BACK ON TRACK

Last week I had my first snack when I was bingeing on apples.   This morning, instead of having my regular breakfast I again was bingeing on apples.  That's enough.  An apple a couple of times per week would be fine - but eating 4 of them within an hour or so is simply not a great idea.

For dinner, my family went on a shopping excursion to Mariano's Supermarket and I returned home with scallops and shrimp among a couple of other new treats.  My wife prepared a delicious feast for me - lots of food - great variety - great taste - and low calorie!

I started with my SPINACH SALAD and added to it were 8 cherry tomatoes, hearts of palm, and mushrooms.  In order to give the salad another fresh taste we added some sliced beets.  Even with all these ingredients the entire salad was still only about 90 calories.   My dinner included two cups of MISO SOUP and that is only 90 calories.

I tried something else that looked interesting when I saw it on the supermarket shelf - CRACOVIA CUCUMBER SALAD (imported from Poland)   100 grams of this cucumber salad is a grand total of 10 calories and it was tasty too!

Although I actually enjoy canned asparagus - fresh asparagus is much better.  These are foods that I can enjoy without guilt.

My entre' was a delectable mixture of bay scallops, shrimp and one giant sea scallop.  This type of seafood is low calorie.   My wife prepared it with some garlic seasoning.  The seafood portion of my meal was only 220 calories.

THIS ENTIRE FEAST WAS 459 CALORIES.  My wife worked hard to prepare this meal and it was healthy, delicious and low calorie!   Tomorrow night I will have practically the same meal as only half of what we purchased was consumed - but it has already all been cooked.  

AMAZINGLY HEALTHY, BIG, TASTY and LOW CALORIE DINNER - 459 CALORIES!

I have felt a bit down the last two days - I was really ticked off at the unreliability of my scale (or is it the unreliability of my body?) that somehow showed my weight 8 lbs more from one week to the next.  I still cannot explain it.  At least one day later, my weight retreated another two pounds.  So although I have had this setback - and although I have been ticked off - I think I should remember that even after this - MY WEIGHT LOSS SINCE DECEMBER 24th 2014 is 90 pounds.  SOMETHING I SHOULD BE PROUD OF and SOMETHING THAT I AM PROUD OF!  

Apple bingeing is no longer on my itinerary - and I am back on track!

SUNDAY MENU

breakfast  4 GALA apples                                                                             320 calories

lunch         Chicken with Rice Soup, canned asparagus spears

                  spinach salad w/albacore tuna, tomato                                      545 calories

dinner      spinach salad, w/hearts of palm, tomato, mushrooms, beets

                  Miso soup, cucumber salad, asparagus spears

                 3 ounces shrimp, 3 ounces bay scallops, one giant sea scallop   459 calories

TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 1324 CALORIES

calories burned

7PM elliptical 32 minutes 455 calories

SUNDAY NET CALORIES 869 CALORIES

CRACOVIA CUCUMBER SALAD in Vinegar Brine
100 grams are only 10 calories

GLUTTONY

As I reported on March 4th, I recently discovered the CUT THE FAT podcast available on Apple iTunes.   On the CUT THE FAT podcast,  Episode 28, The 12 Principles of Fat Loss - Part I (originally released October 7, 2010)  I heard something which I thought was very interesting from one of the hosts, Dr. Ray Hinish.

Dr. Hinish was talking about the three 'settings' that our stomach has.

I'M STARVING
I'M FULL, BUT I CAN EAT MORE
I'M STUFFED

He explained that the sensation of 'starving' is the same whether you have not had a meal in 8 hours or not had a meal in 24 hours.  He said, "Once you reach the starving level, you just can't get any hungrier."  If you think about it, it is true.

He defined the 'stuffed' level as the condition where if one were to eat more, they might actually vomit.  This is the level that too many of might agree we reach at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Looking back, I was apparently striving for this level everytime I went back for 'seconds' (or 'thirds') at home, or went to any buffet or all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant.  I was never satisfied, changing my hunger from 'starvation' to full - I always went further.  I did actually eat until I could literally eat no more. It didn't matter how full I was, when there is free food, or unlimited food on hand - I wanted 'my share'. This is very destructive behaviour and I will not be behaving that way anymore.

The level, 'I'm full, but I can eat more' is self-explanatory.   We must train ourselves to stop eating when we are full, when we are sated.  This is an area where I used to be woefully inadequate.  The trick to eating (and it is not a trick at all) is simply to stop eating when we are satisfied. And it is important to feel satisfied long before we are stuffed.   

Wisdom often seems so much like common sense.  However, if this particular wisdom was common, the vast majority of overweight and obese people walking around would be a lot thinner.  

Two ways to insure that we are satisfied long before we stuff ourselves is to:

EAT SLOWLY - It takes twenty minutes for the stomach to signal to the brain that it has been satisfied.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MEAL WHILE YOU ARE EATING IT - distractions block satiety signals to the brain.

Dos Equis spokesman, 'The most interesting man in the world'  

ONE OF 'THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS'...GLUTTONY (TRY TO AVOID IT)  TRY HARD.

glut·ton·y   ˈɡlətnē/

noun     habitual greed or excess in eating.

1. synonyms:

   greed, greediness, overeating, gourmandism, gourmandizing, voracity, insatiability; informal piggishness "the gluttony you displayed last evening was reprehensible"

HOMER SIMPSON being physically removed from an ALL YOU CAN EAT SEAFOOD RESTAURANT as he simply would not stop eating. He sued the restaurant.  On the witness stand, Homer's wife, Marge, had to tearfully testify that after being tossed out of the ALL YOU CAN EAT SEAFOOD RESTAURANT - HOMER WENT FISHING!  (There might have been a couple of times when a restaurant might have wanted to kick me out - although it never did actually happen to me.)

MONDAY MENU 

breakfast  cup oatmeal w/prune, two turkey sausages, two poached eggs           360 calories
lunch       JASON'S DELI SPICY SEAFOOD GUMBO - BOWL                      301 calories
dinner      JIMMY JOHN'S  #14 bootlegger club unwich w/mustard                  280 calories

total calories consumed   941 calories

CALORIES BURNED
6AM  home elliptical machine 35 minutes    450 calories

MONDAY NET CALORIES   491 CALORIES

I was particularly out of control at a buffet.  I virtually never considered a meal complete until I was stuffed. It all seems so ridiculous now. 

This cartoon captures my old self only too well.
FLYING BUTTONS...so appropriate for me as I am a button salesman!
(My wife, Jennifer, found this excellent cartoon. Thank you, Jennifer)

Why does this bear look so angry?  

MY NEW FAVORITE RESTAURANT

Jason's Deli is fast becoming my new favorite restaurant.   There are only a handful of cities in the midwest where I travel that I can visit them.  I will be visiting a Jason's Deli as often as possible when I am traveling away from home.  The amazing thing is that there is one of these gems 1.5 miles (2.4km) from my home in Chicago.  I have never even seen it, certainly I have never noticed it before.  I will surely be checking it out soon.  This has been an introduction to announce that I ate lunch at Jason's Deli again today:

Amy's Turkey-O Half Sandwich           240 CALORIES
Spicy Seafood Gumbo Soup Bowl         230 CALORIES
                           TOTAL LUNCH          470 CALORIES   $9.16

I have never before purposely ordered anything anywhere that was labeled as spicy.   Either this Gumbo was not very spicy, or I am not quite as totally intolerant to spicy foods as I previously thought.   Perhaps it makes a difference that I was eating it slowly and really trying to savor it.
Tomorrow is Friday.  I will be driving back home to be with my family over the weekend.  I am eager to get on the scale on Saturday morning to measure my results this past week.   Metaphorically speaking, I expect to be nearing Interstate Highway 290.  (290 lbs, that is.)

Jason's Deli: Amy's Half Turkey & Spicy Seafood Gumbo Bowl 470 CALORIES