IS YOUR GLASS HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY?

This is how the Mayo Clinic website describes an intervention

An intervention can motivate someone to seek help for alcohol or drug abuse, compulsive eating, or other addictive behaviors. 

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I need to self-intervene.  My cravings for chocolate which were for months under control have been spiraling out of control.  I have drawn a few lines in the sand in the past few months.  I am not pleading for anyone to actually offer me an intervention - in fact, quite the opposite.  I am aware of my problems.  I am aware of my short-comings.  And I know precisely what I have to do.  There is nothing funny or amusing about this.  I know that I should start today.  Maybe I will...

I do also need to convince myself not to get too 'down' about my recent weight.  I did step on the scale this morning, and still it registered a weight a fraction below 230 lbs - - -  229.7 lbs to be exact.  This is still DOWN 80 POUNDS from where I started nearly 15 months ago.  This should not exactly qualify as a failure.

Perhaps I should be a bit extra cheerful about my weight this morning - especially as it almost seems as if I took a day off from exercise yesterday.  I 'only' worked out for one hour.  (I usually work out for 90 or 120 minutes)  I think I need to be 'glass is half full' kind of guy - not a 'glass is half empty' kind of guy.  Optimism is a far better idea than pessimism.  I am optimistic about my future successes with my weight management.  

Now that I have been thinking about it... perhaps my problem is not that my glass (or plate, or dish, or bowl) has been half full or half empty.  Perhaps the problem is that my glass has been completely full a bit too often...

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, March 10, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker Oats - Apples & Cinnamon	480	99	6	12	600	36
Scrambled Eggs w/two Sausages	300	0	0	0	0	0
Orange juice	112	26	0	2	2	21
	892	125	6	14	602	57
L U N C H
jack link's - jerky beef teriyaki	720	54	9	108	4,320	45
	720	54	9	108	4,320	45
D I N N E R
EARTHBOUND FARM - SPINACH	20	0	0	2	65	0
365 - Hearts of Palm: Salad Cut, 1 cup	50	10	0	4	580	0
Louis Kemp - Crab Delights Leg Style, 3 legs	70	11	0	6	430	1
libby's - Sweet Corn, 0.88 cup	105	16	3	4	350	12
Roundy's - Asparagus Spears, 1.75 Cup	70	11	0	7	1,225	11
Eggs - Hard Boiled - Large, 1 egg	78	1	5	6	62	1
Ham slices - Ham pieces, 3 oz	160	4	10	14	1,000	2
Bacon - Real Bits, 3 tbsp	75	0	5	9	660	0
Lamb, ground, raw, 6 oz	480	0	40	28	100	0
	1,108	52	62	80	4,472	26
S N A C K S
Keebler - Pb&J Crackers, 8 Pack,	250	34	11	4	300	9
Nature Valley - Crunchy Oats & Honey	190	29	6	4	160	12
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters	240	48	3	6	420	18
	680	111	20	14	880	39
Totals	3,400	342	98	216	10,275	167
Your Daily Goal	2,828	353	94	142	2,300	106
Remaining	-572	11	-3	-73	-7,974	-61
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 898 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
POLAR LIFEFITNESS ELLIPTICAL	65	881
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	17
Daily Total / Goal	66 / 30	898 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	499 / 210	7,640 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3400 calories

total calories burned (elliptical) 898 calories

total net 2502 calories

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fitbit day 190

12147 steps  

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BACK TO WORK

I am pretty sure that it will be good to get BACK TO WORK.  For one thing, as a salesman, my income exists only when I do work.

I am also fairly certain that during the downtime of the past two weeks, I have eaten too much too often.  At least when I am working, it is a bit more difficult to be constantly eating, snacking and noshing. While it is true that I did not use this time to ignore my workouts, it is also true that it is virtually impossible to 'erase' calories by working out. Our bodies are extremely efficient at storing energy.  That is what fat does - store energy. It is easy to see why this would have been quite advantageous to our cave-dwelling ancestors during times of famine. Most Americans today, are really not so worried about where their next meal is coming from, and/or if there will be a next meal. If this trend can continue for a few hundred generations perhaps the human being will evolve into a less efficient fat storage unit. Right now, we all have to deal with the efficiency of fat storage that God has implanted in us all.

Now I am not guilty of this during the past two weeks - but it is easy to imagine that this caloric crime might have been committed by many people the past few weeks.  The caloric crime that I am thinking of would be the person who eats not one slice of chocolate cake but two slices of chocolate cake.  A binge like this could easily exceed 1000 calories.  How long does it really take to eat two slices of cake. I am sure that if I tried will all my willpower to eat two slices of cake really slowly, they still would not last more than 15 minutes.  One might have to walk at a brisk pace for one hour to come close to 'erasing' this.  And as Dr Melarvie wrote in his DTOE (Diet Theory of Everything) which I spoke of yesterday:

IT IS MUCH EASIER TO CONSUME 3500 CALORIES THAN IT IS TO LOSE IT. 

THE NATURAL TENDENCY IS TO OVERESTIMATE THE CALORIC EXPENDITURE OF EXERCISE.

When it comes to love it has been said: It is better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all. This little piece of wisdom does not translate to diet. It is NOT better to have eaten empty calories and lost than to never have eaten empty calories at all. IT WOULD BE BETTER TO NOT HAVE EATEN EMPTY CALORIES IN THE FIRST PLACE. Surely, that is the best way to manage one's weight, avoid the empty calories in the first place - as much as possible.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, January 2, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Whole Foods - Oatmeal, 1 cup	300	54	5	10	180	2
WHOLE FOODS - WHOLE CASHEWS (RAW), 43.75 g (approx 1/4 cup)	225	10	18	6	0	3
WHOLE FOODS 8738 - DRIED MANGO SLICES, 40 g (approx 6 pieces)	110	28	0	2	1	20
	635	92	23	18	181	25
L U N C H
WHOLE FOODS 8497 - CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 110 g (3/4 cup)	480	80	14	10	120	30
FRESH THYME - JOYVA. SESAME CRUNCH, 45 g (3 pieces)	240	21	12	3	75	21
WHOLE FOODS 5938 - UNSWEETENED BANANA CHIPS, 60 g (1/4 cup)	340	32	20	4	10	2
	1,060	133	46	17	205	53
D I N N E R
S. Rosen's - 100% Whole Wheat Bread, 2 slice	200	38	2	10	380	6
Omaha Steaks - Gourmet Jumbo Franks-beef Hot Dogs, 2 frank (84g)	480	8	40	22	1,560	2
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 85 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	20	0	0	2	65	0
libby's - Sweet Corn, 0.88 cup	105	16	3	4	350	12
Louis Kemp - Crab Delights Leg Style, 3 legs (85g)	70	11	0	6	430	1
KROGER 54060 - SOY NUTS, 50 g (approx 1/2 cup)	240	14	13	18	110	3
	1,115	87	58	62	2,895	24
S N A C K S
WHOLE FOODS - MILK CHOCOLATE CHERRIES, 60 g (approx 9 pieces)	270	38	15	3	15	32
WHOLE FOODS 7882 - GIN GINS ORIGINAL CHEWY GINGER, 36 g (2pcs)	120	30	0	0	0	30
	390	68	15	3	15	62
Totals	3,200	379	141	100	3,296	163
Your Daily Goal	4,328	541	144	217	2,300	162
Remaining	1,128	161	2	117	-996	-1

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Your Exercise Diary for:

      Saturday, January 2, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, 5.0 mph	13	211
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,955
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	232
Daily Total / Goal	106 / 30	2,398 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	867 / 210	17,885 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3200 calories

total calories (92 minutes elliptical, walking) 2166 calories

total net calories 1034 calories

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fitbit day 121

24819 steps

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I was looking for 'back to work' themes - and although this does not meet that criteria - it still amused me.

JABBA THE HUTT - NO MORE

In the same way that a person is usually incapable of being a fan of the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, or the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox, or CNN and FOX NEWS... I am a Star Trek fan (not a Star Wars fan.)  Nevertheless, today I will use a character from Star Wars to illustrate that I no longer look like I recently did.

On August 21, 2014 my family spent the day on the world famous Jersey Shore, specifically the Asbury Park Beach before attending a beautiful wedding of our friend Jack and his bride, Esther.  My wife took a picture of me that I did not treasure.  In fact, I wanted no part of it. The photo made me feel ill. And here it is:

GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, AUGUST 21, 2014 (309 lbs)

As you can see, I could have easily played the part of Jabba the Hutt in any of the Star Wars films:

I look at my photo form August 2,1 2014 - and Jabba don't look so bad....

Fast forward to yesterday, the first day of the Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago.  The weather was glorious, and the temperature finally tipped over 80º F. (27º C)  I thought that this would be a good opportunity to try to replicate my August 21, 2014 photo - so I did.   My 13 year old daughter, Sara,  was the photographer.  Here is me today (well, actually yesterday.)

May 23, 2015 North Avenue Beach, Chicago, Illinois (218 lbs)

In the August 2014 photo, your Jabba the Hutt impersonator is (un)proudly wearing 50" waist khaki shorts and an XXL (extra extra large) t-shirt and a one-size-fits-all, Glenn Beck baseball cap.

In the May 2015 photo, your intrepid blogger, weighing 90 pounds less,  who much more closely resembles a normal human being is PROUDLY wearing a pair of 36" waist khaki Columbia™ shorts and simple L (large North Face™ t-Shirt) and just to be consistent, the same Glenn Beck baseball cap. Have I mentioned before that I am a fan of Glenn Beck?  

SATURDAY MENU

breakfast   Steel Cut OatMeal w/prune, two eggs, two strips turkey 'bacon'              505 calories
lunch        *Huge Supermarket Salad w/chicken, imitation crab, ham, egg, etc
                 red delicious apple, 4 Medjool dates                                                       1109 calories
dinner       Spinach salad w/hearts of palm, beets, cucumber, tomato, mushroom
                 4 ounces Black Angus Sirloin                                                                     339 calories

total calories   1953 calories

calories burned
elliptical 32 minutes 518 calories**

*One thing I know is that I really make a feast of a supermarket salad.  I add imitation crab, ham, chicken, tomato, onion, cucumber, beets, small portion of sunflower seeds, baby corn, small portion of chick peas, artichokes, sometimes maybe even ten croutons, hard boiled egg.  THE THINGS THAT I DO NOT INCLUDE ARE CHEESE AND DRESSING.  Previously I had estimated the calories of such a salad at 500 calories.   I am going to start estimating it at 750 calories.   I am extremely confident that at 750 calories I am wildly OVERSTATING THE CALORIES.   However, I believe it is better to overestimate than underestimate.  So, I will just assume 750 calories and 'know' that the actual number almost certainly has to be far less.

**today after my workout, I took the elevator 5 floors lower than my floor in order to WALK UP five flights.   I remember so well, when I was 300+ pounds attempting to walk up twelve floors from ground level to my floor, and although I managed it - I was winded beyond winded, and in order to complete this I needed to rest multiple times along the way.  Today I bounced up those five flights like it was absolutely nothing. So the next time I exercise, I am going attempt to WALK UP THE THIRTEEN FLIGHTS OF STAIRS from the 12th floor to the 25th floor where the fitness room is before I workout on the elliptical machine.  I know that I could barely accomplish this a year ago when I tried it.  And I better start doing some stair climbing if I am serious about training for and hiking up HALF DOME at YOSEMITE. STAIR CLIMBING WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST THE VERY NEXT TIME I EXERCISE.  My building does not have a stair master machine, but I now intend to become a STAIR MASTER. Right now, I am a stair apprentice.

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More information regarding Jabba the Hutt (from Wikipedia)

Jabba the Hutt is a character appearing in George Lucas's space opera film saga Star Wars.  He is depicted as a large, slug-like alien.  His appearance has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as a cross between a toad and a Cheshire Cat.

Jabba the Hutt - profile
Species	Hutt
Gender	Male
Position	Crime lord
Homeworld	Nal Hutta;  resident of Tatooine
Affiliation	Hutt Cartel The thing is.... I really did resemble this creature when I was 309 lbs.

CAMERA SHY NO MORE

At 233 lbs I am getting close to entering the fourth quarter of my journey from 309 lb fat man to 195 lb thin man.  When I look in the mirror now, I see a reflection that I actually like.  Eight years ago, when I dropped from 300 lbs to 220 lbs (before I stupidly gained every pound back and tacked on nine more for 'good luck.') I appeared really thin at my lowest weight of 220 lbs.   For the past many years I couldn't stand looking at photos of myself from that period as I looked so good.  I also couldn't stand looking at more recent photos of myself as I looked so bad. It is no wonder that I was camera-shy.

At 309 lbs, I was not too interested in getting in front of  any cameras.
Anytime my photo was taken, the results were very painful to look at.

I am camera-shy no more.  I am proud of my accomplishment.  The day that I get down to 219 will be the first time that I have been there since the mid 1980's. That was 30 years ago!  Around that time, approximately 1985, I was actually down to 199 lbs (for about five minutes)   This time, my goal is to get to 195 lbs and stay there.  Even after losing 75 lbs since December 24, 2014 - I still have nearly 40 lbs to go. I am on my way - nothing will stop me.

On Saturday when I weighed myself, I admit I was disappointed that my weight loss was only 2 lbs for the week. It makes me nervous when I have eaten so little and only two pounds were shed.  I know that there are other factors at work. I think that each week my body is desperately trying to hold onto its fat cells as much as possible as the caloric intake is still so low.  However, when I review the chart of my progress over the last three months - I must also admit that my results have been in practically a straight line downward.  I have only weighed myself once per week over these past three months.  So, I never had the unfortunate situation where I have seen my weight bounce up a pound or two from one day to the other.  I know that this can happen - but I have negated it from happening by weighing myself only once every seven days.  I take much joy in reviewing this ski slope chart of my success.
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MONDAY MENU
breakfast  two poached eggs, two slices turkey 'bacon'  cup oatmeal w/prune           355 calories
lunch        spinach salad with can albacore tuna & roma tomato                                 150 calories
dinner      Yellowfin Tuna burger, bowl CABBAGE SOUP, spinach tomato zucchini 318 calories

total calories consumed 823 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED
5AM elliptical 32 minutes   475 calories

MONDAY NET CALORIES    348 CALORIES

SUGAR

I have read the same thing in various sources.  As the government demonized 'fat' - the food industry responded by creating a billion dollar industry creating 'low-fat' and 'no-fat' foods.  Dumb Americans like me, always took some comfort in reaching for these alternatives - certainly they seemed healthier than the alternative.  The problem is, apparently 'fat' serves a few purposes.  Among them, fat gives taste and creates a sense of satiety after a meal.  Food companies still desired to sell food, so they took out the fat and loaded up on sugar.

Many 'low-fat' and 'no-fat' foods are even higher in calories than their 'fat' counterparts.  A food loaded up with sugar, does not provide a sense of satiety, in fact, quite the opposite, leads to more hunger.  It is a vicious cycle, and I was certainly riding it for the past many years. We need Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat for our body to operate efficiently. From what I have learned we need no sugar.  Zip. Zero. Nada. And yet, the sugar that Americans eat has risen sharply in decade for more than 100 years. It is virtually impossible to completely eliminate sugar from one's diet. Cutting out cookies, candy, ice-cream, and cakes is a good place to start.  Sugar is added to countless foods.  The trick is to keep it to a minimum.

When it comes to sugar, 'The Guess Who' said it best on their 1970 release, 'American Woman' which included the song: No Sugar Tonight.  Probably a good idea tonight, and every night.

SATURDAY MENU

breakfast    three sunnyside up eggs, two slices turkey 'bacon'                                240 calories
lunch         spinach salad w/roma tomato, 6oz. can pink salmon                              210 calories
dinner        1/4 lb lamb bratwurst, spinach salad w/tomato, chicken tortilla soup    495 calories
total calories consumed        945 calories


CALORIES BURNED
11AM elliptical machine 32 minutes        485 calories

SATURDAY NET CALORIES     460 CALORIES

WHAT IS A CALORIE?

Many of us consume too many calories.
Lots of us try to burn off excess calories.
In order to survive and thrive we need the proper amount of calories.
Some foods are rich (or super rich) in calories.
Some foods are low (or void) of calories.
People paying attention to their weight, often count calories.
Weight gain is a result of consuming too many calories.
Weight loss is a result of a deficit of calories.

OK, here is a question that I am going to ask myself:  WHAT IS A CALORIE?
(It is at this point of my blog entry that I will 'save' what I have written and do a little research on the internet - because one thing I know for sure - I do not know what a calorie is)

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Hi, it's me...I'm back.  Here is what I have learned from GOOGLE definitions:

cal·o·rie

kal(ə)rē

noun

noun: calorie; plural noun: calories; noun: cal.

1. either of two units of heat energy.

   • the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C (now usually defined as 4.1868 joules).

     noun: small calorie; plural noun: small calories
   • the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods.

     
     

This definition is a bit technical.  But there is one useful part of the definition that we can try to understand.  A calorie is 'often used to measure the energy value of foods.'    This starts to make sense to me.  Food is fuel.  Calories are the measure of how much fuel a particular food has.   Still there are good fuels and bad fuels.

I was searching for a very simplistic explanation of what a calorie is and I found something useful on kidshealth.org:

You can find out how many calories are in a food by looking at the nutrition facts label. The label also will describe the components of the food — how many grams of carbohydrate, protein, and fat it contains. 

Here's how many calories are in 1 gram of each:

• carbohydrate — 4 calories

• protein — 4 calories

• fat — 9 calories

That means if you know how many grams of each one are in a food, you can calculate the total calories. You would multiply the number of grams by the number of calories in a gram of that food component.    I always tell my daughter to 'check her work' when she does a math problem - so here I will take my own advice.  I want to check if this information is actually correct - Up until this very moment I had no idea that the calories of any food were based on the calories in the three components: carbohydrates, protein & fat.  

So, I borrowed a Hershey's Chocolate Bar that my daughter has in the refrigerator.   It proudly proclaims that one bar contains 210 calories.   Back in the old days, I would have thought nothing of having two chocolate bars before dinner.  I have not had too many 400 calorie  meals in the past five weeks.  Sorry, I digressed.... now back on topic:

Hershey's Chocolate Bar 'Nutrition' Facts
SERVING SIZE   1 BAR
CALORIES 210
TOTAL FAT           13 GRAMS                            13x 9=117 calories
PROTEINS              3 GRAMS                                3x4=12  calories
TOTAL CARBS     26 GRAMS                              26x4=104 calories
117+12+104=233 CALORIES (perhaps the slight different result is from rounding errors - but it certainly gives us a good idea of what types of foods are high calorie)

We need calories (fuel) to exist.   We all know that we will 'burn' an elevated number of calories if we vigorously exercise.   We also 'burn' calories simply by sleeping.  We burn calories every moment of every day.  It takes energy for our body to function and our body is functioning 24/7.

We gain weight when we consume more calories than we need.   Our body is very good at storing calories for a time when we might need them later.   Many people take vitamins each day to supplement their diet.   The reason that we take them every day is that our body DOES NOT STORE THEM.  Whatever excess vitamins we consume on Monday are expelled by the body on a daily basis.  We don't have that 'problem' with calories.  Our body is an efficient calorie storing machine.   Our body will convert excess calories into fat.

And here is the most obvious analysis of the year:

EXCESS FAT MAKES US FATTER.

Conversely, a deficit of calories will encourage the body to use that storehouse of fat and convert to calories to fuel our bodies.  This is how we lose weight.

The current scientific consensus is that for every 3500 excess calories that the body turns to fat - the scale will reflect an additional pound.   The reverse is true - for every accumulated deficit of 3500 calories less than the body needs - our body will use fat to convert to calories and our scale will reflect the one pound loss.

The less technical definition of calories

THURSDAY MENU

BREAKFAST   two poached eggs, 2.5 oz SALMON                                   275 CALORIES

LUNCH             Jason's Deli Spicy Seafood Gumbo                                     301 CALORIES

DINNER            Turkey Burger, Spinach, Vinaigrette, Zucchini Pancake
                            cup of chicken broth soup                                                   328 CALORIES

                 TOTAL CALORIC CONSUMPTION        904 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED

6AM  30 minutes ELLIPTICAL   380 CALORIES
6PM  30 minutes ELLIPTCAL     390 CALORIES
                                    TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 770 CALORIES


NET CALORIC CONSUMPTION   134 CALORIES

Kirkland Turkey Burger, Zucchini Pancake, Spinach w/Vinaigrette, Chicken Broth Cup   328 CALORIES

Another week has gone by.  Last week I was disappointed as I thought I would have lost more weight than I did in that particular week.  This week, I am trying to keep expectations low.  I did everything possible to have a good weigh-in tomorrow.   I worked out 1 hour per day (two sessions, 30 minutes each) and I kept my caloric intake on meals under 1000 calories each day.   Today, Friday, is Day 45 of my program.  When I woke up 45 days ago to visit the doctor, I was 309 lbs. Last Saturday, I was 272.7 lbs.   I am hopeful that my metabolism will have been cooperative this week and shed at least the three pounds to get me into the 260's.   I will know in 24 hours.    See you tomorrow!

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HEALTHLY LIVING IS A MORAL OBLIGATION

Many days that I blog, it is as if I am writing to myself.  I am trying to understand myself.  I am even trying to understand where this new-found perseverance has come from. Today, I am not trying to be funny or amusing. I am being brutally honest with myself. I learned as a young kid that 'honesty is the best policy', it certainly is not an easy policy.

Today, I am publicly stating what I was far too ashamed to admit for the past seven years.

HEALTHY LIVING IS A MORAL OBLIGATION

If each of us lived on our own world with no children, no spouse, no family and no friends - it would not matter how we chose to live.   We could make every wrong decision to adversely affect our health and it would affect no one else.  We would not have a moral obligation to take care of ourselves.

None of us live in a world like that.

We all live in a world with children, spouses, parents, family and friends.
WE DO HAVE A MORAL OBLIGATION TO TRY TO LIVE AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE.
I didn't just figure this out now - when I was packing on the pounds despite the fact that I have a wife and child - I knew that my behavior was not only stupid, but it was immoral. Apparently my desire to eat the way I did (to have 'fun' eating) overwhelmed my desire to behave morally.

In recent years, my Father asked me a very hard question.  The question was not difficult to understand, but it was hard to answer since my actions were not in accordance with my answer. My Father asked me, with regard to my dangerous overweight condition, "Don't you want to be around and see your daughter grow up?"   The question was a hard one; not because my answer was yes. It was hard as my actions were in conflict with my desire.  A parent has a moral obligation to try to live as healthy as possible. Morbid Obesity is dangerous. It can be a gateway to all kinds of devastating health problems.

* * *

Here is a tougher assessment.  One who walks around with no regard to their own health, who continues to add to their morbid obesity without making an effort to change - is being selfish.  It brings me no joy for me to admit that for seven years I was behaving selfishly in this regard.   I thank God, that he gave me time and the opportunity to make changes in my life.   Not everyone gets this opportunity.  I was lucky.

You might now accuse me of being a hypocrite. You might say, that since I am trying to reverse a lifestyle that I have so freely lived for the past seven years, isn't it now easy for me to claim that I am being more moral now? Yes, of course, it is easier.  This short essay is addressed to me, the me of the future. Now it is my job to remember this, so that there is no going back to that selfish, all-you-can-eat lazy lifestyle. It would be immoral.

Every day we awaken at the intersection of Right & Wrong.  There is always an opportunity to go the Right Way.

Easy decisions often take you on the wrong path.  Moral decisions are always on the right path.  It is a moral obligation that we all have to our spouse, children, parents, family and friends to try to live as healthy as possible.  It is not easy, we may not always succeed but we are morally bound to try.   (As Bart Simpson says: we should 'try to try')

WEDNESDAY MENU

BREAKFAST   three poached eggs, 2 strips turkey 'bacon'                                     280 CALORIES

LUNCH             1 cup chicken broth, 4 oz. salmon filet, zucchini pancake              303 CALORIES

DINNER            4 oz Seafood Blend, 1 cup clam chowder, iceberg lettuce wedge
                            one Tbsp Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing                              263 CALORIES

TOTAL CALORIC CONSUMPTION        846 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED

5AM  TREADMILL: 60 minutes @ 4 mph (4 miles) 600 CALORIES
6PM   TREADMILL: 60 minutes @ 4 mph (4 miles) 600 CALORIES
8PM   TREADMILL: 60 minutes @ 4 mph (4 miles) 600 CALORIES

NET CALORIC DEFECIT     954 CALORIES

Delicious Dinner: 4 oz. Seafood Blend (Shrimp/Scallops/Calamari) lettuce wedge, clam chowder 263 CALORIES

BEFORE/(no after) PICTURES

Do you share this concern? Every time you see a before and after set of photos from someone who has lost weight - the before photos are always fuzzy and your are never really sure if the photos in the  after are even the same person? I don't have have the after photos yet. My weight loss journey only started 48 hours ago, right around the time I visited my doctor for a 'Wellness" visit and discovered that I weighed nearly 315 lbs. When I returned home to measure my waist and neck - I was more dismayed to discover that the measurements were 52" waist and 18.5" neck. I didn't need to visit the doctor to discover that I was overweight - mirrors that I passed as well as my belt were extremely effective in transmitting this data to my mind. I always figured that I could start a new diet (lifestyle change) 'tomorrow.'  Tomorrow was yesterday. It should be obvious that I only have the before photos. I am aware that this journal could become a bit more interesting with some comparative after photos.  That is the plan.  Marc