Log My Loss

I was given the opportunity recently to review the EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale, and let me tell you, I have been impressed!  Do you want to see why?  Check out my video review below:

If you are interested in getting an EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale of your own, check out their deal at Amazon.com, from which they are donating the sale proceeds to a different charity monthly (March is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).

*Note: The kind folks at EatSmart donated this scale to me for my review and use.  Even so, all comments in this post and the related video are mine alone, and were nothing short of honest.  If my opinion on the scale changes over time, you can rest assured that will be posted here as well.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 6:21 am by South Beach Steve.
Filed under: Product Review, Video Post
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I could sum up this post in just a few words:

The point of Intermittent Fasting is not to gorge yourself at the end of the day.

Usually I do really well at this.  There are many of you who will find this hard to believe, but after acclimating my body to IF, I am not really hungry when I get home from work in the evening.  Those who have done IF before will attest that the danger comes when food once again crosses your lips.  That is when the hunger hits.  Even so, I usually don’t struggle with this either.  I eat a large dinner upon ending my fast, but I do not gorge myself – usually.

Let me give a little background.  Last Saturday it was nearly 100 degrees F here.  Sunday it was in the high 60s.  The remnants of Hurricane Lee blew the hot weather we have been plagued with all summer away.  My wife decided these cooler temperatures warranted a pot of homemade chili.  There maybe some who recall that chili is one of those meals I struggle with for some reason.  I LOVE chili.  I was okay with this though; I haven’t had a bowl in a LONG time.  Anyhow, I ate two bowls of chili last night.  That, in and of itself, is not a problem.  After all, it was all I ate yesterday.  At least up to that point.

Yesterday was also my wife’s birthday.  She didn’t want a cake, but she did have blackberry cobbler.  When I saw her and the kids eating that I justified eating my dessert – a bowl of Grape Nuts Cereal.  The funny thing was that the cobbler didn’t tempt me, nor was I driven by hunger at this point.  It was an entirely willful act.   Grrrr!  Why do I do stuff like this?

This morning I feel bloated, as I usually do after chili.  Of course, adding a helping of grain and dairy in on top of that probably didn’t help anything.  I am not sure if I will IF today or not.  I had planned against it, but now I feel I need it.

On the exercise front – I did exercise yesterday: three sets of squats (20 ea) and three or four trips up and down three flights of stairs at work.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 4:02 am by South Beach Steve.
Filed under: Daily Dining, Exercise, Fasting, Garden
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Let me get right to it – I exercised today!!  Woot!  Part of that included walking in the airports today.  While I understand the point Andrew (AJH) made yesterday in his comment, I respectfully disagree.  I didn’t time the walk through one of the two larger airports, but I did time the walk in Chicago O’Hare, which was a brisk 18 minutes straight .  That certainly counts as exercise in my book.  Like I said, I didn’t time the walk in Oklahoma City’s airport, but I suspect it was probably only 5-7 minutes.  To give Andrew credit, I am sure he is warning me against using a three minute walk between gates as my “exercise” for the day, and I know he is urging me to get in 30-60 minutes of cardio.  Both of which are understandable.  To his point the 30-60 minutes straight didn’t happen today, but to tell you the truth, I am thrilled at what I did.  Ah wait, I didn’t tell you all I did.  I also did push ups.  This was a humbling experience.

SO

VERY

HUMBLING

I have really, really lost a considerable amount of what I had.  Then I did toe raises.  Then I did one front, one left-side, and one right-side plank.  Finally, I did push ups again.  Is this going to earn me the exerciser of the year award?  Nope, but it is FAR better than what I did yesterday or most any other day for a LLLLLOOOOONNNNNGGGGG TIME!

Eating was a success today too.  I did a day of IF today, only eating supper.  Considering my day started at 3:00 AM and I didn’t get off work until 5:15 PM, that turned out to be a pretty good fast.  Supper was a good steak, sweet potato with butter, and salad.  I have also had a few bites of a great garlic beef jerky made with only garlic and beef.  During the day I only had one cup of black coffee and water.

On the topic of IF -  I know there are some of you who disagree with IF.  I don’t recommend it for everyone, but it works well for me, especially when I need to get out of my bad habits.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 6:33 pm by South Beach Steve.
Filed under: Exercise, Fasting, General
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I had my mind set on a little longer post than this will be, but it seems the Internet at the hotel this morning is terrible.

As I have written in previous weeks, I think I have been doing fairly good on my diet, but the weight has been going the wrong direction.  This week I finally implemented IF once again, and you know what?  I have enjoyed it.  It was just hard to get past the mental aspect of skipping a meal.  My dinner meals, which are the ones I am eating, have all been spot on, so I am expecting a loss this week.

I fly home in later this afternoon, but I won’t arrive until midnight or later.  I have a terrible layover in Chicago.  At least I am going home though.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2011 at 5:06 am by South Beach Steve.
Filed under: Daily Dining, Fasting, General
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I have to admit, when I weighed yesterday morning, I got really down.  I gained again.  Outside of last week, I have gained EVERY week for NINE weeks straight.  Now to be honest, I didn’t have a totally stellar week last week.  I did have a really good week most of the week though.  Saturday was the day I didn’t do so well.  With that being said, you might say to me that I shouldn’t let this bother me then.  Well, guess what.  I weighed on Saturday morning and it was the same weight as it was yesterday morning.  So what is this weight?  See for yourself:

As I put my weight and measurements into my spreadsheet this morning I was pleasantly surprised though.  My measurements were not all bad, and in fact, my body fat is less than it has been since the beginning of May.  This doesn’t compensate for this meteoric rise I seem to be having lately, but it does make me feel a little (very little) better.

Here are the rest of the measurements: my body fat decreased 0.9% to 27.1%.  My BMI rose by 0.2 to 33.0.  My neck remained the same (17.25″), as did my forearms (12.125″).  My chest increased an eighth of an inch to 46.875″.  My stomach, however, decreased 0.375″ to 42.875″.  My waist and my biceps each increased by half an inch to 39.375″ and 13.25″ respectively.  My thighs decreased 0.625″ to 22.125″ (last week was probably a mismeasurement).  My calves increased a quarter inch to 16.25″.

So where do I go from here?  Obviously this is not working at all right now.  Loyal readers will know I am not exercising with any regularity or sincerity.  That has to change.  To say it like it is though, I don’t have the motivation to start that again right now.  I don’t know why.  I just don’t.  I do have something I am motivated to start though – IF.  It has been an effective tool for me in the past, perhaps it is what I need to kickstart my program again.  I have a busy week of meals at work, and a weekend getaway coming up, so I am not going to start that until next Monday.  This week, however, I am going to continue to watch quantities.

I am thinking back on something I just wrote.  My heart is not into the exercise right now, but as I think back, this isn’t the first time I have been this way.  Back a couple of years ago – maybe three, I was like this.  I had yet to ever really exercise, but I forced myself to start.  Here is a commitment I can make.  I will either do planks, push ups, squats, leg lifts, or some other form of exercise six days a week.  Yard/garden work will count only if it is intense.  Airport walking will count too.  This starts today.

There will be no weigh-in next week.  My family and I are taking a weekend trip.

If you haven’t checked out my video review of the EatSmart Precision Premium Bathroom Scale yet, why not do yourself a favor and check it out now?

Note: The fine folks at EatSmart donated a scale for my review; nevertheless, all you are going to get here is an honest review of the scale.  If you are interested in purchasing one, I suggest you check out their scale on Amazon.com.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 5:09 am by South Beach Steve.
Filed under: Daily Dining, Exercise, Fasting, Garden, General, Goals, Measurements, Pictures, Weight
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I didn’t get a chance to post last night, and honestly, I didn’t take pics of all my food.  My wife and I took our oldest son to see his girlfriend, which is a 3+ hour drive.  Ugh!  I had left work a little early, and I still didn’t get home until nearly 11:00 PM.   Even so, I still did some push ups before bed.

Back to the food – I didn’t do as well as I should have with the eating – a common failure when I am on a trip.  Anyhow, I have been wanting to do a day of Intermittent Fasting, but I haven’t had the will power.  Well, today was the day.  I skipped breakfast and lunch, and it felt good.  I also did squats today.

I was hoping to get a lot of gardening done this weekend, but I don’t think the weather is going to cooperate.  I have bought most of my plants other than the few I started from seed.  Some things are already out and growing: lettuces, cabbage, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, radishes, and some beans.  I still have most of my peppers, some more tomatoes, and quite a few herbs to still put out.  It is going to be a good year of gardening.

Here are my food pics of the day:

Supper:

Pork loin, black-eyed peas, white beans, and carrots.

Dessert:

A Zone Bar

Mid-evening Snack:

SF popsicle

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2011 at 6:17 pm by South Beach Steve.
Filed under: Daily Dining, Exercise, Fasting, Garden, General, Pictures
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