86.2 kg

My post-casino workout weight this "morning" was a new low at 86.2 kg. I'm convinced that walking around on the weekend is excellent for losing weight. Staying out late also helps to skip a meal. I'm eating a light lunch, and will head into the gym right after. I may even go directly to the casino for the rest of the day. The only problem is I'm not about to take a shower at the gym. Maybe I'll shower now, and hope I'm fresh enough later.

Casino Workout

Got my lazy ass off the couch yesterday and headed to the casino to waste time, play cards, and burn off some calories. I read on a post at 140_or_over community that "every time you sit and watch tv and don't go and do some form of exercise you are coosing to be fat" (sic). So instead of playing $.10/$.25 PLO8 and watching movies on Lifetime, I drove out 40min to play $4/$8 limit Hold'em. I decided to go to the "nice" casino, which is essentially Las Vegas quality. I only had 1600 calories up to this point, so if I ordered Won Ton soup, I'd be under 2000, and I'd get some walking in too. Otherwise, I'd lie around, and end up eating more calories than I wanted to.

Anyway, when I finally got there, the walk from the parking lot to the Poker Room was a the furthest I've done since Vegas. Seriously, for a lot of people the most walking they do is in a casino, or when they go to Vegas. Really.

Every time I enter a local card room, I'm a little nervous about who I might see. This is because about two years ago, I was in excellent shape, and was about 12kg lighter. Since I gained the weight, I've been a recluse, and haven't gone to the casino. A lot of people at the Lucky Lady wonder where I've been. When my friends show up there they ask about me. My friends cover for me and say I'm playing online, which is true. They don't say he's a basket case, and is hiding because of his weight. Well, I guess I'm a little less worried now, because I've toned up a lot after the 1 month of hard training, and losing 4kg (almost entirely fat).

In fact, I immediately ran into Sonny at the $4/$8 game I sat down at. I can tell my the way he said "Hi", that I probably looked normal to him. Otherwise, I didn't recognize anyone else at the table, even though I found out they're all regulars (several times a week). It used to be that everyone knew me in a casino, and visa-versa. It'd be a little embarassing if I was with someone, and all the dealers would know me on a first-name basis.

Anyway, as the dealer Tom says (saw him last night), there's a whole "new generation of degenerates" following the amazing popularity of the World Poker Tour on television. Lots of 20-somethings showing up at graveyard for the all-night $1-$3 blind No-Limit Hold'Em game. They immediately fall into the black hole of the subculture, the parts that you don't see on television. Amazingly, you'll find college-age girls playing in these games too. That's something you didn't see a few years ago. In fact, you couldn't find a no-limit game anywhere in town either. And even in Vegas, there wasn't but a few, occasional no-limit games either. I remember we used to end our annual Vegas trip 7pm Sunday night at the Stratosphere, for the only No-Limit game we could find. Now there everywhere, and everyone is playing. I watched a little bit last night, after cashing out my $102 win at 3am, where there were three games going. There's no table chatter at those games. It's all stares, iPods, and hooded sweatshirts. Too much drama. Still, lots of small pots. But, often, people are making $50, or $100 bets. By this time of the night, some players have accumulated around $1000 in chips.

I love graveyard. I walked around some more, checking out the house tables out on the floor. Lots of degenerates still playing Blackjack, Pai-Gow, 3-Card Poker, and Casino War at $50 minimum tables. These are not the faces of vacationers in Vegas. These are the hardcore. Like me. You go to the casino to spend time there. You don't go to win or lose a target amount of money. You go because it's what you do, you know everyone there, they know you. They're essentially family. You've know these people for years. I guess it's like Cheers. It's a community.

I walked around some more, just looking at what everyone was doing. You see all types, and all stereotypes. People sitting joylessly, vaguely desperately punching buttons on their video machines. I walk by and look at the bet denominations. $1 Video Poker, with bad odds. $.10 machine with even worse odds. No one is standing around looking bored, or observing anything else than the repetition on their screens. I end up seeing a Poker dealer from the Lucky Lady, called Lam, that I know fairly well, and would have to say "Hi", if he saw me. He's playing something that wasn't Pai-Gow, which suprised me. I steer away from the table. Finally, I figure yet another circle of the pits might make me look a little strange, so I head to the walking sidewalks that go to the parking structure. I notice only a few other people trickling out. Only when you know you're leaving a casino do your senses come back. People finally start discussing hands. There's a feeling of relief, catharsis, to be finally leaving the casino.

Morning Workouts

I got back in the gym this morning, and did a full strength workout before spinning class. Amazingly, spinning was 2/3 empty, and there were only 2 guys, and a gay instructor. The gay pride parade was starting up right as I left the neighborhood. Took a nap after I got back, but still tired and a little hungry. If my weightloss slows down in the next two weeks, I might start resticting myself to 2000 calories/day. I need to get up and go out somewhere to burn some calories. I guess it's the casino, although I'd rather play the Pot Limit Omaha8 online. We'll see.

I'm getting these anorexic motivations from two movies I've seen this weekend (already): The Jacket, and The Machinist. Both Adrien Brody and especially Christian Bale were very thin in the movie. Christian Bale was concentration camp skinny. I think it's just striking when people are thinner. I also have this feeling that women are drawn to help starving guys. Jennifer Jason-Leigh was the doctor in one of them, and a whore in the other.

The Charles Lindbergh of Our Generation

I heard about this fat man walking across the United States to lose weight. It's a wonderful, adventureous act that suddenly captures the imagination of our Fat Generation. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "and for a moment people set down their glasses in country clubs and speakeasies and thought their old best dreams." Make that "put down their hamburgers on their dashboards ... ".

Of course, it's just a blog, and it's not even written in first person. I think he uses a cell phone to talk to his wife everyday, and then she writes the blog in 3rd person, in a very uncaptivating way. There seems to be a documentary crew with his as well. That might be more interesting.

Along these lines, I saw the first part of Super-Size Me, the Morgan Spurlock documentary about his exclusive eating of Super-Size McMeals for a month, and gaining like 30 lbs. I couldn't stand to watch it. After a week, he added on like 4% of his body weight. I had to turn it off.

I still think a good idea for a diet/documentary would be based around urban hunting, where the only non-vegetables you could eat would be prey you killed yourself. Ok, maybe like this. Kind of like an urban Survivor. You're given 500 calories a day of vegetables and grains, and you have to hunt for the rest. You can use a gun, because, afterall, you're in an urban/suburban environment, where it's illegal to discharge it. So, you'll get scenes where a guy buys a silencer for a .22 pistol to go rabbit hunting at the golf course. I think there's a huge audience for this type of thing. What do you think?

Getting Burned Out Talking About Calories

Also, looks like I have to constantly troll for hits. Although I listed pretty high on a google search for "pro mia" the other day. I rolled off already though :(.

My weight bounced to 87.4 kg @ 29.5% BF this morning, following my 2910 calorie day. Oh well, I'm not worried. I made a lot of progress in a month, and I'll make more progres this month. The strength training is reshaping me, the cardio is making me much stronger, and I'm pulling fat out of my body. I'll get there.

I'll find something else to talk about in the meanwhile. I'm still in the routine though, so don't worry that I'll lose intrest in the weightloss mania.

2910 Calories Today

Felt the need to eat. I'm tired, and tomorrow will be a rest day. I probably won't weigh myself till the weekend, perhaps Monday. It's psychological. I know I'm losing weight, but I don't like to see the fluxuations.

I'm Dragging Today

But I'm going to go to the gym to do spinning. Why? Can't think of anything better to do. Maybe play $.50/$1 Razz, or Pot Limit Omaha (PLO). Forget it. Cards are boring. There is no mystery to poker anymore. Geez. Did I just say that? What's the world coming to? Maybe if they spread a Chowaha game at FTP, I'd be interested. Probably my next project will be to make an open-source poker project; no drop, everyone uses PayPal. Essentially, these online poker places really aren't about poker software (anyone can do that), it's about money redistribution. It's essentially high-speed, micro-payment escrow. One day, an online poker room shouldn't be more than something like a standards-based IRC channel.

Anyway, I think I'm headed to the gym to spinning class. I don't know how I'm going to generate any power tonight, but I guess I'm going.

Evolutionary Diet of Man

Ok, I'm actually too hungry, and too busy to research this deeper than a few Google searches, but it seems that homo erectus (geez, aren't the jokes obvious? I vaguely remember snickering to this when I first heard about it in junior high, but I haven't heard it since) was cooking food and starting to eat meat about 2 million years ago. And people estimate homo sapiens sapiens to be around 100,000 years ago. Agriculture is a recent invention at about 10,000 years. Ok, so I don't believe in the raw diet anymore, although I don't think it's unhealthy. I need to see what a typical hunter-gatherer meal looks like. Anyway, it's pretty vague what was in evolving man's diet. Here's a pretty good link about the subject.

I just ordered a fish sandwich from the deli. It's not going to be enough. I have some protein bars, a pair, and trail mix around, so I'll get by, but I'm lagging today. This is typically how I feel when I get a little run down. Nothing's really going to satisfy me, except for rest.

Finished Dinner Past Midnight

I didn't get home from the gym until 21:45 tonight, and then I ended up chatting with a friend for a few hours. I was able to eat 200g store-bought sushi (330 cal), but I had to wait until 23:30 to start cooking, and commence the real calorie intake. First, I made 3 eggs, because I needed to get some protein in fast. Then I had time to make fajitas out of 150g skirt steak, 100g onions, 130g peppers, 40g corn tortillas (2), 15g teriyaki sauce. Everything tonight totaled 1025 calories. I really needed them tonight. I ended up pretty tired in the gym, and couldn't really do any more cardio than the 60min I did @ 90% MHR. I did a full backs and biceps workout, and I'll probably take tomorrow off. Or, maybe I'll make spinning again. I need to get to sleep.

New Low Body Fat % Today

My evening weigh-in just hit 25.5% BF, a new low for this program. I still need to lose 10kg of fat, and bring my BF to around 18%, but I'm getting there. I'll head to the gym pretty soon, after answering some e-mail.

Coming Up: Reverse Trigger Menu

I've getting a little tired of eating 400g of beef and chicken everyday, so I'm going to try eating some more exotic meats. I bought venison at the store last night, and already ate 1/2 of it, but it's pretty crappy. There's not enough fat in it, even though the label says it's almost 1/2 fat. I think the conclusion is: don't eat anything that can run faster than you. It's still a theory, and I'll test it later by buying some ostrich steaks. Also, I'm going to order some llama meat from ExoticMeats.com. I'l probably go with the llama round roast. Also, Whole Foods has fresh buffalo, but I believe buffalo are pretty fast.

Most People Underestimate Calories

Even when people think they're counting every calorie, they're miscounting many things. I see it all the time. Even by people who think they're severly restricting their calorie intake. Then, they won't lose weight, and they'll think something's wrong, and develop a bunch of misconceptions about nutrition and weightloss. Seriously, the inability of people to accurately count calories has resulted in this ridiculous "diet" industry, bizarre fads, and general confusion.

Part of the problem is the stupid US measurement system, with pounds and ounces. An ounce is a very large mass, compared to the resolution I use for food logging. (1 oz = 28.4g) Technology has improved now, so I can get a kick-ass digital food scale with 1g precision in a stainless finish for $50 at Williams & Sonoma. Then, I can lookup all the foods I eat at the USDA Nutrient Database, and use a spreadsheet to add up my calories. Ok, it takes some effort, but I'd rather do this than worry about how much I've eaten, why haven't I lost weight, what's wrong with my metabolism business. Even Lance Armstrong does this. And that guy burns like 5000 calories a day.

Everybody buy a scale, set up your spreadsheets, blog, and make me happy. Thanks.

Lost Some More Weight

This morning I hit a new low at 86.6 kg, which is amazing, since it's 1.6kg less than last week. That's almost 2% of my body weight in a week. And I'm eating about 2100 cal per day. I don't like estimating my calorie deficit, because I think it's really inaccurate. On the conservative side, my BMR is like 1950 cal, so multiplying by 1.1 is 2150 for maintenence. Then, I probably workout about 1500 cal / day, which works out to be my daily deficit. So in a week, my weightloss should be (7 days/week)(1500 cal/day)/(3500 cal / lb) = 3 lbs / week. Well, this week that's true. Otherwise, it's probably only 1.5 lbs / week. Maybe it has something to do with getting into better shape. Supposedly muscle burns more calories than fat. I guess that's obvious. Also, I'm able to workout harder now. Well, I'm sure the weightloss will slow down. Plus, it might be better if I ate more. I could probably eat another 500 calories per day, and still lose weight. But, of course I'm too scared to try that.

I Get Home And Eat For 2 Hours

After the workday and the gym, I go to the store, buy food, get home, cook, and eat for two hours before I'm satisfied. Usually, I make the entree first. Then I cook some more protein, or whatever I'm craving. Then I eat something easy. Finally, I'll eat some fruit or yogurt. Of course I wouldn't be proud of this fact if I weren't losing weight. On the other hand, when I put on all the weight, I'd pass thru the drive-thru on the way home from work, get some super-size meal, and inhale it in a few minutes. Then I'd be "hungry" again, and I'd go out and get something else. Argh. One extreme to another.

Spinning Tonight

I did a 1/2 strength training session, because the spinning class started at 6pm. Again, a bunch of gay guys, and a few girls. I talked to one of the girls before the class, she was in line waiting for the instructor to arrive and open the door. She said she wanted to get a bike in the back of the class. She was very nice.

I'm still 12kg overweight, but its clear that I'm out-powering everyone in the class in the climbs and the sprints. I sweat buckets. I've been running a high calorie deficit from the day before, so I had to eat more this afternoon, and I ate 360 calories at the gym (protein bar and gatorade). I'm sure people see an overweight guy eating in the gym, and they mentally shake their heads and roll their eyes. But I know what I'm doing, and I need the calories. My weightloss has been a little too rapid in the last few days, so I'll probably eat a little more tonight as well. Spinning is an especially hard workout.

I made fajitas tonight, from 200g skirt steak, 88g peppers, 80g onion, 64g mushroom, and 58g corn tortillas. This made 3 fajitas, and totals to 610 calories. I'm not sure what I'll eat next. Will probably weigh myself now, just to get an idea of where I'm at. Then I'll eat more.

Just Watching the Pro-Ana Blogs

I'm reading a lot of posts at 140_or_over and I really want to reach out with some dieting tips, but I know I shouldn't interfere. I can only guess what they're feeling, and I'd probably be wrong. I remember the anxiety involved in returning to school in the Fall. And I was never overweight.

Look at some of these meal plans. When I first saw it, I thought I was looking at a day's plan. Then I looked closer, and it was a week's plan. I eat more in one sitting than they do for the whole day. And I consider myself to be undereating. But I don't even want to post anything, because it's not my place. Even though my blog is similar (every post about food, weight, workout, obsession) I'm obviously on a different planet. Well, the whole country has a problem with food and weight, and media images, so why should we criticize these girls?

Whatever. I think I'll have a banana this morning as well as the eggs and sausage I've already had. I matched my lowest 86.8 kg weight this morning, but I also moved the BF percentage down a point as well.

Fitting In Those End-of-Day Calories

I just cooked 82g of chicken sausage (120 cal) as I attempt to fill in my days calories with the nutrition I need to keep going. I went to the gym tonight, and did my chest and triceps workout, followed by 60 min of Stairmaster @ 95% MHR. I'm getting into better cardio conditioning following all these workouts. I didn't calibrate the machine to my weight, but I was probably doing > 250W the whole time. I'm know I'm in pretty good shape now, because I was sweating a lot, drinking 2.5 litres for the entire gym workout. Also, I was breathing deeply, but I wasn't hitting any obvious limits, except for the 95% MHR. A bunch of people waiting for the next class watched me do this for 15 minutes. I saw people come and go, during the 60 minutes.

Oh yeah, I weighed in at 86.8 kgs this morning, a new low.

After this sausage, I'll probably have some canteloupe. I'll probably have some yogurt too. Add that to the roll, humus, tofu salad, and top sirloin steak I've already had tonight. Actually, I'll make some squash next.

Joining the Pro-ANA Debate

I'm starting to read some of the Pro-ANA (pro-anorexia) sites out there, and trying to figure out what the movement is really about. Of course, I'm fascinated by the physiology of undereating, as well as the psychology behind the desire to "perfect" one's body.

The whole pro-ANA environment is controversial, and I'm just going to add fuel to the fire. From what I can tell, these pro-ana girls just don't know how to lose weight effectively. There, I've said it. Maybe I'm referring to the subclass of overweight pro-ana girls. They're out there, exchanging tips on how to undereat, and other ways they consider starving themselves. (E.g., one girl's 2-4-6-8 plan, which provides meal plans with 200, 400, 600, and 800 calories per day.)

BTW, I posted on one pro-ana site, and asked if I had an ED, since I'm into weighing every gram I eat, and working out as much as possible. But, I seem to be instantly kicked out of the club because I'm eating about 1900-2000 calories a day. They consider what I'm doing to be healthy. Ok, I agree with them on that, but my point is: if I'm losing weight, and obsess over food and exercise, and they don't lose the weight they want, then who's the real anorexic? And I'm pretty sure I'm not talking to the pro-mia (pro-bulemia) girls.

Of course, I'm trying to switch them over to my way of thinking. Has anyone tried to convince an pro-ana girl how to lose weight correctly? I bet the knee-jerk reaction to is tell them not to diet, not to worry about weight, etc. Which is the absolutely wrong tack. (It's like Gambler's Anonymous. The correct way to treat many of these people is simply to teach them how to gamble better, and to avoid house games.) All of us want to be thin, especially young girls. If you tell them to eat, they're going to defy you and try to starve/harm themselves. But if you teach them extreme nutrition, they'll probably benefit.

I'll see what the scoop is. I'm sure it's been brought up before. Should be interesting.

Anyone Got a Recipe for Tofu Salad?

This stuff is great. I buy curry tofu salad, and others at Whole Foods for $6-$7/lb. It's high in protein, and has some carbs as well! Anyone know how to make it firm? Someone told me to bake the tofu first.

Celeb Fit Club 2 -- Week 4

Ok, before I thought this show would fake dramatic weightloss, mostly because I took a look at these people and their self-directed programs. Well, in Week 4, they all turned in disappointing numbers, bad attitudes, and lame excuses. Especially Janie (Warrant) Lane, who went AWOL, and into hiding. In fact, Gary Busey was the big winner, so what does that tell you. Apparently, the interval between episodes is 2 weeks, and they're given weightloss targets by the judges of about 4-6 lbs. I think a couple of the women turned in 1 lb loss numbers. That's sad. The problem is they're not journalling, or counting calories, and maybe not even exercising. Geez, when weightloss is your one focus in life, it should have more results than that.

Ok, I'm starting to feel better about myself from watching the show. They're appealing to my base nature.

Got Out Today

I did a reasonable 60min lifecycle @ 85% MHR, while watching the final stage of the Tour. It was pretty exciting, especially because of my favourite rider of the tour, Alexander Vinakurov. He was only a few seconds behind the 5th place rider, and he made an absolutely valiant, powerful, single-handed effort to beat out the Gerosteiner team trying to protect Levi Lipeheimer's 5th place at the intermediate sprints for the time bonus. And then, unbelievably, he made the greatest run a few kilometers from the finish line, attacking with break-aways, and staying ahead of the peleton for the final stage win. That's cycling. I hope he trains for the Tour next year, and makes a run for the yellow jersey.

I cooked lunch, and headed out to the casino to join friends in a $100+$25 no-rebuy Hold'em tournament. I hate tournaments, and never would normally play one, but I figured I'd get out and join them since I didn't see them on Friday. As planned, it was a waste of $125. I then played $1/$2 NL, and $1-$3 Hi/Lo Stud, and won about $25. But I lost $45 playing WPT All-In (a house game that I wrote some programs to analyze). Overall a waste of money. I left and decided to spend some money where'd I'd get something in return, so I went to the Apple store, and picked up a dock for my iPod Mini, some replacement in-ear phones, and an armband for the gym. Then I went to Whole Foods to do some dinner/grocery shopping.

New Low Weigh-In Today

Wow. 87.2 kg this morning. Weightloss is funny. I was stuck in the 88's for over a week, then suddenly I'm down to 87.8 kg yesterday, and 87.2 kg today. Well, I guess it means I'll be stuck in the 87's for a few weeks :)

Strong Workout

What a time trial. I almost forgot about Jan Ulrich, who put in a fantastic performance today. But of course, Lance was super-strong, and put him away in the final 15km, beating Ulrich's time by :23.

I turned out a new effort on the bike this morning, putting out 230W+ over the last 40min+. Of course I probably workout much harder in the gym, but the home workout is indicative of overall fitness. (The better shape I'm in, the harder I'll work at home.)

Got to jump in the shower, and head to the optomitrist.

100g A Day, That's All We Ask

I weighed-in at 87.8 kg this morning, which is essentially a new low for this program. I'm so happy when the scales move down 200g. All I can expect is to lose 100g a day, which should be enough motivation for anyone. A handful of fat pulled out of your body each day. Can't beat it.

I'm rehydrating on Coke Zero again, getting ready to ride to the final time trial stage on the Tour. We'll see if Lance tries to make a statement on his last chance in his career to win a stage. With Zabriskie out of the Tour, and with the field decimated in general, I think he'll probably win it.

First Jog Tonight

I finally got on the treadmill and tried a jog today. I don't want my weight jarring my joints, so I find it easier to set the incline to 15% (the max) and jog uphill. I did it for 30 min, and cardio was under control (93% MHR), but I definitely worked long-unused muscles. I sweat a lot, but less than spinning last night. Overall, it was good, and I'll work more of it into my routine.

I avoided the drive-thru on the way home, and went to Whole Foods to buy the expensive, tasty food. I fried up 160g of top sirloin, 100g mushroom, 150g onion. This is a lot less meat than I had been eating. I'm pretty sure I'll have to control my calories a lot more to lose the weight I need to. I also added 54g of brown rice vegetarian roll sushi, and 38g whole wheat pita w/ wasabe and 36g feta humus. Mmmm, mmmm. 690 calories.

So the days calories are still @ 1540, and I'll probably have some cantalope and yogurt tonight for dessert. I'm trying to tell myself I don't need all the calories I normally eat. I'll pace myself, and remind myself of the high-quality, varied food I'm taking in. If I'm starving, I'll eat. Otherwise, I'll see what I actually need. I'm also telling myself an hour of cardio and an hour of strength training is no big deal. If it was, I'd be hurting. And starving. I'm not.

Still Made Progress During Diet Slump

I got back on the scale this morning, after a "break" which included ice cream, (fried) Thai food, and eating out of the refridgerator without weighing food. I weighed 88.0 kg, which is pretty much my lowest weight so far. If I keep up the workouts and the healthy food, I know I'll make my 75kg goal at the end of the summer.

I missed Celeb Fit Club this week, but it'll be on the weekend sometime, and I'll just Tivo it. I'm starting to have some doubts about the show. Weightloss isn't easy, especially at Gary Busey's age. I think the first week showed these guys losing like 10 lbs. These people are probably dehydrating themselves for the weigh in, or they started with heavy clothes or lead weights for the 1st weigh-in. I'm doing massive workouts almost daily, counting calories, and my weight may improve by 1-2 lbs a week, if everything goes right. I am improving strength, cardio, and body fat % though. It wouldn't suprise me if those shows are fixed. Bring back the congressional hearings on quiz shows.

Got Back In The Gym Today

And I did a 3 hour workout. The first hour was strength, then I did 60 min lifecycle @ 90% MHR. Finally, I went to spinning class, which I haven't done in years. This is a very high-intensity workout with hill climbing and sprints, for an hour. The class is mostly gay, and the I'd make a pretty good guess that the instructor was gay too. Anyways, the warm-up song was a disco remix of the latest Mariah Carey material, which is actually really good. I was immediately sweating buckets, but pushed the whole way. I should wear a heartrate meter. I'm sure it's above the 100% MHR level. Well, I'm back, and have my eyes on my goal for getting into shape by the end of the summer.

Lost The Fanaticism

I ate out of the fridge last night without weighing, or caring. I ordered the fish burrito combo today (but I threw away most of the rice and beans). I'm taking a break from the fanaticism, but will probably make it to the gym tonight.

I stayed up late last night (2am) playing $.50/$1 pot-limit Omaha at Full Tilt Poker, against the well-known pro Andy Bloch. He didn't seem to care about playing well, and he probably spewed about $300. I won about $60 for last night's efforts. I didn't go up against Andy, but I did put in a couple of minimum $1 waste bets just to watch him raise me :) He did go pre-flop crazy against two other guys when he was holding AAxx. Some guy flopped a set of Kings, but Andy bet into him, and went all-in on the flop. Don't know exactly why he did that. Maybe to promote FTP. I'll see if he's on again tonight. It's an interesting site; they're an online poker room, and many well-known pros are part of it; they play online with the public to promote the site. They do a lot of advertising, but they really don't have a critical mass yet. Most of the time, they'll only have a couple of games going of Omaha or Razz (I don't know about Hold'Em). It's kind of a small poker room, like the kind in town. We'll see if they get the rom up to thousands of players at any time. I don't think it's profitable yet.

The Effects of Ice Cream

I did my 60min lifecycle workout this morning at 80% MHR, and output more power today (220W @ 83% MHR @ 60th minute). I got off the bike, showered, and finally realised I'm not hungry. I won't skip breakfast, but I'm not hungry. I did 2 hours of workouts since dinner last night, and I'm just thinking I'm getting over the effects of that dinner and dessert.

I have a lingering injury on the back muscle of my left ankle. I wish it would go away. I do not want to take any time off. Argh.

Ice Cream, Water

Went out to dinner tonight, something I haven't done since Las Vegas in May. I had some fried food and ice cream. I guess that's bad. I got home at about 9:15pm, and didn't think I'd head to the gym. At about 9:25pm I figured I didn't have anything else better to do, so I went to do a strength workout. I was yawning when I started the workout at around 10pm, but after the first set of rows, I got loosened up, and finished the whole workout. Well, hopefully I wake up tomorrow and get a ride in to Stage 16.

If I ended up running at 11pm to burn off dinner, I'd say I had an eating disorder. But a 10pm strength workout isn't the same thing. It's a reasonably useful way to pass an hour before going to sleep.

On the way home, I pulled into the Carl's Jr drive-thru, to buy 2 bottles of water. I was too tired to go to the store.

Morning Workout, No Water

I ran out of water on this weekend. Which means I did the morning 45 min cardio @ 80% MHR on a litre of Coke Zero. In the mornings, I'm very dehydrated, since I lose almost 2kg in water weight each night. So, I should really drink 2 litres before I'm re-hydrated, but it's hard to drink that much Coke Zero. Of course people tell me to drink water. I know that. I ran out.

How bad is it to workout on caffine drinks? Well, I had a problem in the gym last night as I bought a 20 oz bottle of Diet Coke, and sipped from it while doing strength. I knocked it over twice, and had to get paper towels from the bathroom to clean up the never-ending fizz coming out of the mostly-closed bottle, dripping all over the ruberized floor. That pissed me off. Why can't they put drink holders on the machines?

I read the The Truth About Caffine from the OLN site. They say caffine drinks aren't that bad, and there are some benefits. The problems with fluid imbalance comes only with doses of 300-600mg. Since a Diet Coke has about 50mg per can, and I drank about 3 while on the bike, this is only 150mg total, and it's probably not that bad. On the other hand, I know if I had water, I would have felt a lot better, and would have been more inclined to work harder. But, in a pinch, it's good to know that it isn't a disaster to workout on a litre of Coke Zero. Also, as the day progresses, I probably take in about 400mg of caffine a day. Maybe I should drink more water.

Evening Workout

Well, I must have been motivated by Celeb Fit Club 2, or I just had nothing better to do, so I went to the gym for the evening workout. I did 60 min of strength training, chest and triceps. It was pretty quiet, which suprised me. I worked out from 7:45pm to 8:45pm, and it's been the slowest I've ever seen the place. This part of town is very young (and gay), and as they say, the gym is "gay church". Still, I saw some regulars, but I thought it'd be more crowded. I guess that's what they make Monday nights for.

The girl at the front desk was coloring a picture of some unicorns with crayons. Very Napoleon Dynamite. I asked her if she did that alot. She said it was her first time. I asked her if she had a childhood. Then she said it was her first time coloring at the desk. I noticed she chose the unicorns from the book, and not a picture of racing cars.

I'm losing about .6kg per week on average. I like to think about it as losing 100g of fat a day. Or, more graphically, like pulling out a handfull of fat from your body each day. Essentially, it's a non-disgusting image of liposuction. Or, nearly literal body sculpting. Anyway, it's motivation. Everybody wants to lose pounds per week (as I did a few weeks ago), but when you think about it literally, it's hard to conceive that kind of change to a body. A 100g of fat per day is amazing enough. I can't wait until I've lost enough weight, so I can come out of seclusion.

Celeb Fit Club (2)

This is probably the first reality show I've watched sinced the original MTV Real World (I) ca. 1990, i.e., in 15 years. Of course, how real is it to watch eight (ex)-celebs try to lose weight? Actually, it's too real for the usual ecaspism fare I'm seeking. It's bad enough to see "celebs" get old, and it's even more depressing to see them get fat. Willie Ames. Willie Ames. Say it isn't so. He started out at a 5'5" and 187 lbs. (Of course, I'm a little skeptical about his quoted height. I remember a college friend said she say him at some publicity thing, before a movie screening. She said something like "he's so short", which he apparently heard, and felt obliged to respond, "I'm not short.") So, if he claims he's 1.70m, he's probably actually 1.65m, so his starting BMI = (85 kg) / (1.65m)^2 = 31.2, which is obese. His before photos look pretty bad. Well, reading over his bio at Celeb Fit Club 2 bios, his plausible excuses are a busy work schedule, since he owns a video production company. Hopefully the after pictures are better.

I'm thinking about suggesting they produce a Celeb-Am (think Pro-Am) version of the show. How lame is that? Discuss it over on the Celeb Fit Club 2 boards.

Working Out On Little Sleep

I didn't get much sleep last night, but I turned on the (Tivo'ed) Tour Stage 15, and I hopped on the bike. I felt the fatigue, but turned the pedals anyway, and found myself putting out an effort to get my heartrate up to just 70%. I warmed up a little, but I knew I needed a nap, even as I was peddling into the 2nd hour of the workout. Anyway, I finished the 120 minute workout, and headed immediately to the store to pick up some broccoli salad and tofu salad. After lunch, I took a two hour nap.

Sleep is really important. I noticed the body acts very differently on 4 1/2 hours sleep (especially following a 3hr workout day). The heartrate was all wrong during the workout. I can see how people can say that sleep is important to weightloss. Again, I didn't weigh myself this morning. We'll have to wait until Monday morning to see where we are. Based on afternoon weights, it does look like weightloss is steady, if not rapid. I notice that my body fat % numbers are coming down, so I'm comfortable that I'm making progress.

Saturday Gym Session

I had a good day at the gym today. After I got off the bike in the morning, I basically went over to the gym near downtown. I did my backs and biceps strength training workout, feeling pretty good after the day of rest. Then, I felt good, so I got on the bike again, tuned into OLN, and did another 60min cycling to the tour. I ran my heartrate at about 95% MHR for the hour, watching the yoga class in the central glass exercise room. The bikes are just along one side, and elevated a few feet, so we all get a good view of each other. I have the iPod headphones in, and crank along, drinking 1.8 litres of water, which all comes out as sweat.

Afterwards, I went to the Whole Foods store across the street. This is the high-end grocery store, which caters to people who like to think they're worth the extra money they pay for the nicely arranged organic food. I love it too, so I shouldn't critisize the clientelle. On the other hand, the woman in front of me was buying a bunch of little 500ml expensive blue bottled waters from Norway with fancy printing. She was telling the person at the checkout it was really good water. I shouldn't say anything. I paid 3x $1.25/600ml in the gym today while on the bike.

Calorie Blowout Yesterday

I was pretty tired yesterday, sore from strength training, and I had a muscle strain in my left ankle from the excessive stairmaster workouts, so I got lazy and didn't work out. I went to the non-gourmet, natural grocery store and bought a bunch of stuff from their deli, and ate it for dinner. All the stuff was healthy, but I ate a lot of it -- tofu salad, broccoli salad, and curry turkey. I also had a banana, yogurt, and a lot of bread. I underestimate the day's calories at 2810.

I got back on the bike this morning, a few hours after waking up. The ankle still bothers me, but I was able to workout without pushing it. I watched Stage 14 (the first stage thru the Pyrness mountains) during the workout. Lance proved he's the best talent in the field, and held off all attackers single-handedly. Unless he blows up tomorrow, he should win his 7th consecutive Tour, and extend his lead tomorrow, on the hardest day of the race. For me, the 100% MHR cardio training must be helping, because I was able to output 200W @ 80% MHR at the end of 60min today.

I'm headed to the gym now, and will also try to take a hike this afternoon.

I Won't Keep Protein Bars Around Anymore

I'm blaming my weightloss slowdown on eating too many protein bars this week. I bought like 5 of them on Monday, and kept them around the office. I finished the last one this morning, when there was no need to eat it. I already had 310 calories for breakfast, but I ate 190 calories more, because it was chocolate. These protein bars are ok if you can't get anything else, but they're really just candy. What was I thinking?!

Well, at least I slowed down for lunch, having soup and 25g ham. That leaves me at 700 calories for the day, and I'm not very hungry now. I'll do strength and 60min cardio tonight, and take it easy on dinner. Tomorrow, the weigh-in should be reasonable. I'll try to get outdoors this weekend, which should really help drop some weight. I just need to get somewhere else other than home and gym.

3 Hours, $3

I ate too many calories for lunch and breakfast (1350), so I had to go to the gym and work it off (eating disorder). I ended up staying in the gym for 3 hours. I did 60min stairmaster, and 40min lifecycle, at about 95% MHR. I did chest and tricepts for strength training. I didn't realise it all added up into 3 hours in the gym until I drove out the parking structure, and had to pay $3. You get 2 hours validated, then its $1 / 20 mins. Insane.

I'm working out hard, but I'm starting to get a little frustrated at the weightloss rate. I bet tomorrow morning I weigh more than this morning. I'm cooking up beef fajitas tonight, and it'll probably be a 900 calorie night.

Diet Blowup

Yesterday, I thought I blew up my plan when I ate a huge bunch of Tostitos tortilla chips (the bottom of the bag). I didn't weigh it, but I estimate it to be about 450 calories. Actually, I'd consider this amount to be reasonable before I started my plan, but yesterday I thought I was in trouble of falling off the wagon. I went to the gym, and worked out hard on the stairmaster and lifecycle for 90 min, and did strength training. Leaving the gym, I was pretty close to getting a burrito at the drive-thru, but I made it home and made dinner myself. Lately, I've been eating 1000+ calories at night, but the chips must have had some value earlier, because I only ate 820 calories for dinner and dessert.

This morning's weigh-in was good, I'm down to 88.0kg, which is less than the last 3 days weights. That helps with the confidence that I'll make my ultimate goal. Last night, I jumped into the spinning class for a climb and a series of sprints, and realised that I should probably start doing these types of workouts.

No Morning Workout

The 60 min @ >100% MHR workout last night left me a little tired this morning, so I tried to sleep in, and I just watched the first part of Stage 11 this morning. I felt pretty hungry all day, and was getting sick of the ham sandwiches, so I bought some soup instead. I took the 17g of crackers and added 85g of ham, to supplement 160 calories to lunch. That hit the spot, and I'll be able to do the strength and cardio workouts tonight.

I've been on this program for like 18 days, and I'm feeling 100% better than when I was the gluttonous couch potato. My weight isn't falling like it was last week, but I'm satisfied that I'm eating the right amount. I know I'll keep seeing improving results at this pace.

Evening Ride @ 100% MHR

I did another 60min on the lifecycle tonight at the gym. I ran pretty hard @ >100% MHR, generating about 250W on average. I got pretty tired at the end, but it was the first time I let loose on the power output since monitoring my HR last week.

I'm trying to make prepare some cod filets now, but I'm pretty sure I'm screwing them over. Oh well, it's food.

Watching Truly, Madly, Deeply, the first Anthony Mingella film I ever saw. Since my favorite film is sometimes The Talented Mr. Ripley, I thought Mingella was my favorite director. But in fact, it's probably that I just like Patricia Highsmith novels.

Morning Ride

Rode 60 mins this morning to Stage 10 of the Tour. Felt a lot better following the rest day. I ran my heart at 70-85% MHR, and at the end measured my power output at about 180 Watts for 80% MHR. Hopefully, this will move up past 200W @ 80% MHR when I get into better shape.

I bought a bunch of various nutrition bars, to spread out my calories during the day (instead of eating 1200 calories at night).

Rested Yesterday

I was pretty tired, and hadn't had a day off from exercise in over a week, so I didn't work out at all yesterday. I felt some stress around my shoulders and back, so I knew it'd be better not to do strength yesterday. I might not even push it today. I think the slight tendonitis in my knee came down after yesterday's rest as well.

I'm moving up on the scales, but I'm not worried since I know what my caloric intake is. I also notice that the body fat % is consistently moving down on the meter, so I'm not bothered.

Right now, I'm hydrating up for my morning workout to Stage 10.

Before And After Eating Habits

Ok, I've already told you about the pizza-at-a-sitting meals. Of course, this extends to the whole-bag-of-chips at a time snaking technique as well. I think cereal boxes would typically last a few days at the most. I'd buy two boxes at a time, with a gallon of milk. I'd start eating a few bowls with the milk, then give up on the milk and eat directly out of the box, on the couch, in front of the tv. Cereal all over the place, and eventually, the box would lie around too. All in a matter of hours.

Now that I'm on the other extreme, I weigh every gram of cereal I eat, and try to limit it to about 25 grams at a time (< 1 oz). Then I weigh the milk too. I bought a box of Grape Nuts last week. I probably eat about 80g of it a week. This means the box will last about 6-7 weeks. I'm not starving myself, so this means I'm chosing my calories elsewhere. I eat about 500g of meat every day, which is much more than I would eat as a couch potato. Much easier to eat cereal than meat (unless it's already prepared, between a bun, and served with fries).

Tour Rest Day

No ride this morning, as the Tour takes a much needed rest before hitting the alps. I happen to be taking a rest day from strength, but there no need for me to take a break from daily low-impact cardio exercise like the lifecycle. I'll probably head into the gym tonight to do some stairmaster and bike.

Undereating For Sunday

Ok, I'm done with calories tonight, and will go to sleep soon. Almost 4 hours of workouts, and only 2235 calories eaten. It's not like I'm very hungry now, in fact, I can't see how eating anything is going to make me feel untired or unsore. For dinner, I had a 200g vegetarian wrap, 225g chicken, a red grapefruit (230g), some yogurt, 90g potato. I'm beat, I'm going to bed. I have The Lady Vanishes from Netflix.

Sunday Afternoon Workout

I didn't have anything better to do, so I went to the gym to get some strength training in. I'm starting to feel some stress in my shoulders, so I probably need to back off from too many consecutive days of strength training. I was feeling fairly down during the workout, but just kept going. It's strange to be depressed while you work out. There's nothing that would have made me feel better, so I just kept on going with the routine. I did about 50 minutes of strength, then hopped on the bike to warm down. I changed the channel to OLN and watched the tour again, and ended up doing another 40 minutes at 85-90% MHR, which is actually pretty easy, even though I had already ridden 2 hours in the morning.

Good Lunch

170g organic chicken sausage + 124g onion + 115g mushrooms + 68g orange peppers + 100g organic brown jasmine rice = 565 calories. Since I've been on this "weigh everything" program, I eat every single bit of food I cook up. Calorie-wise, I can't afford to leave anything on the plate. I go back to the pan to find every grain of rice. The plate is clean.

This is a lot different than when I'd order the Pizza Hut manager's special (two large one-topping pizzas plus an order of chicken wings for less than $20). I'd eat about 1 1/4 of the pizzas, and all of the wings in one sitting in front of the tv. By the end of the day both pizzas were gone. I'd do that at least once a week. The pizza delivery guys knew me. I'd tip them a few dollars, and they'd say thank you sincerely. I'm sure there are some people that don't tip, especially older people.

120min Lifecycle

Felt bad this morning, probably didn't get enough sleep and calories yesterday. I still rode for 2 hours to the Tour Stage 9, but felt sluggish. I kept my heartrate up from around 70-80% MHR, and put some effort. Looking forward to lunch.

87.6kg (Down 2.4kg)

After a few days of not moving the scales, I weighed-in at 87.6kg this morning. I guess it makes sense, since I certainly could not have gained weight over the last few days running about a 1000 calorie/day deficit. Ok, now to rehydrate before the morning workout.

Rode The Stage Again :)

After the morning ride and breakfast, I went to the gym to get in some strength training. I felt good, and ate a nutrition bar, so I felt like riding to the Tour again. I turned the channel to OLN, and a few of us rode to the last 30min of coverage.

I'm cooking the last of the organic top sirloin for lunch, with the organic brown jasmine rice, mushrooms and onions. I bought another 24 cans of inorganic Coke Zero.

Great Stage 8

First stage with some climbs. Lots of attacks and suprises. Lance looks immune to the pressure, but they tested him several times. A very suprising break and finish by a T-mobile and Rabobank rider. Very interesting finish, very smart by Rabobank's Weening to follow Kloden's effort to win, until the very last second. Very smart for the Tour rookie.

I rode 60 min @ 80% MHR, along to the OLN coverage. Felt very good, and I think this 80% MHR is getting me into cardio shape as well. As I said before, I'm used to pushing it much harder, but this measured approach is probably the correct way to train. I think I'll see results, where I'll be pushing more power at this heartrate. I should start writing those numbers down.

Crowded Gym on Friday Night

Well, gay guys don't rest. I rode an hour at home before heading to the gym at 7:30 pm. I did another 20 min on the Stairmaster, and chest and tricepts. That makes a more than full workout for the day. I'll try to keep the calories down below 1900 today, and hopefully I weigh-in at 88.0 kg tomorrow morning.

No Ride This Morning

Am I slacking off? Nope, just decided not to ride this morning. Will workout tonight. Weighed in okay this morning at 88.2kg, no change, which is good news, since I didn't work out last night. I have this irrational fear that I'll gain back the weight I worked off, after scheduled workout breaks. It's good to keep track of calories so this doesn't happen.

1/2 Rest Day

I'm not going to the gym tonight, so it's only 60min cardio this morning. I figure I better not push the strength training. I've definitely overdone it before, and injured my chest, where I had to take a week off. That would be counter-productive, so I figured I'd rest tonight, cook early, and get to sleep early. When I've been hitting the gym, shopping, then cooking, I wouldn't finish eating until almost 11pm. Now, I'm done at 7pm.

I still hope to lose weight at tomorrow's weigh-in, so I'm keeping the calories down today, hopefully below 1600. Still, I've had about 400g of top-quality meats today, 4 pieces of fruit, a potato, a sandwich, rice, and vegetables. I noticed in my evening weigh-in, that it also reflects a .2kg loss since yesterday. Overall, I'll be very pleased to lose 1 kg/week.

Down Goes Mengin, Down Goes Mengin!

Too much drama. Christophe Mengin, a rider local to this region of France, and a local favorite was the sole survivor of a 5-man breakaway early in the day, and was holding off the peleton into the last 1 km to the finish in Nancy. He was bravely making an effort of a lifetime, and still had an outside chance to win the race of his life. But he fell on the last turn on the wet roads of Nancy. He actually caused a pile up in the chase group, and the break-away chasers right behind him took 1st and 2nd. Everyone else was given the same time because of the 1km rule.

I rode 60 minutes @ 80% MHR during this stage. Now I need to find out about the sad attacks in London.

Down Again this Morning

Under the same conditions as yesterday, I weighed-in .2kg less this morning. I'd be nice to get a better scale with .1kg resolution, but I didn't find one that I cared for browsing yesterday. Maybe I'll find one later today.

Top Sirloin Dinner

215g New Zeland organic top sirloin + 200g red potatoes + 20g lite sour cream + dill + 190g yellow zucchini + 45g onion + 100g cucumber + 70g orange pepper + 45g lettuce + 90g corn + 10g sesame dressing

= 930 calories.

Sure beats fast food.

Following this morning's workout, I went to the gym tonight and added another 30 min cardio, and 45 min strength training. I'm feeling pretty good again, even though I'm still overweight. I cooked enough for breakfast tomorrow as well. We'll see what tomorrow's weigh-in brings. I'll be very shocked if I continue to lose weight. I'd really start to question if I'm being healthy about this. See you tomorrow.

The Last Dish

Finally, the maid is coming today. She usually comes in on Tuesdays, but took a long weekend over the 4th. Of course, I'm down to the last clean dish, and the rest are piled up in and around the sink. This morning, I ran out of anything to drink out of (glasses, cups, mugs). I ended up using the Braun puree' mixing cup, while I was on the bike, then for my milk and cereal. I did have one spoon left, so I didn't have to resort to the gravy ladle. (My favourite joke is the batchelor that runs out of dishes, and ends up eating cereal out of a bundt pan with a measuring spoon.)

Fantastic finish for Rob McEwan today on stage 5. Great drama, in light of his disqualification at the finish line of stage 3. Very cool.

Lost .4kg Yesterday?!

I weighed-in at 88.4kg this morning, .4kg less than yesterday's weigh-in. Not sure what this means. My weigh-in was also almost two hours early this morning as well. I guess it's variance. I should probably buy a better scale than my Tanita MBF-622, which is a few years old, and only has .2kg resolution. I did buy a new food scale yesterday, replacing my older model that broke. It has a 1g resolution, and a much smoother action than my old scale, that has a 2g resolution.

I'm sitting here drinking down 700ml of Coke Zero, trying to re-hydrate before I get on the bike to watch Stage 5 of the Tour. I'm Tivo'ing the live coverage starting 2 hours ago, so I can ride through them on my workouts.

I'm feeling much better now, compared to 2 weeks ago when I was constantly overeating and lying on the couch. What made me get off my butt? Maybe it was the summer, or maybe it was the hope of re-connecting with humanity. Yesteday I actually went into a store in the mall to buy a scale. Not bad for an agoraphobic. I probably hadn't been in a store in the mall in 2 months, and 4 months before that.

Learning About Eating Disorders

Yesterday I heard about the pro-ana and pro-mia sites for the first time. I remember hearing something about this on a Fox News segment a few years ago, but I didn't pay any attention to it. So finally, I saw what these pro-anorexia and pro-bulemia movements are all about. I haven't done much reading of their boards yet, but it's probably something as simple as these girls embracing their eating disorders. Even Fat Like Me calls herself a pro-ED site, although she is definitely not pro-ana nor pro-mia. Just ask her.

I think some people consider my behaviour indicative of an eating disorder. You may classify me as being an exercise bulemic, a typically male eating disorder. However, technically, bulemia probably involves binge eating followed by regret and immediate action to purge the calories. I do binge eat, but I don't really regret it after. I also don't work out while I'm gaining weight. However, periodically, I do get the mania to lose the weight, and I get pretty obsessive about it. Aren't I just a simple yo-yo dieter? BTW, I scored an 18 on the EAT-26 test, which is below the warning threshold (20).

Ok, back to my obsession. I wonder why ana/mia types don't chose to starve themselves the way I'm trying to. That is, with top-quality nutrition, and very, very appetizing meal plans. No junk, all gourmet. You'll still lose weight and eventually starve from a calorie deficit (I think), but you can really hide your problem. In fact, you weigh everything, record it all out in the open. If anyone tries to lecture you, you turn around and lecture them about nutrition. I think people could not conceive that you're starving yourself when you're eating 400g of meat a day, 5 vegetable servings, and 4 fruit servings. Probably, it's been tried before. I think I'm going to check out the pro-ana boards.

Stage 4 Heartbreak

David Zabriski took a spill in the team time trial today with 1.5km to go, and the CSC team within :02 of Armstrong's Team Discovery. I guess it was a rookie mistake. Unbelievable. He must of dropped a minute out of the lead because of this sudden disaster.

I was doing my 80min @ 80% MHR workout on my bike, watching this happen on a Tivo'ed recording of OLN live coverage of day 4. The new 80% MHR workouts are feeling very good. I'm able to ride an additional 20min, so I probably burn more fat, and don't feel so exhausted afterwards.

Went to the gym afterwards to do strength training. It's nice to be able to do a quick (45min) workout in the gym, instead of 2 hours +. Afterwards I went to Whole Foods, a very upscale market, with real butchers, decor, and organic food. Of course, the bill is probably about twice what it would cost at my local produce market. For example, I spent about $53 tonight for probably 4 days worth of food. But, it's actually cheaper than fast food.

I broiled 300g of nice New Zeland lamb sirloin with salt, pepper, and garlic cloves. I cooked some asparagus in chicken broth. Finally, I made a nice salad with onions, yellow peppers, cucumbers, mixed greens, and corn, tossed with an orange sesame dressing. I also had several pieces of fruit today, 4 eggs, a great pastrami sandwich, and the days total is under 1850 calories. Gotta love this so-called diet.

End of First Week

I just did my morning weigh-in, and I found I've lost over a kilogram in the first week of my program. This is the rate I'm looking for, 4 kg/month. My goal is to be healthy by the end of September, and near my goal weight of 75kg. I remember from the last time I tried to lose weight, that the scale showed the best improvements over the weekends. I figured this was because I was able to work out during the day, thus raising my metabolism for more waking hours.

I'm really pleased with my first week's results. I think a key will be doing my own cooking, instead of relying on healthy Mexican drive-thru food. (Seriously, I'd normally eat a burrito & taco each night.) I'll try to keep weighing and cooking, even though it takes some time after coming home from the gym.

I should really try to gear my workouts to the afternoon as well.

Calories and the Holocaust

While talking on the phone with a friend, I'm reading up on the caloric intake of concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust. Why am I doing this? Well, I understand I have a fixation on food and calories, and I always noticed that the movies seemed to show near absolute starvation of the inmates. Don't call me a Holocaust-denier, but I didn't think people could last for any amount of time based on the caloric intake implied by the movies. I asked my friend what he thought the daily intake was. He said he didn't know. "300 calories?", he guessed. Well, funny enough, that was the minimum daily ration in the Warsaw ghetto (while Jewish officials received about 1500 calories/day). But in Auschwitz, inmates were mandated to work 10-11 hours a day (by Nazi decree) and they were supposedly fed about 1744 calories/day:

Auschwitz food rations.

Of course, the food was probably very low quality, the SS guards stole from their stores, and there was wasteage in dispensing the meals, so the calorie intake was undoubtedly less. Interestingly, the above reference describes twice weekly supplements given to the hardest worked inmates, which was supposed to be 100g sausage and 700g bread. The report indicates that the actual amount of the sausage delivered turned out to be 70g per person. Also, inmates were supposed to receive about 50g of sausage or margarine or jam daily, but the report indicates they received 25g at best. While they were supposed to receive 1 litre of soup each evening, they probably only received 750 ml. Under their workload, this starvation would start taking its toll in weeks.

Compare this to the 400g of beef I had today on my diet.

I'm not the only one that looks this stuff up. Amazingly, I found that other people with eating disorders (EDs) are fascinated with this data too:

Fat Like Me's starvation page.

So, I'm in the process of reading about EDs, which I never knew about before. Their story sounds oddly familiar.

End of First Day

Just finished dinner, a great beef salad with corn cut from the cob, fresh onions and peppers, and 15g of salad dressing. Really good 440 calories. Not a bad calorie day @ 1830, and an almost 2 hour workout (110 minutes). Tomorrow is a return to work from a very nice 4-day weekend. I'll need to bring in sandwich stuff, to keep better track of my lunchtime calories. If I get really ambitious, I'll wake up early enough to work out 60 min to stage 4 of the Tour. Then, in the gym session, I can limit myself to 20 min cardio and strength. We'll see.

Measuring Calories

While preparing my (post-workout) lunch today, I weighed everything down to the oil I used to cook with. I haven't done this before, but I wanted to get an exact measurement.

Lunch:
230g mushrooms + 145g orange peppers + 200g broccoli + 170g onions = 225 cal
86g beef = 140 cal
70g brown rice, raw = 260 cal
5g oil = 45 cal

total = 668 calories

I never measured vegetables before. I used to assume it was 0 calories. I don't know why. I guess I just figured they were healthy. They add up to quite a lot tho, especially when they weigh .75kg. The oil used to cook adds up too.

Coke Zero

Geez this stuff is great. What took them so long to get it right? My first reaction to drinking this was: Wow! It's almost like the Real Thing. This will push Diet Coke off the shelves. It's like watching a revolution, like Berlin in 1989. I drink this stuff can after can. Don't worry, I also drink about 2l of water a day. Unlike Diet Coke, I don't leave half-empty cans around. I drink it down. Says something about the product. I wonder what the catch is. They're probably supressing some cancer data or something. It's too good to be true.

Reducing Workout Heartrate

Since I started working out last week, during cardio training, I'd run my heartrate at 100%+ of the maximum heart rate (MHR). For an hour. I'm suprised I didn't have a heart attack. The MHR is based on a formula:

males: 214 - (.8)(age)
females: 209 - (.7)(age)

It's widely known that working out at about 60-65% of MHR, you'll burn 50% of your calorie expenditure from fat. If you exercise at 80-85% of MHR, this number goes down to about 40%.

Of course, when I get in the gym, I can't resist the Stairmaster/Lifecycle at 100%+ of MHR. It's a vanity thing. I get really tired at the end of the workout, and I head directly to get Mexican fast food. Well, today I just wanted to see what 80-85% felt like on the bike. It was actually fairly tiring, and it felt like really being on the bike after a while. So I did 110 minutes on my SportsArt c53u watching stage 3 of the Tour de France. Felt great.

Here We Go Again

Ok, I've blogged about my weight loss before, and it was pretty successful. Now that I've put back on 15kg, I'm finally motivated to start taking it off again. It took a while. I'd been eating Super-Size fast food and entire-pizza-at-a-sitting meals for a while now. I have to admit I've been unhappy doing this. Let's just say I fell off my healthy track because of another obsessive interest.

Today, my obsession is aimed back at weight loss. My other obsession is a website that's up and running, so I have the time again to get back in shape. The last time I was very unhealthy was April 2000, when I weighed 106kg (BMI = 34.6). This time, I'm starting off at 90kg (BMI = 29.4, or just under 'obese'). Last time, I got down to 75kg (BMI = 24.5, high end of 'normal'), by working out hard 5 times a day, weighing food, and counting calories. I lost 31kg in about 6 months.

So, what's going to be new about this blog? Is it just another diet and exercise log? Hardly! This time, I'm going to be much more scientific in my methods, as I'll elaborate on in upcoming posts. In fact, I'm going to make this blog an experiment in minimizing caloric intake. I want to see how close to the basal metabolic rate (BMR) you can get over the long term, especially while taking in very high nutritional quality food. Probably, I'll just confirm what thousands of man-hours of nutrition reasearch already knows -- you can't get under the BMR long-term. But, we'll see. Also, I'll blog about what it feels like to push the limits, if it is uncomfortable, etc.

Another way to phrase this experiment is: Can you survive off 2000 calories a day, if you work out vigorously 5 days a week? Intuitively, I'd say 'yes', but the scientific answer is you'd probably starve to death.