2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 4: Down to 213

The shrinkage continued on Day 4 of my 180 Reduction. I suspect that a large percentage of this drop overnight is water weight loss.

Retaining water when fat cell disappear and then going through a cycle of quickly losing that water is part of the ongoing cycle of losing weight.

Been there, done that.

We will see if I can get through this New Year's Eve without finding myself in a situation where I am tempted to consume items which will temporarily stall my reduction.

I am not all that good at resisting temptation.

This morning I made turkey soup with a lot of different vegetables for lunch later today. Breakfast was half a grapefruit, glass of skim milk, a stalk of celery and a big chunk of turkey. Prior to breakfast I did a yoga/weight lifting routine. I'll be going hiking before lunch.

And who knows what trouble I'll be getting myself into tonight.

Happy New Year!

2011's Top Ten New Year's Resolutions

Apparently making a New Year's Resolution is a world-wide phenomenon.

Which makes sense.

New Year. New Beginning. Good time to try and start changing something that you don't like or improve something that needs improving or go in a direction you feel you need to be going.

For me, before looking at the list of 10, I had only one New Year's Resolution. Looking at a compilation  of people's Top Ten New Year's Resolutions I can see one or two that I might be wise to adopt.

But, I won't.adopt more than one more, In addition to my one and only New Year's Resolution. That being to get back under 200 pounds, all the way to 180.

And stay there.

Looking at various lists of New Year's Resolutions, below is what I have gleaned is the Top Ten. And before I list them, might I add, I am surprised Losing Weight is not Number One. However, that subject is pretty much numbers 2 and 3.

Top Ten New Year's Resolutions

1. Spend More Time with Family and Friends
2. Get Fit
3. Lose Weight
4. Quit Smoking
5. Get More Enjoyment Out of Life
6. Quit Drinking
7. Get Out of Debt
8. Learn Something New
9. Volunteer
10. Get Organized

Well. Of the Top Ten, #1 should be at the top of my list. A week from today it will be 2 years since I've seen my mom and dad. I am going to try to get to Phoenix soon. I always am saying that, but I will make more of an effort to make that happen.

I am already fit. But I have put on a few pounds. So, #3 pertains to me. I do not need to quit smoking. I pretty much already get a lot of enjoyment out of life. I don't need to quit drinking. I don't need to get out of debt, too much. I'm always learning something new, but don't always like doing so. I sort of volunteer to help people, in that if I see something wrong, I do what I can to make it right.

And I am very organized.

So, there you have it, of the Top Ten New Year's Resolutions I am going to be working on #1 & #3.

How about you?

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 3: Down to 215

On Day 3 of my trek to 180 pounds the scale appears to show continued southward movement. The needle looks to be stopping on 215. Down from my record breaking high of 217.

Only 35 pounds to go. At the current rate of reduction, which likely can not be sustained, I would achieve the 35 pound reduction in 35 days, which would have me in the 180 zone by the time I watch the Super Bowl in Arlington.

I have annoyed people in the past with how quickly I can lose weight. Or gain it.

It is a function of ones underlying metabolism. I'm a fairly muscular guy, hence I have a big engine that can burn a lot of calories. And I am fairly active, thus using my big engine to burn a lot of calories. To lose weight all I have to do is cut back on what goes in my mouth and the pounds come off.

It really isn't rocket science.

This morning breakfast was an orange, a glass of skim milk, 2 stalks of celery and a big chunk of turkey. Before breakfast I had a little weight workout. Lunch will be a big bowl of chili. Before lunch I will go jogging. I do not eat dinner, usually. My evening feeding is usually something like a bowl of air-popped popcorn, with cheese. Cut out the cheese and instead spray the popcorn with non-fat butter spray and sprinkle it with salt and garlic powder and I've reduced the calories from the cheesy norm.

So, there you have it. The starvation diet that I am not starving on. But has me losing, currently, a pound a day. Which, I know, nutritional experts say is not healthy. But I say, if it works and I feel good and full of energy, it is perfectly healthy.

See you tomorrow. When I may, or may not weigh 214. Or less.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 2

I am 24 hours into my 2011 New Year's Resolution to once more get under 200 pounds.

Well under 200 pounds.

I have decided my goal is 180.

This morning the scale shows slight movement southward, down to around 216 from yesterday's 217.

I went jogging yesterday, on my first day of this new regimen, for the first time in a long time. I jogged about 2 miles. I was surprised by how well the jogging went.

Last night I blogged about the infamous Donna Simpson, she being the woman who wants to be the fattest woman in the world, who ate, what she hopes, was the world's biggest Christmas dinner, a few days ago. Donna Simpson is already in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fattest woman to ever give birth.

Donna Simpson ate somewhere near a 100 pounds of food for Christmas. That would be at least a temporary 100 pound weight gain.

I had a half pound of sirloin steak for Christmas. And the 15 pound turkey I cooked  few days ago, still has a few pounds waiting to be eaten.

I estimate I have cut back my caloric intake by at least half. If past experience is any indicator, in a few days I should see a quick weight drop, then hit a plateau, then another drop, then repeat that cycle over and over again til I get to 180.

Apparently I have a knack for putting on weight. And a knack for quickly taking it off. I have heard from others, like yesterday from MLK, that others are not so blessed.

Donna Simpson Eats The World's Biggest Christmas Dinner

I have blogged about Donna Simpson previously. Donna is a New Jersey woman who's goal in life is to become the fattest woman in the world.

Donna is already in the Guinness Book of Records for being the fattest woman to ever give birth. A feat so complicated it took a team of 30 doctors to deliver baby Jacqueline. Jacqueline is now 3. Her brother, Devin, is 14.

I was wondering why, ever since Christmas, my previous blogging about Donna Simpson has been getting a lot of hits.

Today I found out the reason for the blog hits. People are curious about Donna Simpson's Christmas Dinner.

Because Donna Simpson went for another Guinness Record on December 25, eating the world's biggest Christmas dinner, chowing down on two 25 pound turkeys, two 15 pound maple-glazed hams, 10 pounds of roasted potatoes, along with 5 pounds mashed, four pints of gravy to cover all those spuds, five loaves of bread, five pounds of herbed stuffing, four pints of cranberries, five pounds of carrots, five pounds of butternut squash and five pounds of corn.

All topped off with a dessert of a marshmallow, cream cheese, whipped cream, cookie salad.

It took Donna Simpson two hours to chow down her Christmas Dinner, while sitting on her special, steel-reinforced feeding chair.

Donna is only 5' 2". At last weigh-in Donna was at 602 pounds, 398 shy of her 1,000 pound goal.

When she was 24 Donna married Robert Simpson, who worked in a restaurant. Donna says, "he liked me super-sized," so he brought restaurant leftovers home from work. A lot of leftovers. The couple had a kid, Devin, and then divorced.

In 2006 Donna was in an online chat room where she met Phillipe Gouamba, who says, "Donna is my fantasy. I've always been attracted to big women. The more she weighs, the sexier she is." Donna and Phillipe plan to get married on Maui. How in the world they think they are going to get to Maui, I have no idea.

Gouamba supports Donna's goal to get to 1,000 pounds, saying, "Gaining weight makes Donna happy and seeing her happy makes me happy."

To buy the food to help Donna reach her goal costs in the range of $582 to $750 a week. On average Donna eats around 12,000 calories a day. Donna has been quoted as saying, "In a typical day I’ll eat four burgers and fries, a loaf of bread with peanut butter and jam, four servings of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, a large pizza, a chocolate cake with ice cream and cream, 12 cupcakes, two cheesecakes and fizzy drinks."

Her favorite food is sushi. A good diet choice. Low in calories. But, Donna will eat around 70 pieces of sushi in one feeding.

Currently Donna is being a bit frustrated at the slow pace of her weight gain towards her 1,000 pound goal. So, she has cut back on calorie burning movement. Using motorized movement devices whenever possible.

Supposedly Donna's Christmas Dinner added up to around 30,000 calories. Reading that list of food and the amount consumed, 30,000 seems like a low accounting to me. And how is anyone able to eat two 25 pound turkeys and two 15 pound hams in 2 hours? Let alone all that other stuff.

This event should have been televised live on Christmas.

Join Me On My New Year's Resolution To Lose Weight

I was shocked this morning to get on the scale to see the scale telling me I weigh 217 pounds.

I do not know what I have changed in my eating and exercise routines that has caused me to balloon up to 217.

The last time I weighed this much was in February of 2004. I'd spent 2 weeks in Washington, with most of that time spent in a Chocolate Warehouse in Tacoma, putting chocolate products on Amazon.

And in my mouth.

And, apparently putting on weight. On the way back to Texas I had a 10 hour layover in Phoenix, where I was taken to an Applebee's Happy Hour where much food was consumed and then to an In N' Out Burger where more food was consumed. By the time I got back on the plane I was a bloated mess.

When I got back to Texas, the next morning, I got on the scale to learn I weighed 217. I flew up to Washington 2 more times that year. Each time I'd come back to Texas fatter. I flew up again in late September of 2005. I don't remember how much I weighed then. I do remember when I flew up to Washington in April of 2006 I weighed around 2005.

That April of 2006 visit to Washington was stressful. I got back to Texas and amped up my exercise routine. I started to quickly lose weight.

By the next time I flew up to Washington, on July 20, 2008, I weighed, at my lowest, 168.5. I was skinny. This made flying the most comfortable ever.

I remember New Year's Day of 2009 being the first in a long time where I did not find myself resolving to get under 200 pounds, because I was already well under 200 pounds. Same with New Year's Day of 2010. I was under 200 pounds, I think in the 185 range, if I remember right.

And now, today, with 4 days to go til New Year's Day of 2011, I am back finding myself on the north side of 200 pounds. Resolving once more to get well under 200.

What is vexing about this current weight gain is I'm not seeing it. Too much. The main thing I can see clearly is my gut zone has expanded. When I weighed 170 something my waist could get down to 28.5 inches if I sucked it in hard.

Let me go see how far I can suck my gut in now....I'll be right back....Yikes! 37 inches! This is appalling.

So, from today until I get back in the low 180s zone, my DurangObesity blog is going to track my own battle with my own personal case of minor morbid obesity.

Anyone who wants to can tag along to your own weight goal, commenting on this blog, each day, about your progress.

I may go on the Atkin's Diet. That has worked well for me before. But Atkins is not how I got down to 168.5. That happened while eating very nutritionally, but in small amounts, plus an awful lot of bike riding.

And so it begins, something I had promised myself I'd never do again, because I had told myself I would never let myself put on weight again. But, today I begin the reversal process.

Turkey soup with a lot of vegetables in the soup is already made. I may add jogging to my regular routine.

Check it tomorrow to see how much weight I've lost.....if any.

Santa Claus Needs To Lose Weight To Set A Good Example For Children

I think during our current era, with its epidemic of childhood morbid obesity, that Santa Claus should set a good example for all the boys and girls who look up to him by going on a diet and slimming down.

With something like 30%, or more, of American kids overweight we really don't need a jolly fat man giving kids candy canes.

Santa Claus should pass out carrot sticks instead of candy canes.

Each year it seems like more Santa's get stuck in chimneys than the year before.


A slimmed down Santa would have a lot easier time going down and back up chimneys.

A slimmed down Santa would make the reindeer's job a lot easier, too. Hauling all that extra Santa weight burns a lot of reindeer calories. And likely contributes to early reindeer burnout.

Maintaining all that Santa weight takes a lot of food. Food that might feed a hungry kid or two.

A down-sized Santa Claus would save money on his Santa outfits, too, due to a Slim Santa outfit requiring far less material.

In conclusion, Santa, please eat less and resist all those cookies kids leave out for you.

William Howard Taft: America's First & Only Obese President

William Howard Taft, the 27th President, serving from March 4, 1909 til March 4, 1913, was America's first President to break the Obesity Barrier, winning election to the highest office in the land.

Taft was a very slow moving man, taking over from the man who may have been America's most energetic, most fit President, Theodore Roosevelt.

On his Inauguration Day, March 4, 1909, Taft got himself stuck in the White House bathtub. It took 4 men to get Taft unstuck. After this incident Taft had a new bathtub installed, a big one, 7 feet long and 3 1/2 feet wide.

William Howard Taft was 6 feet 2 inches tall. His weight fluctuated between 300 and 330 pounds, give or take a pound or two.

Once in awhile Taft would become a bit mortified at his obesity and go on a rigid diet for a few months. In 1905, when he reached 314 pounds for the first time, Taft went on a diet that shrunk him to 255. For a short time.

While he was President Taft suffered from what we now know as Sleep Apnea, caused by his obesity. Within a year of leaving the White House Taft lost around 80 pounds, which greatly improved his Sleep Apnea and greatly lowered his systolic blood pressure and likely extended his life.

Taft suffered insults about his weight all his life. While at Yale, Taft was in the Beta Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity where he was given the nickname "Big Lub."

In 1901 President William McKinley appointed Taft to be Governor General of the Philippines, a post he continued to occupy after Teddy Roosevelt became President, following the assassination of McKinley. At one point Taft sent a telegram to Washington, D.C. which said, "went on a horse ride today; feeling good." To which Secretary of War Elihu Root famously replied, "How's the horse?"

That is not the future President Taft on his horse in the Philippines in the picture. That is future President Taft in the Philippines riding his Water Buffalo.

It just occurred to me that if America's Presidential elections were determined by the popular vote, with no Electoral College, then Al Gore would have become President in 2001, not George W. Bush.

With the likely result that William Howard Taft would no longer be the only Obese person to have served as President.

Mixed Messages About Childhood Obesity & Eating At McDonald's

Did the billboard installers not catch the irony in the above pair of billboards?

With the billboard on top admonishing that one should not take Childhood Obesity lightly and to eat fruits & vegetables and be active. And saying that Food Stamps can help. Including a phone number to call to see if you qualify for Food Stamps.

And then below the Childhood Obesity billboard, a McDonald's billboard, touting McDonald's Dollar Menu, with a young lady on a McDonald's Shopping Spree, holding 2 bags, likely full of Dollar Menu items like the McDouble, Bacon Cheeseburger, Hash Browns, Fries, McChicken Sandwich, Sausage Burrito, Sausage McMuffin, Apple Pies and Hot Fudge Sundaes. She likely does not have the Dollar Menu Fruit n/ Yogurt Parfait or Side Salad in her McDonald's bags.

I don't know about you, but all those McDonald's Dollar Menu items made me a bit hungry for a Bacon Cheeseburger, a McChicken Sandwich and Fries. No wonder I must fight constantly trending towards the onslaught of obesity....

Taking the Dress Off a Morbidly Obese Woman to See What Lurks Hidden Underneath the Shield

I have heard it wondered about, by the morbidly curious, what a morbidly obese body looks like that causes the shapes that appear when sheathed in clothing.

Well, this information is not all that hard to find in the Age of Google. But it is not for the faint-hearted or weak of stomach. I do not recommend Googling for these type visuals. I feel like I have been morbidly scarred due to doing so. But, I felt compelled to gain this information as part of my obesity education.

I have heard speculation as to what the morbidly obese see when seeing themselves reflected in a mirror. Is it like the distorted self image of ones body image in the same manner as an anorexic? In other words the morbidly obese person does not see what we see?

In the photo example above of what the clothes are covering, it is quite a revelation as to what it is that makes the big bulges.

How does one look in a mirror and see that and then stick that day's quota of donuts and cookies in ones mouth?

I think as much money should  be put into researching the answer to that question as to what is being spent researching a cure for cancer. Both cancer and morbid obesity are deadly diseases. With morbid obesity, by far, the more visible of the diseases. Nary a day can go by when we don't see at least one American suffering from morbid obesity.

FDA Approved Fat Reduction Using Zerona Laser Method & Zeltiq Freezing Method

I have not completely decided as to which of the new FDA approved fat removal methods to use, the Zerona laser method or the Zeltiq freezing method.

Zerona makes use of a laser to zap fat cells, shrinking them, after which your body removes the remains of the fat cell via excretion and absorption.

With Zeltiq, the machine cools the fat cells, with no skin damage, with the cooled fat cells also eliminated, by your body, via excretion and absorption.

Zerona was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August. That is the Zerona machine in operation you see in the picture. The Zeltiq technique was approved in October.

Neither fat removal method works for the morbidly, or even less than morbidly obese.

Zerona and Zeltiq are for people who are near their ideal weight, but have some pesky love handles, or cellulite dimpling their butts and legs.

The typical treatment is six 40-minute sessions. The cost for Zerona ranges from $1,300 to $2,500. Zeltiq costs a bit more, ranging from $1,500 to $3,000.

Both procedures are painless, but Zeltiq does have a side effect, causing skin numbness that will last from 2 to 6 weeks.

Due to the fact that I just need some slight abdominal shrinkage and slight butt fat reduction, I think I will opt for the cheaper Zerona laser option. I may post photos of my new gut and butt upon successful reduction. Or I may not.