Divorced Man Gets in Shape

Thanks much to Eli who sent in this inspiring weight loss story:

In March of 2008 I had been married for almost 18 years. For the last 5 or 6 years of my marriage, I had gained weight exponentially each year. Not only was I obese (6'1/2" 280 lbs), but I was also a heavy smoker. When I got separated from my ex-wife close to 3 years ago, I had an epiphany. I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't believe what I was looking at. How had I allowed myself to get like that? I wanted to live a longer life for my 3 children and I wanted to be happy with myself again. These things made me take the first step into my journey of weight loss which has now become a passion for fitness.

I had yo-yo dieted for many years and tried many of the fad diets. I was "successful" in losing weight those times, but I never kept it off because I was not making a lifestyle change.. The most important change that has lead to my success is knowing to take things one day at a time. When I started on my quest, I did not join a gym and I did not exert myself enough. What I did was ask myself, "What am I willing to do NOW which will help me continue to do it for the rest of my life?" My answer then was to walk for 15 minutes each night and I made small adjustments to my horrendous eating habits. Today, I can run up to 10 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace. I also weight train 5 days per week and my bad eating moments are most people's best eating habits! I am proud to say that today I have a body fat percentage of 12%!

As soon as I started to see the weight coming off, I was motivated to continue on this path. The most challenging thing for me was changing my bad eating habits. I saw results right away. I started to lose weight after the first week and it never stopped from there.

My life has changed in many ways! I am healthier physically, mentally and emotionally. My self esteem although never low, is at an all time high. I have been the inspiration of many to start their own quest of a healthy lifestyle change and I have finally found a real life passion!

4 Years ago...

Well what do you know? Time flies when you're not having fun.

All the ups and downs that the last 4 years have seen are pretty much accounted for here in this blog.

So, not being negative at all, but just wanting to re-cap

This time 4 years ago I weighed 18 (252lbs) stone exactly. Today I am about 18 stone 9lbs (261lbs 118kg)

What have I learned?

Not a whole lot to be fair. I have learned that nothing is a 'cure' for this hellish nightmare with our weight, although it seems some have better success than others.

I have learned that no one has the answer to whats going on in our bodies other than ourselves.

I have learnt that we are the masters of our own success or failure.

I have spent a considerable amount of money over the last 4 years on dieting, dieting aids, clothes (smaller and even bigger than pre banding), diet foods and not to mention fills - 20 fills over 4 years at roughly £125 a throw ain't great.

I am still battling my own inner voices, checking out food porn (cheers Tina), wishing I could do anything to turn the clock back and not have made those bad choices/taken on board those issues before they went out of control.

I am however, alive, banded, have a beautiful husband and child and not reached the age of 35 yet...

So, here's to another year of - oh please God hopefully - slimming.

p.s. am writing this at 3am because made a stupid stupid stupid mistake of having 3 clementine segments at 8pm. Whoops. Puked all three bits back out, but still haven't managed to eat dinner yet and am feeling woozy. Kind of given up on food, but my pills NEED taking tonight or I am shot.

Polyphenols, Hormesis and Disease: Part I

What are Polyphenols?

Polyphenols are a diverse class of molecules containing multiple phenol rings. They are synthesized in large amounts by plants, certain fungi and a few animals, and serve many purposes, including defense against predators/infections, defense against sunlight damage and chemical oxidation, and coloration. The color of many fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries, eggplants, red potatoes and apples comes from polyphenols. Some familiar classes of polyphenols in the diet-health literature are flavonoids, isoflavonoids, anthocyanidins, and lignins.

The Case Against Polyphenols

Mainstream diet-health authorities seem pretty well convinced that dietary polyphenols are an important part of good health, due to their supposed antioxidant properties. In the past, I've been critical of the hypothesis. There are several reasons for it:

1. Polyphenols are often, but not always, defensive compounds that interfere with digestive processes, which is why they often taste bitter and/or astringent. Plant-eating animals including humans have evolved defensive strategies against polyphenol-rich foods, such as polyphenol-binding proteins in saliva (1).
2. Ingested polyphenols are poorly absorbed (2). The concentration in blood is low, and the concentration inside cells is probably considerably lower*. In contrast, essential antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins E and C are efficiently absorbed rather than excluded from the circulation.
   
3. Polyphenols that manage to cross the gut barrier are rapidly degraded by the liver, just like a variety of other foreign molecules, again suggesting that the body doesn't want them hanging around (2).
4. The most visible hypothesis of how polyphenols influence health is the idea that they are antioxidants, protecting against the ravages of reactive oxygen species. While many polyphenols are effective antioxidants at high concentrations in a test tube, I don't find it very plausible that the low and transient blood concentration of polyphenols achieved by eating polyphenol-rich foods makes a meaningful contribution to that person's overall antioxidant status, when compared to the relatively high concentrations of other antioxidants in blood (uric acid; vitamins C, E; ubiquinone) and particularly inside cells (SOD1/2, catalase, glutathione reductase, thioredoxin reductase, paraoxonase 1, etc.).
   
5. There are a number of studies showing that the antioxidant capacity of the blood increases after eating polyphenol-rich foods. These are often confounded by the fact that fructose (in fruit and some vegetables) and caffeine (in tea and coffee) can increase the blood level of uric acid, the blood's main water-soluble antioxidant. Drinking sugar water has the same effect (2).
6. Rodent studies showing that polyphenols improve health typically use massive doses that exceed what a person could consume eating food, and do not account for the possibility that the rodents may have been calorie restricted because their food tastes horrible.
   

The main point is that the body does not seem to "want" polyphenols in the circulation at any appreciable level, and therefore it gets rid of them pronto. Why? I think it's because the diversity and chemical structure of polyphenols makes them potentially bioactive-- they have a high probability of altering signaling pathways and enzyme activity, in the same manner as pharmaceutical drugs. It would not be a very smart evolutionary strategy to let plants (that often don't want you eating them) take the reins on your enzyme activity and signaling pathways. Also, at high enough concentrations polyphenols can be pro-oxidants, promoting excess production of free radicals, although the biological relevance of that may be questionable due to the concentrations required.

A Reappraisal

After reading more about polyphenols, and coming to understand that the prevailing hypothesis of why they work makes no sense, I decided that the whole thing is probably bunk: at best, specific polyphenols are protective in rodents at unnaturally high doses due to some drug-like effect. But-- I kept my finger on the pulse of the field just in case, and I began to notice that more sophisticated studies were emerging almost weekly that seemed to confirm that realistic amounts of certain polyphenol-rich foods (not just massive quantities of polyphenol extract) have protective effects against a variety of health problems. There are many such studies, and I won't attempt to review them comprehensively, but here are a few I've come across:

• Dr. David Grassi and colleagues showed that polyphenol-rich chocolate lowers blood pressure, improves insulin sensitivity and lowers LDL cholesterol in hypertensive and insulin resistant volunteers when compared with white chocolate (3). Although dark chocolate is also probably richer in magnesium, copper and other nutrients than white chocolate, the study is still intriguing.
• Dr. Christine Morand and colleagues showed that drinking orange juice every day lowers blood pressure and increases vascular reactivity in overweight volunteers, an effect that they were able to specifically attribute to the polyphenol hesperidin (4).
• Dr. F. Natella and colleagues showed that red wine prevents the increase in oxidized blood lipids (fats) that occurs after consuming a meal high in oxidized and potentially oxidizable fats (5).
• Several studies have shown that hibiscus tea lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension when consumed regularly (6, 7, 8). It also happens to be delicious.
  
• Dr. Arpita Basu and colleagues showed that blueberries lower blood pressure and oxidized LDL in men and women with metabolic syndrome (9).
• Animal studies have generally shown similar results. Dr. Xianli Wu and colleagues showed the blueberries potently inhibit atherosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the arteries that can lead to a heart attack) in a susceptible strain of mice (10). This effect was associated with a higher expression level of antioxidant enzymes in the vessel walls and other tissues.

Wait a minute... let's rewind. Eating blueberries caused mice to increase the expression level of their own antioxidant enzymes?? Why would that happen if blueberry polyphenols were themselves having a direct antioxidant effect? One would expect the opposite reaction if they were. What's going on here?

In the face of this accumulating evidence, I've had to reconsider my position on polyphenols. In the process, and through conversations with knowledgeable researchers in the polyphenol field, I encountered a different hypothesis that puts the puzzle pieces together nicely.


* Serum levels briefly enter the mid nM to low uM range, depending on the food (2). Compare that with the main serum antioxidants: ~200 uM for uric acid, ~100 uM for vitamin C, ~30 uM for vitamin E.

Vegetable Cornbread

(makes 16 servings)

Ingredients for recipe:

• ½ package (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
  
  


• 1 tbsp butter
  
  


• 1 (8 oz) package corn muffin mix
  
  


• ¾ cup low-fat cottage cheese
  
  


• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  
  


• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  
  


• 1 jar (2 oz) of diced pimiento, drained
  
  


• Low-fat cooking spray
  
  

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degreesF.
  
  


• Coat an 8 x 8 square pan with cooking spray. Add butter then place in oven until melted. Remove pan from oven and rotate until melted butter is spread on bottom. Raise heat of oven to 425ºF.
  
  


• Remove excess moisture from broccoli by pressing a paper towel on the pieces.
  
  


• In a medium bowl, combine muffin mix, broccoli, low-fat cottage cheese, pimientos, eggs, black pepper and mix thoroughly.
  
  


• Pour bread mixture into pan then bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight Loss Recipes Amount Per Serving (1 square (44 g)): 88 Calories, 4 g Protein, 11 g carbohydrates, 1 g Dietary Fiber, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 218 mg sodium

Way down

...my eating that is!

I have noticed that since fill #20 - yes, twenty - I have been eating a lot less.

Today I had the most stressful day for ages. Stress always gets my band tight when its filled nicely, and today was no exception.

To kick off we had an Sky HD upgrade planned for between 8am and 1pm. I was shattered after finishing work yesterday at 10:30pm and then having to spend 2 hours with DS finishing his homework when I got in so I was looking forward to Sky man coming at about five minutes to one this afternoon!!

No such luck. The bloke rings at 8:25am and says he will be there at 9:00am. Ah well, at least I can go back to bed after he has done his thing, thinks I. Nope.

He arrives at 9:30 (!) and then does one of those "Oooh, Ahh, I dunno" scratches of the heads that tradespeople seem to do when they think they have wifey at home all dumb and stupid. He says "Think your tubes have gone in your telly."

"Tubes?" I ask - perplexed as to why my plasma telly has tubes... then he goes "er... yeah, there's horizontal lines there on the blue screen... they are at the back of the plasma screen". Hmmm well yes, I can see lines, as I have done since we got the thing new. I flick the channel to one that actually has a picture rather than just a plain blue screen, and no sign of lines. "Oh that's good look, I cant see it now its actually on a channel, so I wont mind that matey" says I.

Then blow me if not 2 minutes later hes scratching his nuts again and oohing and ahhing over the state of my wiring to the phone socket "Oooh i dunno luv, looks like that's gunna be dodgy. Might need a new socket..."
"Well its not plugged into the phone line at the moment, nor has it been for the last 8 years, so don't bother plugging it in mate ok?"

"No no no no luv" he goes "You have to av it plugged in like cos yous taken out another contract".
"Oh no no no no mate, it slows the broadband, makes a shitty noise on the line and I am gunna whip it out the minute you leave anyway - even if you do get it in there - so just don't bother yeah?"

"Oh alright then"

Fuck me.

There were several other mini dramas that I totally ignore... line to the box, wrong cables bla bla bla. I am paying you to do the freaking job mate, so quit whining and do it!

Finally, and hour after he arrived, he gets the box out of his van. Surprisingly it all works. After the palaver he made you would have thought I needed a hot bath and a razor. Life just wasn't worth living the way he was going on! Do I have "M.U.G" written on my head? Well I must have because just after he left at 11:30am, I get a call from Microsoft technical support.

Yes, Microsoft technical support. Apparently they don't normally ring, but they had had a log of several threats on my computer and wanted to help me clear them.

Oh course I put the phone down straight away didn't I.

Ummm.... nope. I didn't. I quizzed the bejayzus out of them - I really did - about how did they know it was my particular PC and not one of the other 4 in the household; how did they know it was MINE that was causing the error; where were they calling from exactly again; and how did they get my name, number, dob, email address, postal address and mothers maiden name etc? THATS RIGHT!!!! They had all that info.

So I thinks... Ok maybe they are for real, but I am no pushover. I consider myself pretty darn computer security savvy. I know what a phishing email is/hoaxes look like and I don't get pushed into changing gas/electric supply every week and I know a scam when I hear one. How many rich uncles in Nigeria can one girl have right?

They were very patient "yes, its totally understandable that you want to verify us Mrs. Bunny... bla bla" so I let them guide me to the relevant files they had had issues coming through on. I needed to check and low and behold there are an amazing array of threats on my computer. Loads of warning files and errors. I was really worried! They should have fucking Oscars for con men cos they were fucking brilliant!

So I am totally convinced that the chap I am speaking to is who he says he is, and am going along with all this guff. He took control of my computer remotely and even as I type this I know you are all hanging your heads thinking I am a freaking foooool of gargantuan proportions but I am telling you I WAS FOOLED.

I 100% believed every word they said, and was sucking it right up and it actually worries me MORE because there must be thousands of people out there who wouldn't even have questioned these people. I questioned them for about 10 minutes and they still managed to convince me...

...right up until he showed me a screen where some log shows that my security layer on my computer was expired and I needed to reinstate it.

Uh oh... ding a ling a ling. Bunny you stupid bastard!!!!

This was 30 minutes into the call. Alarm bells started to ring and I though Oh My GOD. I am in the middle of a scam. The next breath and he shows me a website saying the prices of the different packages I can buy to reinstall my security shield ranging from £20 to £120. Yep. A website lashed up just to take cash.

Well by this time I was fully aware, but hold my cool and said "Oh no, my handbag is in my husbands car and hes at work. Can you call me back this evening and we can do it then when he gets home?" and a "sure ma'am" came from him. Then he proceeded to give me his phone number 02081239216 and his name Austin Wells and that we could call him back any time.I thanked him SOOO much for helping me and I hung up.

I am well aware that often if you hang up or are rude at that point (when they are still in control of your PC!) they can execute files etc that can cause grievous harm, so I just kept it cool...

After hanging up I immediately shut my computer down and disconnected it. My PC has been thoroughly cleaned and thankfully there are no key loggers, no jammers or viruses or spyware thank god, but it was the fright of a lifetime. I thought as a precaution I would just change all my passwords and pins and everything as it's probably a good idea anyway.

So, friends of mine, if you get a call from Windows support and services department because your International IP address has been showing errors and they don't usually phone, but there was like Sooooooo many... you know what to do. They used the run application on windows to enter the code eventvwr which showed up all the logs... go ahead on your computer and have a look. You will find errors and warnings as that's what it logs. Its a LOG. lol. What a dumb ass I was. they used www.logmein123.com to remote access my PC  and the website they took me to that was basically phoney was techsupportonline.in Obviously don't go to these websites cos they might have viruses on - i dunno - but I am just adding this info so that they cant scam anyone again and others who got sucker punched like me can hopefully see ahead of time that its bollocks.

It might seem like I am trying to save face after the event, but I honestly never thought I would ever be tricked into doing something like that and it was relatively easy, so everyone must beware. At the end of the day I didn't need to write this here!! It really really scared the shit out of me at how easily and readily I was fooled.

Upshot - have eaten fuck all today!! HAHA

I felt like crying immediately ofter the call, was shaking and not in a good state because my computer would not immediately tun back on so I was kind of freaking out. It tightened my band up to squeaky badgers ass tight and I could not eat allllll day long.

By 1pm I had managed to change my bank details and gone through on my sons laptop other accounts - ebay, paypal etc etc and ahything else I can think of that might mean I get robbed! By 2pm I decide to have some soup. GLERK! One teaspoon sat there on the band like a cork plug so I thought forget it.

Spent some considerable time on the phone to my mum, TB and DH at the shop and recanting the days dramas then got my shit together to look at lesson plans for the afternoons work and dragged my ass out the door to go to work all strazzled (Stressed + Frazzled).

I get in the car and RRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr RRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr clunk.

O h h h h h hhh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I jump out the car like a mad thing just as my next door neighbour walks onto my drive (who can hardly walk as she has had a stroke - except not a nice person AT ALL and a complete beeyatch unless she needs something)

"YES?" I scream????

This is the same neighbour that fucked me off over our extension so pleasantry's are hard to come by and I am all out of nice today anyway!

She has locked herself out and do I have a spare key.

"No, I gave it back after you shopped us to the council!" I said. Then smiled sweetly. Her face was a PICTURE - It was so worth the 16 month wait! (Funnily enough the council sided with us YAY but thats another story)

I turned on my heels and marched back up the drive, grabbed the WD40 from the porch and whipped up the bonnet. Neighbour from hell is in the passenger seat of a car, and in the drivers seat is some snotty looking woman who is obviously doing her good turn of the year

"I say, do you know what's wrong with the car?" she asks.
"I am a mechanics daughter. Of course I do!" I yell back like a fish wife.

I dress very smartly for work so it must look quite comical as with WD40 in hand, I swish my cashmere shawl and beautiful handmade french necklace out of the way, stand well back to stop the car grime getting on my wool suit and pop the bonnet. I rake around, lift the plastic cover from the bit my dad tells me to and squirt away. I squirt all wire connections and belt this metal drum style thingy (tip from dad too), slam the bonnet, squeeze loads of antibacterial gel on my hands to get rid of the grease (works like a dream btw!) and then fire up the old horse.

Blue smoke blows out and we are off! With a cheesy grin to posh woman and hell neighbour, I back out leaving them to sit on their drive until someone comes with a key.

When I say day from hell! PHEW!

However it doesn't end there! I get 5 miles up the road and realise I have forgotten a cruicial book for my 2nd pupil! After mending the car, there is not enough time to do lessons one, go back to get the book and then go to lesson two.

In a blind hunger starved panic I about turn, ring pupil one and explain that I have had car faliure and reschedule for later in the evening. I dive home to see hell neighbour still sitting in the car on her drive -  GLEE! (Yeah, I know but it made a tiny chick of sunshine in my day!)

So I grab the book and off I finally go to work.

I hadnt eaten or drunk a drop all day. I was so shattered by 9pm, with still 2 lessons to do that I got one of those teeny tiny small power shots from the garage for £2.50. They are 5 calories for 25mls of caffeine and what-not but wake you up for hours. Well its 3am in the morning and I am still awake but JEEEEZ it gave me well bad acid heartburn and I threw it up about 45 minutes after I drank it down - and even then I had to sip it!

There is nowt so demure as a cashmere clad fat lady barfing up in the headlights of her car on the side of a country road, knee deep in grass and most likely roadkill.

I dunno about anyone else in the UK, there just seems to be an awesome amount of dead shit on the road tonight. Huh, random!

So when I got in I was glad to see a nice curry sitting on the counter. I had a green tea whilst I didn DH's accounts (he had deep cleaned my computer up even more once he got home), did the bills and sat down to eat at midnight. I had about a cup of rice and curry, 1 popadom, 1 glass of red wine and half a bag of tootie fruities (little sweeties).

What a day.

Thank god it's over!

Now I am off to bed, and I am NOT getting up until lunch for love nor money!

Rosemary and Sweet Onion Focaccia

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients for recipe:

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
  
  


• 1 tsp white sugar
  
  


• 1 tsp salt
  
  


• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
  
  


• 1 cup water
  
  


• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  
  


• 1 egg
  
  


• Non-fat cooking spray
  
  


• 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
  
  


• 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
  
  


• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  
  

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, salt ,sugar, yeast and mix well.
  
  


• Heat water and vegetable oil until warm, and add to flour mixture and then add the egg. Blend with an electric mixer at low speed until moistened. Beat for 2 additional minutes.
  
  


• Gradually add 1-¾ cups flour while beating, until dough pulls away from side of bowl. Knead in ¾ cup flour on floured surface.
  
  


• Cover dough with a bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.
  
  


• Spray a baking sheet with non-fat cooking spray. Press the dough out evenly onto the pan. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 20-30 minutes.
  
  


• Preheat oven to 400ºF.
  
  


• Uncover dough, and press indentations with your fingers at 1” intervals. Spray dough lightly with non-fat cooking spray and sprinkle with crushed rosemary and Parmesan cheese. Arrange onion rings evenly over the dough. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
  
  


• Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
  
  


• Cut into wedges and serve warm.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight Loss Recipes Amount Per Serving (1/6 of recipe (111 g)): 350 Calories, 11 g Protein, 59 g carbohydrates, 3 g Dietary Fiber, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 38 mg cholesterol, 463 mg sodium

Rosemary and Parmesan Lavasch

(makes 16 servings)

Ingredients for recipe:

• 1 package active dry yeast
  
  


• 2 cups warm water
  
  


• 1 tsp sugar
  
  


• 3¼ cup unbleached flour
  
  


• 2½ tbsp vegetable oil
  
  


• 3 tbsp fresh rosemary
  
  


• 1 tsp salt
  
  


• 3 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese*
  
  

Preparation:

• In a small bowl, add water and sugar until dissolved then sprinkle yeast on top. Let stand for 10 minutes to activate yeast then add vegetable oil.
  
  


• In a food processor, add flour and salt and mix well. Slowly add yeast mixture and continue mixing until dough forms a ball while scraping sides with a spatula.
  
  


• If you don't have a food processor, use a wooden spoon to mix by hand and add yeast mixture a little at a time to evenly combine. Add more flour as needed if dough is too sticky or water if too dry.
  
  


• Turn dough out on a floured work surface and knead dough by hand until it is smooth. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator until it rises to nearly double its size (about 1 hour.)
  
  


• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  
  


• In a small bowl, combine rosemary and Parmesan cheese.
  
  


• Turn dough out on a floured work surface and roll out until it is the shape of a rectangle. Cut dough into roughly 16 equal portions. When working with one portion of dough, place the others in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to prevent from drying out.
  
  


• Take a portion of dough and roll until paper thin (should resemble a very flat rectangle or strip). Using a spatula, lift the dough strip and place it on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
  
  


• Evenly sprinkle with rosemary and Parmesan cheese over the tops of the dough strips and lightly press into the dough.
  
  


• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown, then cool on wire racks.
  
  

*Other suggested topping combinations of your choice:

• fresh chopped rosemary
  
  


• pine nuts
  
  


• crushed garlic
  
  


• cumin
  
  


• red pepper flakes
  
  


• curry powder
  
  


• sunflower seeds
  
  


• etc
  
  

Make 9 Servings:

Weight Loss Recipes Amount Per Serving (1 cracker (30 g)): 118 Calories, 3 g Protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 1 g Dietary Fiber, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 164 mg sodium