Varmint Exposed!

[Zeb A]

never. turkey on white, lettuce, tomato, pickle, cucumber, salt, pepper, oregano, light mayo--foot long

[Zeb A]

and, i was eating this sandwich before ol' jared was even a gleam in Mr. Subway's eye.

[Schielke]

Wow, how many of those sandwiches do you think you have eaten so far? How far do you have to go to reach the local Subway?

Ben

[Zeb A]

hard to say, maybe 1200. it is right across the street from work. and they are quick. i can buy my food and be back reading the sports in less than 10 minutes.

[davidthomas8779]

I also had 2 gumballs this afternoon.  Did you know that the 1 inch Dubble Bubble gumballs have 39 calories each??  I do now.  Damn.

Oh, the other simple beauty of the Dave Only Eat What Tastes Good And When You Are Hungry Diet (hereinafter, the "DOEWTGAWYAHD") is that you don't know how many calories are in anything.

[Varmint]

On Monday morning I weighed a whopping 228 pounds. This morning, I weighed a still whopping 223 pounds. Yeah, it's 5 pounds, but I'm not jumping up and down in excitement. First, I can drop 5 pounds without a hell of a lot of effort. Second, I've been sick all week, so my appetite was suppressed. Nevertheless, it's a damn good start. Obviously, the test will be whether I can stay on track. I've really done a great job of eating less, which will be the key for long term maintenance. I need to avoid the desire to eat 2 bagels rather than the 1 I need. I don't need half a pint of ice cream.

This weekend will be a bit of a test, but I'm up for it! In the meantime, I'll just stick with the plan.

Thanks for your support.

[Marlene]

On Monday morning I weighed a whopping 228 pounds.  This morning, I weighed a still whopping 223 pounds.  Yeah, it's 5 pounds, but I'm not jumping up and down in excitement.  First, I can drop 5 pounds without a hell of a lot of effort.  Second, I've been sick all week, so my appetite was suppressed.  Nevertheless, it's a damn good start.  Obviously, the test will be whether I can stay on track.  I've really done a great job of eating less, which will be the key for long term maintenance.  I need to avoid the desire to eat 2 bagels rather than the 1 I need.  I don't need half a pint of ice cream. 

This weekend will be a bit of a test, but I'm up for it!  In the meantime, I'll just stick with the plan.

Thanks for your support.

Yay Varmint! You can do it.

[JSD]

  I need to avoid the desire to eat 2 bagels rather than the 1 I need.

Did you know a dry plain bagel has 400 calories? I thought not since you were worried about 39 calories in gum.

[Varmint]

  I need to avoid the desire to eat 2 bagels rather than the 1 I need.

Did you know a dry plain bagel has 400 calories? I thought not since you were worried about 39 calories in gum.

I'm not trying to do anything majorly dramatic from my typical eating habits, but I'm more focused on quantity.

Yes, I'm aware about the evils of bagels. But at our law firm, Friday is "bagel day," and we have pretty decent bagels brought in. I'm not going to deprive myself of my Friday bagel fix. I did eat just one, and I'm very comfortable with that. Plus, I didn't eat any of the doughnuts that were also brought in today.

Thus, I guess you can say that I actually cut out 400 to 600 calories this morning.

BTW, I am not a calorie counter. I don't think I really "worry" about calories. I only think about the caloric content of things that I don't usually think of as food, such as sore throat lozenges and gumballs. Those are things I hadn't considered before, but it still adds to the final toll. More importantly, as evidenced with the bagel rationing of this morning, it's about portion control. F'rinstance, I still had some ice cream again last night, but it was a paltry amount compared to the mountain in Mrs. Varmint's bowl!!! I had no problem with that.

[JSD]

I agree with no calorie counting, however, a lot of people are surprised by how many calories bagels have. So if someone was going on a 1000 calorie a day diet (very stringent, nearly starvation), and they ate 2 bagels, they've blown their whole day.

[Varmint]

Or just one slice of Chicago Deep Dish pizza!!

[elyse]

A couple of points, here. Don't drink too much while eating, as it does detrract from the nutrients you should be absorbing. I usually drink a litre maybe, an hour or so before eating.

Also, you don't want to be losing too much too quickly. That usually means deprivation, and you'll probably gain it back. What's the quote about slowly changing your habits?

Also, why do you play basketball only once a month?

So, if you're just under six feet varmint, how tall is vengroff???

Edited May 9, 2003 by elyse (log)

[Schielke]

I believe the 6ft estimate. Varmint is leaning a bit to the side, which would skew his height. Also Vengroff has a hat on. I am guessing vengroff is about 6' 3" or 6'4"

Ben

[Varmint]

Vengroff is 6 feet 4-1/2 inches, I believe he told me (along with his weight, as he wanted to race me).

As far as the rapidity of the weight loss, a lot of that is due to my strep throat this week. Plus, if I put my mind to it, I can drop 5 pounds in a day or two. That's not what I'm trying to do. It's making good decisions. I went to lunch today with friends. They ate burgers. I didn't deprive myself, as I had a Cobb salad. Not all that healthy. But I didn't eat the rolls that were served with it and I drank water. In the past, I would have eaten several rolls, or I would have gotten the 8 ounce burger with bacon, cheese, mayo, etc. with lots of fries -- and a Coke, too!

I'll have seafood and lots of veggies for dinner tonight. As you can see, the one choice I'm making is to reduce my overall consumption of bread and rice. If I cut back 50%, that'll make a huge difference. I'll still eat breads for breakfast, of course.

As far as exercise is concerned, I'd like to exercise more often, but here's my schedule: On days that I exercise, I get up at 5:00. I'm on the treadmill for 40 minutes or so. I then shower and help get the L'il Varmints up at 6:30. I make their breakfasts, help the younger ones get ready, and we're off to work, school and daycare at 7:30. I don't get home most days until 7:00. I play with the children for the half hour that I have. I then make dinner for my wife and me. We eat at 8:00. I'm in bed by 10 to 10:30 at the latest. On the days I don't exercise, I sleep in until 5:30 to 5:45. I truly make an effort to exercise both days on the weekends, but that's dependent on the family's overall schedule. With ballet, soccer, tae kwon do, piano, homework, blah, blah, blah, it gets pretty hectic. Plus, the weekend is the time I can do some cooking.

Finally, basketball. My firm pays for us to play basketball once a month. We could do it more often, but I do this more for a social outlet than as exercise (although it's easily the best workout I get). We're highly unlikely to get together more frequently than once a month.

[joler]

ok, gotta get my 2 cents in. If you don't eat enough food, you will eventually sabotage yourself by lowering your metabolism, so follow the previous advice of eating small meals throughout the day (it's ok to snack as long as it's a healthy snack).

Someone else mentioned Salmon, I know it's very good for you, but it is also extremely high in fat. Watch your portions. (Salmon is probably my least favorite fish anyway.)

I gained 15 lbs. the semester I took Classical Cuisine in culinary. Anytime something didn't taste right, we'd just add more butter and cream. That fixed it every time.

The next semester I knew I had to do something, but I was taking International Cuisine and the menus were fabulous, so my strategy was to bring a large salad eat that, and then just have a bite or two of everything we were serving. That worked for me.

Good Luck. It does seem kind of sacreligious to talk about dieting on this site though.

[Varmint]

It does seem kind of sacreligious to talk about dieting on this site though.

OK, everyone, repeat after me:

I am not dieting. I am adjusting some bad eating habits.

I am not dieting. I am adjusting some bad eating habits.

I am not dieting. I am adjusting some bad eating habits.

I am not dieting. I am adjusting some bad eating habits.

I am not dieting. I am adjusting some bad eating habits.

If it's just a diet, then it will ultimately fail. If I change my habits, I'm much more likely to succeed. With my job and schedule, I'm pretty much stuck on the 3 meals a day routine. That's fine with me. It works with lots of folks across the country.

Lower intake. Yes, my metabolism may slow down (although it's at a pace of a three-toed sloth right now). I'll also have fewer cravings for sweets and breads and other silly things. At least, I hope that's the case.

[Schielke]

As for the metabolisim slow down, some "eating habit revision systems" suggest a single day of the week where you eat anything you want as much as you want. Supposedly this will send a message to your body that you are not going into a period of famine (smaller portions) and you will continue to burn at your same metabolic rate.

I have no data to back any of this up though, except my own experience.

Ben

[Varmint]

I used to follow that method. I only did it on days that ended in the letter "y".

[Xanthippe]

Someone else mentioned Salmon, I know it's very good for you, but it is also extremely high in fat.  Watch your portions.  (Salmon is probably my least favorite fish anyway.)

Yes, salmon's fatty, but it's one of the most heart-healthy fats, Omega-3. I believe someone here is something of a "fat expert" (can't recall who -- is it Jim Dixon?); perhaps that person will see fit to chime in on the subject.

I happen to adore salmon, but it must be fresh, fresh, fresh. We had first-of-the-season wild salmon last weekend. It was very fresh, and utterly sublime.

[elyse]

I used to follow that method.  I only did it on days that ended in the letter "y".

[EJRothman]

Someone else mentioned Salmon, I know it's very good for you, but it is also extremely high in fat.  Watch your portions.  (Salmon is probably my least favorite fish anyway.)

Yes, salmon's fatty, but it's one of the most heart-healthy fats, Omega-3. I believe someone here is something of a "fat expert" (can't recall who -- is it Jim Dixon?); perhaps that person will see fit to chime in on the subject.

I happen to adore salmon, but it must be fresh, fresh, fresh. We had first-of-the-season wild salmon last weekend. It was very fresh, and utterly sublime.

I'm nothing close to a "fat expert," but omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon and other fish, etc. is very healthy and hard to OD. Unfortunately, the AHA and FDA decided that they would make fat enemy number 1 in America, while touting massive starch consumption. Of course, now both orgs are trying to cover their asses as they have been proven completely wrong by the likes of Walter Willet (Harvard nutritionist).

Fat has been villified because it has more calories per gram than protein and carbs. (9 cal/gram compared to 4 cal/gram). Of course, many fats are healthy, and yes, some are not. But with fat, bottom line is watch the calories, not the fat.

-Eric

[Varmint]

Man, I'm really into this lifestyle change thing. I usually eat like a madman on Friday evenings, as I'm ready to cook a big meal and pig out. I swung by the farmers' market and the fishmongers and made a simple shrimp, EVOO, garlic, lemon and caper sautee. My wife and our friend got it on some homemade spinach linguine. I had one-fifth of the linguine, plus we had sliced tomatoes. I ate no desire to eat bread. A small scoop of homemade coffee ice cream finished the meal. Very good meal.

Yesterday was hot. That made it easier to eat less, as I was outside a lot, drank a ton of water, and generally lacked an appetite. I ate a chicken breast for lunch at a picnic. That's all -- no potato salad, no brownies, nothing else. I didn't want anything else. For dinner I made Mrs. Varmint and me a big salad -- again, it was so hot that I didn't want anything heavy. Granted, it was a fried chicken salad on locally grown lettuce, but it was still fairly light. I had no interest in dessert.

This morning was the big test, as the kids wanted Krispy Kreme. I ate one, along with a big cappuccino. That's some kind of record for me.

I'm discovering that once I started forcing myself to eat less, that my appetite has diminished. Now, we'll be going to lunch at this awesome gelataria, so my day will be shot, but it's for Mrs. Varmint, and it is Mother's Day, you know!

[Varmint]

Half a sandwich at the gelateria, followed, of course, with a small scoop of hazlenut and a small scoop of coconut. Yum. See, I am not about to deprive myself. We then went to my sister-in-law's for dinner and we had a funky chicken, shrimp and mushroom dish in a great wine sauce. Very light and very good. Lots of green beans and salad. No bread. No pasta. I had less dessert than my 2 year old, and I felt stuffed.

Could it be my stomach is shrinking? I have not felt overly hungry since I started this. Even though I'm drinking a gallon of water a day, I'm starting to have to go to the bathroom less frequently, too.

I still have a nagging cough and slightly sore throat, so that's keeping me from exercising (I'm giving a rousing seminar tomorrow about health privacy laws tomorrow, so I can't take chances on my voice). Perhaps by Wednesday.

This weekend is our firm's annual retreat. It often ends up with folks drinking way too much, but perhaps my discipline will carry over to the areas of imbibement. Perhaps not!

[Zeb A]

So, if you're just under six feet varmint

Varmint is more than "just under" six feet

[Varmint]

So, if you're just under six feet varmint

Varmint is more than "just under" six feet

I'm not sure what you're getting at, Zebster. The last time I went to the doctors, I was measured at 5 feet, 11-3/4 inches. That's a quarter inch shy of 6 feet.

Bring on the measuring tape!