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Another great day.  Work was crazy, but in a different way than normal.  My Blackberry Curve was giving me some trouble, so I traded it out on a Blackberry Bold.  I spent nearly six hours getting it set up and configured.  Yeah, I ran into trouble, but it all works now.  I think I am going to like this one better than the last one.

I woke up on time today and walked 4.2 miles.  I meant to walk more than this, but I forgot to take one of the paths I normally take.  Still not too shabby.  I also did 10 push ups.  I don’t know if I mentioned it on Tuesday, but I did ten on Tuesday also.  Tomorrow I probably won’t get up as early, as I have the day off.  We also have a pest control person coming to our house to do some spraying tomorrow morning, so I have to be sure I am here when he arrives.  I still plan on getting a great walk in tomorrow and doing the Tabata workout.

Eating was also pretty good.  Breakfast was a bit larger than normal since I was breaking my fast.  I had two eggs (with lots of herbs), a pork chop, six roma tomatoes, and one jalapeno.  Lunch was four cups of salad, less than half of which was lettuce.  My homemade apple cider vinegar and olive oil dressing mixed with fresh herbs.  I also had one pork chop.  Supper was too many ribs, green beans, half a red hot cherry pepper, and some homemade cole slaw.  Ribs are a big, big weakness of mine, especially when they are cooked over charcoal, as these were.  I did stop at a lot fewer than I wanted to, that is for sure.

I have been busy on a “honey do” list all evening, so I haven’t been visitng my normal blog list.  I’ll have to make up for that tomorrow – it is late for this early riser.  Fortunately, I am off tomorrow in celebration of Independence Day.  Be sure and check back tomorrow as there is going to be a new, fantastic recipe posted that I think many of you will like, especially those on a low glycemic index diet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 10:44 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Exercise
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Today has been another busy day, but a great day.  I couldn’t make myself get up as early as normal because I was up too late last night, but I did get up in time to get a 2.1 mile walk in.  I then attempted another Tabata jump rope workout.  Once again, I got my tail handed back to me!    That’s okay though, I did better today.  By next week I should be fine.  Today was a fasting day, so there is no food to report.  However, I did have a great cup of coffee this morning.  I like this latest Kenyan bean.

Speaking of food, I had to trim my herbs today.  They are growing like mad!  I now have Cinnamon Basil, Genovese Basil, Lemon Balm, Common Sage, and Greek Oregano drying.  They smell so good!  If you are interested in seeing a neat picture of some golden bug eggs that were on a Lemon Balm leaf, check out my photo blog.  The previous two photos are pretty awesome too (IMHO).

Tonight I noticed that Darya at Summer Tomato posted Six Healthy Eating Tips for the upcoming 4th of July.  There are some good points here to keep in mind.

While your out browsing the web, you should head over to Will of Iron and give him a big congratulations for passing his ACE Personal Trainer Certification Exam!

Speaking of congratulations, Rob at Fitness for Real, Fitness for Life has had a great eight weeks.  His evaluation of those weeks is posted today; he is doing pretty darn awesome!

One last congratulatory shout out — my friend Mark is back on track!  I am glad to know that he is.  He has chosen to go through phase one of the South Beach Diet again to jump start things.  Today is day three.  Unfortunately, there is not a blog to visit, but he goes by mgs at South Beach Friends.  Biz over at Biggest Diabetic Loser is also on day three of the South Beach Diet.  Congrats to her too!  She is so creative with her cooking.

If you’re interesting in some insight in to how Intermittent Fasting is working for one person, you should check out Rachel’s latest post on how she has found her body reacts to food.

Mizfit brought it to my attention this morning that 2009 is halfway over – a good time to do a checkup on goals for the year.  On January 1 of this year I defined my Decisions for 2009.  After reviewing them today, I find I am doing pretty good overall.  Here they are with updates:

• During 2009 I will continue my weight loss. - I am continuing my weight loss.
• During 2009 I will exercise regularly. - I am exercising regularly.
• During 2009 I will do 100 push ups consecutively. - This is on temporary hiatus, but I still think I will achieve it.

The other goals I listed (some within my control, some are not) are:

• I want to walk or run 750 miles. - I am getting there, slowly, but surely.
• I want to do 20 consecutive pull ups.  (This is one that is somewhat out of my control.  I have a shoulder that gives me a lot of trouble when doing pull ups.  I am not going to push it so hard that I hurt this shoulder.) – I have made progress here, albeit slow.  It is now an elbow (tennis elbow) that is the concern.  It will be well soon though.
  
• I want to weigh 175 pounds. – This is going to be tough.  In fact, I am not sure I will ever weigh 175.  I’ll have to make that determination as I get closer.
  
• I want to look good when I take my shirt off. – Still a long way off from this, but I am getting closer.  I actually had pictures taken of myself with no shirt, which is a big step for me.
  
• I want my blood sugar to be below 100. – I am getting there.  Even though this was higher last Doctor’s appointment, I think it will be lower next time.
  
• I want to eliminate the need for blood pressure medicine. – Woot!  I am really getting closer here.  I think I will come off of it at my next appointment.
  
• I want to start running. – I can do it, I can do it, I can do it . . .
  
• I want to jump rope 15 minutes straight. – I am working on this.  It is going to be tough though.

So, what about you?  How are your goals/resolutions coming for the year?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 8:51 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Dieting in the News, Dieting on the Web, Exercise, Fasting, General
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Work was busy once again.  This time it was my own fault though.  It seems I totally forgot I had a pretty important project due today – yes, today.  Needless to say, I didn’t get it done.  I did get a short extension though.  On top of that, I have a pretty important presentation at 8:00 AM tomorrow.  As if that isn’t enough, I had some computer jobs after work – three of them!  I normally don’t take on that much side work after the day job, but this just fell into place this way.  None of the computer jobs went well, so I am stressed beyond belief tonight.  Thank goodness it is almost bedtime.

Walking was good today.  It was once again a wonderful sunrise.  I put in 4.8 miles this morning, and I did 10 push ups.  I know that isn’t many push ups, but I am pretty scared to push this arm injury much.  I am going to take it nice and slow.

While the weather was great today, it has gotten ugly tonight.  My father-in-law called and said they have considerable wind damage at their place.  Fortunately, we didn’t get any of that.  It did finally rain though, which was needed.

Eating was also great today.  Breakfast was a Gypsy Pepper, a Jalapeño Pepper, two Roma tomatoes, and an apple with Super Pecan Butter.  Lunch was a great salad with homemade oil and vinegar dressing mixed with lots of herbs.  Supper was several hot wings, pinto beans, and steamed squash.  I am planning on fasting all day tomorrow.  We’ll see how that goes.  If I am still stressed out, that will be a challenge.

If you get a chance, you should head over to My Three Month Okinawa Diet.  Mike started dieting almost three months ago and has shed a whopping 81 pounds so far.  His goal is another 11 pounds in the next week.  That may be tough, but no matter what, he is going to get close.  Congratulations Mike!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 9:43 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Dieting on the Web, Exercise, Fasting
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Today has been a pretty great day outside of work.  Not that work was bad, but boy was it busy and stressful!  Too much to do and not enough time to do it!

Eating did not quite go as planned today.  I had planned on fasting all day, but when I told my wife my plans, she chastised me for not telling her my plans sooner.  Apparently she already had plans for supper.  Not a problem, I just fasted during the day.  Supper was great – a pork chop, some pinto beans, and some green beans.  I accented this with a very small green pepper and a jalapeno.  I had a handful of fresh blueberries for dessert.  Mmmm!  I was still a little hungry later, so I filled a bowl full of cucumbers and vinegar that was made a few days ago.  It is just about to get right.  This is such a terrific snack.

By the way – the peppers are really beginning to come in.  Now I can’t wait for the tomatoes.  Sure, some have come in already, but just a few.  I can’t wait until I can have tomatoes and peppers for breakfast.  Yummy!

Speaking of yummy, I roasted a fresh batch of coffee tonight.  I haven’t had a chance to do this lately with all the traveling that has been going on.  I sure do miss it when I don’t have it.  This batch is a Kenya AB Auction Lot #768 Rukira.  It is supposed to be a good light roast coffee with a fruity taste.  I won’t try it until Wednesday after it has had a chance to sit a bit, but I cannot wait.

Even though I would have preferred to throw my alarm clock out the window this morning, I finally heeded to it after two hits on the snooze button.  I hardly ever hit snooze, but boy I didn’t want to get up this morning.  Once I did, things were great.  I walked 4.8 miles, which was a little more than expected.   The walk was really a good one – a little cooler, a beautiful sunrise, the birds chirping, what more could you ask for.  Nothing, but I will tell you what I got.  Toward the end of my walk, who did I see walking over the hill?  My wife.  Apparently she has decided to start C25K today.  She has yet to convince herself that there is anything worth getting up at 4:30 AM for on a regular basis, so we may only see each other in passing, but it was nice seeing that she started it.  Something has always told me that she would really enjoy that program if she ever started it.  Now I suppose we will find out.

Anyhow, after the walk I decided to do Tabata Jump Rope.  If you aren’t familiar with the Tabata training, it is basically doing any exercise as hard as you can for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest.  Repeat this eight times.  I have not done this ebfore today. Let me tell you what, this will kick your tail!  I did not finish the full eight sets.  In fact, I am not sure how many I did finish – either four or five.  I will get better at this though.

I ran across a couple of helpful posts on other blogs tonight.  First, Mark’s Daily Apple tells us all about freezing produce.  Second, Darya over at Summer Tomato presents an opposing view to the latest hype that body fat is healthy.

Last of all, recently I have had posts which were chosen to be in three blog carnivals.  The first was my Cinnamon, Diabetes, and Heart Health post, which made it into the Take Charge of Your Health Care Carnival.  Next, my post on When the Sun is Shining made it into the Your Metamorphosis Carnival and the Blogging About Losing Weigh Carnival.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 8:43 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Dieting in the News, Dieting on the Web, Exercise, Fasting, Garden
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Today I have been wanting to eat all day long!  Do you ever have those days?  I have been a little stressed about some home projects I am struggling to finish, so I think that had something to do with it.  In my former life I would have probably put away a few thousand calories this afternoon alone, but fortunately, that is my former life.  I told my wife I was really struggling wanting to eat, and she suggested I eat some cucumbers and onions we had soaking in vinegar and Splenda in the refrigerator.  I thouth that was a great idea, so I had a couple of bowlfulls of this.  While that is still alot, it is better than a bag of chips, a bag of cookies and a glass or two of milk, or any of the many other things that were a part of my diet a year ago.

I did not exercise today.  While I have had two light days already this week, I felt I needed another day of rest, primarily for my feet.  I had developed a little bit of a sore on one of them last week and I don’t want to aggrevate it.  It should be fine tomorrow.

Food all day was okay, other than the quantities.  For breakfast I had an apple with three tablespoons of Super Pecan Butter.  For lunch I had a small salad (all fresh veggies) with apple cider vinegar, some green beans, Spam (Uggh!  Big Mistake of theday!), and Country Ham.  The meat was really pretty small in quantity, but more than it should have been.  My mid-afternoon snack was already listed above.  My supper was also too big.  I had a small salad (all fresh veggies) with EVOO and apple cider vinegar, a very small amount of green beans, 1/2 cup of Uncle Sam Cereal with 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries, and 1/2 cup of 2% milk.  I then followed this up with an apple and three tablespoons of Super Pecan Butter.  The quantities were awful, but the food choices were pretty good (other than the lunch meats).  Tomorrow is a fasting day.  I intend on not eating anything at all tomorrow and breaking the fast Tuesday morning.

Last of all, in case you needed a reason to avoid high-glycemic foods, a recent study, How High Carbohydrate Foods Raise Risk for Heart Problems, has found that eating high-glycemic foods caused the brachial arteries in the body to stretch out for several hours, presumably reducing their elasticity, which is a cause of heart disease.  This is a significant study that everyone should read.  The findings are substantial and they seem to prove that sugar-laden, high glycemic foods are more than just a risk to our waistline.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 8:02 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Dieting in the News, Exercise, Fasting
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I am pleasantly surprised this morning.  I honestly didn’t expect a loss at all, but when I stepped on the scale I was down another pound to 206.5.  I guess all that walking really paid off.  Of all the measurements this week, only one, my calves, went up.  They increased an eighth of an inch to 17″.  My body fat decreased 0.7% to 22.6%, my BMI decreased 0.2 to 29.6, my chest decreased 0.625″ to 45.25″, my stomach decreased 0.5 to 41″, my waist decreased 0.25″ to 38.75″, and my thighs went down an eighth of an inch to 22.875″.  My neck, biceps, and forearms stayed the same.

Looking back at my goals for last week, I find that I didn’t really do so hot.  I didn’t do a single plank, although that was because of injury.  I also ate like a glutton at least once, perhaps more.  I did, however, blow out my walking goal.  The goal was 20 miles and I walked a whopping 36.1 miles.

My goals for this week are to walk at least 24 miles, do a total of 30 push ups, do my plank routine 3 days, and begin my jump-rope routine again.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 7:24 am by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Exercise, Goals, Measurements, Weight
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Summer time is here.  It is HOT, HOT, HOT.  While that is not my favorite thing, it does bring along some good things, like fresh vegetables from the garden.  This morning my wife and I headed over to her grandma’s house to pick a few fresh vegetables.  A few doesn’t even begin to describe what we brought home.  This included a grocery bag full of green beans, two bags of various peppers, some tomatoes, some potatoes (that I will not eat ), lots and lots of cucumbers, some squash, a bag of fresh apples, and more.  My wife’s grandmother doesn’t know the meaning of the word moderation when it comes to gardening.  She literally grows enough to feed a small community.  That is good for us.  My wife, the boys, and I help out in the garden, so she eagerly gives us all we want.  There will be no shortage of them until frost.

After working in the garden, my wife and I went for a 3.1 mile walk this morning.  Even though we walked pretty early, the heat really took a toll on her, so we walked a mile less than we had planned.  In addition to working in my wife’s grandma’s garden, we also worked for about two hours in our garden late this afternoon.  I don’t think I am going to walk tomorrow.  I kind of feel like I need a day off.

Eating was great today, although I had intended on fasting again.  Unfortunately, the awesome looking fresh vegetables ruined that plan.  I don’t regret that a bit though.  There is nothing like stuff fresh from the garden.  For breakfast I had one blackberry (yes, just one, that was all that was ripe), a sliced Roma Tomato, a sliced green Bell Pepper, a sliced Gypsy Pepper, and a small apple (think golf ball) with natural peanut butter.  Lunch was a Fuji Apple with natural peanut butter.  Supper was a large salad full of fresh vegetables, two smoked chicken strips, and Ranch Dressing.

You may have noticed, my page on Intermittent Fasting is up.  I encourage you to check it out.  There is a lot of good stuff there.

One last thing, if you happened to look at the Super Pecan Butter recipe I posted this morning earlier in the day, it has been updated immediately prior to this post.  It seems the oil which was added earlier looked good at the time, but now it seems to be a bit much.  If you choose to make this, you probably want to start with half the oil at first.

Tomorrow is weigh-in and measurements.  Despite the extra exercise this week, I don’t feel like I have lost anything.  In fact, I kind of feel bigger (my belt does not feel as loose).  I hope that is just my mind.  We’ll know in just a few hours.  Wish me luck.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 10:52 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Dieting on the Web, Exercise, Fasting, Garden
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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 4:16 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Recipes
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It will be short and sweet tonight folks.  I am exhausted after a long day of travel.  I did fast today until supper.  For supper I ate too much.  This is not so much because I was hungry, but because I went to an all-you-can-eat buffet.  I had a large salad, an 8 ounce serving of beef, a very, very small amount of chicken (probably two tablespoons), a few pieces of pork, a large serving of green beans and wax beans, a very small serving of lima beans, five large strawberries, a couple of bits of chili, and three small bites of no sugar added, no fat, frozen yogurt.  While I ate too much, I was not uncomfortably stuffed.  After I finally made it home I had two large spoons of natural peanut butter.  Not my best evening.  Funny enough, this is small compared to some of my meals a year or so ago.  That doesn’t make this acceptable though.  I also walked about a mile today at the airports.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 8:55 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Exercise, Fasting
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How can a day be bad when it begins with a sunrise like this?

I never tire of a great sunrise, and there has been one every day this week.  I just now finally got the sense to carry my camera on my walk this morning.  They tell me that this area is pretty much a pretty sunrise every day.  That, along with the low humidity, sure makes this a tempting place.

Speaking of seeing the sunrise – I put in another healthy 8.2. miles this morning.  I don’t think I will get any walking in tomorrow outside of that which I do at the airport.  I have a couple of spots on my foot that are a little sore, so I think I need a day off.  I will probably go back to the four mile a day schedule on Saturday.  I also think I am about ready to slowly add some push ups back in.  My arm is still not healed, but it is feeling better.  My doctor told me it was okay to continue doing the push ups, just at a very reduced pace.  I chose to stop them for the week, but now I think it is time to ease back into it.

Eating was more of the same today.  Not great, but not bad.  No breakfast, once again.  Lunch was a terrific meal at Ruby Tequilas.  I had a fajita salad with jalapeno ranch dressing.  The meat was chicken.  This was so very good.  Along with it I had some fresh guacamole, two chips, and two habaneros.  It was a little too much food, but still not too bad.  I may have overdone it on the habaneros though as my system was flushed pretty quickly.  Supper was the meal I was most pleased with for the week.  Not because it was the best, but because I was my best.  We ate at a Japanese Steakhouse, but I didn’t have steak.  I had grilled salmon with a double order of grilled vegetables.  This also came with two small shrimp.  The meal was supposed to come with soup and salad as well, but I asked that those not be brought to the table.  While there was nothing wrong with them as healthy food choices, I knew I didn’t need that much.  This ends my week of temptation.  Tomorrow I will be traveling all day, which is a great time for a fast.  I am sure I will eat dinner tomorrow night though.

I ran across a couple of great web posts today on some blogs I was perusing.  First, Fitness Spotlight has a post on Why Your Weight Loss Plan Isn’t Working.  There are some great points here, especially #4.  Next was In Defense of a Low Carb Diet over at MealMixer.com.  This is the first time I have visited this site, and I liked this post.  While I don’t agree with everything written, I do think it makes some great points that are worth reading.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 9:59 pm by South Beach Steve.
It was filed as Daily Dining, Dieting on the Web, Exercise, Fasting
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