The FastDay Forum

An interesting post from you as usual Roscoe! Good to hear you are making progress but also recognise some of your barriers to long term change in eating behaviour. Eating out of habit can be hard to change! Learning to eat from hunger is much harder... Good luck!

I noticed a couple of days ago my legs were retaining water, It was obvious because I'd worn my socks to bed and my ankles and feet were normal but above my socks my legs were bloated. Last week I'd had some cramping in my calves and I used that for an excuse to add salt to my food. So I cut the salt and out comes the extra water. Yesterday the scales said 188.5 lbs, this morning they were at 187. That's the way it's done in the past, hangs around some number for a while then a sudden drop. Water weighs 2.2 lbs/liter and that's probably the reason the scales dropped so fast along with some actual fat loss. So I guess I'm back on track now. I'm thinking I need to get a bunch of plastic containers so I can adjust to smaller portions. Cooking for one is not easy when it comes to meal preparation, I'm not good at saving leftovers because I usually just eat it all. That needs to change. That will be my excuse for riding the scooter today, to, go get some leftover containers so I will cook only what I need or be able to store easily what should be leftover. My dog got her rabies shot yesterday and the city dog tag, I even got a new collar for her, so we are good for another year. I tried doing a pull up last night ..... still not happening but that is a goal of mine. I want to be able to do a couple of pull ups by the time I hit 70 years old later this year. I got a call from the pharmacy for a prescription refill, it was for the statins which I quit taking. So I told them to just cancel it and got an evil look from the pharmacist. The statins do weird things with ur liver and my cholesterol was 106 the last blood test and ldl/hdl were good so I'm not worried. I hope to be able to reduce the blood pressure meds also as the weight comes down. We'll see.

This older summarizing post on CVD and cholesterol ratios may be of interest:

the-5-2-lab-f10/progress-cvd-ldl-particle-size-and-insulin-resistance-t12663.html



That Mower: (It's a guy thing ladies. We just can't accept being beaten by a mechanical object ). The last time it ran did you happen to hit something that suddenly stopped the engine?

That mower.... I could fire the parts canon at it but I like to diagnose things and fix only what is needed. It's a newer engine and I don't have the parts anyway and I've learned to not put much money into a cheap mower and this was only a 100 dollar mower new. So I put it aside for a while and I'm thinking about it. Today I think I'll see if I can get the curb find weed trimmer running, It's a high dollar 4 cycle one. I never had a lot of luck with the 2 cycle ones. I could get them going but they were usually more trouble than they were worth.
This morning 186 lbs on the scale (BMI 28.3) , old fashioned doctor's type with the weights and the pointer thing was near the top but not touching so I'm claiming 186! If my math is correct I'm 3 pounds from the halfway mark and 26 from where I ought to be. Yesterday I decided to get those leftover food containers and took my old bike to Walmart then Dollar Tree. I haven't ridden it much since I got the scooters but it was a nice day and I was curious how I'd do. 9.5 miles round trip and it was easy, It's pretty flat here and there was no wind and it was a really nice ride. I thought I might get tired but no problem. Different web sites have different numbers but it looks like probably around 250-300 calories to bike that distance. I don't go very fast. I also got some frozen hash brown potatoes at Dollar Tree. 16 ounces for a dollar and 369 calories in the bag, so if I divide it in half and cook those with the frozen onions/peppers (also from Dollar Tree) it ought to be acceptable.
Yesterday's meal was only breakfast which was frozen onions and peppers fried with a little olive oil. and an egg mixed in... a can of diced tomatoes dumped on top. But later I intended to eat half a can of crushed pineapple no sugar added and use one of the containers to save the other half. I forgot what I was doing and ate the whole thing all 320 calories. This is where I'll have problems eventually maintaining the weight and not letting it slide back up.
I glanced at myself in the mirror and Yikes! My ass was gone! Actually it was my pants sagging, I found my belt, hiked up pants and there it was. So now I have to remember to comb my hair, put my teeth in and wear a belt before going out in public.
And it's dog walking time,
Folks, Thanks for being here and listening to me babble.

Hi @roscoe

I enjoy reading your posts! I can understand how you would want to fix the equipment you have, my hubby is just the same. Good for you with the bike riding, it's a great way to get around, not just for you but for the environment as well. You seem to be doing well with your diet. Very funny about your trousers and needing to spruce yourself up for going out.

I also know the temptation of eating all of an opened can/packet/etc. When you open the can/whatever, if you don't already, put the serve you want on a different plate and the rest in your storage container and straight into the fridge or back in the cupboard. It might help... Also, I know you mentioned that the pineapple had no added sugar, but often canned food does have added sugar. It's convenient I know, but if you are able to have more fresh food, that may help too. Fresh food can be more filling than tinned food and generally is more nutritious.

Continued best wishes.

Today 187, 186 1/2. Yesterday it was pretty cool and a 12 mph NW wind but I decided to ride the bike anyway. I bundled up and wore gloves. I wound up at walmart again, that's a nice distance. I put a new battery in the bike speedometer/odometer and adjusted things for the tire size so it ought to be accurate once more. The idea was to buy a measuring cup, I see I'm going to have to start measuring my food intake as my idea of a serving seems to be some what different than the labels on the food. So I got a nice glass measuring cup and checked my blood pressure on the BP machine at their pharmacy and a fellow and his wife were watching me and they decided to check theirs also. It turns out they had also started dieting and we exchanged ideas and progress reports. He said he'd lost 16 lbs so far but from the looks of it he's got a long long ways to go yet. I hope it works out for them. I mentioned ketosis and the wife lit up and said that's what they were doing. Dog and I had our walk earlier. Food yesterday ... around 800 calories total. The weather is nicer today so I'll be able to play in the yard, maybe finish some projects I started last year... and the year before that. Sometimes it takes me 5 years to do a 10 minute job. I just finished some pecans I've carried home from the dog walks. They are supposed to be healthy eating. Not to many at once or to often but enough for the ...... what ever it was I read about. Omega stuff I think.
I better feed the dogs one of them is pawing at me.
Later,

Today April 28, 2018 184 lbs. I'm getting closer to reaching the half way point. 160 lbs. is the current target, but 143 would be the middle of "normal" BMI. Maybe I'll eventually shoot for 145. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
So far things are still going pretty well. After 24 hours of fasting I used the new Anchor Hocking measuring cup ( it's a dandy!) to measure out a cup of old fashioned oatmeal yesterday. Added water and microwaved it to perfection. That is two servings and 300 calories. No sugar added, I sliced a banana to go on it and added a little milk. Afterwards I ate 6 pecans ... in about an hour I was so drowsy and sleepy I went back to bed. I later looked it up and oatmeal, bananas, peanut butter and milk were listed as four of the five things to help you sleep. There's ur problem, Roscoe! I'd unintentionally eaten what amounted to four of the five things. It was almost 12 hours later before I was feeling alert again and felt like taking the dog for a walk. So no more oatmeal in the mornings for a while ....... and one serving 1/2 a cup is plenty.
I went to a meeting this morning and it turned into a what? what? what? question and answer session of dieting, calories/pound exercise stuff. People just can't believe how easy it can be to lose weight and most haven't the slightest idea of the harm all the excess sugar, inactivity and excess weight does and it doesn't take much to be excess. One mentioned how the artificial sweeteners ran his blood sugar up as much or more than real sugar. So much for the regular meeting, it was all about weight loss, dieting and health.
The best news I've heard lately is a friend of mine picked up on the dieting and started dieting also.... he's lost 11 lbs. and determined to keep dieting. He's type II diabetic and I suggested to him to be careful, very careful, he said another 10 lbs and he'd be checking with his doctor to hopefully see about adjusting the oral meds he takes for his diabetes.
I guess I'll make some breakfast now.... and it sure won't be a cup of oatmeal. I enjoyed taking it easy yesterday and the unplanned nap but I had things to do and they didn't get done.
Thanks for being here folks,
Later,
Roscoe

Hi @Roscoe - that's pretty funny about your food making you tired! I find eating in general makes me tired (I remember learning, it has something to do with your body using energy for digestion), but I don't actual find any of those foods in general making me particularly tired. One of my favorite weekend breakfast or lunches is a smoothie with peanut butter and banana!

Anyway, I was wondering how tall you are, because the weights you are mentioning seem rather low for a man. I'm 5'4" and for me 144 is at the top of my weight range. However, I'd be happy even getting close to that. I'm shooting for 145, but I'll see how I feel when I get to 150!

...
The best news I've heard lately is a friend of mine picked up on the dieting and started dieting also.... he's lost 11 lbs. and determined to keep dieting. He's type II diabetic and I suggested to him to be careful, very careful, he said another 10 lbs and he'd be checking with his doctor to hopefully see about adjusting the oral meds he takes for his diabetes.

Whoa! @Roscoe, your T2D friend is living very dangerously by fasting without his doctor knowing about and supporting it. Prescriptions are predicated on maintaining a very consistent feeding schedule. To fast at all without frequent blood sugar tests and sometimes daily adjustments to medication, he risks becoming hypoglycemic (as in, potentially dead). I lost a half-brother nearly 30 years ago to diabetes; def' not something to mess with.

He should also very seriously consider purchasing two copies of the recently published and excellent book "The Diabetes Code" by Jason Fung, giving one to his doctor*. It covers all that he needs to know to prepare him for a detailed discussion regarding appropriate procedures to follow.

https://www.amazon.com/Diabetes-Code-Pr ... betes+code

*=Or buy the books for your friend and tell him he owes you and Maggie lunch! (What's that, Maggie? Double burger, no bun, medium rare? Got it!)

Edit: Added book link.

Hey cblasz ... I'm just using the BMI numbers .. the high 24.9 and the low 18.5 divided by 2 ... which is 21.7 That would put a person right in the middle of normal. I'm 5 feet 8 inches so that works out to 142.73 Lbs. I don't expect to go down to that number this go around. If I can get to 160 and stay there for a while maybe later but for now 160 lbs is still the goal.
ADFnFuel ... my friend that has lost 11 pounds, I was surprised when he told me he'd watched the youtube I'd suggested he watch and you bet I told him to be really careful. He said he is aware of the low blood sugar thing and knows when to eat. It's a long story, he's had a couple of stents years ago and thought problem all fixed and went right back to eating like he had. I remember telling him back then, "Nope, it doesn't work that way". All in all it's progress and giant step for him, He was telling me and his brother how many servings are in a moon pie and I thought to myself, "at least he's thinking about it and learning, but moon pie?"
Me? This morning 183.5 on the scales. Yesterday the weather was great 80F and hardly any wind and I put 11 miles on the old bike. I ate only breakfast then fasted. This is working out really well so far. I've been watching videos about the food industry and how we've been manipulated into what we now eat. It's criminal. A neighbor and I took a mower. (yes, the one I couldn't get running yet and still doesn't but I found one in the pile that did), so over to her daughter's place so she could mow her yard. When I picked her back up she was drinking a cup of something with a straw, I asked what's in the cup? She said Sprite, and I joked a bit about it being just another soda and she said but it's clear so it doesn't have as many of the bad things in it. We could start a new thread on the things we've heard and (gulp, said ourselves) justifying eating and drinking habits.
Today is go visit mom at the nursing home, 1 1/2 hours of driving to get there 2 or 3 hours visiting then an 1 1/2 driving back home,......then do it again in 10 days. I'm curious this if this trip will be as tiring as it has been in the past.
Later,
Roscoe

And this morning ... 4/30/2018 ... or is it 30/4/2018? 185 lbs. Up some for whatever reason. I went to visit mom at the nursing home and that's always stressful. I was exhausted when I got home and ate some instead of fasting. I didn't want to drag around all today and I have things to do. Sad thing today. the lady at the plumbing shop that always got me parts for my faucets had cancer last time I was there and now she's gone, the cancer got her. I don't even know her name but she was always nice and could find what I needed. I remember wisher her good luck last I was there.
This morning I got a bowl of frozen strawberries and I think blue berries, I still have some 6 0z. cups of yogurt. 27 grams of sugar in the yogurt! That's three days of recommended limits for sugar. I usually use the yogurt to make bread instead of sugar but I like it on the berries. I was curious also how the blood sugar going up and down would affect me now. I don't think it matter if I stay busy. The total was under 500 calories so I'm good if I don't go crazy and start eating.
I was looking at a pound of butter label, says 32 servings at 100 calories/serving.. that's only 3200 calories. Fat is supposed to be 9 calories per gram so the total should be nearer to 4000 calories, where'd the other 800 calories go?
The meal at the nursing home yesterday, It sure looked good. A big chunk of baked ham, mashed potatoes and carrots. The cook really good meals there. Way more on the plate than those old folks need and most don't eat it all. I passed on it but I was hungry the rest of the day.
So that's about it for today, 185 lbs and the scales should start going back down tomorrow, if I behave myself.
Roscoe

Good one, Roscoe, an interesting question! At first, I thought you were springing some "new math" on us until I gave it some more thought.

Just prior to that - and wondering who to blame - I became VERY sure that either Sassy or cblasz ate it! Until I realized that I consume far more butter than they do, combined!

So, racking my brain, the answer is that a gram of butter only has 7 calories of fat, so 7 * 454 = 3178; close enough for gum'int work.

Another way: one tablespoon of butter is 14 grams, 11 grams of which is fat, the other 3 grams are basically water. So 11/14 * 4086 = 3200. That truly mysterious 4,000 you'd mentioned is actually 4086 = 454 grams * 9.

I recently read in a recipe that European butter is around 83% fat - the chef's reason to use it is to make much flakier croissants than results from using our measly 78% spread. Without that as a clue, the mystery would've remained.

Who knew?

May the 1st 2018 and I'm still alive!
Weight this morning 184 1/2 . But a solid 184 1/2 unless something really wrong happens I should never see 185 again ever.
I googled and studied the 100% whole wheat bread I've eaten the past few years and I'll stick with the whatever it is I make out of whole wheat flour and oatmeal. I'll change to buckwheat I think instead of wheat though. I'll keep reading and decide when the whole wheat flour is about gone.
I watched "Why We Overeat" on youtube this morning, real doctors talking real overeating. Put out by Harvard and they have some pretty smart people there (if you know where to look). Simplified ... 1. Loss of control 2. A lack of satiation 3. Preoccupation with food. That describes me and must be 80% of the population around here.
I attempted a 10 mile bike ride this morning, I made it down to the 2nd hand store only 3/4 of a mile and that was enough, A strong 25 mph south wind, to strong for me to enjoy riding the bike and since I'm not training for the Tour De France I looked through the 2nd hand store, didn't find anything I coudn't live without and let the wind blow me back home. There was a Texas Instruments fancy old hand calculator I would have killed for when I was in college. We were still using slide rules, yes really, slide rules. Some of the rich kids had calculators that could do square roots! Anyway I let the wind pretty much push me back home. I have a tax refund check to put in the bank and that was also to be part of the bike ride but I forgot to take the check with me and that made coming right back home all the easier. My dog and I did walk our mile earlier. The pecans are about all gone now I found a couple and ate only one since it takes two in the hand to crack one open. I've got a couple oatmeal containers full of them from when I brought extras home from previous walks, they will a long time yet.
Another highlight, the neighbor was unloading groceries from her car and she showed me some of the stuff she had bought, veggies! and bottled water instead of the usual cases of sodas! She got a membership at Planet Fitness and between the folks there and my ever so gentle suggestions she and her family may have a chance yet. It's pretty tricky getting information to folks in the right way so they aren't offended and turn their backs when they don't like what they are hearing.
Speaking of learning new things..... yesterday I bought two avocados, a first for me. I ate one last night and it wasn't bad. Loaded with calories but I've heard so much about them being a super food I thought I'd better see what I've been missing. High dollar stuff just one of them is almost as much as a bag of potato chips. I also ate half the cantaloupe I bought the other day, it wasn't so good probably because i ate with no salt, and that might be a first time ever also.
All in all things are working out better than I ever expected. It's nice to wake up and look forward to the day and no aches or pains, really nice.
That's enough for now. I don't know if we're allowed to post links to youtube or other sites, if we are I'd like to post the ones I think others could use.
Over and Out,
Roscoe

I don't know if we're allowed to post links to youtube or other sites, if we are I'd like to post the ones I think others could use.

Go ahead and post those you found useful or informative. To do so, just paste the full link into your post (or as a new thread?) then check them using the Preview button. Adding a summary of why they resonated with you can be a useful intro.

May 2, 2018 182.5 lb
I made it 24 hours this fast, maybe 32 hours. I felt good this morning and was happy to see I'm nearing the halfway point. I had fried onions and peppers and some hash browns shredded in with them and after they are cooked then two eggs today. That goes on top of the English muffin looking thing cut in half and some salsa on top. A can of spinach earlier also. I come up with 600 calories. It seemed like a lot of food for 600 calories though. No added salt but what came with the canned spinach which is almost a half days allowance. I wasn't hungry but the goal is health.
I got to thinking about trying to ride against the wind on the bike yesterday, I got a bit winded but I never had any chest discomfort. It was warm and that helps with the stable angina but I'm hoping it's also because there is less visceral fat packed inside the old abdomen.
No walking Maggie this morning but maybe later if it doesn't get to warm, I went back to bed after eating breakfast, I only slept 5 hours last night and thought the extra sleep would probably do more good than a walk.
I'm still thinking how I'm going to keep the weight off permanently. I'm watching videos and reading. Portion control and calorie counting and fasting as needed seems to be the way to go.
One thing that hasn't happened is gout. Every year about this time when I'd lose a few pounds I'd get a case of gout in my toes or ankle. But this year with hardly any meat the gout hasn't been a problem. That was concern of mine, for those of us that has had gout we know how painful it is... I'm talking canes and crutches and maybe staying in bed. So far this year, no problem.
Here's a video I like .. it will start a ways late into the video because that's the part that got my attention most. "Why We Overeat" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo4vRtsS61E&t=1649s ... of course you can just refresh or move the timer back to watch it all. Real doctors and no books or trying to sell us something.
That's about it for now, I need to get cleaned up and find something to do.
Later,
Roscoe