A little post-Christmas, pre-New Years reflecting:

When I make peanut butter toast for my kids I spread a very thin dollop of peanut butter on one slice of bread. When I make peanut butter toast for myself I spread as much peanut butter as my knife will hold and I slather on it two slices of bread, usually just making a sandwich out of it, maybe even slicing some bananas on to it or if I am feeling particularly rambunctious – some bacon. Why do I do that?

Sometimes when I am hungry I'll find myself grazing in the pantry. I'll have some crunchy chips, then contrast that with some yogurt. At some point I'll send up with something sweet like chocolate. You would think that would be the end of it, right? Sweet to end the grazing run? But no – I'll often start the cycle right back up with salty again. Why do I do that?

Monday's are a great day to start a new routine. I can't tell you how many times I have done a nice amount of exercise on a Monday, or limited my food very well on a Monday, or did just about whatever I said I was going to do each day of the week on a Monday. Yet on Tuesday I'm back to my old habits. Why do I do that?

I know there is no reason to wait until January 1st to start being healthy, that I should just start whenever it is I get to thinking that I should start. I know that I shouldn't have a "last good meal" before starting to eat better. I know that I shouldn't wait to start my diet until the weight loss contest at work starts. I know all these things yet I tend to do them anyway. Why do I do that?

I know that I eat too fast and that when I eat too fast I tend to eat too much. I know that buffets are terrible for me. I know that I'll get full eating appetizers at a party yet I'll have a full dinner anyway. Why do I do that?

I know how good I feel when I exercise, yet I don't.

I know how good I feel when I fit into my clothes, yet I'm not doing anything about it.

I know how good it feels to have people complement me when I have lost weight, yet I can't use that to inspire me.

I know I need to get healthy to be here for my family, yet I'm not making the changes I need to make.

Why don't I do that?

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Why Do I Do The Things That I Do?

I am hesitating to even write this post on the off chance that some of my readers don't know Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman – her cooking site, The Pioneer Woman Cooks is not a site for anyone trying to lose weight. I try to stay away but I am drawn back daily by her tantalizing, butter laden, recipes. Not to mention her giveaways! The top prize of $250 cash in my weight loss blog contest this month is nothing compared to Ree, who routinely gives away thousands of dollars worth of stuff.

I thought I was being so good. My wife was hosting a bunco party and I thought Ree's Peanut Butter pie that I had just read about would make a great dessert to surprise my wife with. So after work I bought the few ingredients needed (it really is a simple pie) and after she went to bed I went to work making this lovely creation (the picture here is Ree's, not mine – even though I do have a new camera, a Canon EOS 50D, I am not yet ready to start shooting food photography).

I did a great job while making the pie, very little nibbling. I will admit only to a couple of Oreos, a lick of the peanut butter knife and a couple of samplings of the filling. In general I did pretty good. After the pie was done I wrapped it up, stuck it in the refrigerator and expected that the next time I saw the pie tin it would be empty after the party so I wouldn't be tempted to dig in myself.

Wrong.

As it turns out, bunco parties are more about drinking wine than eating much food. My pie stayed in the refrigerator and didn't get touched! My daughter, who helped me make it, said we should each have a small slice and I agreed with her – so we tried a little bit of the rich chilled pie. And it was good. But rich, oh my.

The next morning my wife said that she would bring the pie to work so as not to have it sitting around the house where she knew I would probably end up eating the whole thing. I was glad to be rid of the horrible, nasty thing (I mean that in a good way!).

But when I got home from work last night there it was, my nemesis, sitting in the refrigerator. It didn't leave the house and now I have this wonderful tasty thing tempting me. I had a slice after dinner. It was devine. Very rich, thin slices are in order. I didn't have a thin slice. I've got to find someone else who will eat this thing, or it is going to get eaten by me slice by wonderful slice.

Help!

P.S. – Just to show you how bad I am I have already formulated a couple of different related pies I have every intention of making just because I want to see how my creativity works – substitute ripe bananas for the peanut butter and vanilla wafers for the Oreos and I'll bet you have one heck of a pie. Or Nutella for the peanut butter and graham crackers for the Oreos. Yummy. Help!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Ree Drummond is the Devil – Peanut Butter Pie is Sin

I had just finished up a little shopping with my son tonight (a TaylorMade Men's Burner Rescue Utility Wood for me, but nothing for him because they were out of the kids' sets in his size) when I got the call from my wife that one of her friends was stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire. So of course I drove over to help, although I was pretty sure some good Samaritan would have already helped her in the 20 minutes it took for me to get there but I was wrong – there she sat in her minivan with a good ole flat tire.

I parked my car, set the hazard lights and got to work. She drove a Dodge Caravan with the spare tire held under the van and held in place with some sort of cable system that required me to use the lug wrench to lower the tire to the ground. I must have turned that thing a couple hundred revolutions and it just wasn't coming down. The idea of the cable was so that you didn't actually have to go under the van – the idea was the tire would drop to the ground and you would then pull it out by the cable but I suspect 7 years of storage had caused it to lock up and I ended up having to wiggle it from underneath – and almost breaking a finger for my troubles when the tire finally came down.

At this point I was already pretty tired – way too much work just to get the spare out. And it didn't help that I had fast food for dinner (chicken club at McDonald's, with fries – ish), so I was already starting to feel a little icky.

The rest of the operation was pretty standard – loosen the lug nuts while the tire was still touching the ground, jacking the car up enough to get the flat tire off and the spare on, getting it off the jack and tightening everything up. It's the dirtiest and most tired I have been for a long time and it took me way too long to recover from it. After 30 minutes when we got home my heartrate was normal but my stomach was really not feeling well and I would say it was over an hour before I felt normal.

All from changing a tire. That aint right.

We know I've got some work to do. Playing golf tomorrow but I'll be riding in a cart so that won't help much. I will try to just drink water.

Try, try, try – that's what I've got to keep doing.

I just hope I don't have to change any more tires any time soon.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Changing a Tire Should Be Easier Than This

A few days after I wrote my post questioning whether I could have Deep Vein Thrombosis I went ahead and scheduled a doctor's appointment since my sore and swollen calf had not been getting any better. As this week progresses and it started to feel a little better I thought about canceling the appointment but I decided not too – even though it was not as sore as it had been there is no question that it was still getting swollen every day and that something was not right. Best to have it checked out.

Yesterday I had the appointment with my doctor and after getting everything checked out she scheduled me for an ultrasound later in the day, in order to officially rule out DVT as a possibility. According to her there were a couple of possibilities for what was causing my swollen calf – DVT or swelling in the injured knee that was constricting the vein in some manner. So the ultrasound would be used to eliminate DVT as a problem.

The only ultrasounds I've seen where on my wife's pregnant belly but this was pretty much the same – get lubed up with some warm gell and have a transducer run up and down the leg. It was interesting when she would squeeze my calf you could hear these noises coming from the machine which I guess was bloodflow, not a baby.

The technician who did the ultrasound told me she didn't see any clots and my doctor later confirmed it. Prescription? Ice, elevation and support socks or Ace bandage. I feel good to know it isn't DVT, going on blood thinners and worrying about the clot breaking free did not sound like something I wanted to go through. So, thanks for everyone who pushed me to get it checked out – I'm good to go.

Need to learn more about DVT and leg health? Check out the blog A Lighter Vein that focuses on leg health issues such as veins and blood clots.

On another note, I was contacted by a casting agency looking to cast for a new show. I thought it could be interesting for some of my readers. Here is how they describe it:

"LOVE HANDLES"

Now Casting Brand New Show!!

Doron Ofir Casting in association with 495 Productions is currently casting overweight couples who are at least the age of 18 and appear younger than 35 to compete in the dramatic new weight-loss and relationship competition series.

Think you both have what it takes to get healthy and re-ignite the romance in your relationship? Can you work together and as a team and strengthen not only your body but your relationship too?

One couple will go home with the grand prize, starting their new, healthier life.

We want to hear from you!

Please go to www.lovehandlescasting.com and submit your application today!!

Let me know by leaving a comment here if you apply and of course if you make the show.

Finally, don't forget about my June Weight Loss Blog Contest with a top prize of $250 in pure cash. So far there have been only 14 entries so your odds of winning one of seven prizes (2nd and 3rd is cash money too!) is pretty good. Read the rules for how to maximize your entries. So far only one person has earned the maximum 4 entries.

Good Health!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Catching Up on a Few Things Including DVT

One of my favorite weight loss blogs is Escape from Obesity. Lyn is an incredible writer who is prolific in both the quantity and quality of her posts. She always seems to hit the nail on the head for me. I've been reading her for some time through RSS but for some reason had not mentioned her before or added her to my blogroll. I fixed both of those things today. Go give her a read if you haven't already.

Yesterday Lyn wrote a really inspired post called The Deep Issues Behind the Fat in which she characterized two different kinds of people trying to lose weight:

The more time I spend working out my own escape from obesity, the more I am convinced that there are (at least) two kinds of people trying to lose weight. There's people who don't really understand or are not focused on the principles of good nutrition… who just plain eat the wrong kinds of food in the wrong amounts because they taste good. One day they wake up and say, "I really want to lose weight!" They figure out how to change their eating and start moving, and they pretty much just DO it. They start eating chicken and broccoli and apples, they get on the treadmill an hour a day, an after months of work they have lost the weight. Period. Then there are the people who, even after they *know* how and what to do, they stumble and straggle and suffer along, maybe losing weight, maybe not… regaining, losing, struggling, and wondering, "WHY can't I lose weight and keep it off?" They see the people in the first category, who report that they just "decided" to lose weight and were "determined" to do it, and they think, what is wrong with me, that I cannot do what they did? And they usually stay fat or, if they do lose weight, regain it all within a few years.

Like Lyn, I find myself in the second category. I'll tell myself (and my readers!) that I know what it takes to lose the weight but that I am struggling with willpower or dedication or a myriad of other issues. But ultimately I wonder if it isn't about engagement. Am I truly engaged with the concept of living a better life?

Lyn opines that the issue is one of being "checked out" where we seek food unconsciously in response to something that is bothering us, similarly to how an alchoholic or a drug addict uses their vices. The idea that we overeat as an addicition isn't new, but to me the concept of thinking about this is a means of "checking out" is. I can relate to the idea of "checking out" and can invision what it's counterpart, being "checked in" is like. Again, I see it is being engaged in the process and having a radar focus on what you are trying to achieve, and not letting life just happen to you which I think is what happens when you are "checked out"

Take a look at what she wrote and see if you see any of yourself in there. Could your problem be that you need to check in to life?

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Are You Checked Out?

As my faithful readers know, I have been in the slump to end all slumps. Thank you for the support you showed on my last post, I Am The World's Worst Weight Loss Blogger. I have yet to figure out all the pieces I need to shake out of this slump, but in the end I know what I need to do and I just have to figure out how to start doing it. You guys are helping even though it may not seem like it at times.

So I thought I would use the opportunity to document some things I have learned on the way back up – not the journey I had intended to take but I did and I need to learn from it. Here are 5 Things I Have Learned Since Gaining The Weight Back:

1. I think about re-starting the diet at the wrong times.
It's happened enough now that I have detected the pattern – when I have been off my diet and gaining weight the time when I start thinking to myself that this time will be different and that I will absolutely be starting my diet immediately is right after I just stuffed myself. I'm sure it's some sort of natural guilt reaction but I can say with confidence that the diets or lifestyle changes that are thought about in such states never actually get off the ground. Why can't I think about these things when I am being good, shouldn't it be easier to just continue to be good?

So how would one go about addressing this problem? Maybe have a timer that goes off at random periods throughout the day and that is your cue to think about being healthy? I can see that working – anyone know if it exists?

2. I need to learn how to better handle success
The weight I lost at the beginning of my weight loss journey that I am documenting here is the second time I have lost a noticeable amount of weight in the last dozen years. In both cases there was a series of common events that occurred at the tipping point of me gaining the weight back again. People started giving me compliments. I don't understand the psychology of why this might be, but it sure seems like a trend. It's almost as if my willpower wanes once I have achieved that recognition from others, even though I was far from my goals.

How to combat this one? Maybe instead of getting compliments being an unsaid goal (who doesn't hope for compliments?) I need to make it an actual, measurable goal. Number of new people complimenting me on my weight loss in a month? Maybe that would help keep the drive alive.

3. It sucks to be fat.
Obvious, I know. But it needs to be said. I'm now wearing the one pair of fat pants I kept in addition to a couple of new pairs I had to buy. My only black belt is at the first notch and I can't gain any more weight otherwise I'll need to buy a new one. When I get out of my work pants at the end of the day I have a sore belly from where my belt buckle was rubbing all day. I've had to buy a bunch of new, larger dress shirts for work. I look and feel older. We are implementing high definition video conferencing at work and let me tell you the camera sure does add 25 pounds. Either that or I am just fat. Oh wait, I am. That sucks!

4. The weight comes back slowly – but time marches on.
I have always been of the belief that while it takes forever to lose weight, it can get piled on very quickly. In fact, I'm starting to think the opposite – at least for someone who has as much weight to lose as I do it does seem in hindsight that I was able to lose weight pretty rapidly but that it has taken a lot longer to put it back. Look at the slope on my weight loss graph at the start of my journey compared to the upslope since. I have been gaining weight for longer than I was losing it. But lately it has accelerated as bad habits compound. It doesn't matter how long it actually takes to gain that weight – if you are moving in that direction it's bad, you can't fight time.

5. I have the knowledge, what I need is willpower.
I absolutely know what I have to do to lose weight. It's not colon cleansing and it's not acai berries. I know what fast food is OK for me, I know how to moderate my portions, I know what food I should eat in moderation. I know that even simple walking will help and that I don't need a complete home gym or public gym membership to succeed. Pretty much anything will work when you are ingesting fewer calories than you burn.

But even knowing all that I fail, and it's because I don't have the willpower that I need. Willpower to start again after I have fallen, willpower to keep going when times are tough. I don't know how one gets willpower, but I need to figure it out.

So that's some things I have learned. But will I take them to heart?

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

5 Things I Have Learned Since Gaining The Weight Back

photo credit: PinkMoose

I was hoping to get this post out a couple of days ago but this week has just been crazy. How about that Super Bowl? Damn, that was a great game. And I say that not just because my wife won the 3rd quarter numbers and I won the final score numbers! Did you attend a Super Bowl party? I did. Parties are tough for me and they are something I need to conquer on this weight loss journey of mine.

In the interest of full disclose, and hoping that I will learn something, I'm setting out here to document how the party went in terms of my eating and drinking. I did not keep track at the party and I didn't go into the party with any specific plans to not eat anything, but I left feeling comfortably full and satisfied that I didn't pig out. So right now as I begin this post I think I did pretty good (although not, "I am on a diet" good), but we'll see if I feel that way at the end of it.

Before the Party

One of the things that makes losing weight tough for me is that I love to cook and I love to cook things with taste. Like anything wrapped in bacon works great for parties! I've never been a "let's just bring a super bowl gift basket" or a chocolate and toffee hampers from Thorntons kind of a guy. I like to bring the love.

What I made for the party was a recipe from the Pioneer Woman Cooks that I have made before, Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies. WARNING! Do NOT visit that site if you value your waist line. Ree is a positively evil woman who likes butter. You have been warned.

I had bought 14 Jalapenos and so I made 28 of the appetizers. Of course I had to sample one when they were done. It was so good I had to have another. That left me with 26 and it seemed like a weird number to bring so I ate two more to bring the number to an even two dozen. So here I am right before the party and I have already eaten 4 appetizers and the game hadn't even started yet. Half a jalapeno, a couple of teaspoons of cream cheese and a third of a piece of bacon I have calculated was about 75 calories each, so I'm already in for 300 calories.

Do you see yourself doing what I did when you bring party food? I needed to plan better. I needed to know that I would react that way and make just 25 knowing I would only be able to eat one before the party then.

At the Party

The party was a buffet-style food orgy like any good Super Bowl party should be. For my first round of food I had a bowl of chili and a plate of miscellaneous stuff that included one of my stuffed jalapenos, some seven layer dip with chips, some ham and cheese, a tomato and mozzarella cheese ball and one or two other things that I have forgotten. The plate was not overstuffed. Later I had seconds of the seven layer dip and chips. Neither portion was huge but I know that the calorie count in that is high. I also had another bowl of chili. During the course of the game I nursed two beers.

One of the things I noticed in this party was that the later the game went on the less food there was. "Duh" you are probably thinking, but what it made me realize is that one strategy for attending a party like this is to eat very slowly so that your options for overindulging dwindle as the night goes on. I ate everything in the first half of the game and by the third quarter I don't think there was any food left other than the chili.

Instead of thinking about grabbing a plateful of food as if I was having dinner I should have used a small appetizer plate and thought about my approach as sampling appetizers – which I could have done much more slowly and with smaller portions.

After the Party

The only thing sweet I had at the party was a chocolate chip cookie that my wife and I split. There was a cake at the party but it was gone by the time I thought about needing anything sweet. So after the game after we had collected our pool winnings (we only had 2 squares each so the odds of both of us winning were pretty small) we decided to stop at the gas station to get some candy. I had a Butterfinger. If I had gone in myself I would have bought a King-Sized bar but Amy went in for us and that helped me restrained to a normal-sized bar.

The scary thing about reading through this is that I felt good after the party feeling like I was not stuffed and did not overindulge. Yet I would bet I ate 1500 calories at the party, which is clearly not in the "I am on a diet" category.

I would like to say that I made up for it with plenty of exercise the next day but I did not. However as it is only Wednesday it is not too late to start making up for it for this week and that is what I plan to do.

Overall I had a good time, saw a great game and learned a few more things about myself.

How did you do at your Super Bowl party?

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Eating at a Super Bowl Party

I've never really been one to wear sweaters. I'm not sure if that is because I am usually warm or because I have bad memories of itchy wool sweaters from when I was a kid, but no matter what the reason the number of sweaters hanging in my closet has been stuck at two for the past twenty years or so.

The last few weeks those sweaters have seen some use and I am beginning to see the light.

Here are the two benefits I am seeing from wearing sweaters, and why I am becoming a sweater guy:

Hiding Fat
OK, so sweaters don't really hide the fat. That stuff is hard to hide. But what I mean is when you have a dress shirt tucked into dress pants do you still feel sort of naked? I know I do. I think that's why they invented suit coats – gives the body a cleaner line. I'm not into wearing suits but I have found that I can derive some of the same benefits by layering a sweater over my shirt. Now I can have my shirt neatly tucked in but with the sweater over it I feel like I am hiding more of the fat.

Note that this only works with loose sweaters. I'll be staying away from a tight cashmere sweater for some time.

Hiding Suspenders
This is the number one reason I am liking my sweaters. Because before I realized that I was a sweater guy I found out that I was a suspenders guy. Suspenders (the nice silk ones that utilize buttons sewed into your dress pants, not the cheesy elastic ones with clips) have become an important part of my dress-up wardrobe. As you guys with big bellies know all to well one of the problems with that belly is that your belt likes to make its home underneath it no matter how hard you try to cinch it up. And when your belt falls down your pants fall down, or at least drag on the ground, which is no good.

Suspenders keep your dress pants at a consistent height, giving them a very nice look. The problem, though, is that unless you have a jacket hiding them you have these damned ugly suspenders out in the open. Sure they looked good on Michael Douglas in Wall Street but they really don't look good on a fat guy. Necessary, but don't look good.

That's were the sweater comes in. The sweater hides the suspenders so that I can still have my perfectly fitted and comfortable (I didn't mention comfortable – sure is comfortable not having a tight belt on!) dress pants, without the ugly suspenders.

Plus, I think they look nice.

So that's why I'm a sweater guy now. At least for the winter.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

I'm Becoming a Sweater Guy

photo credit: TheBusyBrain

Posts like this probably aren't going to get me invited to any Quaker Oats Weekends, but I do have fond memories of eating cereal for breakfast when I was a kid. Mostly it was non-sugar cereal like Corn Flakes, Cheerios or Grape Nuts to which I would sprinkle a little sugar on top with my milk – 2%, which I can't imagine drinking today. I had a friend at whose house I used to sleep over a lot and they had this exotic milk called "Skim" that I thought was really cool. Plus they got to eat sugar cereal like Fruit Loops, which was a nice treat.

At some point my parents started buying Golden Grahams, which my dad used to call "Golden Grays" which I never quite understood until only a few years ago when he explained that what he was calling it was "Golden Graze" in tribute to the huge bowls of it I would consume. Thanks Dad!

With that as way of background, however, I try to stay away from cereal much these days. I often fail, like this morning, which reminded me of why I shouldn't be eating cereal and was the impetus for this article, the 4 Reasons I Shouldn't Eat Cereal for Breakfast:

1. We Don't Stock Good Cereal. OK, so this one could clearly be remedied, but that fact is that the cereal we buy is for our kids, and we buy cereal like Sugar Frosted Flakes, Trix, Fruity Pebbles and Lucky Charms. Recently I had some coupon deal where I got a bunch of money off for buying 10 boxes of cereal so I expanded our horizons a little bit. One of the cereals I bought was for me, because it sounded healthy – Honey Bunches of Oats. But as you will read below, even though this cereal is labeled as "Heart Healthy" it isn't so good either. If I am going to go with cereal it's going to mean stocking up on some non-sugary stuff and having the discipline not to add any sugar.
2. Cereal is Expensive. The primary reason for cereal being expensive is the rising cost of wheat flour, corn meal and oats caused by a shift in crops to corn for use in Ethanol fuel. Fewer farmers are growing cereal grains, which drives up scarcity and cost. The interesting thing, though, is how the cereal makers have responded. For the most part we have not seen huge increases in the price of cereal (although $5/box is now the norm) but rather, we are seeing a decrease in the size of the cereal boxes. For the same price. Of course this isn't a phenomenon restricted solely to cereal – have you checked your peanut butter, lately? We are currently mitigating this by buying huge double-boxes at Sam's Club or stocking up on coupons for name brands, which certainly helps. Still, cereal is not a cheap breakfast option and it's seemingly getting more and more expensive to consume (don't forget rising milk prices!) – even if the price looks the same.
3. Recommended Portion Sizes are Inhuman. I don't measure the food I eat, I just don't have that discipline – but every once in awhile I will look at some food item and analyze the portion sizes to see if it meets reality. Like the clearly single-use 16oz drinks that are labeled as having 2 servings so that it looks like you are only drinking 180 calories when in reality you are drinking 360 (who drinks half a bottle?). My Honey Bunches of Oats from this morning is a good example. According to it's nutritional facts, this 14.5oz box (used to be 16oz, see above!) contains 14 servings, each containing 120 calories if you don't include the milk. "Hey, that's not too bad!" you may be thinking, but hold on. Recommended portion size? 3/4 of a cup. Take your cereal bowl and carefully measure 3/4 of a cup of cereal into it (not heaping!) and tell me the truth – is that how much you pour for yourself? Not me – that wouldn't feed a hamster. I measured it out and when I have a normal (for me) bowl of cereal I actually am having 4 servings. And when I'm feeling like being really bad I use a bigger bowl that holds 6 servings. Suddenly that meal isn't looking so good for calories or cost.
4. Cereal Does Not Fill Me Up. Cereal is quick and convenient, but not withstanding the above, it comes with a cost. And for me that cost is being hungry again at 9:30 in the morning! Cereal simply doesn't do it for me. I need that protein in the morning if I am going to stay satisfied until lunch or at least until a late morning snack. I know people say oatmeal "sticks to your ribs" but it doesn't stick to mine – even with oatmeal I simply get too hungry, too soon. Which then leads to eating other things I shouldn't be eating. And this is even if I have my 6 servings belly-buster bowl.

Sorry Jerry!

So that's why I need to be staying away from cereal. How about you?

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

4 Reasons I Shouldn't Eat Cereal for Breakfast

photo credit: *clairity*

As you are no doubt aware the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday, which marks the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season (did you know about Cyber Monday, though?). Black Friday is a day to revel in all-out consumerism with many people camping out at night to stake their place in line for that limited supply must-have item.

For me however, and many of my dieting brethren, Thursday is the truly dark day – Black Thursday if you will. For that is the day we are tempted to gorge ourselves at the dinner trough, crash on the plush couch and take in a little football on the boob tube until the Tryptophan kicks in and we snooze away the day.

The funny thing about this is turkey is actually healthy. Many of us during the course of a normal week will substitute ground turkey for ground beef in an effort to be more health conscious. But of course on Thanksgiving the turkey isn't ground – it comes with skin that has been slathered in butter. And mashed potatoes with gravy, and yams, and corn pudding, and bread, and my all-time favorite that my dad makes – Cajun oyster stuffing. I've seen the recipe and it is more laden with butter than your average Black Friday shopper is with credit card debt. But mmm, mmm is it good.

Did I mention the pies?

So, what this means is that a plan is needed when heading into the day. Without a plan I will be stuffed and asleep by 4:00pm, and that is a fact. I don't want to be stuffed and asleep – I want to be satisfyingly full and alertly watching the Cowboys destroy the Seahawks.

Frankly it doesn't matter what your plan is as long as you have one. For me, it's all about turkey skin and cajun oyster stuffing. I am going to skip the appetizers no matter how tempting, and when I load up my plate at the buffet I am going to go very light on every side dish except for the cajun oyster stuffing, which I will enjoy immensely. A couple of spoon-fulls of mashed potatoes – and a cup of stuffing sounds like a good ratio. And I will make sure that I grab extra turkey skin with my turkey.

For me, this Black Thursday is going to be all about enjoying the taste of two things I really enjoy and don't often get – turkey skin and cajun oyster stuffing.

Oh, and did I mention the pie? A single slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

I'm not going to be a grazing bunny rabbit this Thanksgiving but I'm not going to be a gorging pig either – somewhere in the middle ought to ensure I have the energy to get out the next day on the real dark day – Black Friday.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Thanksgiving is Black Thursday for Dieters

Once I realized I wasn't going to hit my goal of posting every day this month I kind of drifted off on to other things, but that doesn't mean I'm still not here. I've got a bunch of things in the fire so I thought I'd just do a brain dump of everything here and then hopefully flesh some of this out later.

First, I have to share this awesome site I found today via Blogoscoped. It's called LetMeGoogleThatForYou.com. Every been on a forum or been sent an email where someone asks a question that they obviously didn't try very hard to research the answer? Let's say for example "what does ROTFLOL stand for?" Well then you create a link that looks like this:

Click on this link to see it in action. I think it's pretty funny.

I'm currently reading Two Weeks Under by Rivka Tadjer, whose publicist sent me a copy for review.

After that I'll be reading The Source: Unleash Your Natural Energy, Power Up Your Health, and Feel 10 Years Younger by Woodson Merrell.

I've been trying out a couple different brands of whey protein powder the last few weeks, I'm hoping to eventually get up a post with my findings.

Call me crazy, but I bought some Colon Cleanse Pro that I have been taking religiously since Monday and I plan to put up a post or two about that experience – certainly one and maybe more than one if it actually works at all. So far, nothing, which is what I expect to be honest.

Still have to put together a review on the MP3 players sent to my by Sansa. And I also have a package from Sensa that I want to try.

I didn't take the time to post an update on Sunday but I did actually lose a pound and I had a pretty good week last week on the exercise front. I've maintained that weight so far this week although I have not exercised at all. I'm eating pretty well overall.

OK, I feel better now that I posted. Now to go exercise!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Catching Up

You probably have noticed that I occasionally get free products that I review and/or give away in contests (how cool was that giving away a free bike?!). Steve from Weight Loss Weapons did, and he asked me:

You seem to get free stuff to review all the time. Do they contact you or are you going after them?

I really haven't thought about that before now, but I thought my response deserved a longer remark than just responding to his comment, so here is my answer, 4 Tips For Getting PR People To Send You Free Stuff:

1) Rank on the first page or two of Google for the search phrase "[your keyword] blog". In my case, I have been on the first or second page of Google for "weight loss blog" (#7 as of right now) for a number of months. Why is this important? Because PR firms are recognizing the power of word of mouth advertising and see blogs as a great (and cheap) way to get the message out about the product they are pitching. Put yourself in the shoes of a PR person trying to promote some new bottle of wine for example. I think a Google search for "wine blog" would be a reasonable starting point for their program, and by doing so they will find a solid list of bloggers who are no doubt willing to accept a free bottle of wine in return for a mention or even a full review.

2) When you do review a product, be completely honest. First, any PR person worth their salt will not set any expectation that you review their product or if you do that it is a positive review. They believe in their product so they are willing to take that risk. If someone tries to set that expectation with you, then I would consider not accepting what they are offering. This is important because in order for your readers to trust you, the reviews you put in front of them should be honest. This means that you will occasionally not like something you are reviewing. If that is the case you should be sure to be honest and say you don't like it. Why? Because it makes the good reviews that much more believable. If a PR person reads your blog and sees that you are honest it is more likely they will want to work with you (the honest ones, that is!) If you do get a product you don't like but that you think would be of value to a reader, consider offering the product in a contest giveaway rather than writing a review.

That is really all I have done to date. However, there are two more things that I know work and that I am going to be starting to push harder on:

3) Sign up for a word-of-mouth media network like BzzAgent. These networks looks for everyday consumers who believe in honest word-of-mouth and who like to discover new and interesting products and share their experiences with others. Philips Sonicare recently sent out 30,000 $70 toothbrushes to BzzAgents who had expressed a desire to receive them. I suspect that not all the offers will be as cool as that!

4) Ask them to send you stuff. Got a product you would like to try? Find out who the PR firm is and pitch yourself (and your blog) on why they should send you their product. For example, let's say you really liked those cool BodyBuggs as featured on NBC's The Biggest Loser. Looking at their website I see they are made by Apex Fitness. A quick Google search for "who is the PR firm for Apex Fitness" reveals the answer: The M-Line Inc. (UPDATE: Apex contacted me and told me they now do their PR in-house). Contact them in whatever manner you are comfortable with – email, phone, special mailer, whatever. If you see a contest where I am giving away a BodyBugg you will know it worked!

If you would like to learn more about the relationship between bloggers and PR people I highly recommend these two posts on Problogger:

Understanding PR People for Fun and Profit
How to use PR People to Build Traffic for your Blog

P.S. If anyone from the Austin, Nichols Distilling Co. wants to send me a bottle of Wild Turkey I will happily accept it, although I probably won't be reviewing it here!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

4 Tips For Getting PR People To Send You Free Stuff

Lisa from Iowa Avenue wrote a great post this week called The Joy of Blogging where she talked about how important it is for us to find, read and reward via comments (and linking!) those bloggers out there who are writing great content for the sheer love of it, whether the traffic is there or not. As she says,

I just joined a new project, sponsored by Chuck Westbrook, which is designed to highlight under appreciated blogs and the bloggers they represent.

It’s a place to read a blog that’s not necessarily health related. It’s affords and provides me a chance to give a fellow blogger a different point of view; to show support for these bloggers by providing feedback via comments; and I’m sure I’ll learn something new as well as have a great read. If you’re interested in participating, just click the link above.

Keeping in the spirit of focusing on Weight Loss Blogs and other health and fitness related blogs, Lisa chose to select 13 Healthy Lifestyle Bloggers that she recently read and enjoyed, and asked that her readers visit each blog and post a comment on one or more posts.

I have done just that (well, not on my own post) and now I will go one step further and link to the same list that Lisa did, and I too ask my readers to take a look and participate. Perhaps you can link to them too or even start your own list.

Show some love for these bloggers:

1. Lessons from Other Successful Losers

2. Wordless Wednesday: Dare to be different

3. Yes we can!

4. To Run Or Not To Run

5. What are You Thinking When You Eat?

6. Eat Whatever You Want And NEVER Gain A Pound

7. The Sweet Smell of Wet, Stinky Gym Clothes

8. A new test may help diagnose the controversial fibromyalgia.

9. Time For A Change

10. How to Achieve Picture Perfect Shots via Digital Photography

11. Values & Respect

12. What Happened to My Diet?

13. French lentils and brown onions with fried eggs

No matter what you do, the blogosphere will be better for it.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Read Some New Healthy Lifestyle Bloggers

That's right, to my sponsors. Not only my sponsors but any product company out there that isn't fully engaged with the web by now. Please view this short video by Gary Vaynerchuk and evaluate whether you are truly working the room with your product marketing strategy:

Some "old" product companies are getting it, like Quaker with their Quaker Oatmeal Living Proof Weekend that they sponsored a number of bloggers to (but sadly not me!) or Lipton that sponsored the great Fuji Bike Giveaway here and on many other blogs.

I was prompted to write this post not only because of Gary's great video but also a Tweet from workoutmommy who is encouraging Apex Fitness to send her a BodyBugg to try. I like that idea!

What do you say Apex, time to work the room with the fat bloggers?

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

And Now a Message To My Sponsors

I was playing with Google Insights for Search recently (which I like a lot better than Google Trends, by the way) when I came across this very interesting graph.

What you are looking at (and if you click through on the graph you will see this live on Google Insights) is the Google search history for the phrase "weight loss" going back to 2004. The x-axis of the graph represents the months of a year and each different colored line represents the search volume for that given year. The y-axis of the graph represents search volume.

There are a few interesting things to note.

First, start at the right of the graph, which represents December. You will notice that every year going back to 2004 (as far back as the data goes, I'm sure the trend looks the same going back farther) there is a huge spike in search volume for the phrase "weight loss" that carries into the start of January, which is on the left of the chart.

Second, that surge does not last long, steadily falling in the month of January at which point the search volume plateaus and it stays relatively stable for about 6 months. Then starting in July search volume slowly declines until it reaches its low point in December at which sometime in the middle to the third week of December there is yet again another huge spike in search on weight loss.

Third, notice that the blue line at the bottom of the graph, the one that is following the historical trend but at lower volume, is this year, 2008. That's why it ends in October. What's interesting to me here is how consistently lower than previous years volume the search history has been. An anomaly, given that people are bigger than ever, from what I read. Maybe people don't care as much this year for some reason?

So what does this all mean? Well it really supports a very common picture that I see in people struggling with their weight. Great intentions at the beginning of the year, motivated by New Years Resolutions, some amount of success for the first 6 months or so and then a steady return to normal before it's time to start the weight loss cycle again.

Don't let this be you! If you need to lose weight and aren't doing anything about it, don't wait until January to do something about it, start now. Don't let yourself be like the masses who fall off the program in six months. Find other people from whom to get support, whether it is online blogs or local Weight Watchers meetings.

Do what you can to break out of the cycle shown on this chart.

Good luck!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Searching for Weight Loss

It's going to be a little strange taking a vacation next week.  It seems like we don't normally take vacations at this time of year.  Still, I am very much looking forward to it.  I hope I will be able to properly relax despite the meltdown in the economy.

It's hard to admit, but I guess summer is finally over.  We officially closed the pool today although we haven't had the heat on (so have not used it) for a few weeks.  Like a lot of things in my weight loss journey I wasn't happy with the amount of swimming I did this year for exercise.  That is something I really want to try to improve on next year.  I really like swimming for exercise, but the one thing I noticed was that aftwerwards I would get SO hungry.  I guess that is a good sign – except for that I would give in to my urge to eat.

Soccer season ends tomorrow with two games to coach.  My knees are still really sore after yesterday's scrimmage.  Bumpy field, old cleats, and a lumbering coach are not a good combination and my knees are paying the price.  I don't think I did any actual damage, however.

One of the things I am trying to do is to get together some guest posts for publication while I am on vacation.  I've only got one in the hopper right now – if you are interested in submitting a guest post please check my guest post guidelines for more information.  It's a great chance for you to get a little free publicity!

My goal is to write a post each day between now and next Tuesday, and then have automated posts from Wednesday through Sunday.  I can't achieve my weight loss goals so maybe I can achieve some blogging goals!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Thinking About Vacation

When you make the decision to get back into posting and thinking about what you want to write about what you realize is just how many topics there are out there any given day. You have to move, you have to eat, and all day long you make choices – some good, some bad. How you deal with those choices might be interesting to someone and it might be interesting to me next year or the year after.

So in what was otherwise a pretty normal day, there were some things that impacted what I am trying to do on my journey from fat to fit.

First decision, I had a 2 egg omelet for breakfast instead of a 3 egg omelet. 3 has been habit for years and years but as I have monitored my intake I have come to realize that I can get by just fine with 2 eggs. When 2 works instead of 3 you need to go with 2. And I need to keep on going with 2.

Second decision, at about 10:00am this morning I realized I had not brushed my teeth this morning. Oral hygiene is an important part of my health scorecard and I didn't want to take zeros for my morning routine so I flossed, brushed and gargled with mouthwash. Oh and I also hadn't taken my vitamins so I did that to. I never would have done either of those things so late in the morning without the scorecard to remind me. So score one for having a plan.

Third decision, I went to my daughter's school for lunch and packed my own lunch. I made 2 sandwiches when I should have packed one and I packed 2 desserts when I should have packed 1. And no veggies. Not a good lunch.

Tonight my daughter had her last practice of the soccer season so we played parents versus kids, which was very fun and I had a pretty decent workout. Not great, but running up and down the field with cleats, making athletic runs and moves on the ball is good for me, and it felt good. I coach two more games on Saturday, one for each of my kids, and then soccer season is done. Ultimately I feel as though soccer actually negatively impacted my workouts so I am hoping that once that commitment is done that I can improve on my own exercising. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. One of the parents asked me if I was going to coach again next year and whether they could request me. That felt good.

Let's see, what other decisions tonight. Well, here I am writing – there's a decision for ya. And I'm drinking water instead of a beer or something (that reminds me I did not drink nearly enough water today).

Pretty normal day – not too bad, not too good. Time to brush my teeth and get to bed.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Thinking About Good Decisions

As I am sure any of my readers who are blog owners can understand, I get a lot of spam. I have various methods to minimize it, but some still gets in. Sometimes I keep the comment but remove the link, but usually if it didn't get caught before I saw it, it gets deleted shortly after.

I recently approved this comment that I believe to be spam, but I suppose could be an honest endorsement:

I saw these products by a company called It Cosmetics on the Today Show so I thought I would try them. I TOTALLY look like I’ve lost 15 lbs instantly and I feel like I’m finally able to get that “in-shape” look I’ve been working so hard for in the gym. Just thought I’d share this GREAT find!!! Here are some before and afters from their website. All that changes is the makeup.

The reason I say it is spam is the comment writer included the url twice in the comment. Could be a real commenter, but probably someone working for the company. But who knows. So why did I let it through?

Because I am absolutely fascinated by their products! It's like the car crash you can't help but slow down and look at. Check out some of their products:

Abs in a Box for Men Kit
Whether you want the appearance of muscle definition, a six-pack, or simple body shading for a slimmer, more fit look ABS IN A BOX will sculpt your abs to their sexiest.

My Beautiful Breasts Kit
Whether you want the appearance of an instant breast lift, the illusion of larger or smaller breasts or simple body shading for enhanced sexy cleavage MY BEAUTIFUL BREASTS will sculpt your bosom to its’ sexiest.

Smokin' Hot Legs Kit
Whether you want sexy defined legs, less-visible cellulite or the illusion of a firmer, tighter backside, SMOKIN' HOT LEGS will sculpt your lower body to its sexiest!

By all appearances this is a legitimate company, selling legitimate products. Here is how they describe themselves on their About page:

It Cosmetics™ gives you the power to look magazine cover gorgeous the way celebrities do by bringing you the products and tricks of the trade never before revealed! The It Cosmetics™ Library of Secrets™ is now your personal library of secrets! The playing field is finally equal!

Want a breast lift, how about six-pack abs, larger or smaller breasts, larger lips and a whiter smile, an eye lift, or what about toned calf muscles? You can get the appearance of any or all of them by using the It Cosmetics™ Library of Secrets™ collection!

Yes, this is simple makeup folks. Forget years of exercising (and probably genetics) to get that six-pack stomach, all you need is a little makeup! Wow.

Folks, trust me when I tell you that putting ab lines on my big belly isn't going to work!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Maybe All I Need is Makeup?

As you can easily see by my graphs I was doing well until the beginning of this year at which point I took a bit of a slide until a month ago, when I weighed in at my highest for some time, 279. I'm now a month in and had an unofficial weigh-in today of 274, which means I have dropped 5 pounds in the month since I re-energized my weight lost plans.

The genesis of this post was that I was going to research what I was doing the last time I was at 279 and why the weight came off so easily then, as opposed to now which feels like slow death.

But interestingly enough, what I found was that the last time I clocked in at 279 was at the end of last September, and a month later I weighed in at 274, happy with the result. So while it feels like things are taking longer now the data says otherwise. I need to be more patient!

Since I was looking at the posts anyway, I thought I would highlight the weekly updates for that period of time:

Weekly Update – 10/7/07 – Lost 1 pound, only thing I did well was cardio, but even at that it was not to plan.

Weekly Update – 10/14/2007 – Lost 5 pounds. Woa, where did that come from? Major change was cutting out bread, although I also logged 10+ miles in cardio and stuck to my drinking water plan.

Weekly Update – 10/21/2007 – Gained 2 pounds. Not surprising given the previous weeks results, however I didn't put in the effort needed to break past that. Small pass given because I was traveling.

Weekly Update – 10/28/2007 – Lost 1 pound. Seemed like a hit and miss week on the goals.

About a month after this I weighed in at 267, well on my way to a low official recording of 263 (I saw a 262 midweek).

Being able to see this is hugely important to keeping me on track and I have moved from being bummed at my new pace to being happy with it.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

The Power of Documentation

According to the Big Fat Blog The Gap has decided to no longer carry XXL sizes for men.  As I don't shop at the Gap this decision does no impact me (I still need to buy XXXL at speciality stores) but I find it fascinating that it can make this decision in light of the fact that people are getting bigger in general, at least if the news is to be believed.  Presumably their sales have shown that guys who need to wear XXL clothing don't shop at the Gap. 

But really, this kind of news would not generally cause me to make a post – I wanted to just make a simple comment on BFB but I couldn't because of the constraints Paul makes on his readership (which is certainly his right).  I subscribe to the blog because I like the writing and the topic.  But when I decided I wanted to comment on this post I found I needed to register, and when trying to do so was presented with the following rules:

Please don't register if:

• You are on a diet;
• You are interested in losing weight now (or possibly in the future, maybe – like you're actively planning on it);
• You are having, or are interested in having, weight loss surgery of any kind;
• You believe fat is a disease which must be cured;
• You want to post one comment and vanish forever;
• You like posting about your caloric intake, what you ate today, etc.;
• You run a diet blog;
• You think this is a dating site or want to pick up some "hot fat chicks";
• You think this site has anything to do with Old Navy and/or Mo'Nique.

Despite my wanting to lose weight I have absolutely no problem with someone who follows fat acceptance.   But apparently the reverse can't be said.  Talk about unwelcoming.

I am sure the genesis to taking this hard-line stand is the vitriol that those practicing fat acceptance receive, and I can appreciate that.  And obviously this post isn't going to get me welcomed into the community, even though I will still be lurking about reading occasionally.

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to get that off my chest. 

Felt like I got slapped in the face.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Gap Drops XXL Size for Men – and Other Slaps to the Face