SISYPHUS

Sisyphus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In Greek mythology Sisyphus (/ˈsɪsᵻfəs/; Greek: Σίσυφος, Sísuphos) was the king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it come back to hit him, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean (/ˌsɪsᵻˈfiːən/).

Weight loss.  Down 10 pounds. Up 12 pounds. Down 4 pounds. Up 3 pounds. Down 1 pound. Up five pounds. It occurred to me just the other day that losing weight is sisyphean task.  This is not meant to be a negative statement. It is just accurate. Unlike Sisyphus, the task of losing weight and maintaining weight is not a punishment. In fact, for people who need to lose weight, NOT BEING ON THE METAPHORICAL HILL WITH A ROCK TO ROLL is the punishment. As said in the 2004 movie, DODGEBALL, by White Goodman  'So now you're a philosophizer?'  I guess today I am.

My point is this. I would rather be trying to roll the metaphorical rock up the hill trying to reach a destination that can and never will be reached than simply sitting around doing nothing and getting more and more out of shape and fatter as was my previous condition prior to December 2014. It is better to be Sisyphus than to not be engaged at all.

Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, December 10, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Spinach & Kale Whole Grain Chips	280	30	14	4	140	0
Butter Flavored Grits	400	84	4	8	1,360	4
	680	114	18	12	1,500	4
L U N C H
Nathan's Skinless Beef Frank	560	4	52	20	1,920	0
Butternut - Enriched Hot Dog Bun, 2	220	42	3	6	440	4
Trader Joe's - Sauerkraut	50	20	0	0	2,000	10
Dark Cocoa Melting Wafers	440	48	26	6	90	42
	1,270	114	81	32	4,450	56
D I N N E R
Manhattan Clam Chowder	240	36	6	10	1,600	6
Dorito's - Cool Ranch	150	18	8	2	180	1
	390	54	14	12	1,780	7
S N A C K S
Nestle - Milk Chocolate Bar	210	27	12	2	20	25
Kelloggs - Rice Krispies Treats	375	69	9	3	420	32
	585	96	21	5	440	57
Totals	2,925	378	134	61	8,170	124
Your Daily Goal	4,045	505	135	203	2,300	151
Remaining	1,120	127	1	142	-5,870	27
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,115 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Elliptical Trainer	99	1,264
Elliptical Trainer	97	1,010
Daily Total / Goal	196 / 30	2,274 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1107 / 210	10,963 / 4,130

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MAKE TIME

Yesterday, I needed to travel 45 minutes to Shipshewana, Indiana in order to set up for a one day wholesale fabric show. I needed to be there at 7AM. I did not expect to return to my hotel until around 7:30PM.  It was clear that I would have to be a bit creative if I wanted to work in some exercise for the day. I arrived in Shipshewana at 6:30 which game me time to walk the .75mile perimeter of the hotel in Shipshewana twice, which was became 1.5 miles.  When I returned to my hotel in the evening, there was still time and enough sunlight to squeeze in a 5 mile walk before a late dinner. It would have been so easy to justify a lack of time as an excuse to skip any kind of exercise for the day - I guess that it no longer my style.  It certainly used to be. No longer. If one wants to exercise - one can always MAKE TIME.

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I 'made time' to walk around the perimeter of the hotel where my wholesale fabric show was in Shipshewana.  I walked around the perimeter of the property twice before 7:00AM which meant that I had logged 1.5 miles before most people wake up and have their first cup of coffee.

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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	320	66	4	8	400	24
KELLOGGS - RAISIN BRAN	380	92	2	10	420	36
Sage - Red Delicious Apple	95	25	0	1	2	19
	795	183	6	19	822	79
L U N C H
Pulled Pork Sandwich, 1 sandwich	440	58	13	19	1,080	18
Barrel O' Fun - Pretzel, Mini Twists	220	46	0	6	820	2
	660	104	13	25	1,900	20
D I N N E R
Noodles and co - Penne Rosa, 1 bowl	790	97	35	24	680	13
Noodles & Co - Chicken Noodle Soup	170	22	5	11	1,370	5
Add Food Quick Tools	960	119	40	35	2,050	18
S N A C K S
Cookies - Chocolate chip, soft-type	259	33	14	2	185	0
Add Food Quick Tools	259	33	14	2	185	0
Totals	2,674	440	73	80	4,956	117
Your Daily Goal	3,762	470	125	189	2,300	141
Remaining	1,088	30	51	108	-2,656	24
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,832 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	12	128
Walking	12	126
Walking	68	940
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	638
Daily Total / Goal	93 / 30	1,832 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	661 / 210	8,024 / 4,130

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It's been awhile since I have eaten at Noodles & Co.
Last evening I visited one of these franchises as it was just four blocks away from my hotel.
I am trying to remember: Would the 'old' me of 2015 driven there?
A rhetorical question if there ever was one.  Of course I would have driven there.

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TO ERR IS HUMAN, TO FORGIVE DIVINE

I have mastered the 'erring' part.
I have yet to take command of the 'divinity' part of this equation.

.All people commit sins and make mistakes. God forgives them, and people are acting in a godlike (divine) way when they forgive. This saying is from “An Essay on Criticism,” by Alexander Pope.

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Here I am sidelined, on the 'dl' (disabled list) for awhile.  My current thinking is that I might have a hernia.  If I am correct this will require surgery. It was wishful thinking on my part to imagine that it was only a groin pull that was the source of my discomfort. Tomorrow, Monday, I will call my doctor to make an appointment.  My error yesterday was eating too much. Very Human. I will chose to forgive myself, not so much from any 'divine' reason - mostly it would simply be so unhelpful not to forgive myself. Therefore, I chose to forgive myself for consuming more than 3000 calories yesterday.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, April 9, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 1 medium apple	95	25	0	1	2	19
Egg, whole, cooked, poached, 3 large	215	1	14	19	446	1
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 4 slices	140	2	12	8	600	0
Graham Cracker Original - Keebler	240	44	7	4	320	14
	690	72	34	31	1,367	33
L U N C H
Generic - Teriyaki Salmon Steaks, 9 oz	405	5	12	70	548	8
Dressed Baked Potato - Butter, Cheese & Bacon	498	48	28	19	625	2
Red Quinoa Salad, 8 ounce	343	41	17	7	601	8
	1,246	94	57	96	1,773	18
D I N N E R
Costco - Cheese Pizza, 2 SLICE	1,400	140	56	88	2,740	14
	1,400	140	56	88	2,740	14
Totals	3,336	306	147	215	5,881	65
Your Daily Goal	1,965	245	65	99	2,300	73
Remaining	-1,371	-60	-81	-116	-3,580	7
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 35 extra calories from exercise today

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WEIGHT LOSS PREDICTOR

Today I want to learn about the Pennington Weight Loss Predictor which was mentioned in the 3500 Calorie Myth article from WebMD that I referenced in yesterday's blog post. The first step on this journey of discovery is to find out what is Pennington. Here is their 'About Us' information from their webpage.

LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center puts science to work for a healthier Louisiana. A world research leader right here in Louisiana, our mission is to discover the triggers of chronic diseases through innovative research that improves human health across the lifespan. At the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the causes of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia, Pennington Biomedical is a campus of Louisiana State University and conducts basic, clinical and population research. The research enterprise at the center includes approximately 70 faculty and more than 15 post-doctoral fellows who comprise a network of 40 laboratories supported by lab technicians, nurses, dietitians and support personnel, and 13 highly specialized core service facilities. The center’s 450 employees perform research activities in state-of-the-art facilities on the 222-acre campus located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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The Pennington Weight Loss Predictor applet can be found on the Pennington website.  One enters their gender, age, height, weight and the number of calories to be subtracted from one's diet.
I entered male, 58, 218lbs, and 73inches and 500 calorie reduction.

The app assumed that a male 58 years old, 73" tall and 218 lbs that was neither gaining or losing weight was likely consuming 3457 calories.  The Predictor therefore predicts, that someone at this starting point who reduced their daily caloric intake by 500 calories could expect to lose nearly 15 lbs in one year.  The website give the formula used and I have posted it at the bottom of this post... It makes E=mc2 seem like kindergarten mathematics.

I punched in my gender, age, weight and height with a 600 calorie daily reductions and the Predictor indicates that I would finally dip below 200 lbs in one year.

Current intake is 3457 calories.

Month	Weight (lb)	Wt. Loss	% Loss
0	218.0	0.0	0.0
1	215.3	2.7	1.3
2	213.0	5.0	2.3
3	211.0	7.0	3.2
4	209.4	8.6	3.9
5	208.1	9.9	4.5
6	207.0	11.0	5.1
7	206.0	12.0	5.5
8	205.3	12.7	5.8
9	204.7	13.3	6.1
10	204.1	13.9	6.4
11	203.7	14.3	6.5
12	203.4	14.6	6.7

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (taken directly from the Pennington site)

Q: How is my current calorie intake at the bottom of the calculator determined?  

A: This estimate is determined using a formula that depends on your age, height, gender, and current weight. The formula assumes you are weight stable.  This means that you're not currently losing or gaining weight. 

Q: The current calorie intake at the bottom of the calculator seems a lot higher than what I think it should be.  Why?

A: The current intake formula was fit to data from a large group of individuals that varied in age, gender, height, and weight. However, despite the quality of the database, the formula still only explains about 60% of the variation in intake between individuals. What this means is that remaining 40% of the variation in calorie intake between individuals is due to factors other than age, height, gender, and weight. For example, variation may be due to how much routine physical activity you conduct on a daily basis or fluctuations in your weight that deviate from weight stability. With a physical examination and more direct clinical measurements, we could provide improved estimates than the one provided here with only knowledge of your age, height, weight, and gender.

Q: Does the calculator include the effect of my metabolism slowing during weight loss?

A: Yes, it does.  However, keep in mind that that the magnitude of calories conserved due to the slowing of your metabolism, referred to as “metabolic adaptation”, is not very large and ranges between  50 and 100 Calories per day.

Q: If the lack of weight loss I see is not due to the slowing of my metabolism, why am I not losing weight?

A: This is a challenging question whose answer may be dependent on an individual’s characteristics  that are out of the scope of a model's capacity to predict.  The best recommendation is to contact your healthcare provider and discuss your weight patterns with them..
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another successful 92 minute workout on the elliptical machine

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters	600	120	8	15	1,050	45
	600	120	8	15	1,050	45
L U N C H
Generic - Teriyaki Salmon Steaks, 6 oz	270	3	8	47	365	5
Generic - Grilled Brussel Sprouts	65	13	3	6	23	0
Generic - Southwest Roasted Corn	160	17	9	3	260	3
	495	33	20	55	648	8
D I N N E R
Trader Joe's - Pumpkin Soup	200	36	5	2	940	20
Brad's Raw Crunchy Kale - Nacho	330	30	23	13	350	5
Akmak - Cracker, 20 cracker	440	80	8	20	560	0
	970	146	36	35	1,850	25
S N A C K S
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters	480	96	6	12	840	36
WHOLE FOODS YOGURT PRETZELS	380	56	0	4	360	38
	860	152	6	16	1,200	74
Totals	2,925	451	69	121	4,748	152
Your Daily Goal	4,056	507	135	203	2,300	152
Remaining	1,131	56	66	82	-2,448	0
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,126 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	2,173
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-47
Daily Total / Goal	93 / 30	2,126 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	354 / 210	6,865 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 2925 calories

total calories burned (92 minutes elliptical) 2173 calories

total net calories 752 calories

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fitbit day 125

12089 steps
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I honestly wonder how many human beings on earth can look at this formula and know what it all means.  In case you are wondering...I am not one of them.

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This was reproduced directly from the Pennington website...

About the Model...

A validated dynamic mathematical energy balance model that predicts weight change (1) was developed from the energy balance equation based on the first law of thermodynamics (2) which states that the rate of energy stored/lost, ES, is equal to the difference of rate of energy intake, EI, and the rate of energy expended,EE,

ES = EI - EE

The model considered the rate of energy stored/lost as the rate of change of fat free mass (FFM) energy and fat mass energy (FM). The energy densities of FFM and FM, derived from chemical tissue analysis, is estimated as 1020 kcal/kg and 9500 kcal/kg respectively (3,4)
Hence:

ES = 1020	dFFM	+9500	dFM
	dt		dt

EE was modeled as the sum of resting metabolic rate (RMR), voluntary physical activity (PA), dietary induced thermogenesis (DIT), and spontaneous physical activity (SPA)

EE = RMR + PA + DIT + SPA

The non-linear function of weight, gender, and age proposed by Livingston and Kohlstadt (5) was applied for the RMR term (Table 1):

RMR = c_i W^pi -y_iA

where c_i ,p_i ,y_i are constants depending on gender: i = F,M. The Livingston-Kohlstadt model was developed using cross-sectional RMR subject data (N>600) and validated on over 700 subject data points (R² > 0.71).

PA is modeled by a term that is directly proportional to weight:

PA = mW

and DIT is modeled as a direct proportion of energy intake (6) :

DIT=0.075EI

SPA was related to total energy expenditures using both overfeeding and underfeeding experimental conclusions. Specifically, it was observed that

∆SPA=(2/3)∆EE

during weight loss (7-9) and

∆SPA=0.56∆EE

during weight gain (10).

Combining all terms yields the full one dimensional differential equation energy balance model:

FFM-FM equations developed from NHANES data (N>10,000) (13).

Females:
FFM = -72.1+ 2.5FM - 0.04A + 0.7H - 0.002FM(A) - 0.01FM(H) - 0.04FM² + 0.00003FM²A + 0.0000004FM⁴ + 0.0002FM³ + 0.0003FM²H - 0.000002FM³H
Males:
FFM = -71.7+ 3.6FM - 0.04A + 0.7H - 0.002FM(A) - 0.01FM(H) - 0.07FM² + 0.00003FM²A - 0.000002FM⁴ + 0.0006FM³ + 0.0003FM²H - 0.000002FM³H

FFM is related to FM through a model derived from the recently released National Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey (NHANES) (13) which contained over 10,000 dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measured body composition values, along with subject age, height race and gender (Table 1). We developed the FFM-FM relationship for specific use within the Heymsfield energy balance equation (15).

The model has been recently applied and validated as a tool to assess energy intake during weight loss (16).

1. D. M. Thomas, C. K. Martin, S. B. Heymsfield, L. M. Redman, D. A. Schoeller, et al, A simple model predicting individual weight change in humans. J. Biol. Dyn., in press (2010).
2. W.D. McArdle, F.J. Katch, V.L. Katch (eds). Exercise Physiology (Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD, 2009) [seventh edition].
3. S.B. Heymsfield, M. Waki, J. Kehayias, S. Lichtman S, F.A. Dilmanian, Y. Kamen, J. Wang J, R.N. Pierson Jr. Chemical and elemental analysis of humans in vivo using improved body composition models. Am. J. Physiol. 261, 191-198 (1991).
4. Y. Schutz, Glossary of energy terms and factors used for calculations of energy metabolism in human studies. Human Energy Metabolism: Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure Measurements in Epidemiological Research Based Upon Direct and Indirect Calorimetry. A. J. H. van Es, Ed. (The Hague, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1984). pp. 169-181.
5. E.H. Livingston, I. Kohlstadt, Simplified resting metabolic rate—predicting formulas for normal-sized and obese individuals. Obes. Res. 13, 1255-1262 (2005).
6. K.R. Westerterp, KR. Diet induced thermogenesis. Nutr. Metab. 1, 1-5 (2004).
7. S.B Roberts, I. Rosenberg, Nutrition and aging:changes in the regulation of energy metabolism with aging. Physiol. Rev. 86, 651-667 (2005).
8. L.G. Bandini, D.A. Schoeller, J. Edwards, V.R. Young, S.H. Oh, W.H. Dietz, Energy expenditure during carbohydrate overfeeding in obese and nonobese adolescents. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 256, E357-E36 (1989).
9. E.O. Diaz, A.M. Prentice, G.R. Goldberg, P.R. Murgatroyd, W.A. Coward, Metabolic response to experimental overfeeding in lean and overweight healthy volunteers. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 56, 641-655 (1993).
10. J.A Levine, L.M. Lanningham-Foster, S.K. McCrady, A.C. Krizan, L.R. Olson, P.H. Kane, M.D. Jensen, M.M. Clark, Interindividual variation in posture allocation: possible role in human obesity. Science 307, 530-531 (2005). 
11. L.K. Heilbronn, L. de Jonge, M.I. Frisard, J.P. DeLany, D.E. Larson-Meyer, J. Rood, T. Nguyen, C.K. Martin, J. Volaufova, M.M. Most, F.L Greenway, S.R. Smith, W.A. Deutsch, D.A. Williamson, E. Ravussin and Team, Pennington CALERIE. Effect of 6-Month Calorie Restriction on Biomarkers of Longevity, Metabolic Adaptation, and Oxidative Stress in Overweight Individuals. JAMA 295, 1539-48 (2006). 
12. S.B Racette, D.A. Schoeller, R.F. Kushner, K.M. Neil, K. Herling-Iaffaldano K. Effects of aerobicexercise and dietary carbohydrate on energy expenditure and body composition during weight reduction in obese women. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 61, 486-494 (1995).
13. G.L. Blackburn, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: where nutrition meets medicine for the benefit of health. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 78, 197 – 198 (2003).
14. D. Thomas, S. Das, J. Levine, C.K. Martin. L. Mayer, A. McDougall B.J. Strauss, S.B. Heymsfield, New fat free mass - fat mass model for use in physiological energy balance equations. Nutr. Metab. 7, 1-11 (2010).
15. D. M. Thomas, C. K. Martin, S. B. Heymsfield, L. M. Redman, D. A. Schoeller, et al, A simple model predicting individual weight change in humans. J. Biol. Dyn., in press (2010).
16. D. M. Thomas, D. A. Schoeller, L. A. Redman, C. K. Martin, J. A. Levine, et al, A computational model to determine energy intake during weight loss. Am. J. Clin. Nutr., doi:10.3945/ajcn.2010.29687 (2010). 

Disclaimer: Information provided by this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice specific to the reader's particular situation. The information is not to be used for diagnosing or treating any health concerns you may have. The reader is advised to seek prompt professional medical advice from a doctor or other healthcare practitioner about any health question, symptom, treatment, disease, or medical condition.

The java applet was made by Carl Bredlau and Steven Lettieri.