I'm Free

188.4 lbs

I gave myself a break last week and it has been working out okay. It should be a cinch to drop into the 186 range this week. I know I said that last week but uh... well. Okay, so I have no excuses except that I really had a good time last weekend with the end of the play I was in and all. But this week has been different already. For those of you who read the blog you know that by now I am gluten free this week. It honestly has been easier than I expected but a bit weirder since I am now hyper conscious of everything that passes my lips. I am beginning to seriously consider that gluten just isn't my bag baby, yeah! (oh that joke was so 10 years ago, I apologize weakly).

So what the hell can't I eat this week? Well, here is a good laundry list:

• Wheat - except buckwheat who was always my favorite Little Rascal.
• Rye - well crap, there just went my whiskey. By the by, the term " drinking whiskey and rye" in the song American Pie is the equivalent of saying "drinking vodka and vodka". Sigh.
• Barley - now there goes the beer! Will this hell ever cease?!
• Oh cripes let's just say most grains except corn, okay? I don't have all day to list grain sources, ya know?

I also have to be conscious of things you wouldn't suspect like certain meats (some of them have gluten added during processing - you have to read the union label or call the company) but I have been avoiding meat this week so that takes care of that! Also I have been steering clear (like I don't already) of most anything breaded or in a cereal box. Heck, processed crap overall is a no go unless it says that it is gluten free. It's like a minefield. If I were eating like a do on the weekends during the week I would be losing my mind except for one thing: going gluten free seems to be a pretty smart way to go in a dietary sense. I have noticed that when I eat things packed with gluten it makes me a bit wonky, so to speak. It could be that I have not overindulged in many things that have gluten but I think there might be something more to it.

Over the past month I have noted that I feel fairly awful after eating something packed with gluten. Now that doesn't mean I have Celiac Disease that just means I probably have a mild allergic reaction when I eat it in quantities. Similarly, when I drink Guinness beer I feel pretty decent but a wheat beer just makes my head hurt and my tummy go funky. Guinness only has barley which has a much milder effect as a grain than wheat. It really explains a lot. Like I have said before, sometimes we have a natural aversion to things or we unconsciously make the choices we do, due to underlying factors we just don't consider or understand - yet. I think this might be one of the reasons I very rarely eat pasta. It really has never appealed to me to a level, where I say, I can't wait to have spaghetti! Manicotti? Oh hells yeah but there is a lot less noodle type material involved and more cheese, meat and sauce there to fill my belly.

Going gluten free doesn't mean you will fall apart or anything. There are a lot of gluten alternatives and I might bring this into my weekends. Fresh and Easy (Tesco - if you are on the other side of the pond) has a display with some fantastically yummy gluten free alternatives to everything from pancakes to cupcakes. I might just have to try some. But if you go gluten free will you lose out somehow physically or mentally nutrition wise? No and if you click through to the following article, I'll prove it:

Is a gluten-free diet behind Djokovic's smash success?

From my own personal viewpoint, I can honestly see where a gluten free (or lowered substantially) lifestyle could be beneficial. I have always preferred buckwheat pancakes over the flour kind and gluten filled donuts really should not be a staple of my diet anyway. And since I don't really know what einkorn is (another grain but where the hell it comes from is beyond me), I could avoid that fairly easily I think. I see semolina printed on pasta boxes but semolina sounds like something really dirty inside my head and since it is in pasta, consider it done. Lots of things to ponder after this week, that's for sure. However by the time Saturday rolls around, I probably won't be pondering it over a flour taco or a donut. Okay maybe one donut - preferably gluten free. Yum, buckwheat donuts. I knew there was a reason he was my favorite Little Rascal.

Goody Two Shoes

188.2 lbs

It's been sort of a weird week on the old weight chart. There has been ups and (mostly) downs. I am pretty close to where I ended up last week which is OK, all things considered. If I lose a half a pound that would be great but no biggie if I don't. The only thing this week I can speak to is the fact that protein is definitely your friend when you get are inching towards what should be a set point weight wise. Between Tuesday and Wednesday I lost nada. I pumped up the protein and - boom. 1.5 lbs in a day. I will be getting back to normal next week, so 185 is going to get owned. It's a Friday, so what better way to spend than day than by dropping the top on the Science Mobile and going for a ride (whoosh!)

Okay so there has been odd news this week in science. For one thing, I know I will avoid drinking coffee while having sex in the throes of an allergy attack. My head might explode! At least that is what the men and women in white coats tell me. Well, they also tell me to get back to the padded cell but that is an entirely different issue. Basically the scientists say that if you have sex, drink coffee, work out strenuously or sneeze, you increase you risk of having an aneurysm. You know, that little event where your brain goes poof because a blood vessel ruptures. Lovely. Just what I need, another reason to be a good two shoes. It's not I am saying that the research is faulty. It's probably not but, face it, life is full of risks. So, I will continue to have sex and drink coffee while running around the room sneezing. Don't knock it unless you've tried it. I like to call this maneuver a "Turkish Track-meet" and it is quite satisfying. Why do scientists spend all their time worrying about my head exploding? Because they can. It's not like they are doing a "Turkish Track-meet" or "Lithuanian Handbag" or anything, they are way too busy with science and that makes me sad.

Coffee, Sex Increase Aneurysm Risk

Whoosh! Now on to the next topic - salt. Now everyone has been told and has perhaps told someone else from time to time that salt is bad for you. It's an evil crystal that will kill you. Yes, kill you. Deader than doornail. Well since the scientists have spent their time on science instead of debauched acts of perversity they figured out that salt might not be so evil after all. In fact, it might help to prevent heart disease. Just like the once vilified egg, salt might be making a come back. Sure it makes you retain more water than the Hoover Dam but studies show that there is a link to higher salt intake and a lowered chance of contracting heart disease. Already, there are folks poo-pooing it. But science does not like change, particularly medical science. It took a guy drinking nasty bacteria and experimenting on himself to show that ulcers can be cured. Now we rarely hear of ulcers anymore. The same goes for study after study after study showing a high protein and fat diet is more beneficial than a high carb diet. Pssst! Here's a secret, it actually lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. So I can't see salt being any different. Scientist, while mostly sexless, are just like you and me and are prone to believe conventional wisdom until the evidence becomes an avalanche.

The governments (local and otherwise) are just as bad and will keep trying to snatch the shaker out of your hand and the meat off your plate though I don't see any reason why. Maybe the government should actually listen to the scientists but I suspect they don't because they ARE actually having sex, perhaps too much and with anything that moves. If you don't think the government wants to reduce your salt intake - think again. It's already happening and there are standards and bureaucracies in place that are doing this as we speak. God I really hate Nanny States. Maybe we can throw salt in their eyes and blind them temporarily while we try to eat something not resembling soylent green.

Low-Salt Diets Reduce Heart Disease Risk, Right? A Study Disagrees

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

190.2 lbs

So last week I bottomed out at 187.8 lbs. I was at 21% BF overall. That's pretty good. I am hoping to end this week below 186. If I hit 185, I will be ecstatic. The days of huge drops do seem to be gone, however. Losing weight sometimes requires a degree of mental concentration that I needed to use elsewhere the past week or two. It's not to say that I do not keep goals. I am still looking forward to certain experiments I have put off. They cross my mind at least once a day. Heck, new experiments cross my mind once a day. This crap had me even contemplating the contents of my dog's food! "Eat Like a Dog", that's the kind of stuff that enters my brain. Actually looking at the contents, I think the dogs eat better than I do most days. And so it goes.

One thing that entered my brain this week was something I have been following for some time, the change in our military's diet and exercise regimen. It seems for most military members the days of marching around with a 50lb rucksack are gone. The reasons for this are multi fold. First, new recruits have the physical stamina of a flu infected sloth from sitting on their sofas playing video games all day. Sedentary is the new fashion. Who wants to actually get in shape a little before you go into the service? Secondly, all that cardio was causing a huge amount of injuries for no good reason. Excess cardio was stripping recruits of muscle which, uh ya know, you might need to actually carry a weapon or something. Third, humping a rucksack while marching in a straight line for 20 miles prepares you for nothing more, strategically, than the occasional camp out at "Fort Whatthehellwasithinking". Let's just hope that Private Joker brought the s'mores.

The military has been making this transition away from mindlessness for quite some time. The newer military physicians and dietitians were appalled at what the establishment saw as good old diet and physical fitness. Besides, if you are getting shot at, walking tediously in a straight line is probably not going to be part of your agenda as a soldier. At the very least, I hope not. The food was also an issue. Having been the recipient of numerous meals with names like "Shit on a Shingle", I can tell you that very few things I ate in the military were what I would call overwhelmingly nutritious. On some bases, it was like a smorgasbord of everything a teenage boy would want. Now that can be a problem. To misquote Kipling, "A fat mongoose is a slow mongoose and a slow mongoose is a dead mongoose."

Well the military has figured this out and here is an article about where they are now in the process of revising the overall diet and exercise regimens of our brave men and women in the Armed Forces. They deserve to eat healthy and live long and full lives. That is my real hope for them, longevity.

Let's be frank, the pay is not good in the military though the personal sense of security through benefits can be a bonus. Hearing about how one of our elite teams took down Bin Laden this week just reminded me that they do this type of stuff everyday. We just never hear about it, I can assure you. And on top of it all, being a soldier or airman or sailor is one of the lowest paid professions in this country and they are one of the few citizens not afforded the same freedoms you and I take for granted while fighting for those said rights.

The guys who took down the most evil terror mastermind ever probably make less pay than the assistant manager of your local gas station unless they are an officer. Most of the guys, the hired help that do the dirty work, aren't officers. The old saying goes that an army marches on its belly. It might seem silly for us to spend time and money to adjust a soldier's diet or make them do Pilates but if it helps them come home safe and sound, I see no reason not to do it. Some things we do in this country aren't worth the time and cost but seeing a combat soldier come home to the loving arms of his family is simply priceless.

Canary in a Coalmine

190.8 lbs

So I drifted into the 180's and down past the 190 mark over the weekend. 190 should be on its way out permanently here in a week or so. I intend to blow past 190 again tomorrow, wish me luck. What I find more and more interesting is how I am listening to my body more. That might be the most valuable aspect of all this oddness I have put myself through. But in the end I will find out what works and what doesn't; what raises alarms and what I never really needed to worry about in the first place. For example, clarified butter and brazil nuts are fine - heck most nuts are fine but as for almonds, not so much. Corn crashes me but a bit of whole grain or cheese here and there seem to be okay, it's all when I eat them.

There has been some interesting news over the past week concerning diet and microbiology so let's jump aboard the Science Mobile (whoosh!).

First off there were several articles concerning two new eating disorders and whether they were truly eating disorders. I am sort of on the fence. The first is called Adult Selective Eating Disorder which I kind of think is bunk. Basically, you have an eating disorder now if you like eating only certain foods that are normally enjoyed during one's childhood like pizza, french fries, etc. - i.e. picky childish eaters who can't be bothered with watching Giada make something they can't pronounce over on the Food Network. Since someone just sort of pulled this one out of their ass, there is no collective scientific evidence whether this is good or bad.

The other new eating disorder has a cool scientific sounding name: Orthorexia. What this essentially means is that you call up the pesticide guy from Ortho and when he gets to your door you kill him and grill him. No, actually it is just another type of picky eater (their words not mine) who limits themselves to wholesome foods. Wait... on second thought, I have just jumped right off my fence, this one sounds like bullshit to a certain degree as well. Researchers fear that by not eating processed crap and avoiding caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, wheat and dairy foods that eventually, maybe, perhaps you might become anorexic. I can see it being part of an anxiety disorder certainly. But most people are obsessive about food. If you inadvertently insult the way anyone eats, you are looked upon as a vile creature who stomps on puppies and kicks children for fun. This isn't because we are all some oddities of nature or science, it is very natural to defend our food, just like hungry dogs. If you haven't eaten for a day or two and your spouse starts snatching things off your plate, they are likely to be called Stumpy for the remainder of their lives no matter how in love you both are. Stupid animalistic nature. Openly addressing my wife here: yes baby, I think the hook prosthetic is hella sexy.

I can definitely see where the egg heads are coming from on these new eating disorders. In fact, I did a bit more research and there are tons of eating disorders I have never heard of like drunkorexia, manorexia and diabulimia. There is a whole cavalcade of things you might, possibly, perhaps, maybe be suffering from at any given time. Now that is not to make light of disorders - they are real and they have been deadly or life threatening for a lot of people. But these two new ones, well, I can think of a good majority of the people I know suffering from these disorders. I wonder if there is some type of disorder that makes people worry about getting a disorder. Perhaps there is a disorder where you are scared shitless to eat anything by articles about scientifically unconfirmed eating disorders. From what I have read, I am unsure about what scientific category I fall in. Perhaps I have a disorder that frets about not having a disorder. Hmmm I will have to take the Science Mobile for a spin and do more research, there might just be a really cool name for my newly made up...uh...discovered disorder.


Two New Eating Disorders - Are They Real?

Oh and by the way, the writer of the article above writes for one of the most unfortunately named websites of all time eatingkids.com (yum! kids!)

Oh and as for microbiology, here is an interesting article on the bugs in your body that are your friends. Sort of like a toddler's morning television show but less cuddlier. Anywho, you have one of three types inside your body and when we can figure out definitively which specific one each of us have, we should be able to plan our personal diets accordingly to make our lives much easier and healthier. It could be that gaining weight or losing it is just a response from our personal microbiomes to the foods we eat. When we eat the wrong things, microbiomes suffer just like a canary in a coalmine and we gain weight. The transverse is true as well. Perhaps people who can not gain weight are not getting the proper nutrients from the food they eat because their microbiome is overactive or is being improperly fed. Either way, I think we are on the cusp of a revolution in how we eat. It would be a lot easier than substituting, deleting and adding things to your diet to see what works if you already knew what would work.

Three Types of Microbiome Subtypes

So Close

190.4 lbs

Tomorrow could be sub 190 and maybe it won't be. I think it has been a fairly successful week of doing all of this. I didn't run like I wanted to because, quite honestly, after 4 hour rehearsals half the week I was tired as all get out come the next morning. I am going to do some intervals this afternoon after I wrap up work but that's going to be about it.

I made some clarified butter last night and my belly couldn't be happier. Tomorrow I plan on taking Christy (unbeknownst to her) down to the 99 Cents Store for some shopping. Next week is going to be really really hard. Again, I might be pushing things off until I feel I am at a comfortable point which really makes me quite pissed at myself. Then again I wasn't really planning on doing a play or running to the complete opposite end of the country a month or so from now. I think the most important experiment might be the one dealing with a vegan diet. On of my fellow cast members just happens to have Celiac disease and if she can do it, I better be able to - famous last words. Men make plans and God laughs.

I have promised myself that if I do get down to my original target of 182, I will treat myself to the new double vinyl album that Kate Bush will be dropping on the 17th of May. So I have lots of time to reach my goal don't you think? You people don't know how much I love Kate Bush. In 4 days she will also be releasing a short film on YouTube for the song Deeper Understanding. Guess what will be the name of the blog posting that day? Here is the song without the visuals and it is incredible how prescient she was about today's all consuming computer culture - considering the song was written over 20 years ago:

The following is one of those fantastic songs people tend to forget about or never even heard since it was pushed almost exclusively to AOR instead of all the cool radio stations. Some people remember when these folks ruled the airwaves and they did it for a very long time. Some people view them as cheesy. But really, great lyrics, great voice - how can you go wrong? Ladies and Gentlemen - Hall and Oates!

The Mayor of Simpleton

191.8 lbs

Another big drop. Damn, I might have to do horrible things to my diet on Sunday again. Uh, but no. 190 is the goal by the end of the month, if not the week. I have two more weigh ins. I should be very close and then we are on to 185 lbs. I ain't counting my chickens before I kill, clean, cook and eat them. But if I do count them I know how to fry them in clarified butter now.

From the start of all this, Christy and I have kept our eye out for clarified butter or its not so distant cousin, ghee. I have hit the organic section of the local market, the whole food stores and the high end stores and found nothing, nada, zip, zolly. I have read the health benefits of ghee or clarified butter in health articles, books and Ayurdvedic websites. While reading through the last of these I couldn't help but to read them in my head in the voice of Mike Meyers in "The Love Guru" (a particularly bad viewing experience I am still coming to grips with). For more than three months, I have not been able to find this wondrous butter with no lactose or hard fat anywhere. It is also supposed to be quite delicious and does not cause spikes and drops in the metabolism which is the key to weight loss. Lose the spikes, lose the weight. It's as simple as that.

Well, a friend asked me a few questions because she is doing pretty much the same thing I am and wanted to know about clarified butter. I was, of course, at a loss until yesterday when I decided to Google "Clarified Butter" (duh? seriously). Clarified butter or ghee isn't something you can buy. It's the extruded contents of monkey breast milk beaten with garden rakes in front of screaming elderly women. Well, it could be something that arcane as far as I knew. Instead, it is nothing more than slowly melted/cooked unsalted butter with the water and fat solids removed. Ghee is made in a similar way except it is boiled to a brown nutty color and then cooked slowly for a period of time before removing the solids. Clarified butter is often referred to as drawn butter but they are not the same unless the solids and the process to render the butter is performed. Upon reading various recipes, including one from Alton Brown, I can tell you that the process is relatively simple and easy.

Now you may be saying to yourself, what? Butter is good for you?! Pshaw! Well yes in most cases and no in some. If you don't believe me, you can always read this fine article all about it. Did you know that clarified butter has a higher smoking point than normal butter? This makes it ideal for a high temperature saute'. Clarified butter also has a very long shelf life. Ghee and clarified butter also help with the absorption of vitamins and minerals making it a fantastic way to ensure whatever food or supplement you are taking gives you the maximum effect. This last reason was why I wanted it so desperately. I needed it to level up my testosterone in combination with Brazil nuts or some other testosterone increasing food like pumpkin seeds. Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds were also a search and find affair until today when I checked again at Trader Joe's - voila' - nuts and seeds - duh!

Here is a quick overview from Associated Content about the benefits of clarified butter and/or ghee:

"Ghee is most notably said to stimulate the secretion of stomach acids to help with digestion, while other fats, such as butter and oils, slow down the digestive process and can sit heavy in the stomach. Although tests and research are still ongoing, it has been used in Indian medicinal practice to help with ulcers, constipation, and the promotion of healthy eyes and skin. An Indian folk-remedy for thousands of years, ghee is also said to promote learning and increased memory retention. It is used in Indian beauty creams to help soften skin, and as a topical for the treatment of burns and blisters.

In addition to ghee's nutritional value, it is rich with antioxidants and acts as an aid in the absorption of vitamins and minerals from other foods, feeding all layers of body tissue and serving to strengthen the immune system. A high concentration of butyric acid, a fatty acid that contains anti-viral properties, is believed to inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors."

Damn, who wouldn't want to add ghee to their diet? Because the fat police say that the saturated fats will clog up your heart. Now if you read the article link I posted previously, you can groan at this point just like I did. Heck we could start our own chorus. Now wouldn't that be fun?

So for the lack of a bit of reading and more in depth research I have been without something I would have been able to make a staple of what I am doing all along. Tonight I hope to cook up a batch of clarified butter for the first time. I am going to get right on that after I sell the lactating monkeys, the garden rakes and persuade the Sun City Women's Glee Club to go home.

Video Killed the Radio Star

195.4 lbs

That was quite a drop. 4.2 lbs in a day. That's water weight people. My experiment in eating crud on Sunday gave me exactly the results I expected and that's a good thing. I am now wondering how close I can get to 190 this week. It's only Tuesday and I have progressed at a much faster pace than I did last week. Since my low weight was 191.6 lbs last week, I should be very very close this week unless something surprises me significantly.

I haven't done this in awhile but today I will share with you some tidbits from studies on health and weight loss from around the web. First off, we have a study about video gaming and weight gain. Really, I didn't need a study to tell me that people who play video games are fatter than their more active counterparts. Anecdotal evidence is all around us. I remember watching a documentary on gaming addiction not too long ago and one of the gamers dropped weight like crazy after quitting video games. His skinny cousin, who was just beginning, packed it on like nobody's business and was quite obese by the end of the documentary. But what I didn't realize was that it was not only the sedentary behavior, it was the fact that video games actually triggered a response to eat more. Here is the study.

Once I thought about the study and put it through my lame layman's filter, it made perfect sense. Your brain needs sugar. It's like your mind is a zombie in reverse that does not want brains, heck it already has that, but it wants sugar to feed the brain. Mental exertion triggers us to eat more sugary crap so that we can fire off synapses. It also gives a quick boost of energy. If anyone doubts that sugar is a drug, they only need to look at the study - they are the same physical responses the brain in an addict creates to get more drugs. Damn. It's also why you feel like crap for a day or two when you ween yourself off of it for the most part.

Now on to the next article. This one talks about a new diet called the Dukan diet. To be honest, I thought it sounded rather sensible. It's freaking simple and I have very little problem with any of it. For some odd reason, some dietitians do and that is what shocks me. I wonder if people spout shit without thinking most of the time or to get their names out there. Here is the article.

Hmmm so why I vehemently disagree with some of the people they talked to for this article because they say things that are dead wrong and I think they should have really stopped and looked at the diet before they spoke. I actually think if you are going to do an article on a a diet program or medical science you should not talk to someone who has a vested interest in an opposing viewpoint like Dr. Congro. She throws off a few comments about salt and fat content and restricted calories and tries to undermine it with scare tactics. Restricted calories have been proven to be one of the few paths to longevity and unless you are talking trans fats, most fats are good for you. I only agree with her on salt intake because there is no need to add extra salt to your food which is nothing the diet recommends. Her counterpart, Dr. Connie Diekman had the following to say:

Diekman said the limits on carbohydrates aren't supported by science.

Uh, yes they are. The more articles I read, the more I have come to the conclusion that restricting carbohydrates is exactly what you want to do to lose weight - carbs are calorically dense and on the most part empty calories. Her quote is pure bullshit. Here is another rather vapid quote about the upcoming Royal Wedding:

"As a registered dietitian, and as a recent mother-of-the-bride, I would caution the royal bride-to-be's mom that she is going to need all the energy she can to thoroughly enjoy this very special day. Carbohydrates are the food that provide us with that energy."

I think this says, to a lot of people, "Go ahead and and eat as much crap as you want." Now I am sure her words were cherry picked for the article because that is what writers sometimes do but I am a little weary when scientists start throwing out quotes about the Royal Wedding.

Now I will go on to say that I do not endorse any diet whatsoever but the Dukan diet sounds viable and sensible since it shows you how to come off the diet and how not to pack the weight back on. That is something that other diets rarely do. Who wants to be on a diet the rest of their lives? What Dukan recommends at a certain point is a simple lifestyle change and from my personal experience that is something I can support fully. I also support Congro's efforts as well since she has been helping people to lose weight and be healthy through her own program. What I can't support is a scientific knowledge base that seems to stop somewhere around 1998. There have been so many studies and so much information to come out the past ten years alone, that it is breathtaking and warrants some rediscovery. I am also more aware that sedentary behavior and the over consumption of carbohydrates (often paired with trans fats) is a sure recipe for disaster and heart disease. Your weight is the key. Her recipe and the scientific recipe tend to differ greatly from what I can take from this article. All in all, interesting stuff as the battle over the bulge continues. Just remember to eat your lean proteins, slow carbs and dark greens and you'll be just fine.