2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Week 12: Down to 189

My shrinkage goal this week was to melt down to 186.

I missed my 186 goal by 3 pounds, with this morning's weekly Saturday weigh-in looking to be around 189.

Even though the shrinkage as measured by the scale is not what I hoped it would be, the shrinkage that is measured in other ways is working just fine.

As in I'm looking skinnier.

And I can now easily flip myself over into the Plough Yoga position.

I went swimming every morning this week. And went hiking every day.

This week's goal is 185. I suspect I will not reach my shrinkage goal for the week. But, I'll have fun trying.

Going to Church Can Make You Fat

Well, I learned today why the people who live in my current location in the Buckle of the Bible Belt are so noticeably fatter than the people I see when I visit my former location, that being the Seattle area.

The Dallas/Fort Worth Buckle of the Bible Belt zone has one of America's highest per capita number of churches and church goers.

Seattle and its environs has one of America's lowest per capita number churches and church goers.

In a study conducted by the Northwestern University School of Medicine around 2,500 men and women over 18 were tracked; filtered by age, sex, education, income and body mass index.

And if they were churchgoers or not.

The study found that regular church goers are 50% more likely to be obese by middle age.

The researchers offer no theory as to why church goers are 50% more likely go have a weight problem than non-church goers.

I'm thinking an 11th Commandment may need to be added to the original 10.

Thou shall not Overeat or covet your neighbor's donut.

The Christian God does opine, via the Bible, regarding gluttony. Gluttony is a fancy way to say "overeat."

Proverbs 23:20-21 warns, “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” 

Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.

That seems a tad drastic, putting a knife to your throat if you are an over eater.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Week 11: Still Above 190

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My goal had been to crack the 190 barrier and get to 186 this week.

Instead I held steady at 191.

No shrinkage, weight-wise, but I can tell I am more leaned out.

And this week I was able to get into the Yoga Plough position, something I was shocked to learn I could no longer do, about a month ago.

The Plough position had been easy for me to do, right from the start of learning Yoga.

It was a much bigger wake up call than a number on a scale to find that my gut zone had so greatly grown that it had impeded my ability to do a simple Yoga position.

This week I went swimming every morning. I think swimming in cold water and the resulting shivering must be a great calorie burner. And great exercise.

I managed to get a real bad case of fire ant stings on my forearms this week. I do not know if being burned by fire ants impedes weight loss.

This week my goal is the same as last week's. To shrink to 186. This shrinking process has gone on way longer than I thought it would when the New Year started. Previously losing weight has been real easy for me.

Not so much this time.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Week 10: Up to 191

Last week I was 10 pounds from my 180 goal. On this Saturday's weekly weigh-in I am 11 pounds from the goal.

I don't think I actually gained weight this week.

What actually happened is this morning I forgot it was the day to measure my shrinkage. I usually take that measurement before I have breakfast.

Today I got on the scale after lunch.

I am guessing if I had gotten on the scale this morning before breakfast I likely weighed under 190.

In addition to lunch I drank a lot of water whilst hiking before lunch. So, I'm thinking I'm currently carrying some water weight.

I went swimming every morning this week, but one. On two of those mornings I stayed too long in the cold water. This resulted in about an hour of extreme shivering on those two days I stayed too long in the pool.

I think shivering likely burns a lot of calories. It is quite a workout for the muscle system, doing all that twitching trying to get warm.

This week my goal is to shrink to 186. And try to remember to measure the shrinkage next Saturday morning.

Get Fat in Las Vegas with the Buffet of Buffets All Day Pass

My sister went to Las Vegas for 5 days for her happy 30th birthday.

On her birthday my sister and brother-in-law got Buffet of Buffets All Day Passes.

The All Day Buffet Pass lets you visit 8 different buffets as often as you want during a 24 hour period.

However, no buffet is open 24 hours a day. All but one of the 8 closes by 10pm, with that exception closing at 9pm.

The All Day Buffet Pass costs $49.99 per person, $44.99 if you are a Total Rewards member, whatever that is.

At 8 casino hotels the All Day Buffet Pass is included with your hotel package, if you book 2 nights. Those 8 casinos are Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, Ballys, Harrahs, Flamingo, Rio and Imperial Palace.

The buffets that you can pig out at with your All Day Buffet Pass are Lago Buffet at Caesars Palace, Le Village Buffet at Paris, Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood, Flavors Buffet at Harrahs, Paradise Garden Buffet at Flamingo, Carnival World Buffet at The Rio, Village Seafood Buffet also at The Rio and Emperor's Buffet at Imperial Palace.

Of the 8 buffets the only one I've had the pleasure of overeating at is the Carnival World Buffet at The Rio. The Carnival World Buffet is enormous. It is like a collection of buffets of various cuisines.

I really don't think I'd get $49.99 worth of eating pleasure with this All Day Buffet Pass deal.

My feeding pattern, when in Vegas, is an early morning breakfast buffet, followed by a late afternoon lunch buffet, sometimes followed by a late night feeding. Like I remember one time leaving the Crazy Girls show at The Riviera and having a steak & lobster late night special.

But, I think for anyone wanting to quickly gain weight, a week in Las Vegas, and getting an All Day Buffet Pass each day of your visit, would help with the weight gaining.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Week 9: Slight Shrinkage

This week's Saturday weigh-in saw very very slight shrinkage from the previous week's weigh-in. The pointer may be pointing to a point slightly under 190.

I had an unexpected buffet incident this week which may account for some of the slowed shrinkage.

I went to the Tandoor lunch buffet in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday. It is easy to eat nutritiously at an Indian buffet. It is also easy to over eat.

I went swimming every morning this week. I would have thought that would have brought on some shrinkage, in addition to the shrinkage one normally gets from swimming in very cold water.

This week I will try and amp up my shrinkage efforts. And I will resist any temptation that tries to lure me to a buffet.

I am now into my third month of shrinking in my own personal body recession. When I started shrinking I thought the recession would be over by now. But, shrinking is taking longer than when I did my shrinking in my younger days.

The Obesity Epidemic Requires Bigger Ambulances With Winches

The lovely wedding photo reminded me of something I read this morning.

As the obesity epidemic keeps growing larger, ambulances have also had to grow.

For example, Medstar, which provides ambulance service to 15 Tarrant County cities in Texas, is replacing its Ford chassis with a stouter Chevy chassis.

The new ambulances can carry an extra 800 pounds.

As people have become wider and heavier stretchers have also had to stretch. Strap extenders, like those used on obese people on airplanes, are used on stretchers, when the need arises.

Strong winches have also been added to several of Medstar's ambulances in order to get the Big People in and out of the ambulance.

How do the EMT's get the Big Person on the stretcher, I can't help but wonder?