Day 19

Weight this morning: 142.6
Calories eaten yesterday: 1789
Calories burned: 1889
Carbs: 49g (good)
Fat: 73g (lower than I wanted)

I knew my weight would be up today, partly because I ate salty meat yesterday, and partly because weight loss as fast as I've had recently can't be sustained. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted, and I'm closer to goal than before. :)

Did okay at church. I snarfed a little bit of Goldfish crackers and peanuts, but for the most part I just made myself some vanilla hazelnut dessert tea with Splenda added (2-3 carbs total and 7-10 calories), and made do with that. I had a strawberry Atkins shake for lunch while everyone else ate carby potluck food.

I'm now sipping sugar free margaritas. Thank you, Baja Bob! I like the pina coladas better, but I ran out of the mix last night. I ordered five more bottles earlier this week. With shipping costs, I tend to stock up when ordering online. Cutting out sugar just isn't popular anymore. :-p

Today I wore a rather large size 6 dress (sorry the tag is blurry) that Norma at church gave me a while back. It was very tight in the bust (I have large breasts so this is common - the downside of a big bust), but loose in the waist. Personally, I think the waist of the dress is closer to an 8. My normal size is an 8/10. My small size 8 shorts seem to be fitting better. They are still tight even when stretched out, but they are no longer skin tight. I was actually able to wear them around town while running errands yesterday! :)

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Proof Texts, #5

Claim: 1 Corinthians 16:2 gives us an example of a collection during a Sunday worship service.
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Paul is telling them to put the money aside that day. It mentions nothing about church. It just says to "put aside and save" so that the person would have the money and not have to scramble to get it when Paul shows up. This verse simply makes no sense as a Sunday "proof" verse because it simply doesn't say what people try to make it say.

Additionally, no Jew would handle money on the Sabbath and it seems likely this would have extended to the early church. So when Paul is telling them to handle money on Sunday, it could not be in the context of a worship service.

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I just keep losing! :)

On the left is the graph of my recent whooshing. :)

Weight this morning: 141.4!!!
Calories eaten yesterday: 1608
Calories burned: 1877
Carbs: 54g (higher than I wanted)
Fat: 81g (Yippee!)

For the unheard of eighth time in a row I have stepped on the scale, I've been down! Wowsers! Talk about a whoosh! This isn't a new low. My lowest weight ever on the scale was 141. So that gives me something to work toward.

Here's my weight tracker for the past month from FitDay. As you can see I did a lot of bouncing and then suddenly WHOOSH...I started dropping. :)
Oh...I walked over 10,000 steps yesterday counting my gym workout.



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Whoosh!

Weight this morning: 141.8!!!
Calories eaten yesterday: 1608
Calories burned: 1965
Carbs: 60g (high for me)
Fat: 69g (low for me)

For the unheard of seventh time in a row I have stepped on the scale, I've been down. Today's downturn gets me back down to my goal weight!!! Yippee! I was freaking out over those 6 pounds I gained. Now they are all gone! Thank you whoosh fairy for visiting me! Could my plateau finally be over?

This isn't the end...no no no. I'm gonna keep working. If I lose more, great. If I don't, that's okay too. I just need to focus on eating enough fat and cycling my calories. I'd really like to get to 65 pounds lost - one more pound - just because that seems like a better number than the 64 I'm hanging out at. And heck, an even 140 would be great, too. That's two more pounds.

My calories yesterday were good for a low day and now today is a higher day, though I still aim to burn more calories than I eat. I can do it if I stay out of the chocolate. :) Friday and Saturday are always higher days, and then I'll aim for a low day Sunday. Today I have to plan my FitDay menus for next week.

Now I just need to hold this weight until the next weigh-in so I can change my ticker. I will have to be very good on Saturday.

I made it to the gym today. I did 30 minutes of weights, 30 on the elliptical (the kind with the moving arms), and 20 walking on the treadmill at 3.5 mph. FitDay says 266 calories burned.


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The Diet Channel

I'm not sure how happy I am with The Diet Channel. Two things jumped out at me when I checked their Web site. First, their description of themselves:

The Diet Channel provides expertise on weight loss, sports nutrition, low fat and heart healthy diets, diet and cancer, preventative nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, we offer a free 8 Week Weight Loss Program to provide you with the latest nutrition information and a healthy diet plan to meet your goals (emphasis mine).

Their 8 Week Weight Loss Program is, of course, low-fat, with carbs as absolutely essential - they are not - and making up the bulk of your calories. Why would anyone in their right mind make the bulk of their calories something non-essential?

My second problem is their description of the Atkins Diet. Why doesn't anybody bother to do more research before writing these things? How can I take anything they say about any other diet plan seriously if they can't get Atkins right? What else did they get wrong?

Some examples:
Atkins followers can eat all of the meat, cheese, eggs and fats (like butter and oils) that they like, without counting calories.

Not wholly true. You are to eat until "satisfied," not until you are full, and certainly not "all you like." Additionally, cheese is limited to 4 oz. a day.

Fruit and dairy products are also extremely limited.

Ah, fake Atkins makes a comeback (also see my follow-up fake Atkins post). Berries are fruits and they are the first thing to be added back in Phase 2. Many fruits - such as tomatoes and avocados - are even allowed on Induction (Phase 1). Other fruits that Atkins dieters are allowed to eat are eggplant, green, yellow, and red peppers, and cucumbers. Yes, they are all fruits!

Cheese is dairy and allowed in Induction. Cottage cheese and sugar-free yogurt can be added in Phase 2. In fact, someone on Atkins can eat just about any dairy product except milk.

At one time I ate a cup of cottage cheese every single day. Now I am on a yogurt kick and eating a cup of plain yogurt every day.

The Atkins diet places no limit on the amount of saturated-fat-laden products one can have each day. Large portions of foods like butter, red meat and bacon are advocated and encouraged. A limited amount of carbohydrates can be introduced in the maintenance phase.

Do I even have to respond to this? This is so silly that it would be funny if it weren't so sad. It's false, plain and simple.

And carbohydrates are part of all phases of Atkins, not just Maintenance. *sigh*

For the most part, exercise is not strongly emphasized in the Atkins diet.

Completely, totally, and 100% false. Atkins stressed that exercise was vital. But hey, since when did a little thing like facts stop people like this?

Read the book, people! Get the facts straight from the man who created the diet and knows best what it's about.

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I'm losing!

I wonder if I can make 30 days cheat free?

Did okay yesterday. Just under 1800 calories, 54 carbs (the tomato added the extra), and 82g of fat. Yippee! I truly believe that my fat intake has been too low and needs to be higher to help me lose. This isn't Weight Watchers; this is Atkins! Fat is fuel!

I was down again on the scale this morning. It's been a whoosh week. Thank you, Grace! The last six times I've stepped on the scale it's been down. :) I know it will go up again a bit, but this is really excellent. I was 142.4 this morning. No more 148! I've lost almost all the weight I gained back! :)

I was sure hungry yesterday, but I fought through it. In keeping with cycling calories I'm trying to make today a lower day, especially since I know Thursday will be higher; it always is due to the extra glass of wine. :)

The weekend is almost here (tomorrow is my Friday). That means pina coladas, baby! Low-carb but they taste like the real thing. Oh yeah! I just bought a bunch more bottles of the mix from Netrition.com.

Covered over 10,000 steps yesterday. The stepper, elliptical, and treadmill at the gym were a big part of that. Today I just did the walk to work from BART and I won't make 10,000.



The only problem I can see coming up is our biannual church meeting, for which I am secretary. This means another full day at church around non-friendly food. A protein shake won't cut it when I'm gone all day, so I may just have to pack an extra lunch like I do during the week and deal with the stares. They truly don't understand that I need to count calories and carbs, and I can't do that eating potluck food with unknown ingredients and amounts. I'm totally lost without my food scale and when I'm not in control of what goes in my mouth. I still help them clean up, so they really shouldn't complain.

For now, I should be okay. As far as I know, this Sabbath is a "normal" Sabbath when I can take a protein shake for lunch and be home by mid- to late-afternoon.

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Week 2 Weigh-In

No, this isn't my scale, but it is the kind of scale I have. It does body fat, too, but only the lower body which measures higher body fat in woman (since that's where we carry fat), so I just have a trainer at the gym test my body fat since he takes measurements from all over, not just the waist down like this scale.

Anyway...drum roll please...143.2 this week!

Week 0: 144
Week 1: 147.2 (+3.2 lbs.)
Week 2: 143.2 (-4 lbs.)

Total loss: 0.8

Woot! I'm actually quite pleased with this. I've shown nearly a 1 pound loss over 2 weeks. Considering how slow I lose, I am pleased as punch. Besides, it's quite common for woman to lose at the rate of only 0.5 pound a week. As long as I can stay on track on Saturdays despite the carb orgies at church, I should be okay.

The four pound gain the first week was because of the Pentecost feast and was just water. Water gain can mask real weight loss.

I updated my ticker. If I stick with this I should be able to get back to goal in no time at all! :) I know I haven't shown the wonderful loses of everyone else in the group, but I already had the initial water loss that everyone sees at first. I knew going in that I'd probably be the slowest loser, and that's okay. If I were just starting Atkins I'd be jamming. I lost 9.5 pounds the first month and 8 the second month before it slowed down.

I've been tracking my eating and weight on FitDay and I did some checking yesterday to see if I've lost anything over various periods of time (one week, two weeks, one month), and also if I am burning more than I'm eating for the same parameters. For every parameter checked I have lost at least something, and have burned more calories than I've taken in.

I finished the last of the Keto shake mixes yesterday. Today I started the Atkins shakes. I take a shake out on the floor with me when I work out, do weights first, and then sip the shake as I do my cardio.

Today I did 30 minutes of weights, 20 on the pedal-type stairmaster, 11 on the crossramp elliptical, and 20 walking on the treadmill at 3.5 mph. FitDay says I burned 272 calories.

Yesterday I did okay with food. I ate 1916 calories and 51g carbs, but burned 2090 calories. I also finally got my fat higher - 86g! If I can keep that up it should help me lose. :)

No gym tomorrow - I need to buy groceries - but then I should be able to make it on Thursday for a grand total of four times this week. Woot!


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Picture courtesy Amazon.com.

Ketones: friend or foe?

This totally befuddled me when I heard this on a recent episode of one of my favorite programs, Dr. G: Medical Examiner. She examined the cause of death of a woman who turned out to be diabetic and without her medication. The final cause of death: diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that results when someone's blood sugar is so high that the ketones produced eventually become toxic. The way to check is by looking for the presence and amount of ketones. My problem occurred with the following statement:

...a high level of a toxic substance called ketones...which turn the blood acidic. - narrator on Dr. G: Medical Examiner program

That would be all well and good, but it's only partly true. Ketones are also produced when a person is on a very low-carbohydrate diet. There is a difference between benign dietary ketosis and ketoacidosis. The difference is blood sugar. Someone is ketosis due to restricting carbohydrates will have normal blood sugar. Someone in ketoacidosis has blood sugar that is sky high and has certainly been eating carbohydrates to achieve that. It is impossible to get ketoacidosis while restricting carbs. They are complete opposite conditions.

From Wikipedia.org:
Ketoacidosis is a type of metabolic acidosis which is caused by high concentrations of keto acids, formed by the deamination of amino acids. This is most common in untreated type 1 diabetes mellitus...Ketoacidosis should not be confused with ketosis, which is one of the body's normal processes for the metabolism of body fat. In ketoacidosis, the accumulation of keto acids is so severe that the pH of the blood is thrown off.

Ketosis is different:
Ketosis is a stage in metabolism occurring when the liver has been depleted of stored glycogen...Energy from fat is mobilized to the liver and used to synthesize glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis)... Ketone bodies are also produced...and are burned throughout the body...Deliberately induced ketosis through a low-carbohydrate diet has been used to treat medical conditions (such as) epilepsy (and) obesity.

As you can see, in the presence of enough calories from protein and fat, this is not dangerous and is simply an alternate pathway for the body to meet its energy needs when there is not enough glucose from carbohydrates. Our bodies are not stupid and can deal with the restriction of carbohydrates indefinitely. Restricting protein and/or fat is another matter, as those are necessary to not just health, but life itself.

I understand the program talked about a specifically diabetic woman who clearly died of ketoacidosis, but to say that ketones are toxic without further explanation can give people the wrong idea - ketones are toxic, the body produces ketones on the Atkins diet, therefore, the Atkins diet is toxic. It doesn't take a huge leap of logic to make that connection, even if the connection is totally wrong!

Even Dr. Atkins seemed to sense this was a losing battle of words, and began using the word "lipolysis" instead of "ketosis." Lipolysis is simply defined as (t)he breakdown of fat stored in fat cells... Ketones are produced, leading to the process of ketosis in the case where insufficient carbohydrates are present in the diet.

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Picture of Dr. G courtesy Discovery Health.

Day 14

Today is Day 14. Tomorrow is the second weigh-in. I've still gained overall from my starting weight of 144, but am down from last week. This morning's weight was 144.2.

Did okay yesterday. I'm actually pleased. I ate about 1734 calories and burned 2061. I also got in over 10,000 steps. Not all were "true" steps. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical and that racks up over 3,000 steps right there. :)


Made it to the gym today. I did 30 minutes of leg and core work. I was going to use the pedal-type step machine for cardio, but all three were being used, so I went over to the bikes and jumped on one for 30 minutes. Then I got on the treadmill and walked at 3.5 mph for 20 minutes. FitDay says 253 calories burned. Tomorrow I'll do arm work, Wednesday I have to buy groceries, and Thursday I'll do arms again (I always do core as well).

The cookies that were here yesterday were still here today. I carried them out of the room and down the hall to the producers' office. I don't need to around. I broke off a small piece of one cookie to taste it. It wasn't even good.

Lynn also brought in a lemon cake for us. It's covered. I had one bite and now I am ignoring it. Sugar and flour are EVIL! Can't people find other ways to show love than sugar and flour and other bad things? Why do we use things bad for us to show love to someone? Isn't that counterproductive?

Things that have been said to me lately:
Last week a bus driver I sometimes chat with said, as if noticing for the first time, "Oh yeah, you do have a little paunch" (in my belly). Gee thanks! You know how to make a girl feel good!

On the plus side, Pastor Tim of the church my church rents the building from said, "Have you been losing weight or something?" I said, "Yeah, about 60 pounds. I started two years ago." Talk about being slow on the uptake! But hey, at least he noticed.

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Graphic courtesy LifeFitness.com.

DaVinci Code movie review

Minor spoilers. Skip this post if you don't want to know how the book/movie end.

Well, I finished the book, and saw the movie on Friday. It was 2 1/2 hours long, but it was fast paced enough that it kept my interest and I didn't keep checking my watch. Of course, having snacks to munch on helped. When I saw The Aviator, it was 3 hours long and I had no snacks. I kept checking my watch wondering when it would be over. That was also just a plain bad movie, in my humble opinion. I have no idea why it was nominated for so many awards.

Anyway, the movie was okay, but (as usual) the book is better. The one thing good about the movie that was bad about the book was that at least the movie didn't have plot holes big enough to drive a Mac truck through. The book might be a page-turner and make you want to know what plot twist will occur next, but the glaring plot holes made it harder to enjoy.

Dan Brown's warped ideas about history - including well-known facts about Constantine that he ignored - makes it hard for anyone who knows anything about church history to take anything else seriously. Of course, he's banking on the fact that most Americans are illiterate in anything having to do with history. I took two semesters of church history in college, which is two semesters more than most people. It would be funny if some people didn't take his fiction to be fact. Even the preface page that starts off with "FACT" in big letters and then lists a series of supposed facts, is wrong. And yet people take that page seriously and think the novel is based in some kind of reality.

Back to the movie - good cinamatography, and you have to love Tom Hanks. Ian McKellen - Gandalf! - plays Leigh Teabing. It's funny. In real life he's a knight, and in this movie he plays someone who's a knight. :)

They have to shorten the movie a bit. In the book there are two cryptexes; it the movie there is only one. In the book, Sophie has a long lost brother; in the movie she has only a grandmother who is still alive. In the book, Sophie is related to Jacques Saunière; in the movie we find near the end that she's not related. At the very end of the book Robert Langdon (the main character) is back at the Louvre and runs downstairs to look at the inverted pyramid with the smaller pyramid poking up from the floor; at the end of the movie he walks on the sheer glass of the top of the inverted pyramid and then the camera pans down through the glass. Very cool.

In short, the movie is a good way to kill a couple and a half hours, but not something to be taken as having any truth to it. Also, the book is better, and would be the better bet if you have the time.

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Photo courtesy IMDb.com.

Second weekend

I did only so-so yesterday. Calories were okay at about 1772, but carbs were 75 (high for me), and fat was only 57 (WAY too low). Calories burned: only 1756 (less than I ate!) because I did so much sleeping. I went to bed early and slept about 12+ hours. I have no clue why I was so wiped out and devoid of energy yesterday.

I was a good girl yesterday and had just a protein shake for lunch, so I was pretty much able to count. I did swipe a few peanuts (I counted half an ounce) and a few Cheese-It's (didn't count). Those two foods on the snack table at church are the hardest part of the whole weekend for me.

There's a HUGE package of HUGE cookies sitting here at work about 10-15 feet away from me. At times like this I am so glad I am low-carbing. The cookies hardly bother me at all. I don't invite temptation so I did take a couple paper towels and covered the see-through plastic container, but I can still see some of it. Nevertheless, I won't eat them, and low-carb keeps me in control of my cravings. :) I love this way of eating!

I was 144.4 this morning so I didn't gain anything over the weekend. Yay! And I should be able to make it to the gym four times this week. Yippee!

Went to the gym this morning. Did 30 minutes of arm and core strength work, then 30 minutes on the crossramp elliptical, and then, because my trainer said to cut back on my cardio, I just walked on the treadmill at 3.5 mph (a comfy pace for me) for 20 minutes. FitDay says 263 calories burned. Since I am able to go to the gym tomorrow, I will work mostly on strength training for my legs tomorrow.

Counting the gym I was able to rack up 10,000 steps by the time I arrived at work. Yippee for that. The crossramp alone is good for over 3,000. Now begins my shift where I'm sitting all day. :) The workout made me tired so I stopped at Starbucks and got a small black coffee. Now I'm sipping green tea.

I looked at my FitDay stats for calories eaten vs. burned, and consistently since I've been tracking my sleep on there (which lowers your calories burned), I'm burning more than I've eaten. This even accounts for my 2800 calorie day (journaled as 3000) last Thursday. So pretty good on that front. Now if the weight would just follow. Or at least have my body fat drop. I could deal with no weight loss as long as I lost body fat. :-p Unfortunately, nothing is happening.

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Graphic courtesy Precor.com.

The Bill of Non-Rights

Found on another blog. An oldie but a goodie:

PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights.

BILL OF NON-RIGHTS

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc. But the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!!!!

NOTE: According to Snopes.com, the author is Libertarian Lewis Napper, except that Article VIII is different - the original is about foreign wars: "You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat."

Technorati tagged: Constitution, Bill of Rights, immigration, white trash

Went to the movies

Yesterday's calories were way too high, as I said earlier. I estimate about 2800 calories and NO exercise to offset it. :( Oh well, one day won't kill me and there's no more special things for a while so I can be really good.

Today I was going to do better, but then the theatre didn't have the sugar free candy anymore. I prowled around the mall where the theatre is and found a Harry & David's store with both nuts and sugar free candy. I bought a 6 oz. bag of sugar free candy - caramel and chocolate covered popcorn with a few nuts - and munched on it while watching the DaVinci Code movie. (Stay tuned for a review.) It came to 688 calories for the whole bag, but that's okay. I just cut back in some other areas and got on my (literally) rusty exercise bike for 35 minutes. I also walked about a half mile from the bus stop home. Walking that little bit cuts off one whole bus and usually saves time.

Calories today came to 1661, with 62 carbs (not counting the sugar alcohol in the candy), and burned about 2009 calories. Weight this morning was down to 144.6. It's probably a bit of dehydration from the wine I drank last night. Sugar alcohols (in the sugar free candy) make me gain so I think I will not weigh myself tomorrow.

I had a great pina colada tonight using Baja Bob's no sugar added drink mix. Just add rum and ice. :) This stuff is great, and very low in sugar. If you like pina coladas, buy it!

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Calories suck

The image on the left is Grace, my "whoosh fairy." She has not visited me once since I adopted her.

Today is kind of "off plan," but not totally. I ate at Applebees and had a big glass of red wine followed by lots of Diet Coke. I got the steak dinner with blue cheese topping, and subbed out the potatoes and bread for extra veggies (broccoli). I asked for no "croutons" on the broccoli. I had a dinner salad and used just vinegar for the dressing because I figured the steak and garlic butter on the broccoli was plenty of fat. I got another dinner salad to go to eat tonight at work, again with just vinegar for dressing. All-in-all very Atkins friendly, but way too high in calories.

Yes, my calories will be high, but I may be able to knock it down a bit depending on how hungry I am. So far I just munched some raw veggies and was quickly full again. That steak has some real staying power due to the protein and fat. (Protein and fat keep us fuller longer than carbohydrates, which make us hungry very quickly.)

Weight this morning was the same as yesterday - 146.2.

My weekend resolution - to have only a protein shake for lunch on Saturday and count my calories that day (which means no nuts for snack or potluck food for lunch).

Tomorrow I am going to the movies. I'm taking along a big bag of raw veggies so I have something to munch on in the theatre that is still diet-friendly. A 12 oz. bag of raw broccoli and cauliflower has 100 calories and only 8 net carbs.

The last couple of days:
Tuesday I ate about 1600 calories and 45 carbs. I burned 159 calories with all the walking I did that day.
Wednesday I once again ate about 1600 calories and 45 carbs. I burned about 81 calories walking to work from the BART station.

That might seem like a lot of calories but I know from experience that when my calories are too low (1400 range) I actually gain fat. So I am currently trying to keep them higher, eat more fat, and cycle them a bit to keep my body guessing. In the week or two if I don't see any movement I may get really serious and do a form of Induction (except keeping my glass of wine). As soon as I've used the rest of the shirataki that will knock me down 8 carbs right there. BIf I do a modified Induction I'll ease back on eating so many veggies and opt for one huge portion rather than two (or two smaller portions), eat more meat, and cut WAY back on total carbs.

I looked over my January menus when I was making progress and my fat intake was higher, including a tablespoon of mayonnaise every day. What if I started having a tablespoon of mayonnaise or peanut butter every day just for the added fat?

I would use pork rinds quite often, too. Unfortunately, the major grocery store chain here, Safeway, no longer carries them. I talked to the manager about it and he says he's trying to get them back. I've learned this is Safeway-speak for, "We will never carry them again so don't hold your breath." :(

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Book review - Purpose Driven Life

The only reason I read this book was because my church used it as a study, but once again, they picked a good book to study. I got the companion journal as well (I also recommend that) and decided to take it seriously.

The book helped me to look at my reason for being a follower of Christ in a new way - that every part of my life should be lived for His glory. It gave me a new view of worship as an everyday activity - a way of life, not something we do once a week. Anyone who takes these five purposes seriously will be a more effective witness for Christ.

(I personally need to focus on developing a Christlike character since being self-absorbed is my struggle. No matter where you on in your walk with Christ, you can find something in this book to help you grow.)

Quite simply, I would recommend this book as something to read and study and put into practice it one's life.

My one gripe - and it is a big one so I'm knocking one star off - is that Pastor Warren uses too many paraphrases. Many times it seems he goes searching through every translation and paraphrase known to mankind to find one that will support his position. The translations I don't have a problem with, but paraphrases can often play far to fast and loose with the facts. He would have done much better - and have more credibility - if he dropped the paraphrases and concentrated on actual Scripture.

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40 Days of Purpose ends!

Whew! I can't believe I've managed to eek out about 30 minutes every single day, seven days a week, for the last forty days. All I know is I am glad its over. That was intense. Not bad, just too intense to sustain much longer.

I learned some stuff about worship and fellowship and such. I know I need to take God and my relationship to Him more seriously. I know I need to live more for Him and less for me and my petty needs and desires. His desires will produce fruit that lasts for eternity. My desires will fade away with my life here. It really IS all about Him and not me.

My biggest challenge besides mission is character - I am so selfish and want to do my own thing rather than help others and "be Christ" to them. If I am the only Bible some people will read, how come I'm such a poor translation? How come I am so immature when I've walked with God for 10 years now? More than anything I need to work on developing Christlike character. After all, how would my mission have any credibility if I am showing a poor image of Christ?

I wrote a review on Amazon of the book, but it looks like it was eaten in cyberspace. That'll teach me not to back up every review I write. :-p

Anyway, it's a good book and worth the read. It can change your life if you will put the five purposes he lists into practice. Now that I know, it is my challenge. I need to stop putting God on the back burner and get serious about intimacy with Him.

I'll end with the suggested prayer for day 40 in the companion journal.

Dear God, I commit the rest of my life to serving Your purposes in my generation - anywhere, anytime, anyway. Help me spread this message to others so they can become what You made them to be.

Amen and amen.

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Image courtesy Amazon.com.

General life stuff

Weight was down one pound today to 146.2. *sigh* My body is doing everything it can to gain as much fat as possible. It wants all 60 pounds back. "Fat" is the normal state of affairs and our bodies always strive to keep the status quo.

Yesterday I got well over 12,000 steps in! Somewhere around 5.5 miles I think. I walked to my polling place, got lost on my way there, walked the long way to the bus stop afterwards, walked up the hill to my meeting, and walked to work from the BART station. Whew!


Tomorrow I will get very little walking in. I'm meeting Pastor Ray for lunch at Applebees in Alameda; then he is driving me to work. So no walking from the BART station.

Finished The DaVinci Code book last night on the BART ride home. I'll be finishing The Purpose Driven Life today. Yes, today is day 40! I started today's study at Starbucks, but didn't have time to finish before I had to head to work. Today's reading is looooong. I started The Mormon Murders today.

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I am a writer!

And I thought I'd share some of my past writings with you. In rough chronological order from oldest to newest:

In college I worked on the Golden Gater (college newspaper), and Prism (college magazine).

Golden Gater articles (I found most, but not all):
The "Moral Minority" (editorial)
Graham Leaves His Soul in San Francisco
Keep the Cross (editorial)
Voters Say Yes to Sale of Cross
Theatre Arts Graduate Trying to Make It in Acting
Work Puts Strain on Student Life

Here's the Prism's masthead where I am listed as a staff writer. I could find one Prism article online: I'll Tell You Why the Bus Was Late.

I created a site about the Sabbath, explaining common arguments and proof texts.

While I didn't design my personal site, I did write my story and the poetry page.

Oh yes, I did all the writing for my cats' web site, including such issues and spaying and declawing.

And what the hell, I'll throw out my poetry site called Faith in the Darkness. These are the darker poems not "fit" on the poems page of my personal site. The links on the side need to be updated and the index needs to be uploaded, but the poetry is pretty done and the year links work. Do e-mail me if you find any typos as I haven't found anyone to proofread the pages.

Finally, in the last couple years I started writing daily Bible meditations for my denomination.

Use the calendar on the right of the screen to navigate the devotions.
Two weeks - November 30, 2003 through December 13, 2003
Four weeks - August 29, 2004 through September 25, 2004
Five weeks - June 26, 2005 through July 30, 2005
Four weeks - November 27, 2005 through December 24, 2005
Two weeks - May 28, 2006 through June 4, 2006

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Week 1 Weigh-In

I did really great this week - I gained three pounds. Yes, you heard me right. Gained. I started at 144 last Tuesday and was 147.2 this morning. I'm blaming the stupid Pentecost feast last Sabbath. Oh well, it'll come off eventually. Except for Sabbath I totally behaved so it can't be real weight. Nonetheless, I updated my ticker above.

I've done an obscene amount of walking today. It all started with voting. I walked over the hill to the polling place. I took a wrong turn and ended up walking quite a ways in the wrong direction, reversed my course, walked back, voted, then walked back again as what had been the wrong direction was also the way to the bus stop. That was a long walk. Probably a mile easy.

Then I had my monthly meeting. Took the bus as close as I could, walked up the hill, had the meeting, and walked back down. Took the bus to the BART station, then walked the last mile and a half to work from there. I got up at 9 a.m. and by 3 p.m. I had already racked up over 10,000 steps and 4.8 miles on my pedometer. Aerobic steps (steps for 10 or more consecutive minutes) comes to 53 minutes and FitDay says that burns 159 calories.

At any rate, between getting up early to vote and walking so much, I'm a bit tired.

Did well yesterday - 1791 calories eaten, 52 carbs, and 1941 calories burned.

Today is 6/6/06 - 666, lol. Some people see significance in that (and the horror movie The Omen opens today). I just think, "Cool," shrug, and go on with life.

Hmmm...can I blame my weight gain on today being the "devil's day"...? Nah. I'll just say, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it."

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I'm on ShapeFit!

I was accepted onto ShapeFit as one of their success stories! Read my interview! :)

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Day 7

Well, tomorrow is the Week 1 weigh-in on "the diet". I know I'll show a gain over my start weight of 144 due to behaving so badly on Saturday. I'll do better once I get past this Thursday and there's no more eating of meals that I didn't prepare.

I did well yesterday, with about 1642 calories and 50 carbs. Burned 279 calories at the gym, and logged over 10,000 steps total for the day. Even counting for the "steps" it counts when the bus bounces, it would still be over 10,000. This does count all my gym time, including my half hour on the crossramp elliptical and 20 minutes walking on the treadmill.

Click for original image.
Today was my bimonthly mail run into San Francisco, so I couldn't go to the gym. In fact, I won't make it to the gym the rest of the week. Tomorrow is voting day and my monthly meeting with Helen, Wednesday I have to do groceries because Thursday I'm having lunch with Pastor Ray, and Friday I hope to see The DaVinci Code movie since I am almost finished with the stupid book. That also will mess up my diet, though the theatre does have sugar free candy available. The sugar alcohols always make me gain weight. I could also take my own snacks in. It will make for higher calories, but I'll be able to track unless I go out to dinner at the mall where the theatre is - a distinct possiblity since they have so many restaurants there and many offer Atkins-friendly meals.

I did manage to walk the last leg to work today, so that's some exercise at least. Stopped at Starbucks and got a small coffee with sugar free vanilla syrup and did my Purpose Driven Life study. Only two more days left! Yay!

Got some money from my Dad, deposited it, and ordered three more months of medication from RxCareCanada.com. For 100 Celexa pills I'm only being charged $71.94, including shipping. It works out to 72 cents a pill - quite a deal as Celexa is a very expensive med. I could never afford my medication if I had to pay U.S. prices. This is the best med I've been on so far. I think it even works better than the Zoloft. I began Celexa December 6, 2004.

My Netrition.com order came today - extra virgin coconut oil (for baking), low-carb Big Train drink mix, five bottles of sugar-free BBQ sauce, and two Baja Bob's mixers: one for margaritas and one for pina coladas. Yum! Now I can have a low-carb pina colada anytime I want!

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First weekend

Happy new week to everyone. Today's my Monday so here I am at work.

I did well Friday, but it all fell apart Saturday. (I should explain that Friday/Saturday is my weekend.)

I knew I'd be off plan Saturday; it just amazes me how far I always fall off plan. I ate way too much peanut butter, some peanuts and Cheese-It's during the break time at church, and 2 slices of low-carb bread to make two open faced sandwiches before bed.

I had some of Jane's salad at lunch (picked out the apple pieces), but it didn't have dressing on it so I put on some Ranch (2 carbs per serving). It was the lowest carb of the two dressings offered. I also brought the Dreamfield's spaghetti like I said I would, but I think I overcooked it which takes away its low-carb properties. So I probably ate the equivalent of regular spaghetti. I baked some Atkins sugar-free brownies, but nobody else wanted to eat them except one kid who didn't know they were sugar free. She had two she liked them so much. :) I ate so many they gave me gas, which was kind of embarrassing.

Nobody at church ever wants to eat my healthy low-carb food. It's like they are so addicted to sugar and starches that they can't fathom life without them. Heck, they think carbs - lots of them - are healthy. The only food they will eat - in small quantities - is the baked eggplant I make. Pisses me off. It's just not popular to eat low-carb. Most people still buy into the low-fat lie we've all been fed since childhood. And the nation's obesity crisis just continues to get worse.

At the Pentecost feast I couldn't eat any of the meat (I don't like salmon, the fish sticks were breaded, and the chicken was drowned in a sugary glaze), so Leona was very accommodating and had Anita cook me a couple hard boiled eggs. I also had some of the cheese, black olives, and salad. I drank water because the only other option was juice, which is nothing but sugar water. I think I messed up even dinner though because I think I detected sugar in the salad dressing. :-p

Now that the latest feast is over, I can replace lunch next Sabbath with a shake, have dinner at home, and count every morsel I eat. "You bite it, you write it."

I'm back on plan today. Made it to the gym, too. I decided I need to do weights first so I have more energy, so I took my protein shake out on the floor with me, and after finishing my weight training, I sipped the shake while doing my cardio. Hopefully this will work to reverse the muscle loss.

I missed my train today and had more than a 20 minute wait for the next one, plus a long weight for the bus (stupid Sunday schedules), so I was 10 minutes late to work. The guy I relieved seem none to pleased about having to stay late.

The next food problem is Thursday. Pastor Ray from Pennsylvania is in town and we are going to Applebees for lunch. I obviously have no way of counting calories there. I know I can make an Atkins-friendly lunch - no issue there - but it does not bode well for the rest of the day, plus the calories are very high in their meals, even if I can keep the carbs to a minimum. I looked at their Weight Watchers menu, but it's all low-fat, high-carb. I'll just take something low-fat to work for dinner like the turkey burgers I cooked last week or some salad. Once this special lunch is over things should get back to normal for a while where I can count calories and carbs 7 days a week.

I'm so fat today. My tummy is bloated and sticking way out. I'll probably be one of only a handful of people that gains during the first week of "the diet." I obviously didn't weigh myself this morning; I never do on Sundays because Saturdays are so far off plan. I did weigh myself Saturday morning before eating my way to oblivion and came in at 144.4.

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Proof Texts, #4

Claim: Romans 14 says not to judge one another in the matter of observing days. Therefore, we don't have to keep the Sabbath.
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. (vv.1-6).

First I find it quite odd to find a discussion on the Sabbath (as is claimed) in the middle of a discussion of vegetarianism. Being vegetarian is NOT talked about in the Mosaic law, so it's even an odder pairing to jump back and forth between non-Mosaic (eating only vegetables) to Mosaic (the Sabbath) and back to non-Mosaic again. It just makes no sense.

Judging from the Greek (koinos ["common" - v.14] versus acathartos [impure]), the discussion is likely over meat that had been sacrificed to idols, rather than food that was unclean under Levitical law.

Additionally, if it IS talking about Sabbath keepers and Sabbath keepers are "weak" (v.1) then Paul himself was weak because he kept the Sabbath (Acts 18:4,19; 17:1,10,17; 20:16). And we know Paul wasn't weak because he says in 15:1, "...we who are strong..." (NASB).

Romans 14 doesn't have to do with observance/non-observance of the law, but of "scruples of conscience dictated not by divine precepts but by human conventions and superstitions" (Bacchiocchi, The Sabbath in the New Testament, pgs. 118-119).

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Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Day 4

Today's my Saturday so I'm home and hungry. Even going very hungry I'm still eating over 1700 calories today. :( That's way too high for a day that's supposed to be lower calorie, especially with how high tomorrow will be.

Brad dropped off the strawberry Atkins shakes that arrived a couple days ago at work. Lunch and dinner will both be "out" tomorrow so I'll take a shake and a meal bar to keep me from munching on bad things if I get hungry. Being around church people is always a major carb fest because carbs are cheap. So both the potluck lunch is my enemy as well as Leona's "Pentecost Feast" dinner. I need to bring some Atkins-friendly food with me. I also need to make sure I eat a good breakfast.

Hmmm, maybe I could cook up a box of Dreamfield's pasta as my potluck offering. I still have some low-carb pasta sauce. It tastes like the real thing so even the kids will eat it as long as I don't tell them. (Tell kids that something is a health food and they avoid it.) It's low-carb - still higher carb than I'd like, but it can help me through the day at least and still be Atkins-friendly. I even have a teeny bit of leftover ground beef I need to use up. Perfect! :)

Weight this morning was 143.6. I can live with that. No exercise except for vacuuming the apartment.

Oh, for those of you who use FitDay to keep track of exercise, weight, and calories eaten and burned, I learned yesterday that in order to get the correct number of "calories burned" you have to go to the activities section and enter the amount of time you slept. It will lower your calories burned to the real number. It sucks to have to tweak it, but it's the only way to get the correct number. It's still an awesome diet tool, however, and best of all, free!

One of my goals of this diet is to not just lose fat and gain muscle, but to go from an 8/10 to a solid 8. My size 8 Old Navy jeans are tight and I have a roll of fat on my tummy that hangs over the waist when I sit down. I want my clothes to fit better. I also want to get into my Calvin Klein shorts without them being skin tight.

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Proof Texts, #3

Claim: Acts 20:7 proves the early church worshipped on Sunday.
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

If we take a close look at it, we find that meeting happened Saturday night or Sunday night. Their is some controversy whether this was a Saturday evening meeting (liturgically being Sunday since the days begin at sunset), or a Sunday evening meeting (using the Roman reckoning of days). At any rate, it was an evening meeting, possibly including a meal ("when the disciples came together to break bread"). If the meeting was in fact Saturday night, then what was Paul doing leaving on a lengthy journey on the new Sabbath the following morning?

Two, the meeting was a special meeting, before Paul left. It was not a regular meeting. "Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow..." They were meeting because Paul was leaving the next day.

Three, this was not a communion service. It was most likely just a regular meal.
Four, the purpose of Luke telling the story was not to give a reason for Sunday worship, but to tell the story of Paul bringing back someone from the dead.

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Back to the gym!

For people visiting here who are on "the diet," I was informed today that weigh-ins are Tuesdays. So don't forget to weigh yourself that morning and post your weight on your blog. :) I'll update my ticker above once a week on Tuesdays even if my weight goes up.

Wow. I was 143.4 this morning, lower than I have been in a while. Last night before bed I was 147 and that seemed like a low number so I figured I was dehydrated. I drank about 3/4 of a 20 oz. bottle of water after that to make sure I wouldn't be dehydrated in the morning and get a false lower weight. Anyway, I'm pleased with the weight even though it's probably just a fluke.

Today's calories will be a bit higher because 1) it's Thursday so I have a little extra wine while working around the house, and 2) yesterday was lower so to cycle my calories today should be higher. Tomorrow I will try to keep calories lower, especially since Saturday will be pretty high.

Today was my first day back to the gym after taking a week off. I also switched my cardio and weight training routines so that cardio was first. I sure could feel the difference in the weight training. I was tired going into it and just didn't have the strength and stamina I'm used to. :-p But hopefully doing it this way will halt the muscle loss that was occurring.

I did a lot of treadmill walking to try to get the stride length set correctly on my pedometer. I now have it pretty close. I love this pedometer. It has a clock and counts steps, "aerobic steps" (steps for at least 10 consecutive minutes) and the time you spent on that exercise, distance, and calories. It also has a seven day memory that you can pull up with the touch of a button. It automatically resets to zero at midnight every night. If you want a pedometer, spend a little extra and get this one!

Tonight I'll be drinking wine and cooking lunches for next week while the laundry goes. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow other than prepare for Sabbath. Tomorrow is my Saturday so I'm off. I guess I'll finish whatever lunch stuff I don't get done tonight.

A quick note on the cats - I'm almost finished with the current bag of food. This one leaves one more bag of the diet before I am leaving it behind forever! Then I have a couple small bags of Purina and then we can start in on the low-carb cat food. I'll see how they do on it. If they do well, it will be their new regular food. If they don't (coat not soft, etc.) then I will put them on regular Eukanuba, which still has a lot of carbs, but not nearly as much as the "diet" Eukanuba. I want to make sure that not only am I eating the healthiest possible, but that my cats are as well. :)

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Proof Texts, #2

Claim: Acts 15 commands the Gentiles to do only three things. Sabbath keeping is not one of them. Therefore, Gentiles do not have to keep it.
Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. (vv.19-20).

Chapter 15 deals with the question of whether the Gentiles had to become Jews in order to become Christians. Of course the answer to that is no. The Pharisees wanted the Gentiles circumcised and obeying the whole law of Moses. "And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved"(v. 1). Chapter 15 serves to counter this dangerous heresy.

Verse 20 says Gentiles are to do four things: "abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood." Does this prove that the Gentiles ONLY had these four obligations?

The very next verse contains the answer: "For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." The reason they only had to write those three prohibitions is because the Gentiles were receiving teaching each Sabbath - they didn't need a full-on course. Sabbaths were the natural time for Gentiles to gather with Jewish believers to be taught by them. Indeed, meeting on Sunday would seem strange to the Jews, to whom the Sabbath was an integral part of their identity.

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