Hail Caeser

This morning my fasting glucose was 94. Not bad, but not good either. Considering my Romanesque over indulgence in tribute to saturnalia that we call Christmas, I was expecting much worse. I also had to loosen my belt a notch this morning. It doesn't seem likely at this point that I'll make my goal of getting back to my October weight and waist measurement. I am not sure at this point what my waist is, but given that I had to loosen my belt, it moved in the wrong direction. I often wonder about the effect of long nights and short days. Many cultures the world over have historically over-indulged around this time of year. Perhaps some archetypal part of our Jungian psyche needs the bright lights and festivities to ward off doldrums many get from lack of sunlight. The coldest part of the winter is at hand, are we storing up fat to prepare for the depravation that it has brought in the past? Today of course, for most of us, the hardship of winter is an inconvenience at worst. The closest we get to depravation are all the New Years resolutions of diet and exercise that are forgotten by St Patrick’s Day. As this year closes, I reflect on the mistakes of the past year, not to beat myself up, but as a learning tool, so I can do better next year. One of my biggest downfalls this past year was watching the scale too closely. There were times when the tape measure was moving the right direction, but the scale went the wrong direction causing me to change course and second guess what I was doing. Generally this would lead to me trying to add something new to the mix, or changing exercise plans, or some other tweak that would ultimately de-rail progress and I'd be right back where I started from. Lesson from this, if the waist is shrinking, ignore the damn scale. Ultimately body fat levels are more important than the number on the scale, but last year my goal was tied to a number on the scale. So this coming year my goal is going to be tape measure based, a 34 inch waist. The lowest I got this past year was 36 inches. I believe if I had trusted the plan I had originally set up, and not continually changed direction, I would already have a 34 inch waist and could shoot for, dare I say it, a 30 inch waist. Or even better try to get back to the measurements I had when I graduated from college. But one step at a time. Later this week I'll post my waist measurement for all to see, and also an outline of my plan. In all likely hood it will revolve around High Intensity Training and carb controlled eating, shocking is it not?

Merry Christmas World

Me, Mrs D, and Our son at a recent holiday event. We clean up fairly well for country folk. Here's hoping which ever holiday you choose to celebrate this time of year is happy and filled with hope.

Two steps back, one step forward

The saga of trying to find a livable diet continues at the Dill household. The lead up to the most recent crisis actually began about a week before Halloween. The wife, trying to be a good doobie, bought reese cups and almond joys to pass out to the kiddies for trick or treat. Now aside from the politics of passing out candy to already fat children, these two candies happen to be our favorites. So I think at some level there was some attempt at subversion of our carb controlled eating habits. It started out innocently enough, it always does, as "lets treat ourselves", or "I'm only going to eat one". Heard those before? By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were regularly having a treat every night after dinner. Sometimes one leading to two. So in-spite of eating a mostly reasonable diet, and not really over doing Thanksgiving by a large margin, we both gained several pounds. During this time we both seemed to neglect to weigh ourselves, as to avoid any reality check, and reign in our sugar high. To further exacerbate the matter, our motivation to exercise became less and less. Isn't it funny, how a little candy can take a person who ordinarily eats a healthy diet and routinely exercises, and lure them down the path of the couch potato. The stuff is more insidious than heroin. The come-uppance arrived promptly at 7 AM on Friday Dec 1. While still drinking my first cup of coffee, I hear a disturbed, painful sound coming from the master bath. Mrs D had stepped on the scale. By 7:20 AM, the house was junk food free. No left overs, no cookies, no candy, no pie. For the moment, I was still serene, watching the flurry of activity that usually accompanies such events, wondering what would be the resulting dietary intervention. A bit irritated by my rectitude, Wife demands that I go weigh myself. Feeling self assured that what ever damage had been done, it would not result in any significant gain. WRONG! My feelings were a bit hurt seeing the number on the scale, but deep down, I really wasn't surprised. To here accusatory stare I answer "15 pounds". I knew better than to ask her, if she wasn't going to volunteer, I wasn't going to ask. Been there done that, not worth it. By Lunch time, she had decided to go back into Weight Watchers, a program she had been successful with a coupe of years back. Some of the women she works with were doing it, and she felt the flexibility, social support, and peer pressure of the group thing might help keep her on track through the holidays. For me I choose the Low Glycemic Load route, with a daily GL target of 80. Our food choices are still pretty much based around the South Beach plan, but with the added control of counting points or GL. Both of us have returned to our normal exercise patterns. In the first week I lost 3.5 lb. and she lost 2.5. My goal at this point is to get to Jan 2, and only be 5 lb. heavier than I was in the middle of October. We shall see how it goes.