrates, a 150 lb. person will burn 21 grams, a 200 pounder 27 grams per hour.

If you are diabetic, walking is a strong component in controlling diabetes and blood glucose levels.

Walking is one of the least boring, least strainful exercises. It really requires no equipment except for a good pair of walking or hiking shoes.

You can indulge in your walking exercise no matter where you are.

If you are an oldster you are not too old to start in with a walking program. Just make yourself go on walk 3 or 4 times a week for 20 to 30 minutes.

If you live near a mall, pretty much every mall in America has a Mall Walking Program. Some malls let the walkers into the mall early, before the shoppers, so you can do your walking unimpeded by the shoppers.

Many of the malls even have Mall Walking Clubs.

Mall Walking is a great option for old folks who live in dread fear of getting mugged, a fear which makes the idea of going walking in a park a bit scary.

So, get out there and do some walking. You will be glad you did.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 6: Down to 211

Despite some New Year's Day debauchery in the form of food and drink, I still managed to continue on my shrinking path to 180 pounds.

This morning the scale pointer appeared to be just a tad north of 211.

After I did an exercise/yoga routine this morning, for breakfast I had a egg white omelet with provolone and chili as omelet filling. Plus a celery stick, grapefruit and a glass of skim milk.

I'm taking off to do some hill hiking in a few minutes. After that it will be chili for lunch.

I expect to continue to shrink throughout the day.

And tomorrow.

And the day after that.