ELLIPTICAL MACHINE

It is weird that during the 6 weeks or so that I was on the 'dl' (disabled list) with my hernia problem - the elliptical machine in the fitness room of my building has been broken.  The left handle completely came off the unit.  In fact, I was the last person to use the machine before it was completely out of order.  When I returned home from Salt Lake City - with the permission of my surgeon to return to normal life - the machine was finally fixed.  One might wonder why it takes 6 weeks to fix a broken piece of fitness equipment. This downtime probably would have disturbed me much more if I had been actually affected by its downtime, but I wasn't.  Yesterday, I used the elliptical machine for the first time in 6 weeks. Since that machine uses different muscles than simply treadmilling or hiking - I think I did feel a good healthy soreness during the day while I was working. It was a great feeling. Now that summer is here - I will have any of three options available to me. Walking outdoors, treadmilling or elliptical machining. As I wrote yesterday - It is good to be back!

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Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Egg, whole, cooked, poached, 3 large	215	1	14	19	446	1
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 4 slices	140	2	12	8	600	0
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar - Oats'n Honey	190	29	7	3	180	11
	735	82	34	31	1,229	49
L U N C H
SUBWAY FOOTLONG FRESH FIT - 9-GRAIN WHEAT BREAD ROAST BEEF (no cheese) MUSTARD, 1 FOOTLONG	640	90	10	48	1,400	14
Apples - Apples, 2 medium apple	160	44	0	0	0	32
Kellogs - Nutrigrain Bar - Strawberry, 1 Bar	130	25	4	2	117	12
	930	159	14	50	1,517	58
D I N N E R
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 170 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	40	0	0	4	130	0
Tomatoes - Cherry Tomatoes	24	0	0	0	0	3
Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich, 1 sandwich	540	46	27	25	700	2
Campbell's - Condensed Tomato Soup, 1 cup (120mL)	180	40	0	4	960	24
	784	86	27	33	1,790	29
Totals	2,449	327	74	113	4,536	136
Your Daily Goal	2,989	373	99	150	2,300	112
Remaining	540	45	24	36	-2,236	-24
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,059 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,167
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-108
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	93 / 30	1,059 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	166 / 210	2,119 / 4,130

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HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET OUT OF SHAPE?

I have been taking it easy for the past week. I pulled a groin muscle and I have forced myself to stay away from exertion. No elliptical workouts. No treadmill workouts. Not even a walk in the park. I have not felt too much discomfort for the past day or so, but I am not in a hurry to re-injure myself - so I am going to continue to abstain from exercising for a few days more. I will be setting a dubious personal record with my fitbit this week - an amazingly anemic number of steps. Whatever this new record turns out to be, I am hopeful that I never break it. With all this resting going on, a new question (worry) presents itself:

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET OUT OF SHAPE?

I found an article from SELF MAGAZINE written by Samantha Lefave which addressed this question.  The first fact that the author imparts is that hard-earned muscles will not disappear quickly. Apparently the rate at which one's leg strength would decline following a 10 week program, one would lose 50% of that additional strength in 10 weeks, and all of it after 20 weeks.  Cardio fitness (for example, elliptical, treadmill) tends to dissipate even quicker. The bottom line, is that if one steps away from for exercising for approximately 4 months - the loss in muscle definition and cardio endurance could set you back to the beginner level.  My 'vacation' (recovery) from my workouts hopefully will end within a week or two. 

I think it will take longer for me to grow a pony tail than it will for me to be as out-of-shape as the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. I have no intention of doing either.

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, April 7, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker - Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal	640	128	8	16	840	44
KELLOGGS - RAISIN BRAN (dry cereal, no milk)	380	92	2	10	420	36
	1,020	220	10	26	1,260	80
L U N C H
Banana - Medium 6", 2 Banana	180	46	1	2	4	24
Weight Watcher's Recipe - Homemade Cabbage Soup	100	10	0	2	79	6
	280	56	1	4	83	30
D I N N E R
Trident - Alaskan Salmon Burgers, 1 patty	170	2	9	20	330	0
Earthbound ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 170 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	40	0	0	4	130	0
Campbell's Chunky - Manhattan Clam Chowder, 2 cup	240	36	6	10	1,600	6
	450	38	15	34	2,060	6
Totals	1,750	314	26	64	3,403	116
Your Daily Goal	1,959	245	65	98	2,300	73
Remaining	209	-69	38	33	-1,102	-42
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 29 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, April 7, 2016

NOT APPLICABLE - NO EXERCISE

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calories consumed 1750 calories

total calories burned (from additional exercise) 0 calories

net 1750 calories

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 fitbit day 218

4357 steps

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BLOG HUMOR

I BLOG, THEREFORE I AM (A BLOGGER)

I am aware that there are days when I have virtually nothing particularly interesting to say.

Does that stop me from blogging?

Nope.

I guess today is one of those days when I have nothing to say.

Today, I collected some cartoons which perfectly capture the world of blogging.

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, February 4, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker - Instant Oatmeal - Original	400	76	8	16	300	0
Scrambled Eggs - 2 Large Eggs	140	1	11	12	140	0
Whole Foods - Bacon, 3 slice	300	0	24	21	1,050	0
WHOLE FOODS - DRIED MANGO SLICES	110	28	0	2	1	20
	950	105	43	51	1,491	20
L U N C H
Outtakes - Red Quinoa Salad, 4 ounce	171	21	9	4	300	4
Cafeteria - Sweet Butternut Squash, 4.5 oz	120	20	5	0	8	6
Generic - Teriyaki Salmon Steaks, 3 oz	135	2	4	23	183	3
	426	42	17	27	490	13
D I N N E R
Jason's Deli - POT ROAST SANDWICH	620	50	20	56	1,200	4
Jason's Deli - SPICY SEAFOOD GUMBO	230	26	8	12	1,710	3
Jason's Deli - Salad Buffet	700	34	48	34	2,120	16
	1,550	110	76	102	5,030	23
S N A C K S
Dang Toasted Coconut Chips - Sea Salt	480	48	30	3	570	30
	480	48	30	3	570	30
Totals	3,406	304	166	183	7,581	86
Your Daily Goal	5,087	636	169	255	2,300	190
Remaining	1,681	331	2	72	-5,281	104
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,157 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
PRECOR AMT (ADAPTIVE MOTION TRAINER)	125	2,453
Walking, 5.0 mph	27	673
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	31
Daily Total / Goal	153 / 30	3,157 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	531 / 210	11,175 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3406 calories

total calories burned (125 min elliptical) 2453 calories

total net 953 calories

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fitbit day 152

14010 steps
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WORKOUT ANYTIME

Yesterday I had my first appointment scheduled for 4:00PM, approximately 400 miles from Chicago in Bowling Green, Kentucky.   There was not enough time to get up early and workout prior to leaving Chicago at 6:00AM in the morning.  As I approached Bowling Green I was disappointed to learn that this was a town without a YMCA.

So, for the first time, I decided to check one of the more commercial fitness clubs.   I found a regional chain called WORKOUT ANYTIME.

The website invites people to try the facility at no charge.  I took them up on the offer.   The girl at the front desk who requested just some quick rudimentary information from me couldn't have been nicer.  The biggest difference between Workout Anytime and any of the YMCA's that I have visited is that one didnt have to master a maze to get from the desk to the locker room and then to the cardio area.   This was a storefront operation.   One walks in.   The locker room is in the back and all the cardio equipment is right up front.  It appears that the fee for membership is only $15/month.   I checked the website for the other locations - and this chain is mostly in the Southeast - so it is not a good match for me.   I do think that I might have to check out another chain location today as my next stop, Evansville, Indiana is also a town without a YMCA.

WORKOUT ANYTIME - LOCATIONS

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 Tuesday MENU

breakfast  Real Foods Corn Thins, Oatmeal w/apples, Apples                945 calories
lunch        Whole Foods bulk foods, cherries, peas, mango, goji, etc     1887 calories
dinner       Red Delicious Apples, KIND bar - almond, coconut               380 calories
SNACK   Kahuna Crunch Trail Mix, Strawberry Vanilla Hemp Granola 1521 calories

(I went a little overboard on my bulk selections at Whole Foods.  The good thing is that I know that I did.  It proves to me so well, why I gained back so much weight so quickly eight years ago after I initially discovered Whole Foods.  Back in those days, I was eating the bulk foods with complete reckless abandon - simply not knowing, or perhaps not wanting to know how calorie packed some of these NATURAL, HEALTHY FOODS are)

total calories consumed 4713 calories

calories burned

Elliptical machine (WORKOUT ANYTIME) INTERVAL LEVEL TWENTY, 130 minutes
CALORIES BURNED   1893 CALORIES

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Monday net calories 2820 calories

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LEVEL 17

Yesterday I had 'home field advantage.' Everyone knows that 'home field advantage' is important in sports contests. Apparently it is important with exercise equipment too. I use so many different elliptical machines as I criss cross the country and I try to set them properly for a vigorous workout - but there is little way to compare how effective I am exercising as each machine is calibrated differently.  Back on my home machine yesterday, I changed the difficulty level to '17' for the first time.  Of course, this is a random number which has no meaning outside the small circle of people who use this specific branded machine,  STAR TRAC.  However, for me it is very meaningful as my workout was more difficult - and I was still able to work through the 32 minutes and kick up quite a sweat.  The machine recorded that I burned many more calories than I usually do when the machine is 'only' set to '16.'   When I started on this machine a few months ago - I began with he 'level' set to only '10.'  Progress is being made - my workouts are becoming more aggressive and surely providing increasingly beneficial results.

elliptical machine at the conclusion of the 30 minute workout and 2 minute  'cooldown'

That I was able to 'burn' 528 calories in only 32 minutes is a nice achievement.  It will be interesting to see how much I can improve on these numbers as the days and weeks progress.  My wife even joined me in the fitness room and she worked out on the treadmill.  

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Today I had a day trip which was nearly 2 hours from home (in traffic).   I live in Chicago - there is always traffic.  My wife prepared an amazing delicious salad that I was able to eat during the day - very much like the salads that I almost always have at home, but this was was improved by the addition of a cut-up salmon burger on top.  

delicious salad prepared at home - prepared 'To Go' (a very delicious healthy meal)

TUESDAY MEN

breakfast  oatmeal w/prune, wheat germ, two poached eggs, two slices turkey bacon      705 calories

lunch        spinach salad w/hearts of palm, artichokes, onion, mushrooms, beets, cactus

                 tomato, salmon burger                                                                                        234 calories

dinner       spinach salad w/hearts of palm, artichokes, onion, mushrooms, beets, cactus

                 tomato, Trader Joe's Meatballs (4), Campbell's Italian Wedding Soup (bowl)

                 canned asparagus (1/2 can), potato pancake                                                      654 calories

total calories consumed 1593 calories

calories burned

elliptical machine 32 minutes 528 calories

TUESDAY NET CALORIES 1065 CALORIES                             

                 

                

YOU CANNOT OUTRUN A BAD DIET

Today, I would like to share an editorial published online just four days ago from the BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE which purports to bust the myth that weight loss can be controlled by exercise. This is something that I have recently learned and previously shared on this blog.  In fact, I learned this in a way that destroyed this myth as far as I am concerned when during the week of January 24-January 30 when I 'treadmill walked' 80 (eighty) miles, I lost only 3.7 pounds that week while maintaining my 1000 calories/day diet.  Mathematically, I was sure that my weight loss that week would have been closer to ten pounds.  That experience cured me of the expectation that weight loss could be controlled by exercise.  The editorial clearly states what should be obvious, that exercise has other important benefits.  It is simply that weight loss cannot be counted as a benefit of exercise compared to the benefits of eating carefully.  I found most interesting that the editorial lays the blame on the ubiquitousness of this myth at the doorstep of the food industry.  One can easily see that if the food industry can blame the worldwide obesity epidemic on a failure to exercise, perhaps their unhealthy, processed foods full of sugar can escape blame.

The various words and/or passages where the editorial is bold are the things that I found most interesting. Marc

British Journal of Sport & Exercise Medicine rips a few holes in the myth that exercise can control weight loss.

Br J Sports Med doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-094911

• Editorial

It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet

1. A Malhotra1, 
2. T Noakes2, 
3. S Phinney3

+Author Affiliations
¹Department of Cardiology, Frimley Park Hospital and Consultant Clinical Associate to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges²Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town and Sports Science Institute of South Africa, Newlands, South Africa
³School of Medicine (Emeritus), University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA

• Accepted 8 April 2015

• Published Online First 22 April 2015

A recent report from the UK's Academy of Medical Royal Colleges described ‘the miracle cure’ of performing 30 min of moderate exercise, five times a week, as more powerful than many drugs administered for chronic disease prevention and management. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and some cancers by at least 30%. However, physical activity does not promote weight loss.In the past 30 years, as obesity has rocketed, there has been little change in physical activity levels in the Western population. This places the blame for our expanding waist lines directly on the type and amount of calories consumed. However, the obesity epidemic represents only the tip of a much larger iceberg of the adverse health consequences of poor diet. According to the Lancet global burden of disease reports, poor diet now generates more disease than physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined. Up to 40% of those with a normal body mass index will harbour metabolic abnormalities typically associated with obesity, which include hypertension, dyslipidaemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease. However, this is little appreciated by scientists, doctors, media writers and policymakers, despite the extensive scientific literature on the vulnerability of all ages and all sizes to lifestyle-related diseases.
Instead, members of the public are drowned by an unhelpful message about maintaining a ‘healthy weight’ through calorie counting, and many still wrongly believe that obesity is entirely due to lack of exercise. This false perception is rooted in the Food Industry's Public Relations machinery, which uses tactics chillingly similar to those of big tobacco. The tobacco industry successfully stalled government intervention for 50 years starting from when the first links between smoking and lung cancer were published. This sabotage was achieved using a ‘corporate playbook’ of denial, doubt, confusing the public and even buying the loyalty of bent scientists, at the cost of millions of lives.
Coca Cola, who spent $3.3 billion on advertising in 2013, pushes a message that ‘all calories count’; they associate their products with sport, suggesting it is ok to consume their drinks as long as you exercise. However science tells us this is misleading and wrong. It is where the calories come from that is crucial. Sugar calories promote fat storage and hunger. Fat calories induce fullness or ‘satiation’.
A large econometric analysis of worldwide sugar availability, revealed that for every excess 150 calories of sugar (say, one can of cola), there was an 11-fold increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, in comparison to an identical 150 calories obtained from fat or protein. And this was independent of the person's weight and physical activity level; this study fulfils the Bradford Hill Criteria for causation. A recently published critical review in nutrition concluded that dietary carbohydrate restriction is the single most effective intervention for reducing all the features of the metabolic syndrome and should be the first approach in diabetes management, with benefits occurring even without weight loss.
And what about carbohydrate loading for exercise?
The twin rationales for carbohydrate loading are that the body has a limited capacity to store carbohydrates and these are essential for more intense exercise. However, recent studies suggest otherwise. The work of Volek and colleagues establishes that chronic adaptation to a high-fat low-carbohydrate diet induces very high rates of fat oxidation during exercise (up to 1.5 g/min)—sufficient for most exercisers in most forms of exercise—without the need for added carbohydrate. Thus fat, including ketone bodies, appears to be the ideal fuel for most exercise—it is abundant, does not need replacement or supplementation during exercise, and can fuel the forms of exercise in which most participate. If a high-carbohydrate diet was merely unnecessary for exercise it would be of little threat to public health, however, there are growing concerns that insulin-resistant athletes may be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes if they continue to eat very high-carbohydrate diets for decades since such diets worsen insulin resistance.
The ‘health halo’ legitimisation of nutritionally deficient products must end
The public health messaging around diet and exercise, and their relationship to the epidemics of type 2 diabetes and obesity, has been corrupted by vested interests. Celebrity endorsements of sugary drinks, and the association of junk food and sport, must end. The ‘health halo’ legitimisation of nutritionally deficient products is misleading and unscientific. This manipulative marketing sabotages effective government interventions such as the introduction of sugary drink taxes or the banning of junk food advertising. Such marketing increases commercial profit at the cost of population health. The Centres of Disease Control health impact pyramid is clear. Changing the food environment—so that individuals’ choices about what to eat default to healthy options—will have a far greater impact on population health than counselling or education. Healthy choice must become the easy choice. Health clubs and gyms therefore also need to set an example by removing the sale of sugary drinks and junk food from their premises.
It is time to wind back the harms caused by the junk food industry's Public Relations machinery. Let us bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity. You cannot outrun a bad diet.

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SATURDAY MENU

breakfast  cup oatmeal w/prune, two poached eggs, two strips turkey 'bacon'   355 calories

lunch        Spinach salad w/mushrooms, hearts of palms, 8 cherry tomatoes

                 PANERA BREAD Chicken Tortilla Soup (cup)

                 FRESH ASPARAGUS

                 4 Dill Pickles TRADER JOE'S AHI TUNA STEAK (4 oz)                    382 calories

dinner      Spinach salad w/mushrooms, hearts of palms 8 cherry tomatoes

                Seaweed Salad (2 oz)  Miso Soup (2 cups)   4 Dill baby pickles

                TRADER JOE'S all natural sweet apple chicken sausage                  314 calories

total calories consumed 1051 calories

CALORIES BURNED

elliptical 32 minutes 473 calories

SATURDAY NET CALORIES 578 CALORIES

based on the editorial that I re-published today, it becomes even clearer that it is perhaps ridiculous to continue listing DAILY NET CALORIES - yet I will likely continue anyway just out of tradition.