Books: Finally Thin! by Kim Bensen

Kim Bensen is very unusual - one of the true diet heroes. She lost over 200 pounds and has kept it off. Her book is about motivation and techniques. Her own story is inspirational - too many people who write diet books have never had a serious weight problem. I found it very interesting that she was an experienced and accomplished dieter - she was a classic yo-yo gaining and losing 20 or more pounds at a shot - until she finally lost control and was truly truly fat for some years. The interesting point is what finally gave her the final motivation to keep it off - her husband's health problems rather than her own. And what was different in her final approach - the realization that it would be forever, not for some defined period of time. So the first part of the book is her story.

The next part of the book is her 10 techniques to be able to do it.  Her techniques are simliar to others - plan, have a buddy, plan, and exercise. Nothing eye opening and no silver bullets.  I find the constant reinforcement of the steps and the work to be helpful in my own motivation. She followed Weight Watchers and is now employed by Weight Watchers, but isn't hung up on them as the only way to do it.

No diet book is complete without meal plans and recipes, so she includes some of those.She is big into using "lite" or fat-free versions of ingredients, something which has little appeal to me. (I'd rather have a recipe built from the ground up without oil or cream rather than a cornstarch infused fake ingredient.) She also has a foray into marketing her own brand of foods, Kim's Light Bagels. Since I'm not a bagel fan I haven't thought about going there.

One of her very specific tips has to do with planning: "Know before you go".  Figure out what you will eat at a restaurant before you get there. Easy to do at chain restaurants, where nutrition information is generally available (and linked from her website, Kimbensen.com). Much harder to do at more interesting unique restaurants. Often there is a menu posted on the web, (and often the menu is out of date, I've found) but the nutrition information is your own guess.  Bensen's point is there is a lot of hidden calories in the food and you need to ferret it out before you get there. Plan your choices and their calories into your day's eating plan.  Worthwhile advice.  I followed the links from her website to Quiznos, where I was shocked to find out the Chicken Caesar Salad has nearly twice the calories of the Black and Bleu Salad. I'll definitely be changing my future choices since it's close to my office.

Overall, an easy read. I'll probably refer occasionally back to her 10 steps for tips, so worth owning.

Kim's 10 steps:
1. Choose the diet that's right for you.
2. Set your goals.
3. Plan.
4. Make over your environment.
5. Gather your support.
6. Exercise.
7. Learn to eat light.
8. Learn to handle temptation.
9. Keep yourself motivated.
10. Make it for life.

What a difference a pound makes - Sad reprise

So here I am, flushed with exercise, just from the shower where I have my daily weigh-in. All week, I've felt like I was dieting. I plannned my eating, logged every bite that passed my lips, checked in with this my diet buddy, gave myself credit for the good stuff and forgave myself for the bad stuff, and really really upped the activity. So imagine my surprise this morning to see the exact same number as on Sunday!  I thought I was peeing like a banshee this morning so I truly expected it to be down. (I believe that water is responsible for daily fluctuations and I know sometimes I'm losing fat but changing it to water and then the weight comes flooding off all at once.)

Here's my weekly weight fluctuation (from Sunday's base)
Sunday ...... 0.0
Monday.....-0.5
Tuesday.....-1.5
Wednesday-1.5
Thursday....-1.0
Friday  ......-0.5
Saturday ....0.0

So did I start adding water in the middle of the week?  The exercise was all week long, with none on Tues or Thursday. The most number of calories I ate was 1650, on Thursday. I should have burned more calories every day than I ate - including Thursday. So what's up?  My discouragement is almost like a physical blow. I am going to shake it off here, but I let me dwell in the feeling for just a moment.... OK. I'm back.

I can control my exercise and I can control my eating. I cannot control my weight.  Remind me of that constantly.  Exercise is everything, and I am exercising away.  Reward myself for those things I can control, not those I can't. Give myself credit, and believe there will be a payoff eventually.

Do I make changes? Swear off red meat? Go strictly Atkins and give up my single evening treat? What I should not do is swear to make changes that will be impossible to live up to.  I can control what I eat, but I am cooking for and eating with others. Don't make the standard so high that only superwoman could live up to it.  Let me explore menu choices I can share with the family, and up the vegetable component of my non-family meals.

The single best thing is to keep up the exercise. If I have to choose between Fat and Fit versus Thin and Weak, clearly I want the fit.  My reasons for doing this emphasize the choice - go back and look at them.  And add to the reasons with pointed, specific reasons:

• I have a cruise in March to the Caribbean. I'm not sure my summer clothes will fit me. I want to look ok for the cruise (there will be photos) more importantly, I want to have a good time on the ship and shore excursions - I want to feel the energy to do these things.

• I can see my kayak from where I sit.  I want to be able to really enjoy the kayak.  Strength and flexibility are critical to being able to get out there and have fun.

Focus on what I can control, and control it. I feel good from the exercise, and if I ignored what I eat, I would still feel good from the exercise.  But I'm going to plan what I eat, and start to plan out the week. I want to introduce one new meal to the family that will be good for me. (Shrimp based? or Chicken-based?)  Since I have the night off, buy fixings for breakfast and lunch choices make-aheads, and then MAKE THEM.

Time to get moving out of the house.

Is Sleep the Chicken or the Egg?

I already declared "exercise is everything" but sleep sure makes a big difference.  In theory, exercise will make you sleep better - but I have to say my personal experience rarely lives up to that. On the other hand this morning, I woke refreshed after a slug of a previous day, and I started with floor exercises and weights and suddenly found myself on the NT moving briskly - without really planning to! It was all a function of the good rest I had last night.

So I got to work a little early, well rested, and smug with exercise euphoria. My body has been feeling the good feeling of muscles being worked, and the good soreness that comes from a thorough workout. I know I like the feeling; I hope I can capture the feeling here and in my mind and use it to keep going.

I need an exercise PLAN

I'm thinking about a few minutes with weights and floor exercises.... but I'm not sure exactly what routine to do, which of the hundreds of moves I've learned are the ones I should pick this morning. Just one more little obstacle, especially first thing in the morning when I'm not thinking clearly.

I need an exercise plan or program, just as I have an eating plan. I have several books on exercise, many of them old. There doubtless are things available on the internet, and new books that have been published. So my next step is to devise a plan, either right from a book or one of my own - but write it down and have it to look at every day.  Very first step is simply to browse my own bookshelf full of exercise books.

French Fries

I made some French Fries for dinner tonight. Not my idea- they were out and ready to be made when I showed up to cook. The last batch a couple of days ago in the oven were no good so I made them like Mom used to make-in the skillet with some vegetable oil. They got crispy, I salted them, and they were Good. I kept at them. Then I ate more steak. I was careening out of control... But then I stopped. A clementine, and then I was done. Not great, but not something to cringe about. I'm not uncomfortably full, and because I walked for over an hour at lunch I'm probably even negative net calories for the day.

Could have been worse.


- iPhone uPdate

One Pound makes a difference

What a relief!  After about a week of the scale reading the exact same thing, today at last it was down a pound. Amazing what a difference it makes - it energizes me, motivates me. I want to keep going.

I have been practicing the Beck skill set. I'm planning my eating for the whole day in advance.  I'm giving myself credit when I do the right thing (just decided to stick with the single chocolate square, not going for another even though its only 35 calories).  According to the on-line database I'm using, my calories per day have been quite low for the last five days I've been meticulous about recording. I'm measuring my actual portion sizes, and generous in estimating size when I can't measure.

But I'm struggling with finding the time for the exercise.  Tomorrow there is a big stuffy conference lunch and I think I'm going to take a walk instead. It's supposed to be nice out, and I'll wear some all purpose shoes. Not vigorous, but sustained for most of an hour. I need to plan to eat something then.  Or maybe not - maybe it'll be time for the not eating experiment.  But maybe not the experiment - the afternoon will be spent in a confined room with snacks brought in. I don't want to set myself up for failure.

I'm really disciplined, with other things going on around me. Let's see if it pays off.

Exercise is everything

Like this this news to anyone!  I love exercise! I love what it does for me in every way!  So why don't I actually do it more often?

Today was the first day in a long time I did vigorous exercise.  Wii is fun, and the games are challenging and engaging, but I haven't seen my heart rate go above 100, even on the so-called aerobic games.  Vigorous exercise, on the NordicTrak with the heart rate above 125, really is what it takes to get the exercise high going.  I did a minimal session - only 15 minutes - but now, 45 minutes later, I'm still feeling the good effects. I followed it up floor exercises and weights. I feel good from head to toe, and I feel my abs building themselves up in strength.

Exercise does more for my immediate physical state, my immediate mental state, and my self-esteem, than anything else I can do. So why don't I do it more often? I need to capture and remember and remind myself of this euphoria. Motivation can come from the personal connection to the feelings. I have been thinking about milder forms of exercise - walking and wii and dance dance revolution -and those are good, but my current state of mind motivates me to actually get it moving more, and more often.

But motivation also demands the practical arrangements to make it possible. Yesterday, I was focused on all I had to do. I felt pretty good about what I got done and how I engaged with the kids. But how would I have managed yesterday to work in some vigorous exercise?  There is no exercise equipment at the kids house. I would have had to carve out time from my house. But I so value my time to just sit, especially on weekend morning. I love the silence. Do I love this exercise high enough to erode that time?  I don't think that late at night is OK for the NT. It works for the wii - I did it last night for a half hour around 10 pm, and I definitely turned the light off an hour or so later than I would have otherwise. The NT would have an even bigger effect on falling asleep.

I continue to figure the most likely time to find in my day is the time after I am awake in the morning but before I get up. I doze for up to an hour from when the alarm first goes off. That can't be quality sleep time, and yet I so crave sleep. I'm going to start analyzing my patterns more and look for opportunities to work this in.  This is the conumdrum of my life.