Thursday, June 9, 2016

TRIBUTE TO OLYMPIC ATHLETES

Yesterday morning, my first appointment was in a small town called Virden. I decided to spend Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Illinois. Jacksonville is an unremarkable small city in Illinois. Unlike two days ago when I began a morning walk in the pre-dawn hours, yesterday I began my walk at sunrise. By 8:15AM I was back in my room, having already taken a 2.5 hour hike of 11.36 miles. I passed lots of farmland, a Nestlés processing plant, a couple of parks and schools - but not much else. Still it was a great feeling to have 'banked' 20,000 fitbit steps before most people have their first cup of coffee in the morning.

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It wasn't until I arrived in Champaign to settle into yet another hotel, that I finally found something interesting. I arrived at my hotel around 7:00PM and there was still enough sunlight to take an evening walk. So I did. During my urban hike, I 'discovered' the Champaign Park District Tribute to Olympic Athletes.

from wikipedia...

The "Tribute to Olympic Athletes" was created to honor those residents of Champaign County who have competed in the Olympics. To date 41 athletes are commemorated on the monument since the tribute's dedication on July 4, 1991. The monument consists of several rising plateaus forming a walkway leading to a large granite gateway. Beyond the gateway a pedestal overlooking the playing fields in Dodds Park is inscribed with the names of those who have represented Champaign County in the Olympics.

This is my long shadow as it was very late in the day.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker Oats - Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	320	66	4	8	400	24
Kelloggs - Raisin Bran Cereal	380	92	2	10	420	36
Generic - Biscuit and Gravy	400	61	44	17	1,380	12
Super 8 Cinnamon Roll - Cinnamon Roll, 1 roll (92g)	310	48	15	4	550	25
	1,410	267	65	39	2,750	97
L U N C H
Banana - Banana, 3 medium banana	372	90	0	3	3	57
	372	90	0	3	3	57
D I N N E R
Roast Beef & Turkey W/Pepper Jack Cheese on Honey Berry Bread, 2 sandwich	620	66	20	44	2,600	12
Essential Everyday - Raisins	260	64	0	2	0	48
	880	130	20	46	2,600	60
S N A C K S
Fiber One - Chocolate Chip Chewy Bar, 2 bar (36g)	280	58	8	4	180	14
	280	58	8	4	180	14

Totals	2,942	545	93	92	5,533	228
Your Daily Goal	4,811	601	160	241	2,300	180
Remaining	1,869	56	67	148	-3,232	-48
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,881 extra calories from exercise today

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	150	2,205
Walking	73	1,061
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-385


Daily Total / Goal	224 / 30	2,881 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	614 / 210	7,518 / 4,130

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

UNEVENTFUL VISIT WITH MY DOCTOR

My visit with Dr. Tenhundfeld today was anti-climactic. I had previously surprised him back on February 20th when my weight had already dropped more than 50 pounds. Today when I stepped on his doctors' scale, with clothes on, my weight registered 217.2 lbs. This is in contrast to my first weigh-in back on December 24th, 2014 when the scale yelled back at me 313 lbs. I have lost about 95 pounds since December 24th.

My vitals were checked today:
blood pressure 132/76
resting heart rate 65 bpm (On Feb 20 this was 67. Five months ago, Dec 24, 2014 it was 75)
Exercise, not essential to weight loss, IS UNAMBIGUOUSLY GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.
temperature 98.3°F

I asked the doctor about my resting heart rate. He described it as the heart rate of someone who is athletic. I confess, that this made me feel very good. He didn't say this was the heart rate of an Olympic athlete - just someone who is 'athletic.' No one was thinking of using the word, athletic, to describe me last year as my weight soared over 300 lbs.

I let the doctor know that I have discontinued my 1000 calorie per day program and now I will be trying to lose weight, but more more slowly with a caloric intake approaching 1800 per day. On one hand this seems like quite a high number to me - but I must remember that last year I was consuming 2000 calories sometimes before 8AM in the morning! There is no question that I have made some lifestyle changes that have stuck.

I am going to allow myself snacks between meals. I think I will try to limit a snack to a couple of apples - although I need to investigate what kind of higher protein items I can snack on as well.

I asked the doctor if there were any other dietary supplements that I should consider and he didn't think anything was required. He did suggest that I add a daily 'baby aspirin' (81 milligrams) to my program each day. This small amount of aspirin is prescribed as a defense against heart attack. Apparently a normal dose of aspirin that one takes for headaches and other pains would be much too high a dosage for everyday consumption as it could have other deleterious effects.

As it has been nearly 10 years since my initial colonoscopy, a second colonoscopy was suggested as I am now approaching 60 years old (I am still 57)

My next follow-up exam has been scheduled for an additional six months in the future, November 2.
And that's pretty much it. This visit was quite short, as there were no particular issues to discuss.

MONDAY MENU

breakfast skipped breakfast in order to be in a 'fasting state' for blood work that was ordered.
lunch spinach salad w/hearts of palm, beets, mushrooms, artichokes, tomato
Chicken Tortilla Soup, Cracovia Cucumber Salad
Trader Joe's Premium Salmon Burger, 56 almonds 682 calories
dinner spinach salad w/hearts of palm, beets, mushrooms, artichokes, tomato
Trader Joe's Turkey Burger, Zucchini Pancake, creamy Portobello Soup
56 almonds 819 calories

MONDAY CALORIE CONSUMPTION 1501 CALORIES

calories burned
630PM elliptical 32 minutes 484 calories

MONDAY NET CALORIES 1017 CALORIES

PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM SOUP

My continuing search for new foods that I have never had continued this evening. Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup looked like a bowl of mud when served. However, it tasted fine and is extremely low calorie. One cup of this soup is only 70 calories. I had a bowl (two cups) which added only 140 calories.