Weigh-In Week 4

Well, it just gets interesting-er and interesting-er. After staying on our healthy eating path all week (except for the party last Sunday) we've had virtually no progress on the scale. We're noticing clothes are fitting better, and have become suspicious that our weight is starting to get scared and it's just running away to other places... :)

Weigh-In Week Four:
Jay: 361.5 [-0.5 for the week (-10 overall)]
Dee: 226.5 [no change for the week (-5 overall)]

We're planning to begin the dreaded "exercise phase" now, as the good eating just doesn't seem to be holding up on its own like it used to. :)

Carry on!
--Jay

UPDATE: (four hours later) Wow, Dee has just weighed again AFTER breakfast and coffee, and is down a full pound... but we'll save that for next week's weigh-in I suppose... :)

Smoke Alarms: 3, Humans: 0

Well, we've yet to defeat the smoke alarms during the "sweet potato fry" making process! Due to some residual oil in the bottom of the oven, we had another auditory assault this evening. The fries keep getting better though! Can't improve too much on perfection!

--Jay

Chickpeas = Garbanzo Beans = Cecis = Cicer Arietinum

What's In A Name?

For a "day off" lunch treat, Dee made a variation of a Food Network "Five Ingredient Fix" salad recipe centered on beans. We chose to use chickpeas... I mean, garbanzo beans. Or, as Mario Batali likes to call them, "cecis".

The original recipe (located here) involved endive, cannelini beans, roasted red peppers, with some olive oil and lemon juice. We opted for some substitutions from the fridge, and went with iceberg, chickpeas, raw red pepper, fat-free Italian dressing, and added some water-packed tuna for extra protein, and crushed pretzels for crunch. Rock! I didn't get a photo, but next time we may opt for a fancier green and make a nice beauty plate to put on here. :)

Two more days until weigh day number four!
--Jay

She Loves Me, Yeah Yeah Yeah

I came home from work this evening to find that my poor wife Dee, after suffering from a migraine all day long, had made me a nice healthy dinner: grilled chicken breast with honey mustard, brown rice, and spinach. She's requested cinnamon baked apples for dessert, which I will be happy to oblige. Love you! :X

--Jay

Step One: Disable Smoke Detectors

Sweet Potato Fries - Take Two

Attempt number two at savory sweet potato fries: a rip-roarin' success. :)



We are hard at work perfecting our new favorite way to consume sweet potatoes. I have learned (and not for the first time) that there are certain things that are NOT meant to be baked on perforated pizza pans. Oil-coated sweet potato fries? Definitely one of those things. After having offended the smoke alarm gods for two out of two attempts, I will henceforth lean toward a nice, sturdy, solid-bottomed sheet pan. But these things are turning out to be awesome!

Only changes this time was that I left the skin on, and cut the potato into about 1/4" rounds, which I then cut in half to make semi-circles. Much faster than those silly strips I made the first time. High oven, get a nice char, good to go! So here's the rundown for those who missed it:

Preheat oven to 425. Use one nice sized sweet potato per person, washed with skin left on. Cut into rounds, 1/4-1/2" then cut rounds in half to make semi-circles. Toss in a bowl with just enough canola oil to coat, plus salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I know, right?!) to taste. [The recipe from mi hermana-in-law suggested chili powder as well, but we haven't gone there yet.] Spread in a single layer on a SOLID sheet pan, don't crowd. Bake about 20 minutes, flip all fries and bake about 10 minutes more, until a nice dark golden crunchy brown on both sides. Eat and marvel at the yumminess you have crafted.

In a conversation with my aunt the other day, she mentioned that she cuts the calories of a dish similar to this that she calls "Roasted Winter Vegetables". She takes cubes of sweet potatoes, and mixes with butternut squash and carrots, and roasts them all up until tender. I'm thinking two parts sweet potato, one part of each other item. That must be tried in the not-to-distant future as well. Yum! :)

Keep on keepin' on!
--Jay

Post-Party Depression?

Just got back from the overabundance of deliciously evil food, better known as my company New Year's party. Dee executed decent portion control, but I did go a little beyond. Crab dip, red meat, and a plethora of dessert options could not be resisted!

Upon returning home, I found a delightful e-mail from mi hermana-in-law (and current winner of our weight loss "competition") featuring lots of positive thoughts for Dee, and a crap-load of awesome healthy recipes, which will be tested (and probably blogged) very soon.

Looking forward to the continued "challenge"...
--Jay

Weigh-In Week 3: "Hello Walls" --Faron Young (1961)

Weigh-In, Week Three

Well, it's a sight we were hoping we wouldn't see for a long while yet...



That's right... the dreaded "wall". Dee has hit it this week, but we carry on, undeterred! We did extremely well and can't think of a single thing we did "wrong" all week... no eating out, no junk food, only healthy snacks... One theory we're starting to think about is that it's not just what you've done in that one past week that determines how you'll weigh in. Is there a certain amount of carry-over from last week, when we had those lovely all-you-can-eat shrimp, and ate "yogurt blend" ice cream every night? Hmmm...

Hopefully some of our healthy eating this past week will carry over to next week, because we have a company "kick off the new year" party this evening at a local restaurant, and the food is so good that we usually have to indulge just a bit. We could opt not to go, but I'll be receiving a plaque for 10 years of service, and I can't pass up my moment in the spotlight! :-D

Anyway, here's the weigh-in for the end of week three:
Jay: 362.0 [-2.5 pounds for the week (-9.5 overall)]
Dee: 226.5 [no change for the week (-5 overall)]

We've determined that we're still going to try to "healthy up" even more with what we're doing now. I've decided to phase out the fat-free cream cheese and just go with jelly on my morning bagel, and using considerably less than I had in my photo from a few posts back. We're going to try small cuts here and there and see how things go. AND we're going to start using my free company fitness center membership for some workout action. "Carry on, my wayward son." --Kansas (1976)

--Jay

Worth A Thousand Words (A Photo Journey)

Well, it's time for a blast from the past, and visit where Dee and I came from, got to, and then went back to. Here's five years, squished into four photos:


Click it. It makes it bigger. More easier to look at. Click it.

Photo #1 - The Wedding Day
We weren't keeping track of trivial things like weight back then!

Photo #2 - The Turning Point
Taken about two months before the decision to start our original healthy lifestyle plan, after I peaked at 446 pounds and Dee peaked at 296 pounds.

Photo #3 - Who Are Those Hotties?
Did I just call ourselves hotties? How embarrassing. Anyway, a nice shot of our skinny faces around the point of our healthiest, with me at 289 pounds and Dee at 200 pounds.

Photo #4 - Wrong Way Down A One-Way Street
A mere three months ago, after a little backtracking. Over the course of the holidays, we've actually gone up since this photo, but don't have any good current shots.

Photo #5 - Coming Soon
This will be the "skinny again" shot, hopefully posting within the next few months. :)

Rock on!
--Jay

Is it still "breakfast" if you eat it at noon?

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Ah, the crack of noon and we're cooking breakfast. Such is the life on our days off from work. :)



There she is... our standard issue breakfast. I like to call it our "happy breakfast"... see the smiley face there, oh how cute... Whole wheat bagel with fat-free cream cheese and strawberry preserves, frittata/omelet made with egg substitute (today's featured bell peppers, onion, and parmesan cheese as we were out of deli meat), a 6 oz. non-fat yogurt, and a large cup o' joe, featuring Splenda and "light" powdered non-dairy creamer. Yum.

* Estimated Cost of Meal per Person: $2.15

So, for about the cost of two greasy things from the local "dollar menu" we've rocked a decently healthy breakfast that left us significantly more satisfied. Nice.

Upon weighing this morning, I'm still a half-pound up from last week, but tomorrow morning is the official weigh day. It feels like it's been a good week, so we shall we how we end up tomorrow morning!

--Jay

Can you overdose on sweet potatoes?

Mmm... Sweet Potatoes



I do love sweet potatoes, but after trying to work them into our "diaita" three times a week, we're already experimenting with nifty new ways to cook them. We decided to try sweet potato fries again tonight, after I failed miserably at making some several months ago. Dee came across a Paula Deen recipe today, and we decided to adapt it and give it another go.

They actually turned out great, and Dee claims they're now her second-favorite food of all time, second only to shrimp! Here's how they went down... super-easy...

I took one nice sized sweet potato for each of us, and cut it into strips like steak fries. Toss them in a bowl with just enough oil (we did canola) to barely coat, along with a pinch of salt, pepper, and (believe it or not) garlic powder! Bake for about 20 minutes at 450, turning at least once. Our thinner fries started to burn and had to be removed before the rest were done, due to my uneven knife skills. :) Anyway, the garlic powder gave them a savory spin, and they almost tasted like regular potatoes with just a hint of sweetness. A great alternative for when you get a little burnt out on the "sweet potato" taste.

--Jay

Update from Sun. 1/17/2010 - Two Weeks In!

We're a little late at getting this blog started, and wanted to get caught up on how we've done in these first few weeks of trying to adapt to the goodness of healthy eating (again).

Starting Weight (1/3/2010)
Jay: 371.5
Dee: 231.5

End of Week One (1/10/2010)
Jay: 366.5 [-5 pounds for the week ]
Dee: 229.5 [-2 pounds for the week ]

End of Week Two (1/17/2010)
Jay: 364.5 [-2 pounds for the week (-7 overall)]
Dee: 226.5 [-3 pounds for the week (-5 overall)]

During week two, we went out for my grandfather's birthday and indulged in the "all you can eat shrimp" special. We went with the option of broiled shrimp with no butter, mixed veg, and a sweet potato. I must have put away about 150 pounds of shrimp (felt like it anyway) but still managed a decent showing for the week.

Keep on keepin' on!
--Jay

Rule Number One: There Are No Rules

Rules to Eating Healthy and Losing Weight?!?

Well... we don't think of them as "rules"... more like "guidelines" really. Here's a quick look at our approach to building a healthy lifestyle and getting ourselves back to a decent weight.

Our approach is sort of a combination of things we learned from the Nutrisystem style of eating, combined with a little bit of Alton Brown's "four lists" from a recent Good Eats episode.

Our basic things to remember is that you don't have to stop eating out. It's all part of the balancing act. We usually eat in because it's cheaper and we have more control of what goes into our food, but when we eat out, no matter where we go, there's almost always something that can be found on a menu that won't kill our entire month! :)

The stuff we've gleaned from Nutrisystem are:
-MOST Important Thing: Eat breakfast. Every day. Whole grain, dairy, protein, fruit.
-Salads are great to eat before lunch and dinner, and help fill you up. Watch the dressings, and we lean toward non-fat Italian or Catalina/French style rather than creamy dressings.
-For lunch and dinner, vegetables should be in higher quantity than meat.
-Fiber is what keeps you full. An eating plan high in fiber leaves you more satisfied.

Common breakfast items for us are whole grain bagels, lean ham or turkey sandwich meat, egg substitute, and nonfat yogurt. Sometimes we rock a little fat-free cream cheese and strawberry preserves on our bagel. Lunches are usually a healthy microwaveable soup, a couple of large carrots, sugar free gelatin, an apple or orange, and either a serving of pretzels or a 100-calorie snack pack. Dinner is usually a frozen healthy meal, and a nice serving of a vegetable like broccoli, brussels sprouts, or spinach. For dessert, we lean toward chocolate fiber-type bars, sugar free pudding, or gelatin. A good snack item we used to do daily was a trail mix of things like almonds, pretzels, raisins, etc. And of course, water, water, water.

Recently, we watched Alton Brown's new philosophy on Good Eats, involving "four lists". From this, we've decided that we're going to start trying to incorporate these new ideas:
-Eat one or two pieces of fruit each day, typically an apple or orange.
-Eat at least one whole grain item each day.
-Leafy greens, every day. Spinach or brussels sprouts are our faves.
-We will have a small handful of nuts every day, usually almonds.
-Carrots every day, usually at lunch, which are great to make you feel full.
-Green tea, every day. We brew our own and sweeten with Splenda.
-Try to incorporate oily fish like salmon or sardines at least 2-3 times per week.
-Sweet potatoes, at least thrice a week. Mmm... I love sweet potatoes.
-Limit red meat, and any pasta above and beyond what's in our frozen meals.
-No fast food, no soda.

That's about the gist of it. We're excited to see how these new ideas may work!

--Jay

"It starts." --Timon, The Lion King (1994)

diaita [noun] -- Greek: "way of life"

Welcome to our blog!

Why are we here? In late 2004, my wife Dee and I hit the peak of our unhealthy lifestyle. I had migrated to wearing loose-fitting size 5X (that's XXXXXL) Hawaiian shirts and size 58 jeans, topping out at 446 pounds. Dee was up to 296 pounds, and wearing a size 24 pants and a 3X top. When I started threatening to pop out of my shirts yet again, we decided it was time to act.

Over the course of the next couple of years, through a stint at eDiets.com, a little bit of the Subway diet, and a healthy dose of Nutrisystem, we dropped a ton of weight. At our lowest, around May 2008, I found myself at 289 pounds (a 157 pound drop) wearing size 42 jeans and mostly XXL shirts, with a few XL sprinkled in. Dee was down 96 pounds to an even 200 pounds, sporting size large tops and a pants size of 14. Amazingly, this was all accomplished through healthy eating with no regular exercise regimen. A few mile-long walks here and there and some time on a Gazelle, but nothing crazy, and it was definitely few and far between.

And now... the rest of the story. Through too many relaxing family trips, grabbing fast food on the way to and from community theatre play practices, Chinese buffets, fancy coffee drinks, pastries, and too many other things to mention... we backslid a bit. (I backslid quite a bit more than Dee, which she'll be quick to remind me... ha!)

Start of the year 2010, she's at 231 pounds (a 31 pound gain) while still maintaining a size 14 somehow. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here like a lump at 371 pounds after gaining back 82 pounds. That's just over HALF of what I'd worked so hard to accomplish in the first place.

So, here we are. Motivated partially by a "bet" with Dee's brother to see who could lose the most weight in 8 months, and partially by a need to prove it to myself again, we're back on track. So many people (both now and then) asked us what we're doing... what do we eat... how does it work... Sounds like it's time for a blog, so all the world can live along with us, and participate if you so choose.

We hope to share details about our lifestyle... what we're eating, weight updates, new recipes we're discovering, ways to sneak healthy stuff and make it taste good... and maybe we can motivate someone out there to grab onto a new "way of life" along with us. Remember... it's not a DIET... it's not a bunch of restrictions... it's developing a new way of living that you can LIVE WITH.

We welcome comments, suggestions, and anything constructive. Life is a journey, so let's see how far we can go together.

--Jay