The half time chat & a culture of success

If this were a football game now would be when I'd be getting the chewing out from the coach and would probably be warming the bench for the 2nd half of the game.

This is not a football game. It us much more serious than that. Well, the seriousness of the situation might depend on the game but it is serious enough for me.

You don't have to smoke, drink, do drugs, cuss, take crazy chances or any of an assortment of bad habits, but you do have to eat.

Sugar may not be a drug but it sure is addictive.

The Paleo diet worked but not having grains to eat drove me nuts and I failed to stick with the diet.
Counting calories has not worked.
Avoiding my allergen foods has not worked.
Eating vegetarian has not worked.

I'm sure that many diets could work but none of them will work unless I do. Unless I stick to it.

Willpower alone is certainly not the answer. I avoid drugs, alcohol, and immorality by avoiding the people and places that would cause me to get involved with them. I don't allow it in my house and won't go near the stuff. Willpower has nothing to do with it. I have not been offered a cigarette or a drink in years because the people I am around know that I don't smoke or drink. Very few of them drink themselves and none of them do drugs that I know of. The church helps here. There are plenty of people and lots of clean activities. In fact, there is much more to do than you can possibly get done. If you don't go near the edge of the cliff you won't fall off of the cliff. Because of this commitment and the circles I run in avoiding these is easy.


Avoiding food is impossible and junk food is everywhere. You can't avoid being offered junk food because it is virtually everywhere. It is in the vending machine at work, on the break room table, in the Christmas gifts your co-workers bring you, at your children's birthday party, at the in-laws, and tempting you from the restaurant menu. At church activities the ice cream and brownies are waiting on the table to be consumed right after the prayer asking Heavenly Father to bless it to nourish and strengthen our bodies.

Somehow I don't have much faith that the prayer for the ice cream and brownies to nourish and strengthen our bodies will be answered.

The trick seems to be to build a culture of success around me. I can't really do a great deal to change who I associate with. My current commitments mean that I am mostly around my co-workers at work and my family and church associates after work. Work, children's lessons, Boy Scouts, church commitments, and family responsibilities mean that my circle of associates does not and cannot change much. However, these are people that are supportive of positive change. I could not really hope for a more supportive group. If I can just go for a few months without eating junk then the people around me will likely support me in keeping up good health habits. However, they have to know I am committed and won't bend.

So how do I get from here to there? Even one day is very difficult. A few months seems like an impossible task. 

Still Counting Calories

I am faithfully counting calories using the Spark People iPhone app. I am usually not staying under the 2000 calorie a day limit but I am keeping far below what I would if I were not counting calories.

Obstacles to Healthy Eating & Strategies to Overcome Them

Obstacles:

Hunger
Cravings
Social Pressure

Strategies:

Pack lunch the day before
Keep healthy snacks in the car, at work, and in my backpack

Leave money in the car. Do not take it in to work.

Make your goals public and enlist your family, friends, & co-workers help.

Keep a streak chart up at work.

No Sugar Day 1 am

I tried and failed last year but here goes again.

I took no money to work so I can't buy anything from the vending machine.

I have oatmeal & cinnamon, black rice, lots of frozen vegetables, mixed nuts, and some fruit in the lunch box.

Vending Machine Round 1 & Syrup

I forgot to leave all of the money home and had $1 so my craving drug me to the vending machine and ate a Snicker's bar. That said, according to the MyNetDiary app I'm still under my calorie budget.

I had syrup for dinner (with a few pancakes with it). 

The Evil Vending Machine

BMI 26.1
Calories 2387
Feeling: (Lousy = 0, Great = 10) 3
Feeling fat with heartburn

As with many days I started the day with a well provisioned lunch box. Stress & cravings at work contributed to my visiting the vending machine... four times. The vending machine is a major problem in my healthy eating objectives.

Tomorrow I'll solve this by taking no money to work.

No Progress but Hanging in

I've made no progress in my eating goals since the last post but I am not giving up.

BMI = 26.1

Scottevest One Year Update

After a year of owning my Scottevest the verdict is that I cannot recommend purchasing one.

The idea is good and it is a seriously innovative piece of clothing. The pockets are great and the styling looks good.

However, the materials are cheap and it distributes the weight in such a way that it pulls on the back of my neck even with virtually nothing in it. When loaded it pulls much worse. The pulling is better if the vest is zipped but it is not practical to keep it zipped most of the time.

The vest is fading over the zipper flaps and in other spots and I have only washed it once or twice. It looks more worn than it should for its age.

I say this with regret since it is clear that they put a great deal of work into the design of the vest. They just came up short on the quality and weight distribution.

Job Application & Counting Calories

I've spent hours digging up old information and working on the job application. No wonder I haven't progressed very rapidly in my career. It takes forever.

References? I hated my last job and my boss and I didn't exactly see eye to eye. All my time is spent with my family. I don't chum abound with anybody. I can't tip off my current boss that I'm looking for another job or things will go downhill rapidly in that relationship. I love my current job and don't want anything to mess up that relationship. I'm only going for the new job because I'd like to provide better for my children.

The trouble with this potential new job is that it would be challenging to say the least. It would be at the very limit of my abilities if not beyond them. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Counting calories is working. I had a bunch of M&M's in a gumball machine at work. I couldn't stay out of them so I gave them away. Had I not been counting calories I'd have binged on them thinking it would be the last time. If I guesstimated correctly, I still came in under the caloric limit.

Frozen vegetables are working well. Just warm them up and you have a healthy meal. I ate four servings of fruit and four servings of vegetables today.

BMI = 26

Coughing & some heartburn. I blame that on the chocolate. 

I hate filling out job applications

I've spent about four hours updating my resume and vitae and filling out a job application. Do you remember the exact date you were hired for your last job?

In the old days you sent in a resume and you could send the same resume to a dozen firms. Now you have to fill out one on their website for every job. It takes hours and 90% of the time the application process is a sham. Billy Bob has the job before it is opened. They just go though the motions.

And no you can't contact my current employer. Hello boss, yes, I'm looking for a new job.

That will get you in good with your current boss for sure.

Counting Calories is Working

I could not do it manually but with Lose It it is easy to count calories. I'm still eating too much most days but not nearly as much as I would without tracking my eating.

Counting Calories

After watching The Weight of the Nation on HBO.com I have been counting calories using an iPhone app called Lose It! The app makes it easy because you can scan the bar-code of most food items and it will bring up the item. Now I see why I like the peanut M & M's.

The Weight of the Nation

www.weightofthenation.hbo.com

It seems that I am not alone with my eating habits problem.

Heroic commitments haven't worked so I'm taking one day at a time with the focus on avoiding processed food or at least greatly reducing it. Yesterday I was mostly successful and the GERD was much better. Today was a little worse but still not as bad as the past.

BMI = 26.1

GERD Elimination Plan Take 2

I think I was on the right track before. See here.

As Fat as Ever

All efforts have resulted in failure. The heartburn is still bad and I'm as fat as ever.

Canada Health Eating Plan & Sparkpeople.com

Since the USDA's main job is to sell agricultural products, I'm going with Canada's diet recommendations.

I got all of the servings yesterday and am well on the way today.

I am also tracking calories using SparkPeople.com

My reflux is not doing well.

BMI = 27.1