More About Obestatin

Yesterday, I had every intention of staying on track. Here is what I ate:

no fat yogurt, 2 points
2% milk, 3
hard boiled egg, 2
orange, 1
baby carrots, 0
Weight Watchers frozen lunch, 5
granola bar, 3

Going into dinner, I had 15 points left. I planned to eat a small potato, 1 point, and broccoli/cauliflower--0 points-- and I planned to have 6 oz of left over turkey for 6 points. That would still leave me with plenty of points for another piece of fruit or popcorn if I needed it.

My dh was grilling kielbasa. Normally, that's not a food I crave. My daughter and I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and we came in at about 5:30. I could smell the kielbasa cooking and my mouth started watering. Dinner was ready and suddenly I wasn't going to take the couple of minutes to get the turkey out and nuke it. I sat down and had like 20 points worth of kielbasa! And I wasn't even really thinking about it or savoring it, either! :(

I need this suppressant thingy...yesterday!

Appetite-Suppressing Hormone Discovered
By Ed Edelson, HealthDay Reporter
Source: HealthDay

(HealthDay News) -- There's a new entry in the field of weight-controlling hormones, a finding of potential importance to the millions of Americans trying to lose weight without giving up their zest for eating.

The Stanford University researchers who discovered it have named it obestatin. It acts to suppress appetite, and its commercial possibilities are noted by sponsorship of the research by the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson.

Obestatin joins leptin, melanocortin and ghrelin, hormones identified in the last few years as acting on appetite and weight. So far, work with those molecules has not produced the hoped-for cure for obesity.

The obestatin discovery comes with a couple of twists. One is that it's produced by the same gene that produces ghrelin, which acts to suppress appetite. Another is that major credit for the discovery is given to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

The principles of evolution led to identification of obestatin, said Aaron Hsueh, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford, in whose laboratory the work was done. He also credited the information gathered by the Human Genome Project, which produced a complete human gene map.

Hsueh and his colleges used human genome data to study small-peptide hormones, which are active throughout the body. Specifically, they looked at the receptors for those hormones -- the cellular molecules to which the hormones are attached when they go into action. There are about 300 such receptors, of which 100 had no known hormone partner.

The search for missing hormones was narrowed by focusing on receptors that have been around for hundreds of millions of years and are found in many species. One of those receptors is for ghrelin. Further studies showed that ghrelin actually had another protein tacked on to it -- obestatin.

When the researchers injected obestatin into rats, "to our surprise, we found that treatment with it suppresses food intake," Hsueh said. And so, he added, "it could have potential as an appetite-suppressing drug, by injection. Or it might be possible to deliver by nasal spray. It also allows us to screen for new drugs that might suppress appetite."

The study findings appear in the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Science.

But Matthias Tschop, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati, and co-author of an editorial in the journal on obestatin, is sounding a note of caution.

"The effect of obestatin on body weight seems to be relatively limited," Tschop said. "Also, it might cause some sort of illness or nausea that causes a decrease in food intake."

The effect of obsestatin was discovered in research with rodents, Tschop noted. "The most obvious question is, does obestatin work in obese animals?" he said.

And the business of weight regulation is complicated, Tschop added. "There are many other players involved," he said. "And obestatin may have many other functions. For example, it could regulate physical activity."

But with all those caveats taken into consideration, the discovery of obestatin is "a step in the right direction," Tschop said.

Anti-Ghrelin

This is what I need...if it works! Since finding my daughter's encouraging notes, I've been forcing myself to stay on the path and actually managed to lose 3 pounds! My daughters and I joined a gym (with a pool, a must because of my ankle) on Friday and are looking forward to getting some exercise. The biggest drawback is that it's 20 miles away...but this is something I must do. I just wish I didn't feel half starved most of the day. How much was I really eating?

This has been my typical day since I last posted:

6 oz. non fat yogurt
1 cup 2% milk for my coffee during the day
10 baby carrots
1 orange
1 apple
1 Weight Watcher or Healthy Choice lunch, usually 250 calories or about 5 points
6 oz of protein for dinner
vegetables
no-fat popcorn, 1 bag

All that adds up to my allowable 31 points per day. I get 35 points extra per week and believe me, I do use them up.

I drink water to the point it makes me sick instead of filling me up.

How do they do it on Survivor?

Encouragement

My 17 year old daughter left me messages of encouragement on each page of my food diary, how thoughtful and sweet! And it strengthens my resolve not to give up because she is along for the ride now too.

My darling husband (dh) TB found an online article about binging from the APA. At first I felt very discouraged, thinking how hard a battle I've been fighting only to suddenly binge thoughtlessly and without control. The article does help me understand why binging happens and it's not totally hopeless--as long as I keep away from the junk and don't "diet" (deprive myself).

Here is what I have to figure out: how to combat hunger pangs after I've had normal sized portions of stuff. Example: the night before last, I had eaten up to my points except for having an apple. I had that as my snack.

It wasn't long, though, before I suddenly felt ravenous. I craved my old enemy, cheese, and it so happened (unfortunately) I had some in the house. Well, I'll just have an ounce, I said to myself. I sat back down to watch TV after having the cheese and I was just filled with this overwhelming desire to get "just one more ounce". Well, I ate about half the block (4 oz) of cheese before I stopped myself.

So how do I deal with that?

Stumbling Badly

I seem to be having a lot of trouble getting my mind around this Weight Watchers program. I have to admit the last time I joined, with Michele and Linda way back when, I had the same problem -- an attitude about the program. Is it because I've tried Weight Watchers so many times? I tried to tell myself to follow the program and get to maintenance (which I've never done before) but for the last 3 or 4 weeks, all I've done is gain weight. So now I'm checking into other programs. One is Curves and the other is Global Fit. Curves would be great, it's very convenient but I'm not sure how my ankle would hold up. Global Fit gyms have pools--but they're not women only. Have to visit each place and ask questions!

Kick in the Tush Club

I subscribe to lots of inspirational and informational newsletters about weight loss. One of my favorites is Our Lady of Weight Loss and I tried looking around for a subscription address but my eyes failed me. Check out the link, though, and maybe you'll have better luck!

I enjoyed this message:

The color Orange represents the changing of the seasons. It is a color on the edge - on the threshold – of change. Orange transports us from the hot dog days (not hotdog days) of summer to the fragrant first oranges and mandarins of the fall. Orange is the color of October sunsets, and it evokes images of autumn leaves, pumpkins, and together with the color Black, Halloween.
Orange is the color of October.
Orange - a mixture of red and yellow - is a brilliant and dazzling color. It symbolizes energy, warmth, and the sun. Orange commands attention as does red, but with the presence of affable yellow, orange gives way to a slightly less intense experience.
Orange is a stimulant. It stimulates emotions, thoughts, conversation and even appetite. With Halloween upon us and its pumpkins piled high at every green market, perched on every doorstep, along with those mountains of haunting little orange devils called candy corn found at every turn of the supermarket, it’s no wonder we’re in danger of caving-in to the call of the candy-filled Jack-O-Lantern.
Stay strong my friends. Limit your treats, lest Halloween haunt you for months to come.
Fun Orange Facts:

In Ireland, the color orange is associated with the protestant religion.

Black boxes on airplanes are painted orange so they are more visible to the human eye. (Why not call them orange boxes?)

If you dream in orange, you can expect an unexpected change in your life! (Expect the Unexpected, I always say.)

Orange has the optical illusion of making objects look like they are in the foreground, whether they are or not.

Orange Blossoms are a symbol of love.

There was a little table that explains the colors:


RED - The color of power, vitality, motivation, strength
ORANGE - The color of confidence, energy, joy, warmth
YELLOW - The color of strength, intelligence, joy,
happiness, optimism
GREEN - The color of balance, harmony, caring,
tenacious self-reliance, and healing
BLUE - The color of calmness, concentration,
healing, relaxation, loyalty, and trust
INDIGO - The color of soothing, power, connection
with knowledge, idealism, introversion.....and martyrdom?
VIOLET - The color of creativity, intuition, spirituality,
self-awareness

Check out the link for the entire newsletter as well as links to other articles, pictures and information!

Portion Size Shock

For week 2, Heidi and I got booklets called "Portion Smart" (from Weight Watchers. Our leader stresses that Weight Watchers doesn't try to tell us what we can or cannot eat. All they ask of us is to stay within our point limits for the day or week.

It seemed so easy years ago.

I think it's because portion sizes have become so much bigger. I looked through the booklet to get an idea of portion sizes. It's a bit of a shock!

A serving size of cereal is like a tennis ball. Only my tiniest Tupperware bowl holds that amount. All of my cereal bowls hold at least 2 cups or more.

A side dish--like mashed potatoes or baked beans--should be about the size of my computer mouse. Whaaat! You mean that stuff isn't supposed to fill the huge dinner plate?

A portion of fish would be the size of a cassette tape. Good. I don't like fish anyway. However, all the meat I do like -- steak, pork & chicken -- also should be about the size of a cassette tape.

A mouse and a cassette tape...this is supposed to make me feel full? Thank God for vegetables!

Peripheral Neuropathy

About a month ago, (where have I been? it's been a busy month!) I wrote about bariatric surgery. It's an option I'd been considering until I started doing some real research and have become more and more convinced it's not for me. I got a comment from a reader who suggested I read up on peripheral neuropathy (PN). I'd heard of it before and kind of understood what it was but didn't get the connection between it and bariatric surgery. Then I began reading.

I knew that neuro had to do with nerves and so figured it must relate to touch, the ability to move, and so on.

Because every peripheral nerve has a highly specialized function in a specific part of the body, a wide array of symptoms can occur when nerves are damaged. Some people may experience temporary numbness, tingling, and pricking sensations (paresthesia), sensitivity to touch, or muscle weakness. Others may suffer more extreme symptoms, including burning pain (especially at night), muscle wasting, paralysis, or organ or gland dysfunction. People may become unable to digest food easily, maintain safe levels of blood pressure, sweat normally, or experience normal sexual function. In the most extreme cases, breathing may become difficult or organ failure may occur.

Wow, that's bad stuff!

The commenter suggested I look into the research published in the AMA. I fought this article. They compared groups of really heavy people who'd had abdominal surgery--bypass compared with gall bladder surgeries. They found that patients having gastric bypass were more likely to develop this PN.

"People who had had bariatric surgery were significantly more likely to have PN than the people in the control group," Dr. Dyck said. "The most common PNs were carpal tunnel syndrome and sensory neuropathy, but a small number had a more severe form of PN which can lead to extreme pain and weakness, sometimes confining people to a wheelchair."

"The risk factors that we found correlated with PN included very rapid weight loss, not taking vitamins and prolonged nausea and vomiting. Factors including age, gender, pre-surgery BMI and general health had no association," Dr. Dyck said.

The doctor seemed to imply that the patients got PN because they didn't go for nutritional counseling after surgery. I don't know if that's so or not. I did get that you can get PN because your body's not absorbing the vitamins and minerals it needs. I think that should be emphasized strongly!

I read some more on bariatric surgery and will write more later. So far, Weight Watchers is going well for me and my daughter. We'll stick with that!

Weight of the victims in the boat accident tragedy

On a calm, sunny day a charter boat carrying 48 senior citizens on a tour of Lake George, NY was swamped and sunk. No one could figure out what happened. Was it the wake of another boat? Was it because most of the passengers were sitting on one side? It couldn't be because there was just one crew member (the captain) instead of the required two!

Maybe...it was the fact that we weigh more than we did when the regulations were set for how many people could get on a charter boat.

Just days before the boat overturned, the Coast Guard began rethinking its per-passenger weight limits to take into account Americans' expanding waistlines. The current standard, set 25 years ago, assumes a 140-pound average for each man, woman and child.

At the time it flipped over Sunday, the 38-foot Ethan Allen was just under its capacity of 50 people — a figure that was arrived at by using a New York standard that assumes a 150-pound average, authorities said.
...
The Coast Guard awarded a contract a few weeks ago to a research firm to determine how increasing the average weight per passenger would affect vessels around the country, spokeswoman Angela McArdle said.

McArdle said the Coast Guard knew the weight requirement has been outdated for some time, but it did not move on the issue until the NTSB warned about the problem after five people were killed when a water taxi sank in Baltimore.

Asked why the Coast Guard did not move more quickly, McArdle said: "It has such wide-ranging implications. You need to address the economic impact on the industry, looking at the scope. It's not something where we can just say, `Now passenger ferries must carry 20 fewer people."'

Read the whole article here.

Today, my daughter and I are joining Weight Watchers--first time for her, fourth for me...this time, though, I'm going until I get to maintenance.

Rut Roh

Study: Most Will Be Fat Over the Long Haul By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago



Just when we thought we couldn't get any fatter, a new study that followed Americans for three decades suggests that over the long haul, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.

Even if you are one of the lucky few who made it to middle age without getting fat, don't congratulate yourself — keep watching that waistline.

Half of the men and women in the study who had made it well into adulthood without a weight problem ultimately became overweight. A third of those women and a quarter of the men became obese.

"You cannot become complacent, because you are at risk of becoming overweight," said Ramachandran Vasan, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University and the study's lead author.

He and other researchers studied data gathered from 4,000 white adults over 30 years. Participants were between the ages of 30 and 59 at the start, and were examined every four years. By the end of the study, more than 1 in 3 had become obese.

The study defined obesity as a body mass index, which is a commonly used height and weight comparison, of more than 30.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, show obesity may be a greater problem than indicated by studies that look at a cross-section of the population at one point in time. Those so-called "snapshots" of obesity have found about 6 in 10 are overweight and about 1 in 3 are obese, Vasan said.

The findings also re-emphasize that people must continually watch their weight, Vasan said.

The research subjects were the children of participants in the long-running and often-cited Framingham Heart Study, which has been following the health of generations of Massachusetts residents.

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which supported the study, said the findings show "we could have an even more serious degree of overweight and obesity over the next few decades."

Susan Bartlett, an assistant professor of medicine and an obesity researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the study was one of the first to look at the risk of becoming overweight.

"The results are pretty sobering, really," said Bartlett, who was not involved in the research.

While the health risks of being obese are much more severe than being overweight, those who are overweight are much more likely to go on to become obese, Bartlett said.

The study shows Americans live in an "environment in which it's hard not to become overweight or obese. Unless people actively work against that, that's what's most likely to happen to them."

Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and arthritis, and being overweight raises blood pressure and cholesterol, which in turn can raise the risk of heart disease.

The number of deaths linked to obesity has been heavily debated. Earlier this year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said obesity caused only about 25,814 deaths annually in the United States — far fewer than the 365,000 deaths the agency had earlier reported. Other scientists have disagreed with the revised conclusion, while organizations representing the food and restaurant industry think weight-related ills have been overstated.

As for the Framingham study, Mark Vander Weg, a Mayo Clinic psychologist who researches obesity but was not involved in the study, said it is one of a few to track a group of individuals over an extended period.

"What's particularly concerning is that these results actually may underestimate the risk of becoming overweight or obese among the general population" because minorities, who are at increased risk for obesity, were not included in the study, Vander Weg said.

Recent trends also suggest that people currently coming into middle age may be even more likely to become overweight or obese than those who were studied, Vander Weg said.

While more studies that include more diverse populations are needed, he said, the results "add to a growing body of evidence that makes it increasingly apparent that more effective prevention and treatment strategies are urgently needed."

Spammed

What a PITA. My blog's been spammed with a dozen or more comment messages so I've turned on word verification. I hope that keeps the spammers away. :P

More on Bariatric Surgery

From this online article:

Weight-Loss Surgery: Is It Right for You?
Posted by Cheryl Koch, R.D.
on Tue, Sep 13, 2005, 1:41 pm PDT Post a Comment
Do you feel like you have tried every diet and gimmick to lose weight and nothing has worked? Have friends, co-workers, and relatives reported success after weight-loss surgery? There may be some merit to their reports. The scientific literature shows that surgery can help severely obese people meet their long-term weight goals and improve their overall health.

You may have heard the term bariatric surgery, which refers to all types of weight-loss surgeries. Gastric bypass surgery, a procedure in which the stomach is made smaller to limit food intake and limit the absorption of some nutrients, is the most common type of weight loss surgery performed today. Studies have shown the following improved health outcomes after gastric bypass surgery:

Diabetes has completely resolved in 77 percent of patients and resolved or improved in 86 percent of patients who had the surgery.
High blood pressure was resolved in 62 percent of patients and resolved or improved in 79 percent of patients.
Abnormalities in lipids were improved in 70 percent or more of patients.
Obstructive sleep apnea was resolved in 86 percent of patients.

The improved health was one of the things that attracted me to checking into bariatric surgery. That and the first question asked--my answer was a resounding yes! As for the second, the answer was a worrisome 'no'. One good friend died after the surgery. I have heard a great many initial success stories but in the long run, it sounded like people were gaining a lot of the weight back!

I know I meet the requirements for having the surgery and I could call and make an appointment to start the process. I also know that just because I call and make an appointment doesn't mean I'd actually have the surgery. My doctor told me a good surgeon will make sure I go through a program and counseling to make sure I would be psychologically able to handle making the lifestyle changes.

The surgery changes the way your body absorbs vitamins and minerals, so you will need to take daily vitamin supplements. Also, the quantity of food you consume will be drastically less because the size of your stomach -- originally the size of a football -- will be reduced to the size of an egg.

I could deal with taking vitamins on a daily basis. I do that now. As for the quantity I eat, that's one of my issues. I have to relearn portion control.

You most likely will not be able to tolerate high-fat foods and carbonated drinks after surgery; if so, these foods may need to be eliminated from your diet.

No more diet soda? And as for the fat, I'm still learning to get the amount of fat I take in under control.

Many patients report diet-related problems such as lactose intolerance, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and other symptoms, called "dumping," when food travels too fast down the small intestine.

I don't like the sound of any of that.

All patients considering bariatric surgery want to know how much weight they will lose. Weight loss varies from patient to patient, but the average loss is between 60 percent to 70 percent of excess weight.

Ah so it doesn't all come off? Still, losing 60-70% would get me out of that awful sounding "morbidly" obese range. I used the 60% figure and found that it's definitely a number I could live with until I can get the rest of it off.

Just like more traditional methods of weight control, many patients report regaining some of the weight lost. But unlike some diets in which patients regain all the weight they'd lost -- and sometimes more -- patients who have had bariatric surgery usually regain 5 percent to 10 percent of total weight lost and, overall, maintain a greater weight loss than those who lose weight through traditional dieting.

Yes...I think that's because it's really hard to give up on favorite foods forever. It can be done. I quit a 2-pack-a-day smoking habit and haven't had a single cigarette in almost 20 years. But it was too difficult for my first husband to give up cigarettes forever--and he had a heart condition! He would sneak a cigarette or two a day and I don't know how much that contributed to his premature death. I'm sure it didn't help.

My TB has diabetes and it's really hard for him to stay 100% on his healthy eating plan. He stays away from almost all of the bad stuff but every once in a while he'll have an ice cream or pretzels.

As for whether bariatric surgery is for me: not at this time. I think I have a long way to go in changing my eating behaviors before I can consider messing with my body to such a great extent that I'd have to deal with nausea, diarrhea, and "dumping".

Interesting study, but is it legit?

Once again, which helps you lose more weight when you exercise -- eating more protein or eating more carbs? Back and forth we go. There was a low carb craze just a couple of years ago that boosted diets like Atkins and South Beach. It emphasized eating lots of protein and very little carbohydrates. Well, those diets aren't "in" anymore because while people following those diets lost a lot of weight at first they plateaued and, overall, lost about as much weight as those on Weight Watchers.

It's not about diet. It's about life style change.

Still, I'm like anyone else struggling with getting my weight under control. Is there any truth to the rumor that eating more protein and exercising is more beneficial than eating less protein? Here's a study, unfortunately conducted by the beef and dairy industry. Of course their study would find that we need to eat more meat, drink more milk and consume more cheese.

Protein Diet, Exercise Aids Weight Loss

By JIM PAUL
The Associated Press

URBANA, Ill. - A high-protein diet can make regular exercise more effective for women trying to lose weight - helping to build muscle while trimming body fat, a small study suggests.

In a four-month period, the protein-rich diet along with exercise significantly reduced abdominal fat and triglycerides, risk factors for heart disease, according to findings published in the August issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

"People thinking about doing exercise want a return on that investment," said Donald K. Layman, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus, who led the study. "Our way of looking at it is the protein-rich diet basically boosts the benefit of doing exercise."

The study was largely funded by beef and dairy interests. A nutritionist not involved with the study said that what the research really showed is that exercise is important for losing fat and preserving muscle.

"That's exactly what we want to have happen in a weight reduction diet," said Roberta Anding, a clinical dietitian at the Baylor University College of Medicine who works with the Houston Texans football team.

She cautioned that diets should not be protein-dominant and noted that the average American eats "more protein than we need to begin with."

Many high-protein diets, such as the Atkins plan, have fallen from favor with consumers in recent months. Layman's diet for the study was lower in fat and called for more fruits and vegetables than the Atkins diet.

The research was funded by the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Kraft Foods and the Beef Board.


Forty-eight women took part in the study, eating about 1,700 calories per day. Half ate a diet rich in meat and dairy while half ate a diet that contained more complex carbohydrates, such as rice or pasta.

Each group was then split between women who were asked to walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and women who were required to walk at least that much and participate in two 30-minute weightlifting sessions per week.

The low-exercise group was voluntary and averaged less than 100 minutes per week. The other group was supervised and averaged more than 200 minutes of exercise per week, Layman said.

All the women who exercised at least 200 minutes per week lost about the same amount of weight whether they ate a high-protein or a high-carb diet. But almost all the weight lost by those who ate the protein diet was fat, while almost one-third of the weight lost by those on the high-carb diet was muscle.

While the research involved only women, there is no reason to believe that men would not have the same results, Layman said.

Shirley Washington swears by Layman's diet. Even though she is still overweight at 267 pounds, she has lost 90 pounds while following it.

"It's been really easy," said Washington, a 55-year-old Chicago grandmother. "I tell anyone if you can't make it on this eating plan, you can't make it."

---

Is this true? I really would rather lose fat than muscle!

Update

I've been feeling better as each day goes by. I'm not able to exercise yet but I began driving a little the other day and I figure I'll be able to go to a WW meeting next week. Once I'm sure I won't fall I'll begin to exercise again.

I lost some more weight after having the surgery and have been trying to watch what I eat. My daughter's 17th birthday was on Monday and it was too hard not to have a piece of cake. Next time, though, we'll get a much smaller cake. It didn't need to be big enough to last 2 days!

I was just reading an article about how more obese seniors are opting to get gastric bypass surgery to improve the quality of their lives. It seems like such a good thing, doesn't it? Still, I've read more and more about people who've had the surgery who are slowly gaining the weight back...and it seems that they don't lose everything they need to in the first place.

Before I go tinkering with my insides, I have to thoroughly buy into a permanent lifestyle change. It can't be, oh, well, I can eat this or that fattening thing every now and then. The reason why it can't is because "every now and then" inevitably becomes every day. Eating some of these foods is like drinking too much alcohol. I cannot have just a little bit. That's why I want to go through Weight Watchers first, all the way through maintenance. I think I would have a better chance of sticking to a healthier lifestyle permanently.

The article about seniors and gastric bypass is here.

9/11/2005 

Food Logs

I've lost weight since I first started making goals and keep track every week and so I made a new ticker to keep myself motivated.




Logging really helps, especially using the Fit Day website. I can look back at my daily intake and figure out which foods I need to eliminate or cut back on. Before my surgery, I'd noted that I was eating way too much fat in my food although I thought I was mostly eating fresh fruits and vegetables. It's true, I was, but the fat I did take in was the wrong kind and too high.

For example, as a snack I'd have some cheddar cheese and a cup of grapes. An ounce of cheese looks small and harmless but it's got a high fat content! I love Ken's raspberry walnut vinaigrette ... but it's got a high fat content! Antipasto seemed healthy--all those veggies and cheese with little to no carbs, right? Once again, the fat in the cheese and olives and other goodies is very high.

I made changes in what I ate before going into the hospital. One day, the only cheese I had at all was 1 slice of provolone on a sandwich. It had 8 grams of fat in it. I had a cup of cinnamon toast crunch as a snack and that had 9 grams. Anything else was 4 grams or less. I ate poultry, fresh fruit and fresh raw vegetables at meals and used dijon mustard on my bread instead of mayo. That day, my fat consumption was just under 20%.

Thanks to keep the log and looking at the charts, it's easier for me to see which choices I need to make. If I want to have cheddar cheese as a treat then I need to make sure I'm not getting fat from too many other sources. Cheese has to become one of those "once in a while" treats.

I don't always remember to log and need to make it a bigger priority. It's such a useful tool that I need to totally internalize it -- like setting an alarm to get up and go to work or something. It has to be done. I got this the other day in my email, from beliefnet:

What is it about logging that makes you stop after only a few days? Is it too much work? Are you suffering a problem with the discipline? Is it making you painfully aware of some things you'd rather not face?

OR, please allow me to really get deep. Is it that you don't want to lose weight or get healthy at all? Let's be real with each other. If you do not change some habits, like starting to eat less or healthier, or use your body daily, you will not lose weight.

I used to think, oh, I know what to do, what to eat and what to avoid. I don't need to keep a log. Now I realize I shouldn't be so arrogant & self confident. Obviously, I didn't know everything I should avoid. It's not too much work. I can discipline myself to do this regularly and I wil.l.

Women & Exercise

One week ago at this time, I was in the operating room. I am so happy with the results of breast reduction surgery. I'm looking and feeling more better every day. Another thing I'm looking forward to is walking again--more strenuously. My posture is so much better. I can really feel the difference! When I'm able to walk again regularly, I'm sure I'll see my fluffy tummy flatten out.

This was my "tip of the day" yesterday from Heart Health newsletters:

Women: Reasons to Get Active!

Physical inactivity raises your risk of heart disease — more than you might think. It boosts your chances of developing heart-related problems even if you have no other risk factors. It also increases the likelihood that you will develop other heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and weight gain.
Yet most women aren't getting enough physical activity. According to the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, 60 percent of women in the United States don't get the recommended amount of physical activity. More than 25 percent of women are not active at all during their free time. Physical inactivity is especially common among African American and Hispanic women. Besides the elevated risk of heart disease, lack of physical activity leads to more doctor visits, hospitalizations, and use of medicines for a variety of illnesses.

For women, physical inactivity also increases the risk of osteoporosis, which in turn may increase the risk of broken bones. This is worrisome, since women tend to become less physically active as they age. Fortunately, research shows that 30 minutes of moderate activity on most, and preferably all, days helps to protect heart health. This level of activity can reduce your risk of heart disease as well as lower your chances of having a stroke, colon cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other medical problems. Examples of moderate activity are taking a brisk walk, raking leaves, housecleaning, or gardening. If you prefer, you can divide your 30-minute activity into shorter periods of at least 10 minutes each.

Walking is my favorite exercise and I'm sure I'll work it in where ever I can when I'm stronger...I mean, I'll do the 30 minutes fast walking but also fit in more periods of strolling and meandering just because I like it!

No To Ice Cream

I am totally amazed with myself. I'd gotten my dh to go out and buy me a pint of Ben & Jerry's peanut butter cup ice cream and not only did I not devour it all, I felt totally dissatisfied with it. I asked hubby to go out only because I am bored with being unable to do anything. I knew it was stupid the minute the words were out of my mouth. I didn't tell him to forget it, though, because I thought, well, maybe it will be distracting, it's just this once, and everyone else seems to want a snack.

As I began to eat the ice cream though it felt too thick and too sweet in my mouth. I was surprised because I've always been weak for ice cream, especially when it has peanut butter in it. I guess after a year of no ice cream, my taste buds have changed. Gee, what a waste of money I thought. I really should try to finish it.

Then I wondered: why? My body was obviously communicating with me. Why force this stuff down my throat when I know it's emotionally and physically unhealthy for me? Why not just stop now and put it away? So I did...I'd eaten less than half a dozen bites, maybe not even one serving.

After I put it away, I noticed my TB put his ice cream back too.

This is the right direction!

Yes, I'm still fluffy but I'm also flat! 

Reading the Charts

As my surgery date approaches and I realize I have not lost a single pound, I think to myself: what could I have done differently?

One thing: I could have logged more faithfully.

Second thing: I could have printed out the logs I did have and try to analyze them to see what I've been doing wrong. That's the thing...it's not just about writing it down. It's also about being honest about what you ate and then trying to figure out where the problem is. If charts and numbers are boring, this is the point to sail on to another blog.

Okay, so I went back and looked at one of my worst weeks. This is how it averaged out:

Where Did My Calories Come From in August??
Total Calories = 1780
	Grams	Percent	% Total
Fat	84	755	43
Carbs	177	641	37
Fiber	16	0	0

The first thing I saw, to my dismay, was that I wasn't getting nearly enough fiber as I thought I should have been! It doesn't even show up as a percentage. What about all the wonderful fruits and vegetables I was eating? Unless...I was taking in too much fat, that was very clear. Where was it all coming from?

I took my food diary and looked at it. I wish there was a way to import the entries over here but I can't do that anymore unless I buy a kit and I don't want to do that. I got my daughter's help to create a table and it's taken me the last couple of hours to get one day's menu down:

What I Ate Today
Food Name	Servings/Size	Cals	Fat	Carb	Prot
Vegetable Salad (no meat)	3 cups	39	1	8	2
Ken's vinaigrette	1/3 cup	192	14	17	0
Cabot's cheddar cheese	4 oz.	440	36	0	24
2% milk	3/4 cup.	91	4	9	6
chicken breast	5 oz.	277	11	0	42
Rice	1/2 c.	103	0	22	2
mixed vegetables	1 cup.	107	0	24	5
Glucosamine	3 pills.	18	0	6	0
Cinnamon Toast Crunch	2 c.	347	9	64	3
Totals		1623	76	150	84

Well, right away I can see one major problem. Cheese has got to go, especially cheddar cheese. That hurts because I love it so much! Still, the cost is too high!

I'll be back later with another day's breakdowns. I have to rest my fingers!

One thing I'm wondering: where did all that extra space around my tables come from?????

Insurance Coverage

I was curious to see what kind of assistance the family can get with weight loss counseling, nutrition, and fitness.

There are 2 nutritionists with the plan -- well, what I mean is that they're willing to give a discount to members with our insurance. The trouble is they are both like a 2 hour drive away.

The customer service rep (CSR) advised me the only other thing I could do was go to an organization affiliated with Global Fit and we would be able to receive discounts in gym memberships and in programs like Weight Watchers. Well, okay, that's better...at least these places are more convenient to get to.

The CSR asked, "Are you considering like a lapband or gastric bypass?"

Not really. I have concluded the surgery's not going to help me unless I make permanent life style changes and get my priorities reordered which is what I told her.

She seemed confused.

Surgery. Is that the answer du jour nowadays so that CSRs don't get another concept?

I want to get to the maintenance level on Weight Watchers. WW has worked well for me before but I never got to maintenance. If I can get the weight off and keep it off by rewiring my brain I would have more success than by trying to rewire my body!