GOOD LUCK, JACK

Last night, I met my young friend Jack at my Chabad House for a final evening of L'Chaims prior to him packing his car and moving back to Brooklyn, New York after 3 years in Chicago.

Jack is a special friend, as we had many shared experiences at the Chabad House.  For some reason, a lot of those experiences seemed to revolve around 'L'Chaims.'  It is true that my renewed enthusiasm for Judaism seemed to be in direct proportion to my discovery that Orthodox Jews like to 'weaken' their bodies with alcohol just a bit, to more easily allow greater inspirational spiritual thoughts enter the mind. Anyway, that's the theory.

from the Chabad.org website:

This "weakening of the body" allows the soul to shine through. After taking a l'chaim one is more easily inspired, because the body offers less resistance. This obviously applies only when one drinks in moderation, and on special, holy occasions in an attempt to make them a bit more festive and to introduce an inspirational ambiance

I am going to miss my friend Jack.  Jack and his bride are about to start the best journey that anyone can ever start. The journey of parenthood. Their doctor has given them a date in February, so I will be keeping an eye out for confirmation of this wonderful blessing to come.  Among the things that I liked about Jack is that we had plenty of things in common despite the fact that I was old enough to be his father's older brother. I don't know if he considered me his unusual 'old' friend or just a friend. It matters not. He is a good guy. Jack I wish you the best.

My friend Jack and I had one last memorable evening at the Chabad House last night. I expected to have plenty of L'Chaims. I actually do try to count them as I intend to log them into my food diary.  (Although, when I do, I usually get a disapproving email from my Mom, who is among my most regular blog readers)  Nevertheless, I think we didn't quite get into double digits last night - but I do know that our bodies were weakened plenty to discuss some big issues.  All kidding aside, the discussions last night included discussing quantum physics and God.  This is precisely what the 'L'Chaims' are purported to do - open pathways to new inspirational ideas.

I will simply look forward to my next L'Chaim with my friend...whether it is in one year or ten years.

I was well aware that last evening was going to be an evening of eating and drinking... although it is more or less useless to try to pre-burn calories prior to overindulging... It is something that one can't be blamed for trying.... Yesterday, my first workout on the elliptical machine was from 5:00AM until 6:30AM and my second workout was from 3:00PM until 4:30PM which was prior to my 7 hour visit to the Chabad House.

5:00AM elliptical workout

3:00PM elliptical workout

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, January 15, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Walgreens - Nutritional Shake, 2 Bottle	500	80	12	18	380	44
Nice - Quick Oats	600	112	10	20	0	0
	1,100	192	22	38	380	44
L U N C H
Cafeteria - Sweet Butternut Squash, 4.5 oz	120	20	5	0	8	6
Tender Greens - Kale Salad With Albacore Tuna	195	4	15	12	224	0
Generic - Teriyaki Salmon Steaks, 6 oz	270	3	8	47	365	5
	585	27	27	58	596	11
D I N N E R
Homemade - Challah Bread, 3 slice	351	57	8	12	312	0
Home Made - Matzah Ball Soup, 1 cup	118	10	6	0	450	0
Home - Boiled Chicken Breast	262	0	6	49	0	0
Homemade - Chocolate Birthday Cake, 1 Slice	294	35	10	0	0	35
	1,025	102	29	61	762	35
S N A C K S
Cliff Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt - Trail Mix Bar, 1 bar	200	19	13	5	160	9
Roundy's - Oats & More With Honey & Almonds	520	104	8	12	600	24
Crown Royal - Crown Royal, 9 ounce	576	0	0	0	0	0
	1,296	123	21	17	760	33
Totals	4,006	444	100	175	2,498	123
Your Daily Goal	5,901	737	196	296	2,300	221
Remaining	1,895	293	96	121	-198	98
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,971 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, January 15, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	2,166
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	2,128
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-323
Daily Total / Goal	185 / 30	3,971 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	656 / 210	13,013 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 4006 calories

total calories burned (184 min elliptical) 4294 calories

total net 288 calorie deficit

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fitbit day 134

19382 steps
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SATURDAY WEIGH/IN   219 LBS.

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I just now noticed the date...January 16.  I do not have the strongest faith that my Dad will receive this message in heaven...but just in case... Happy Birthday, Dad.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

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• All the way back on December 26, 2014 this blog was born. On that day I posted 'BEFORE' pictures... Obviously 'AFTER' pictures were a bit premature at that time since on December 26, I was into my new lifestyle for a grand total of 48 hours. The original 'BEFORE' photos attempted to show myself to the world in all my glorious fatness. I took front shots, side shots and I even included 'topless' photos. It took a bit of nerve to do that at a weight of 309 lbs. The anniversary date of my lifestyle change is now just three days away...  I was thinking that when a new movie is due for release, there are usually coming attractions available prior to the release date. That is the model that I am using today. I am going to advance preview two sets of photos. The first photo was an absolutely goofy photo of myself taken on December 26, 2014. As I recall, the photo was so goofy that even I did not have the guts to post it originally. I guess you can say that this photo was left on the cutting room floor. One year later, I am ready to resurrect it.  Here it is:

December 26, 2014

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December 21, 2015

This set of two photos remove the mystery for me as to why my glasses are constantly falling off. In the first picture my glasses appear to be pressed tightly against both side of my head. In the second photo, my glasses look a lot bigger on my head. The glasses are the same, it appears that my head might be a bit smaller. (Hopefully my brain did not shrink.) I don't even care if you still think I look a bit goofy in the second photo. I would rather be a goofy healthy thin person than a goofy unhealthy morbidly obese person. I never claimed that this diet philosophy would reduce goofiness. In fact, it does not!

OK THAT IS ONE SET OF PHOTOS.... BUT I AM NOT DONE YET


The next photo was taken as my family was waiting for a Blue Öyster Cult concert to begin. (You cannot imagine how happy I am that I finally figured out how to add an umlaut to a letter on my mac!) This photo from September 2010 shows me and my daughter who would have been about 8.5 years old at that time. I probably had not even come close to reaching my maximum weight of 309 lbs... perhaps I was a fraction under 300 lbs, who knows? What one can see is that I was a blimp. Thank goodness that "things ain't what they used to be..."

Daddy/Daughter getting ready for the start of the Blue Öyster Cult concert, September 2010
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I try to be a humble guy. I try to be modest guy. Here modesty is not an issue - I am a healthier and better looking and younger looking man that I was five years ago! And look at the beauty that my daughter became! Sure, it is true that she gained weight in the last five years, then again she also gained more than 12 inches in height! (That's the problem us adults face, we gain weight but we forget to gain height while we are doing it!) My daughter just had her Bat Mitzvah two weeks ago and there is one photo more that I would like to share.

This photo (December 5, 2015) shows the same two people that were waiting for the Blue Öyster Cult concert to start five years ago.  The years have been kind to both of us - especially my daughter who is growing up into a young, beautiful, intelligent and talented woman.  

I look at those older photos of myself and I can only stomach them as I no longer look like that. When I did look like I did in the past, I was not getting in front of a camera too often. It is not exactly shocking to wonder why I would be reluctant to be photographed. I guess I am glad that there are few photos of me in my portly state - as they serve to really show what changes I have made by diet and exercise. Yep, it was the Rabbi Hillel Diet plan that did the trick. I did not need pills. I did not need meals delivered to my home.  I did not need to go to weekly meetings. I did not have to learn new specialized recipes. I did not have to eat licensed food from some licensed diet plan. I did not need to eat cabbage soup morning, noon and night. I did not need to cut out carbs. I did not subsist on only carrots or some other ridiculous food. I did not need to avoid eating in restaurants. Heck, I didn't even need to completely avoid drinking alcohol! I needed only to follow the Rabbi Hillel Diet. This seems like a good place to restate precisely what that means:

"What is unhealthy for you, do not eat. That is the whole plan; the rest is commentary - go and have lunch!"

The inspiration of this plan comes from a story about Rabbi Hillel who was asked to teach a prospective convert to Judaism the entire Torah while the prospect stood on one foot. Rabbi Hillel accepted the challenge. "What IS hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary - go and study it!" (artwork by Sara, my talented daughter)

TAKE A LOOK AT THE PHOTOS ABOVE. THE RABBI HILLEL DIET PHILOSOPHY WORKS. IT CERTAINLY WORKED FOR ME. IT CAN WORK FOR YOU. ONE YEAR FROM NOW, YOU WILL WISH YOU STARTED TODAY. IN MY FIRST YEAR, I HAVE LOST NEARLY 100 LBS.  

This same philosophy should help me slowly shed a bit more weight - but equally important it should keep me where I am. I am not going back. I did that once before. It was about the dumbest thing that a person could do - and I did it. I vowed from the day that I started my lifestyle change on December 24, 2014 that I was going to be successful in losing the weight and that I was going to be successful in keeping the weight off. As I basically lost 85 lbs in the first four months - I have a small track record of keeping the weight off. I only have to continue to do what I am doing for the rest of my life. Just like everyone else. The reason that there are healthy, thin people in society is that they are working on it... It takes no effort to be lazy and obese, believe me I know. It takes some effort to be active and thin - and the payoff is great and so very worth it. I say to you today: Go for it!

Your Food Diary For:

Monday, December 21, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Trader Joe's - Organic Triple Ginger Instant Oatmeal, 4 Packet	560	108	8	12	360	40
	560	108	8	12	360	40
L U N C H
Omaha Steaks - Gourmet Franks, 1.5 Frank	360	6	30	17	1,170	2
Roundy's - No Salt Added Sweet Peas - Canned, 1 3/4 cup	210	35	2	14	53	18
libby's - Sweet Corn, 1.75 cup	210	32	5	7	700	25
	780	73	37	38	1,923	44
D I N N E R
Generic - Baked Lemon Sole, 1 filet	109	3	3	16	0	0
Wegmans - Herb Stuffing, 3 oz	120	15	5	3	270	2
Generic - Grilled Brussel Sprouts, 1 cup	65	13	3	6	23	0
Turkey - Turkey, 6 OZ	174	0	3	29	1,704	0
	468	31	14	53	1,997	2
S N A C K S
Banana Chips - Banana Chips, 54.4 g(1/2 cup)	235	26	14	2	3	16
WHOLE FOODS. 8497 - CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 52.25 g (3/4 cup)	228	38	7	5	57	14
WHOLE FOODS - YOGURT PRETZELS, 80 g (approx 8 pcs)	380	56	0	4	360	38
	843	120	21	10	420	68
Totals	2,651	331	80	113	4,700	153
Your Daily Goal	4,349	543	145	218	2,300	163
Remaining	1,698	212	65	104	-2,399	9
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,419 extra calories from exercise today

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	Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, December 21, 2015

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,545
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace	41	568
Walking, 4.0 mph, very brisk pace	31	337
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-31
Daily Total / Goal	165 / 30	2,419 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	165 / 210	2,419 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 2651 calories

total calories burned (elliptical machine, walking) 2450 calories

total net calories 201 calories

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fitbit day 110
25041 steps

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um·laut

ˈo͝omˌlout/

noun

1. 1.

   a mark ( ¨ ) used over a vowel, as in German or Hungarian, to indicate a different vowel quality, usually fronting or rounding. Used by many rock and roll band names just to look cool, for example, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

BEST MEAL OF THE YEAR

For traditional religious Jews there are several 'fasting days during the year.  Traditionally, my family observed the fast of Yom Kippur only.  The fast is more meaningful if one finds themselves in Shul (Synagogue) during the day.  In recent years, I have gone to Synagogue during at least part of the day.    Jews greet each other during this holiday by wishing each other a meaningful and easy fast. I would be lying if I said that I look forward to the fast.  I do not. However, since I do fast - you cannot believe how much I look forward to the meal that breaks the fast.  There is no food that I enjoy more when breaking fast than bagels and lox.  Since I started my new lifestyle back on December 24, 2014 - I have not had a bagel.  Bagels used to be a staple in my 'diet.'  BAGELS ARE NOT LOW CALORIE AND THEY ARE NOT NUTRITIOUS.  THEY ARE HOWEVER, QUITE DELICIOUS.   My dinner, my first food that I had in 24 hours was a meal of bagels and lox and as always, it was the  BEST MEAL OF THE YEAR.

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast   YOM KIPPUR - FAST DAY - NO MEAL                0 CALORIES
lunch         YOM KIPPUR - FAST DAY - NO MEAL                0 CALORIES
dinner       TWO BAGELS w/LOX & CREAM CHEESE      880  CALORIES
SNACK    POPPED CARAMEL CORN                                 385 CALORIES

total calories consumed  1265 calories                                                              

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CALORIES BURNED

6.5 mile walk home from Synagogue, leisurely walk at 3 MPH              651 calories

WEDNESday net calories 614 calories

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fitbit day 21

20028 steps

Most of the steps recorded on Wednesday were from my walk home from Synagogue (6.5 miles)

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After YOM KIPPUR services on Wednesday I walked home as I had planned.  I was wearing suit pants and a white shirt and tie.  I made no effort for speed.  I was walking at my normal leisurely pace of 3mph.   (I never even loosened the top button of my white dress shirt)   Nevertheless,  6.5 mile walk is not nothing.  I found a calorie estimator online, from sparkpeople.com and apparently even a walk at that leisurely pace for two full hours should have 'burned' 650 calories.  Yesterday was a 'fasting' day - I am happy to have had some physical exercise.  Really, this has to be counted as a day off from my daily exercise routine.  Still, I am glad to post some calories burned over and above what one burns simply by being alive and breathing.

Calories Burned - WALKING: 3 mph

(20 minutes per mile)

The number of calories one burns while exercising is dependent on the exercise, your weight, and the time spent doing the exercise. The calories burned calculator estimates calories burned during your workout.

Your Weight in Pounds: 

Minutes Spent Exercising: 

Calculate

› Calories Burned: 651 

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weekly status report

Hi Marc, here are your weekly stats. Sep 14, 2015 to Sep 20, 2015 WEEK'S MOST ACTIVE DAY Sat, Sep 19 WEEK'S LEAST ACTIVE DAY Fri, Sep 18 TOTAL STEPS 143,937  DAILY AVERAGE 20,562 steps BEST DAY 30,044 steps TOTAL DISTANCE 68.83 miles  DAILY AVERAGE 9.83 miles BEST DAY 14.34 miles TOTAL FLOORS CLIMBED 193  DAILY AVERAGE 28 floors BEST DAY 57 floors TOTAL CALS BURNED 30,133  DAILY AVERAGE 4,305 cals BEST DAY 5,080 cals WEIGHT CHANGE 0.0 lb LIGHTEST 226.6 lbHEAVIEST 226.6 lb Add caption AVG SLEEP DURATION -- hrs -- min Seems like you haven't tracked your sleep. Need Help?

Last week's step winners 1 Marc  143,937 steps 2 Bobby 101,199 steps 3 Andrew J. 87,626 steps See current leaderboard Last week's badges See all of my badges

YOM KIPPUR

Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish Calendar.  It is the Day of Atonement.  It is a day when Jews ask forgiveness from others.  It is a day of fasting.  I finished eating dinner last night at sunset and the fast ends 24 hours later after sunset on the following day. For those who fast, this means no food and no water. One cannot (or certainly should not) try to eat an extra large meal before the fast begins. I have long ago figured out that that was a silly idea.  So yesterday, Tuesday, I had 'normal' meals. (normal for me, that is.)   After my very enthusiastic physical activities on Monday, I was a sore in the morning, and had some difficulty just walking.  As the day progressed, the soreness dissipated and virtually vanished. After my afternoon appointment I still managed to spend 60 minutes on the ELLIPTICAL MACHINE in my building.  Restricting my workout to 'only' 60 minutes was my way of taking it easy for the day. Today is a day when our family will go to Shul (Synagogue) and as it appears that the weather is cooperative - my intention is to walk home the 6.5 miles after services.  Religious Jews refrain from driving on Yom Kipper - so my authentic religious experience will be restricted to my walk home after driving to Shul.

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 Tuesday MENU

breakfast oatmeal, center cut bacon, scramble eggs, 
                popped caramel corn, two gala apples                             1157 calories

lunch       corn snack, wasabi, granola, date pieces, two apples       1130 calories
dinner      seafood, spinach salad, OREO cookies                              820 calories


total calories consumed     3107 calories                                                              

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STAR TRAC elliptical 62 minutes, manual, level 20   1520 calories

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 1520 CALORIES

TUESday net calories 1587 calories

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fitbit day 20

12657 steps

On Monday, my steps were over 50,000.  When I awoke on Tuesday morning, my first few steps were not so easy....It took until the early afternoon when my body worked out all the 'kinks' and by late afternoon I felt as good as new!

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My daughter accompanied me to the exercise room yesterday afternoon - what a nice treat!

My daughter spent a few minutes trying out the elliptical machine

I was pleased that I summoned the energy (& desire) to fit in
an exercise session after Monday's 40 mile bike ride -
I had neither the energy (or the desire) when the day started.