Update

7 more pounds!

That's a total of 42 pounds!

More to come later.

Christmas 2008 Food Plan

Dr. Soudah asked me to make a plan for Thanksgiving and then to record how well I stuck to my plan. I didn't actually write down my plan on paper like he had asked due to the busyness of the week. However, I did the work in my brain. :) At that same time he asked me to use Thanksgiving as a foundation to build a plan for Christmas. So, without further ado. Here we go!

 

This year will be like many years in the past. However, like in the past two years, I will be having two dinners. This is because I am married and now have two families to share Christmas with each year.

 

The foods I am expecting will be almost identical at each family's house with few exceptions.

 

Here's what I'm expecting to see at the table.

• Turkey
• Ham
• Cornbread dressing
• Green beans
• Corn
• Chicken-n-dumplings
• Mashed potatoes
• Twice-baked potatoes
• Baked potato (just for me by request)
• Mac-n-cheese
• Sweet potato casserole
• Bread
• Veggie tray
• Cheesy potato casserole
• Pecan pie
• Pumpkin pie
• Wassail
• Homemade peanut candy
• Divinity

Those are more than likely going to be the selections that I will have to choose from at dinner. There might not be both meats, but I am sure it will be one of the two.

 

What is my plan?

This is simple. I am going to follow my Thanksgiving plan...

• Make heatlhy choices.
• Take at least one, small, bite of something I really, really, really, really, really, really want, and savor every bit of flavor I can get from it.
• Not let the food control me.
• Enjoy my time with the family and have tons of fun.

That's my plan for this year. I know there might be additional foods that show up on the menu, but I have made a choice to not let it control me anymore. I am going to stick with it!

Weekly Summary for November 24-30, 2007

This week is basically alread over. I'm going to post these numbers now on faith and my honor that I will not eat more than 1350 calories tomorrow (Nov. 30). ****I didn't eat my 1350 so I changed my daily for the 30th and my average.****

Here is a break down of my daily calories and weekly average for daily caloric intake.

24-Nov	1325
25-Nov	1283
26-Nov	1378
27-Nov	1420
28-Nov	1345
29-Nov	1340
30-Nov	1030
Avg Daily	1303

Average of 1349 calories per day! I cannot believe that I'm doing this well on this program.

I don't know what I'll do after the end of my 12th week.

Thursday - November 29, 2007

Today I am sick with a head cold. Grr! The congestion is killing my sinus cavities.

 

Regardless, today I have eaten a scrambled egg (70 cal.) and toast (35 cal.) for breakfast.

 

For lunch I ate a packet of instant grits (100 cal.).

 

I haven't eaten it but I already know what my supper is going to be. Sarah's going to bring me home some cough drops and some St. Louis Bread Company chicken noodle soup (100 cal.) and a piece of their bread (200 cal.). Plus, I'm going to throw down some Orville Naturals popcorn (30 cal.) if I can. 

 

This puts me at 540 calories.

Weekly Summary for November 17-23, 2007

This week was hard with Thanksgiving but I feel like I did fairly well.

 

Here is a break down of my daily calories and weekly average for daily caloric intake.

 

17-Nov	1500
18-Nov	1390
19-Nov	1350
20-Nov	1180
21-Nov	1329
22-Nov	1320
23-Nov	1570
Avg Daily	1377

 

Average of 1377 calories per day for the week of Thanksgiving isn't that bad if I do say so myself.

Wednesday - November 28, 2007

Today was rather uneventful. :)

I had some popcorn for lunch (150 cal.) at work today. It was the unhealthy kind.

For supper I had some turkey (120 cal.), corn (180 cal.), slice of bread (35 cal.), and some mixed veggies (60 cal.).

The total for today is 545 calories.

Tuesday - November 27, 2007

Today I went to Subway. But, I tried something new. I had the chicken teriyaki sub (six inch) with a little bit of the sauce and some of their apples for 415 calories.

Last night I had a bag of Orville's popcorn (30 cal.) and a piece of toast (35 cal.) and two eggs (140 cal.).

Total for today was 620 calories.

I've got to get my calories back down. I'm going over a little bit too much.

Monday - November 26, 2007

Today for lunch I had a bowl of Wendy's chili (330 cal.).

Later that evening I had leftovers consisting of a tortilla (110 cal.), grilled chicken/mushroom/onion mixture (108 cal.), and a little turkey (30 cal.).

Today's total was 578 calories.

Sunday - November 25, 2007

Today we went to a mexican restaurant. It is one of my favorites...El Maguey.

I had some chicken dish with no cheese sauce on it. Don't ask me the name of it because I cannot tell you.

It was a huge chicken breast grilled with mushrooms and onions (again no cheese sauce). I loved it. I didn't eat all the chicken breast because I knew it would be too many calories so I saved it for leftovers.

The meal consisted of 2 tortillas (220 cal.), piece of grilled chicken (120 cal.), serving of grilled mushrooms (11 cal.) and onions (22 cal.), a small bit of refried beans with no cheese (75 cal.), and salsa (35 cal.).

This was a good meal of 483 calories.

Saturday - November 24, 2007

Today was leftovers day! :)

 

I had some turkey on a slice of diet bread for a mid-morning snack (80 cal.).

 

Later I had the rest of my food from Lambert's. I had the chicken (190 cal.), half of a baked potato (75 cal.), a baked sweet potato my mom didn't eat (130 cal.), the leftover greens (10 cal.), and a small bit of fried potatoes (40 cal.). Total for the day was 525 calories.

Friday - November 23, 2007

Today was Thanksgiving 2.0. :)

It was a lot harder today because I was kind of down that I couldn't eat any of my favorite foods like pumpkin and pecan pie yesterday. So, I made a few concessions but did not go too bad out of control. I did go over my limit today, but feel like I did it in a responsible way.

My first meal for the day was similar to yesterday's but I added a few things too it. I had turkey (75 cal.), green beans (60 cal.), another bite of cornbread stuffing, a.k.a. dressing (25 cal.), part of a baked potato with a tiny bit of butter (95 cal.), more raw veggies (50 cal.), some delicious fried apples made with granny smiths, apple butter, and a tad of sugar (30 cal.), a small bite of cheesy hashbrown casserole (35 cal.), a small bite of sweet potato casserole (45 cal.), the smallest bite anyone can have of buttermilk pie (40 cal.), and a small bite of Apple and Snicker salad (35 cal.).

This Thanksgiving meal was the grand total of 490 calories.

Later that evening we were driving back to St. Louis because family had to catch an airplane early Saturday morning. And, on the way back home to St. Louis we had to make one last pit-stop because my sister was dying for some Lambert's - Home of the throwed rolls!

Check out Lamberts @ http://www.throwedrolls.com/

For those of you that have never been to Lambert's, I highly recommend it. However, make sure you've not eaten before you go because you will deplete your entire calorie quota for the day. Haha! :)

Well, while at Lambert's I was very proud of myself. I ordered the charbroiled chicken with a side of turnip greens and a baked potato. I only ate half my baked potato (75 cal.), half of my turnip greens (10 cal.), only about half of one of the two huge chicken breasts they brought me (95 cal.), I had 3 pieces of fried okra (75 cal.), and a tiny nibble of a roll (25 cal.). This meal cost me 280 calories total.

So, overall for the day I ate the not so bad total of 770 calories. I'm pretty proud of myself considering what I had to work with today.

Thursday - November 22, 2007

Today is Thanksgiving and I really am having a hard time with all this food! :) Today we ate at Rebecca and Jody's since Jody had to work on Friday when the other meal was planned for Thanksgiving.

 

Today I ate a serving of ham (250 cal.), a small bite of cornbread stuffing (25 cal.), green beans (70 cal.), half of a boiled potato (65 cal.), two small corn-on-the-cobs (60 cal.), and some raw veggies (50 cal.). I had a very hard time passing up the mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, sweet potato casserole, and the BREAD! However, I did it and am proud of myself.

 

So, the total for my meal today was 520 calories. Yippee!

Wednesday - November 21, 2007

Today was an eventful day. I picked up my sister and her boyfried at the airport. They flew in for Thanksgiving today.

 

For lunch I had a half sandwich from Bellacinos. It was a Ham & Cheese Lite Grinder (245 cal.) and was pretty good. I tried giving the other half away to everybody but no one would take it.

 

For supper I split a pork plate with Sarah from Bandana's! It was great. I had a thing of green beans (35 cal.), a little bit of pork (139 cal.), a small amount of sauce (60 cal.) and a small bite of bread (50 cal.). I really enjoy eating Bandana's. That's 529 calories for the day!

Tuesday - November 20, 2007

Today I had Penn Station for lunch and it was awesome!

I had the artichoke sub with no mayo (320 cal.) and had them add on a little bit of grilled chicken breast (60 cal.) for a meal of about 380 calories. Yummy!

I got a free chocolate chip cookie since it was Tuesday, but I am going to give it to my wife since she loves chocolate chip cookies!

Monday - November 19, 2007

Lunch today was very good. I was proud of myself. My friend I went to lunch with ate a whopping 1500+ calories on his fried chicken from Popeye's.

Today I had...



It was really good. I had Kung Pao Chicken (200 cal.), Mushroom Chicken (130 cal.), and Mixed Veggies (50 cal.) and a Diet Pepsi for a total of 380 calories for my meal.

That's a pretty good lunch if I do say so myself. I'm going to try and lose at least another 10 pounds over the next 4 weeks!

For the rest of my calories I had another bag of the Buttery Garlic by Orville Redenbacher (30 cal.) and a Fiber One chewy bar (140 cal.) The Fiber One bar I like the best is Oats & Chocolate.

Sunday - November 18, 2007

Well, today was a hard day for me. I had a great meal but toward the end of the night I was starving for some reason. I really got weak but didn't fail.

I had a wonderful meal from one of my favorite places…

I had the turkey plate with green beans and a plain baked potato and a small amount of barbeque sauce (460 cal.).

Imagine this picture with a baked potato instead of corn and you'll have what I ate, minus the bread of course. I gave that to Sarah.

Later I had a snack which consisted of a sliver of Sarah's pizza (100 cal.) and some Orville Redenbacher's new Buttery Garlic Natural Popcorn (30 cal.).

This stuff is delicious and it is only 30 calories for a mini-bag. I love this stuff! Popcorn has saved my life on this diet.

Look forward to my Thanksgiving plan and what I hope to eat in order to not kill my diet.

Saturday - November 17, 2007

Today I went over just a little bit.

For breakfast I had one of my most delicious snacks yet-a scrambled egg on a piece of toast (100 cal.). I use the healthy bread so my calories are brought down tremendously. It was just a plain egg with a little pepper and salt on a piece of toast. Ask Sarah about the bread. It is pretty good. They have sourdough, white, and wheat among other flavors.

For dinner I made a small pot of our family's favorite-Chili!

This was pretty awesome. I made it with lean ground beef because the grocery store didn't have any ground turkey. But, I figured it out that for every half cup of chili it was right at 200 calories. So, I ate a cup and a half (600 cal.). Had I used ground turkey it would have brought the calories per serving size down to approximately 160 calories. So the lesson learned is go to a different store and buy the turkey. It'll save you 40 calories and enable you to eat a little bit more if your tummy needs it.

That put me at 700 calories for the day, but it doesn't hurt to go a little bit over every once in a while.

Friday - November 16, 2007

Well, my meal was all right. I had a bag of popcorn (75 cal.) and two
Lean Cuisine pizzas (290 cal./each). This brings me a little over but
nothing to worry about.

Also, I forgot to drink all my shakes and eat my bar. Oops! It has
been so busy here lately with school and all that I accidentially
forget. It'll get better. I've only done this two or three times over
the entire 8 weeks.

Look forward to seeing my plans for Thanksgiving 2007!

Week 8 - Latest Weight Loss

Today marks the end of my 8th week on my program and my grand total for weight loss is.....35 pounds!

Thoughts on the Holidays

Well, today is the another check-up to see how much I've lost.

 

Hopefully Dr. Soudah won't be too mad since I missed a few calories this week.

 

Also, this is right before Thanksgiving, so hopefully I'll have a little bit of motivation or something to help get me through the holiday season without completely ruining my progress.

 

Mom and Dad flew in from Pennsylvania last night for the Thanksgiving festivities. It was nice to see them and spend some time with them.

 

I hope that I can survive these upcoming events. It is hard enough turning away food I love. It is really going to be hard to turn away food I really love that is only cooked once or twice a year. I'm going to check with the family and see exactly what we put in our dressing so I can get a calorie count on it. I LOVE THAT STUFF(ing)! Get it?

 

I'll update soon and let ya know what my 8 week progress report is as soon as I can.

Thursday - November 15, 2007

Lunch for today was . . .

 

 

Which was awesome!

 

I had the turkey light grinder (550 cal.) and loved every bit of it.

 

 

Wednesday - November 14, 2007

Today for lunch I went to....

 

 

 

I had a Subway Club on Wheat with my favorite fixin's for right at 400 calories because the guy put a little bit too much lite mayo on it.

 

 

I also had some of their apples (35 cal.) and an unsweet tea.

 

 

Not that bad of a meal but I am getting tired of eating Subway.

Food - November 13, 2007

This was a crazy day!

 

My meal was not necessarily nutritious but it was fulfilling.

 

I had a piece of chicken (130 cal.) and a piece of sirloin steak (330 cal.) plus a little bit of BBQ sauce (60 cal.) and some Chinese pepper sauce (10 cal.) for a total of 530 calories.

 

Not exactly the best, but I was under my calories. :)

 

P.S. These were baked so it was a lot better than frying it.

 

See ya later!

Lunch for November 12, 2007

I had two of the Smart Ones Sirloin Beef & Asian Style Vegetables (320 cal.)

 

 

Yummy

Sunday, November 11, 2007

I had to make my own lunch today. It was delicious!

I sautéed two chicken breasts in soy sauce and minced garlic (350 cal.) and made a can of green beans (75 cal.). With the chicken, I added some mushrooms (40 cal.) and some Asian vegetables (50 cal.). That’s a total of 515 calories. Yum!

Not that bad if I do say so myself. I’d eat it again.

I still have my 4 shakes and a bar to go and I’m already stuffed.

A few websites that might help

Here are a few websites I use a lot that help me find my calories.

• Restaurant Websites -> Go to area for Nutrition
• Calorie King (http://www.calorieking.com)
• Calorie Count (http://www.calorie-count.com)

Let me know if you can find something along these lines.

Thanks!
~Adam

A few of my favorite things

You all know the Sound of Music song "My Favorite Things" by Julie Andrews. Well, these have been a few of my favorite things to eat since I started my diet.

• St. Louis Bread Company
• Half Smoked Turkey on Sourdough (230 cal.)
  
• French Onion soup with no croutons or cheese (80 cal.)
• Fruit Cup (70 cal.)
• Subway
• 6" Subway Club on Wheat with all the fixin's (388 cal.)
• Sliced Apples (35 cal.)
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Chicken Salad (355 cal.)
• Backyard Burger
• Savory Chicken Sandwich (230 cal.)
• Noodles & Company
• Japanese Pan Noodles w/Chicken (480 cal.)
• Chinese Chop Salad (60 cal.)
• Applebee's
• Weight Watchers Italian Sandwich (360 cal.)
• Weight Watchers Onion Soup (150 cal.)
• Wendy's
• Small Chili (230 cal.)
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich (330 cal.)
  
• Weight Watchers Smart Ones Frozen Meals
• Ravioli Florentine (250 cal.)
• Lasagna Florentine (290 cal.)
• Sirloin Beef & Asian Style Vegetables (160 cal.) + 1 serving of minute rice (200 cal.)
• Homemade
• Chicken breast (130 cal.) + 1 slice diet bread (35 cal.) + 1 pickle (10 cal.)
• Steak (350 cal.) + 1 plain baked potato (150 cal.)
• Turnip Greens (50 cal.)
• Green Beans (35 cal.)
• 100 calorie bag of Popcorn (100 cal.)

These are just a few. :) Haha! I'll keep you updated as things come along.

In the beginning . . .

Well, it all started several months ago. I was at the point in my life that knew I had to make a major change if I wanted to see the future. It really is true that we will never be able to break the bad habits we have in our lives until we first realize how much it is hurting ourselves and others.

I knew my life had gotten out of hand when I went on a family vacation and was too embarrassed and ashamed to have fun with the rest of the family at an amusement park. I had gotten to the point that I would rather stand than try to sit down on a plastic lawn chair. I had problems breathing and would be quickly out of breath if I tried to climb a flight of stairs. My weight was ruining my life. It was depressing. Things had to change.

I went to visit my doctor, Dr. Soudah, in Summer 2007 and expressed my heart to him. I told him of how I wanted to live to see my grandchildren and wanted to be able to perform basic tasks without feeling embarrassed. He was empathetic and vowed to help me if I were up to the task. He told me he was starting a weight loss clinic and wanted me to come back in September when it opened to go over a few things with me. In the mean time, he asked me to begin counting how many calories I ate on a daily basis.

Dr. Soudah’s philosophy is very simple and consists of three parts:

1. Obesity is a chronic disease, which requires a lifelong treatment.


2. Obesity is a disease process with a physiological cause, like diabetes or hypertension. It is not a result of weakness or lack of willpower on the part of the patient.


3. Obese individuals have a right to healthcare that is safe and fits their lifestyle. It should recognize and respect their individual, physical, social, spiritual, psychological, and economic needs.

This is premise upon which Dr. Soudah said he’d help me. When Sarah and I came in for the first visit, Dr. Soudah said that I had three choices to rid myself of the weight that was haunting me. First, I could have surgery and remove part of my stomach. I was not too fond of this because I know of people who go in for these types of surgeries and never wake up. This did not sound like the answer I wanted to hear. Second, I could take drugs to kill my appetite. This was not something I wanted to do either. I had tried taking diet pills but they do not work. They work for the moment in time that you are taking them, but a month later I would gain all my weight back and often additional weight, too. Lastly, I could take a medically supervised approach and form a lifetime-partnership with Dr. Soudah to help reset my brain and how I view food. This sounded like the best option and like the one that would have lasting effects.

So, I began my journey the very next day on September 22, 2007. Every day I eat 1350 calories of which 800 comes from four shakes and one bar that Dr. Soudah wants me to eat so he can know exactly what the majority of my daily nutritional value is equal too.

This is one of the shakes (my favorite flavor is chocolate but I have one strawberry I eat each day) and the my favorite flavor of the bars...Cinnamon Crunch!

Chocolate Shake

Cinnamon Crunch Bar

In addition to these two lovely items I eat a mean of 550 calories each day. Let me tell you something. This is a very, very hard task! However, I know I have to do this in order to meet my goal of becoming healthy.

Keep on the look out for updates along the rest of the way. Since September 22, 2007, I have lost 29 lbs. My initial goal was to lose between 25 and 30 pounds with Dr. Soudah. I am going to try and double it now! I am halfway there in pounds and my 12 week time period that I am doing this modified diet.

At the end of my 12 weeks, I'll go back to eating regular meals. Dr. Soudah mentioned that I should be eating around 2500 to 2800 calories by that time to help maintain my progress. December 14, 2007, will be the end of my 12 weeks. So pray for me that I do not destroy myself over Thanksgiving.

Remember...Weight = Disease
~Adam