8 days without counting calories

It has been 8 days without me counting calories and I am down just over 3 pounds. By the way it was never a goal to lose weight by stopping my calorie counting it was my goal to cut my stress and to try and fix what was no longer working for me. You see it is stupid to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, and that was just what I was doing. 

Now am I say that it is wrong to count calories? No, I am not, counting calories served me greatly while I was trying to figure out what I needed to do. It has helped me create the habits that I now have. And I have learned just how bad fast food, and processed foods are for me. I have also learned that for every research that says that eating a certain way is bad for me there are other researches that say it is good for me. We are all different and we have to learn what works for each and every one of us. We have to stop believing that it worked for me, it will work forever one else. 

Now what is still true is it is all about eating less than what we burn. That is a fact of life. It is also true that some of us will gain weight eating food that others lose weight on. That is just who each of us are. It is also true that some foods will trigger us to binge eat. For me it is a salt and or sugar. If it get to much salt I want more, the same with sugar. And help my please if I get both together. 

I have to say that in doing this my blood pressure is also down which surprised me. I have to say also that my stress level is really down too. I believe it is a combination of not worrying about counting calories, and I am back to my early morning meditation. Mediating first thing in the morning sets my day up so much better. 

Now to the question I believe you want to know what am I eating. All I can say is a well rounded menu of items. I eat plenty of veggies, fruits, and nuts. I also eat small portions of all types of meat, and fish. I limit myself to processed foods to once or twice a week other than my cereals. I do still have my milk and whey protein with breakfast. By the way breakfast is my largest meal of the day. I eat dinner at about 6:00 pm and I do not eat again until after 8:30am. So in a fashion I do fast. Lunch is either snacking on veggies, fruit and nuts or it will be a sandwich. If I have a sandwich for lunch then dinner is light with salads only. 

My activities is still walking and working around the house. I also ride the scooter most times to the hiking trails, and doing chores around the local area. My total activity burn for each day is averaging about 2400 calories. Now that is total of resting and activity burn. I am also twice a week working out with dumbbells and the curl bar. Nothing heavy and no extreme numbers. Just enough so I work my muscles. 

I will say this I had to find my way of managing myself and I am still a work in process, and each of you have to do it yourself. Sure it is okay to listen to others but take it with a grain of salt, and figure it out for yourself. We are all different and we all have what works for each of us but you have to work at it and find it yourself.

Early Morning showers

What a beautiful morning, sometime very early this morning we did get a thunderstorm and some rain. But now the sun is shining and it is going to be a very warm day. It also looks like it will get to 100 degrees or higher this weekend. 

Yesterday, I collected most of the camping stuff and took it over to the storage garage. That will make some room in the shed and garage. My goal is to get the Jeep back in the garage along with the scooters. 

My weight is coming back down. I have dropped almost 3 pounds in just over a week. What am I doing different? That is a good question, the only thing I can say is that I am no longer counting calories. I am logging what I am eating but not the calories. I am freely eating what I enjoy, and to be honest I am eating less than before. Now I cannot swear that I am eating less calories for I do not know how many calories I am eating. But I am eating less meat, I am eating less snacks. My snacks were always nuts and fruit, and still is. Before I was always worried that I was not eating enough so I was trying to get my whole budget eaten. Now, not knowing the calories I just eat what I feel I need. I do enjoy a beer or ice cream at times. And I no longer fear eating a slice of bread. For me count calories had become a head game that was causing me to stress out. And the stress was causing me to eat more than I really wanted. You notice I am not saying needed. 

The key for me it seems was to use calorie counting to get my habits in place, and now the key is staying with my habits, of eating healthy real food most of the time. 

The scooters

Linda was complaining about her scooter not acting correctly. After riding it myself and noticing it did not react like mine does, and seeing they are the same scooter technically. I posted a question on the Vespa owners Facebook site and was told that I should disconnect the battery and let the computers reset. Yes, they have computers that run everything now days. So I did yesterday. And this morning I reconnected the battery on both scooters and took them out for a spin around the neighborhood. They seem to be much closer to the same now, as for as idle and the clutch engaging. They do each have their own personality due to the way that their rear suspension is set up, and the fact Linda’s scooter has a custom seat that is lower then my seat. Now we will just have to see how Linda reacts to the change, when she rides it.

Can you live and love your diet for the rest of your life?

This is an important question you have to ask yourself. I have been using Loseit for almost 7 years. And I have been on one diet or another for about 40 years. While, I have managed to lose a lot of weight using Loseit I get tired of my food choices and I end up gaining weight back. This has been the case since I was about 30 years old. I can lose weight easily because I have that type of will power that my dad and also the Navy taught me to have. Will power can only take me so far, then my human nature kicks in and I start gaining weight again. Now that I know I have to always weigh myself I catch the fact I am gaining soon and I can kick my will power back in and lose the weight again. But that is not a type of life that is all that healthy or even happy. So what I am trying to do now is find a happy point that I can eat as healthy as possible, be as active as I can be and to enjoy what I am eating and the activities that I am doing. To my dismay and to the dismay of most of my Loseit friends, I am finding that after almost 7 years that counting every last calorie I eat is very stressful and it is actually causing me to eat more that I would other wise. 

Now I am going to say this right now, I am not saying you should stop logging your food or if it is not stressing you out to stop counting calories. I still keep a journal of what I eat, I just do not keep a count on the calories I am eating. I still use my Apple Watch so I know how active I am, but to be honest I do not pay attention to that every day either. What I am seeing is that my blood pressure has dropped, and I am eating less due to not stressing over that last calorie I ate or the fact that I have not eaten enough for the day to hit that magical calorie count that everyone says we have to eat just to not be starving our bodies. So what is my gage or way I eat? That is a good question, I am eating to not be hungry, I am eating to not get a dizzy spell due to not eating enough or eating often enough. I am still at times having spells with low blood sugar. My wife and I even care snickers bars with us in case that happens. But if I am not hungry I do not eat, if I am hungry I eat just enough to take away that hungry feeling. My weight is much more stable this way even with too much salt at times. My headaches are fewer and much less often. And my blood pressure is down about 10 points for both readings. 

What I am going to say is that you need to stop worrying about what you weigh and worry more about stabilizing your weight. Stop the yo-yoing that is very unhealthy. Also, stop worrying about your ideal weight, and except yourself at what you are happy with in the way of your activity level and eat as healthy as you can enjoy life with. Even a 10 pound weight loss makes you healthier than losing 50 - 100 pounds and then gaining it all back plus even more. You need to find yourself an enjoyable point that your weight is stable, you are active, and you enjoy your life, and you enjoy the foods you eat. Once you get to that point you will have less stress, you will have better blood pressure and in turn you will be healthier. 

So if you find counting calories enjoyable, and you find the restrictions you have in your diet enjoyable, and you enjoy your activity level you should have found your happy weight or will at some point. 

For me I am going to continue on my path for now, if I continues to work then I will not change, but if I see I cannot make it without counting calories then I will again count calories. I am not say good by to Loseit or my friends I am saying I am taking a break.

Holiday Weekend

My weight is hanging in there. Not sure why but something did not set well, yesterday I had issues with stomach cramps and very bad case of gas. I know I have had too much salt every week now for about 2 months, and my weight shows it. And to be honest my weight is up but I am still eating well within a safe range even without counting calories I know it due to my experience. I am logging what I eat every day, I just am not counting calories. I am going to try fasting, by not eating any snacks for a few weeks. I have been saying that now for a month and I have not managed it yet. 

After the thunderstorm left the area we went for a ride, Linda had a chance to try out her new seat for her scooter. She can now flat foot it while on the seat.

Intuitive eating

 I am trying my hand at not counting calories. I believe I am doing okay. My weight is down a little again, I do believe it is due to too much salt over the past weekend. I am writing down what I am eating, I just am not counting calories. I can say this I am not stressed over eating now, and I am not eating any differently. I am eating less nuts now. And I am not eating the ice cream that I was eating. I am also not eating as much fruit, and I do not know if that is good or bad. I am also sleeping better. Last evening we had watermelon and I for me it is a great diuretic. I also have to say that when I am not thinking about calories what I am eating taste better to me. 

The spring showers just keep coming and going. Nothing bad just a little rain every now and then. We have our first tropical storm that looks to be headed just to the east of us. So we may not get rain. But if it turns more to the west we could get very wet here. 

Day two without calorie counting

Yesterday was day one without calorie counting. I have to say I did not feel the need to snack, I had cereal for breakfast, lunch my wife and I were out riding our scooters and went outside the Village for the first time. We stopped at The shack, a local hamburger and other types of food local legend place. We had a small burger and it was great. This place is not fast food the meat is local and hand formed, the buns are even baked at The Shack. Supper was trout, rice, and asparagus. And I did not snack at all yesterday so even with the burger my food was down for the day. I also noticed that I did not think about food at all. I believe it is the fact that I was not thinking about a calorie goal for the day, I was only thinking about what I was doing and doing it.

We left The Shack and came back home, Linda decided to go to the Bank here in the Village, and before getting back home it started raining and she got very wet. Luckily it is warm and she did not get cold.

I will post a picture from The Shack.

It is time for a change

I am going to put what I have learned from Loseit, and all of the research I have done to work. I am going to put intuitive eating to the test. At least for a while I am not going to be logging what I eat as for as calories are concerned. I am going to see if I have the needed eating habits in control now. I will continue to weigh, and to monitor my friends on Loseit and I will stay very mindful of what I eat and drink.

It is just time for a break and a vacation from logging everyday for almost 7 years.

I believe in God, and I am sad to see what my world has become.

I would love to see a world were we all got a long, a world without the killing any living thing. That would intel the love for all living beings, and the respect for all living beings. I would love to see a world where guns are all turned into tools to work the land. But I know that is not possible until Jesus returns to claim his rightful place here on earth. 

So many want gun control, well I am here to tell you guns do not control us, we as human beings control guns as we control knifes, and any other tool that we have created and used. We have created some really fantastic tools that have benefited our world. We have also created so many tools that are destroying our world. Most of them are tools of war. We as humans are a waring people. We are so intent on destroying each other that the Devil is laughing all the time. Why are we that way? The only answer I have to say is that we do not want to follow God’s Word. We do not want to be told what to do or how to do it. We are proud stubborn beings that believe we know better than any one else even God. 

I have to say that in reading the Bible this world will only get worse until Jesus comes back to earth to reclaim his rightful place. Please take as little as 10 minutes of you're early morning time to read the Bible and ask God for wisdom.

It has been busy

Up early the last two day. Been busy getting things for the front yard and the house. My weight is holding as good as it can. I do wish I could drop a few pounds, but I am so happy that I am not really gaining. 

Let’s see what has happen the last few days. We went to Lowe’s and complained about the install of the storm door. We also got needed supplies to do the steps for the front yard. We stopped by the nursery to look at the plants that we are going to have planted in the front yard. Today we went to Livingston’s for the picnic then to Southerland’s and got a few more supplies we need for the steps. 

We came home and hung the wind chime that we got yesterday. It sounds so great. And that says a lot seeing how bad my hearing is. 

I have not spoken about Intuitive Eating for a while

My eating habits are more or less Intuitive Eating. I eat what I like to eat, but I do try to eat mostly real food. My weakness is ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies. My calorie intake is averaging just under 1700 calories a day. I do have days that I am way over that and a few days that I am way under. My average calorie burn is 2200 calories a day. You would thing I am losing weight but I would say honestly that I am breaking even when you think about true calories eaten and also the fact that I am proving that not all calories are equal. I am finding that if I keep my salt levels down, my sugar level down, and I do not eat much in the way of grain than I do much better in the weight loss area. I am finding it is not simply a calorie in and a calorie out in the real world. Sure it may be that way if ever calorie was weighed and measured, and if every calorie burned was also measured some way. But life is not that perfect. We all under estimate how much we eat. And the devices we use also over estimate the calories we burn. 

I know that the a lot of you on Loseit believe that it is always calories in and calories out. I am here to say that is not proving to be so with me. 

Life is too short to eat by a book or eat what we do not like to eat. I have tried that and it can only last so long then we are eating worse that before. It is best to eat what we love to eat and to keep it as real and as healthy as possible most of the time. 

Wow very busy

Up early this morning, weight about the same. Went down to see if I could take my written test for my motorcycle permit. And was total to come back at 13:00. Went to say hello to Brenda then home to wait until 12:25 to go back down to take the test. Stood in line for an hour, then got my test and passed and was out of there by 14:30. Back home by 15:00, 

I am cutting back on eating for now. Now that I have my permit to ride I will be making it to the hiking trails more. Well, if we ever get the house taken care of that is. I am finding if I get too much sugar or salt or too much of both it makes me want to eat too much. 

The new door on my office is out of alignment and they are going to have to fix it.

It is cloudy, and looks like maybe rain. It did rain and storm some yesterday evening. 

Got my license plate on my bike and a nice license plate frame

Linda and I took the scooters out for a spin around the Village. Went exploring a few places we haven't seen before. I am getting better at my stops and starts but still not that comfortable all the time. Linda is better and controling the scooter but she needs a lower seat so she can have both of her feet down while stopped and on the seat. A couple of times I thought she was going to lose it but she managed to keep control. 

Busy day again

We managed to but the cases in the attic along with some boxes we want to safe. We also got down the storm door, it was easier than expected. I also but most of my office back together and also installed a ceiling fan in my office.

My weight was up this morning, I am hoping it is just too much salt. 

I will leave you with a thought that came to me this morning:

“Failures of the past are the success of the future, as long as we learn from our failures and never let our failures drag us down”

Busy Day

Up fairly early this morning, weight the same. Finished trimming up the fig tree, cutting out the dead wood as much as possible. Now I have a lot of cutting up so I can get it towed off.  Then I helped Linda get here sewing desk together and moved her machines back in the room. Tomorrow  I have to put the cases up in the attic. And I need to get the storm door out of the attic if I can so we can put it back on the back door. 

They finally came out this afternoon to install the storm door for my office, and I am so glad we checked before they left because the handle package was bad the lock is the problem, they will have to get a new handle set and come back out to install it.

We gave up today and turned on the air condition to cool things down. 

I haven’t posted in a while

I have been really busy not that the weather has gotten to be great. With the flooring taken care of we are trying to get the house back together. We are also going to plan a deck in the back, and to do a really nice flower garden in the front yard. We are going to take out a bunch of older bushes that no longer look that great and plant new plants that have some real color most of the year. We are also going to add roses to the front yard too. I have always loved roses, even with them always attacking me when I try to trim them up.  I am also going to have to figure out what to do with the fig tree in the back yard that has so many dead limbs. And a lot of them major limbs of the tree. This fig tree must be 30 years old. 

My weight has stabilized and seems to be happy in the 193-196 range. My calorie intake for the last 28 days is averaging 1680 but my last 7 days is averaging 1750. I have been a bad boy with eating too much sugar.  But I have also had a few times that my blood sugar has been low and I have gotten dizzy, and headaches. When that happens I end up eating a cookie, or a snack size Snickers bar. 

My blood pressure has been really good, averaging 118 over 74. I believe some of it is that we have finally gotten settled in somewhat and I have stopped stressing over what needs to be done. Sure we still have a lot to do to make the place our own but it is getting there. I have also learned to give the stress over to God and let him deal with it so I do not have to shoulder it all myself. 

A wonderful day

Yesterday morning I woke up before 5am and really did not have that great a day. We went to Lowe’s just after noon to return extra supplies that were not needed for our new floor. And Linda wanted to look around like normal. I started getting a headache and it went into me being dizzy, weak and not being about the think, the classic signs that my blood sugar had crashed. I found some M&M peanuts that helped until we could get something to really eat. Went to Cracker Barrow and got their lunch special, which was Chicken pot pie, which of course, was overly salty. Supper was a large salad with some nuts, and sunflower seeds. That added salt on top of the extra salt from the Taco Salad then night before has really got me over the top on my salt and water weight. 

Today we got up about the normal time had a good breakfast, and I have worked on my office, and some work in the yard that I needed to do. I also took a few bags of leaves out so they will pick them up tomorrow. The guys came to put the storm door on my office and did not have all of the needed trim that they need so they will have to come back tomorrow and install it.

My weight is up due to too much salt and maybe too much sugar this week. I sometimes wonder what causes me to have a low sugar crash at times. And I just cannot figure it out. I did nothing different yesterday to cause the crash than I do about every day. I did have cereal for breakfast along with some apple juice. The only thing that could have cause it was I had the apple juice and it cause my body to produce too much insulin to counter the sugar in the apple juice. I normally do not drink apple juice. 

It is somewhat cloudy today and it really has made it a pleasant day to be outside I wish it could be this way year round. 

The floor is finished

Up at daylight, just could not sleep. We have moved the Texas fountain to where we really want it, and the installers have finished the floors. Now we wait for the installer to install my storm door on my office. 

My weight is up a little but I am not worried. I will get if off once things settle down, and I can eat less salt. 

I finally finish bagging up the leaves from my neighbors side yard next to our home. Too tired to say much to night. I am also posting a few pictures of the fountain. 

I am tired

Yesterday the floor installers worked on installing the new floor in the house and they should finish it today. Linda and I put together our swing for the front yard. I have never seen one swing that caused so much issues getting it put together. The temperature was in the high 80s yesterday and looks to be close to 90 most of the week. But it does not seem that bad with all of the trees here. We seem to have just enough of a breeze along with the trees to make it comfortable. 

I ate poorly yesterday, eating a couple slices of pizza for lunch, and enchiladas for supper. I stayed in budget but the salt was way over the top. 

I am posting a few of the pictures from yesterday.

Eating too much good food

Well, it is a beautiful day today, sunny, cool start but a warm afternoon. I have opened the windows to allow the house to air out. The new flooring is going to be smelling up the house and also letting off of fumes that can be harmful for a while. 

Church was great with a great message, I only wish I could put all of the surrounding noises and happenings out of my mind. I wish I could meditate to the point that I could but every unimportant thing out of my mind, it seems the stuff that does not really mean anything is what clutters my mind. 

Now for the title of this blog, you can gain weight by eating too much good food. Even though you are doing what you believe is correct if you do not do it in moderation then you are going to eat too many calories and you will end up gaining weight if you eat more calories than you burn day after day. It is not bad to eat over what you burn once or twice a week as long as you are eating below budget more often than you are eating over budget. Now if you are trying to lose weight you had better be eating more under what you burn than if you are just trying to maintain your weight. Even if you are eating to maintain you still will have ups and downs in your weight, that is all a part of life. More than likely you will have those ups and downs due to salt, and or eating protein, normally meat that takes longer to digest, so it sticks around longer. Also as you age and you get AGE spots on your skin it is due to your body heading up from trying to digest protein, normally from meat. I am also learning and finding out we do not need that much protein from pure protein foods, we get protein from eating veggies, green veggies are the best, and even some fruit. Also, grains have proteins, but we as humans should not be eating any type of grain very much if any. Yes, I just said that grain, whole grain even is not really good for us. Grains go straight to belly fat on men. Grain causes our bodies to generate insulin which if we generate too much insulin it turns stored as fat. I am also finding out that not only grains do this but most fruit, and all potatoes, and any veggie that has seeds that we eat. So all beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and others causes our bodies to generate insulin which ends up as fat. Also, I have learned that any veggie that has seeds are really fruit, and not veggies. There is a Doctor that is saying that we should not eat any fruit that is not in season. And we should not eat any bean or seed, other that tree nuts, and that peanuts are not really nuts but a seed in the bean family. Also, that we should not be having any dairy after we are old enough to not be growing. Well, I am having a hard time doing this, I love my milk. And I love my meat. So my thinking is that I will do my best to cut back on the bad things, and increase my eating of the good stuff as I can. I am hoping to get my last bit of belly fat off. And to hopefully get to feel even better and hopefully start to sleep better. I believe this is all about learning and moving in to doing things better even though you are older and set in your ways. We as humans can get better as we age if we just try and keep learning and evolving. 

A beautiful day

Woke up with a headache, but still was a beautiful sunny day. 

My weight was up a pound, but it is to be expected after a loss two days in a row. I am still eating below my burn calories, even the other day when I was over budget. I had eaten less then my burn calories for the day. 

Today we are trying to get things ready for the flooring to be installed. So I cleaned out my office as much as possible, and moved the modem and router back to the kitchen so they are not in my office. I am hoping they will do my office early in the process so they can move some of the stuff from the rest of the house out in my office. My wife has her sewing room in pretty good shape for the flooring install. Tomorrow we have to take down the TV and other electronics so they are out of the way before they get here Monday morning. 

I took some time and took the scooter out and rode around some new areas of the Village I have not ridden before and had to stop and start on some steep hills both up and down. I am getting better at starting and stopping and I am getting use to having cars following me. 

Cloudy and warm

It is trying to rain I believe it did rain yesterday afternoon and evening. I woke up to another 0.8 pounds down, even with me giving in to a cup of ice cream last evening, and going over budget for the day. I am eating well below my budget most days so giving my body a treat and fooling it every now and then is a good thing. 

We are waiting for Lowe’s to deliver the flooring for our home, Then on Monday they will begin installing it. I will be glad to get this over with. Linda is talking about going with our friend to Erie, Pa for July and August and leaving me here to fend for myself. I am not sure how I feel about it. Part of me says it will be a good time to try my thoughts on eating a much more plant based diet of green leafs. Part of me does not like being alone, even if I will have our guys here with me. 

Today we have things we need to take to the restore place and we need to take to the storage unit.  Not sure if I will be able to get to the trail to walk from the looks of the weather.

Cloudy, warm and humid.

Not a bad day at all,  but it is little humid. My weight is down this morning to 193.2, the first real down turn so far. 

Trying to get things ready for the new floor to be installed next week. And finding things to move to the storage garage where the camp trailer belongs. 

Went to Cedar Creek Hiking Trail this morning and did my walk again, can you say two days in a roll. Nice walk but humid. The ride over was not bad, I am getting somewhat more use to the scooter. The ride back became a little dicey due to it starting to misty rain. I am not ready to deal with the rain as of now. 

My eating habits are slowly becoming what I would like them to be. I am not eating that much. And as long as I keep my salt and sugar down I do not seem to even think about eating. 

I am going to post pictures of the trail I walked today.

We had a great trip

We had a great trip to Texas, Taylor, Round Rock, Temple, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Dallas. Drove about 1400 miles round trip, pulling the travel trailer most of that time. The weather was warm, but nice the whole time. We did have problems with the trailer and it back at the dealership for repairs. We had issues with it not sealing when it is up, and also with issues getting it down when we were breaking camp. The Jeep got almost 19 mpg for the whole trip with is great when most of that was pulling the trailer.

My weight is very staple at this time I weigh the same this morning after the trip as I did the morning we left for the trip. I did keep my calories down while eating out a lot, but the salt intake was up and I can fill it in my feet and hands. I am hoping that my weight will come down after I detox the salt out of my system. 

I managed to get out and hike this afternoon, I managed about 4 miles and it was very humid and warm. 

“Everyone if you really want to understand insulin, and our issues with our western food supply then you need to read the following two books by DR. Steven R. Gundry.: "The Diet Evolution" and "The Plant Paradox". Even if you do not believe what he is saying just read it to understand what our farmers, and commercial farming is doing to us, much less our food factories, and even our doctors, and government. These books are eye openers.”  

With this in mine I am slowly going to change my eating habits. I will eat my greens, and less meat and I hope to slowly cut back on my milk drinking.  

Ok here are some of the pictures from the trip and from the hike.