Weight Loss Update

The road to hell … good intentions … and all that.

I really had intended to be more consistent with blogging about my progress towards a more ideal weight and a healthier lifestyle. I’ve been totally inconsistent in that regard.

In any event, I am sitting on an airplane at the moment, and decided to take this time to catch up on a few things that have ended up on a back burner … including my blog about my efforts at losing weight and developing a healthier approach to my life. I am not heading into about the seventh week in my efforts to drop the pounds and live healthier.

Last Tuesday, I had a medical appointment and faced the scales as part of the preliminaries. I have lost 20 pounds since I began this process. I actually am happy about the amount of weight I have lost to date. It is a little over one-third of my ultimate goal.

In reflecting on what I have done in regard to my weight loss, I have the following observations, some of which I touched on in prior blog posts.

First, I have increased the amount of time I spend walking on a daily basis. This includes walking that I incorporate into my day to day life as well as time set aside specifically for walking. Because my overeating tendencies usually are related to stress, walking not only burns calories but it serves to lower my stress level.

Second, I no longer drink soda pop. I have mentioned previously that eliminating soda pop reduced my daily average caloric intake by about 900 calories. In reality, that is about 50 percent of the daily level of calories I should be consuming. (Needless to say, I had been sucking in far and above the recommended daily calorie intake … for a long time.)

I did break down and have a soda pop a couple of days ago – because I was particularly stressed out. I caught myself and finished one and no more soda pops. When dieting, there will be slip-ups. That is just a fact of the process.

Third, I have really regulated my portion size. I have reached a point where I simply cannot eat meal portions that are beyond what is appropriate. This includes when I go to a restaurant.

Fourth, I have cut the frequency of desserts I eat. I have not abandoned desserts all together. I have a true sweet tooth and an occasional dessert is not an unreasonable diet choice. But, I pay attention to the kind of dessert I select and the portion size. I do not eat desserts when I am feeling stressed.

Finally, I am working twice a week with a personal trainer. I will discuss this in greater detail in future blog posts. This addition to my routine has been very beneficial. I do want to give my trainer a bit of a plug. He is Adam Ayers and recently returned to Denver to work with clients and classes.

I try to include a photo with each blog post. In this instance, I post a photo of Kathleen Sebelius, a long time friend of mine, who I saw a couple of days ago at an event in Kansas. I do so for two reasons. With my weight loss to date, I am feeling more comfortable having my photo taken ... I can see the difference in my appearance. And, who better to include in my blog about healthy living than the former Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Mike Broemmel & Kathleen Sebelius

Stay tuned.

www.mikebroemmel.com

www.theatrixusa.org

www.act-one-productions.com

From Oatmeal to a Sopapilla … One Step Forward and a Pile of Fried Dough Backwards

When it comes to dieting, you cannot demand perfection. If you expect to be able to maintain your diet perfectly day in and day out, you likely are setting yourself up for failure.

My menu items on a recent Sunday represent what can happen during the course of a diet. In the end, this kind of good and bad diametric really must be expected.

On Sunday, I began the day with a bowl of oatmeal. I have long heard that there are solid benefits to be realized through regularly consuming oatmeal. Of course, the health benefits of oatmeal exist provided a person doesn’t slather it with additions like sugar or even butter.

I had a moderate serving of oatmeal. I ate most of the serving. I accompanied my morning meal with a cup of coffee and a small glass of grapefruit juice.

I actually felt fairly proud of my breakfast selection. In fact, over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve done pretty well in selecting healthy breakfast food items.

Lunch rolled around, in the aftermath of what proved to be a slightly frustrating morning. Frustration can be a trigger for me to engage in a round of binge eating.

Stuck in a certain part of town awaiting a professional-related activity to finally commence, I popped into a Mexican restaurant which serves authentic cuisine. I ordered an entrée that contained a selection of fairly healthy items.

I did pay attention to portion size. The portions served were huge. I managed to consume only part of what was presented to ensure proper portion size.

As so often has been the case in restaurants for me, I was tempted by dessert. Since I launched my weight loss efforts, I have managed to forgo eating dessert when dining out. But, today I broke down. I ordered what proved to be a ginormous sopapilla. And I ate the whole darn thing. And I liked it – a lot.

I share this to make a legitimate point. Striving to improve oneself is always a process of progress coupled with some backtracking. The same holds true for dieting and striving to establish a healthier lifestyle.

In this case, I did not beat myself over the noggin for busting my diet by eating the huge (delicious) lump of fried dough. Rather, I spent some time examining why I was motivated to eat so much of a dessert item.

Having a dessert in an appropriate portion from time to time is not counter to my diet plan. I love dessert and I have been enjoying a small dessert once or twice a week. In this case, I ate something that was the equivalent to five desserts in one sitting according to my diet plan.

As I made mention, I was feeling frustrated that day. Frustration for me really translates into a type of stress. In the end, I was motivated to eat the sopapilla in its entirety, slathered in honey (by the way), primarily because I was feeling stressed.

Because I am off course on keeping up with my blog, this meal actually occurred a couple of weeks ago. Since that time, I have not gone of course when it comes to desserts. This unplanned and large dessert did not destroy my dieting efforts. In fact, the situation became a beneficial learning experience in the final analysis.

Stay tuned.

www.mikebroemmel.com

No, Just Sayin’ … The Dramas of Pepsi Addict

My name is Mike … and I am a Pepsi-aholic. Seriously. I really do think I am a Pepsi addict. And let me tell you why.

About four in the morning, when I tend to start my day (early bird, gettin’ a worm and all that rot), I would slug onward to the refrigerator and pour myself a luscious serving of Pepsi cola. Mmm, Pepsi.

Of course, when I officially begin my day at about 6:30 or 7:00, it’s time for another glass of Pepsi. And another at mid-morning. Typically, two Pepsis for lunch, one in the middle of the afternoon, two more for dinner and one or two in the evening.

At the end of any given day, on average I would consume nine full servings of Pepsi. Nine of ‘em.

And what does nine servings of Pepsi really mean?

An average serving of Pepsi contains 94 calories, 19 mg of sodium and 25.6 g of sugar. My daily addiction to this beverage added the following to my diet:

846 calories

171 mg of sodium

230.4 g of sugar.

Recommended daily allowances of sodium for an adult under 51 years of age is 2,500 mg and 1,500 mg if over 51. The recommended daily allowance of sugar for an adult is 25 g. An adult should consume between 1,800 and 2,000 calories a day, more or less. In other words, through my Pepsi consumption alone, I took in nearly 10-times the amount of sugar a person should consume in a day and almost half the calories of a typical diet.

One of the first steps I took in my campaign to lose weight and restore myself to a healthier lifestyle was to try to break my Pepsi addiction. After three weeks Pepsi free (and soft drink free in general) I feel safe in reporting that I have busted my close affinity for this beverage.

By taking this step alone, I’ve eliminated unhealthy sugar from my life. And, I have cut my overall daily caloric intake by over 800. In the grand scheme of things, these are no small things.

I thought eliminating Pepsi from my life would be a challenge. Initially, it was not easy to forgo this beverage, if for no other reason it was my default drink of choice. I was so used to automatically ordering a Pepsi when in a restaurant.

I did have some cravings for Pepsi when I initially stopped drinking it. But, I kept other healthier beverages around my home to replace Pepsi when I had such a craving. These were beverages that contained far less sugar and calories and yet satisfied my desire for something sweet.

I do not intend to reintroduce soft drinks into my diet. I am glad to bid them adieu. It seems obvious that these types of beverages were major players in my overall weight gain.

Stay tuned.

P.S. As a writer, I cannot miss a chance to plug my work. I eat when people consume what I write … my goal is not to starve, but to eat less.

My latest novel, Vine Dancing,  is in pre-release at the moment and an advanced, signed copy can be ordered by writing mike@mikebroemmel.com. An advanced copy is discounted to $15, plus shipping and handling.

In addition, the latest play I have written, entitled The Hours of Anne, opens on April 8 in Denver. From Denver, it travels to Topeka, Kansas. Information on the play is available at www.act-one-productions.com.

 

Walk Walk Walk ... Walk Walk Walk

The fitness portion of my weight loss effort and campaign to live a healthier life thus far has been a bit slow in coming together. As I made mention in a prior blog post, I am going to be working with a personal trainer as well as a yoga instructor. The personal trainer I am engaging is opening up a new studio in Denver and we had a scheduling glitch. Thus, I actually begin this part of the process on Tuesday of this coming week.

In the interim, I have focused heavily on my diet and have made some significant progress in this regard. In addition, I have enhanced my own level of physical activity while awaiting a more formalized fitness regimen.

At the heart of my interim exercise and fitness regimen is walking. I’ve set a daily goal of walking five miles. A good deal of that mileage is incorporated within my day to day activities associated with work and other aspects of daily living. For example, when heading to my first meeting of the day, I combined the light rail trail with walking and have put in over a mile first thing this morning.

In addition to providing at least some boost to my overall physical wellbeing, and aiding to some degree in my efforts to lose weight, I also enjoy other tangible benefits from walking. Walking proves to be a stress reliever. I am best able to enjoy stress relief through walking when I block out half an hour to an hour for walking.

As a writer by profession, an important component of my job is thinking. I find that I do not effectively think when I am sitting at a desk in front of my computer. Walking provides me an opportunity to think through a writing project I am working on. Moreover, time and again I find that new ideas pop into my head while I am walking.

Even when I begin a more coordinated and comprehensive fitness regimen with a personal trainer, I intend to continue walking on a daily basis. Indeed, because my fitness regimen will be comprehensive, walking will be a coordinated element of that effort.

I can report that I have knocked five pounds off my weight to date. I have 45 pounds more to go to reach my goal.

Stay tuned.

www.mikebroemmel.com
www.act-one-productions.com
www.theatrixusa.org

                                                   Mike Broemmel - Walking

It’s All About the Binge: Life as an Emotional Eater

The primary reason I pack on the pounds is rather simple: I’m a binge eater … and I’m a binge eater who chows down in response to my emotional state.

One of the first tasks at hand in my effort to shed 40 to 50 pounds is getting my hands around eating in response to my emotional state. In working towards this objective, I understand that this is not something that I will be able to resolve instantly. I have spent a lifetime becoming an emotional eater and I will not be able to abandon this problem overnight. I’m taking a very practical approach to addressing the issue of binge eating. I’m not making pie in the sky (hmm … pie) proclamations that I simply will not be able to keep.

I know individuals who binge on food when they are happy, I know individuals who do so when they are upset or sad. I know some individuals who binge on food when in any type of elevated emotional state.

I find my binge eating occurs more often than not when something (or someone) has upset me or “stressed me out.” In that I tend to be stressed with considerable regularity, I find myself shoving unnecessary amounts of food into my mouth with surprising frequency.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not note that the ultimate way to end binge eating is to address the underlying reasons for the emotional state that results in this type of consumption. For most people, this can prove to be a complicated and time consuming task. I actually have a bit better stress management regimen today than I did a decade ago. However, advances in that arena have been incremental.

I am still in the process of developing effective strategies to stop myself from binging on food when I am upset or stressed. The primary step I have taken at this time is removing high calorie, unhealthy food items from my home. (Of course, I’ve been known to venture to the nearest market when out of junk food while in a stressed state. However, making access to this type of food inconvenient is helpful in preventing a food binge.) I believe this is proving to be a practical and useful initial step in combating binge emotional eating.

I have substitute items in my home available in the event of a binge episode. I keep low fat yogurt and protein shakes on hand for the inevitable binge. My theory is binging on healthier food items is a step towards a healthier lifestyle, albeit a small one. In the end, it is healthier to eat three containers of low fat Key Lime yogurt than an entire Key Lime pie slathered in whipped cream.

My next big step in my pathway to a healthier life is working with a personal trainer. I have my first session with a personal trainer in a few days. I looking forward to that and apprehensive about it at the same time.

Stay tuned.

 

Mike Broemmel Having a Burger Binge

Dancing with the Scale

Over the course of the past 25 years, I’ve had a wicked time maintaining a healthy weight, diet and lifestyle. My weight range runs from 150 to 210 pounds. 150 pounds does seem to be the ideal weight. Clearly, 210 pounds is not. On the bright side, I begin this program aimed at healthy living at a weight that is lower than the all-time high I referenced.

My efforts commencing today represent my third major campaign to restore an ideal weight, beneficial diet and healthy lifestyle. My primary objective this time is to develop a regimen that will permit me the ability to not only take weight off, but to keep it off and truly develop healthy lifestyle practices well into the future.

I’ve decided to share my experiences in addressing my weight, diet and overall lifestyle through this blog and some other outlets. I rather think that other people, particularly middle-aged men with weight and diet issues, may appreciate a sense of commonality – may appreciate the reality that they are not alone.

I think a good place to begin is sharing a tiny story of my first major slimming and dieting effort.

In 2004, I’d reached my highest weight ever. But, I thought I weighed “only” 180 pounds. I had the opportunity to participate in a weight loss research program being conducted through the University of Colorado Medical Center.

During a telephone interview about joining the project, I was asked how much I weighed. I advised: “180.” The representative from the University stated I did not weigh enough to become a program participant. But, she also said I should double check by getting on a scale. (In fact, I actually had not weighed myself … in years.)

I went to the bathroom scale, stepped on board. The register on the scale flickered to 210 pounds. I immediately shouted out: “This damn scale isn’t working.” When I shouted out, I was holding a half-eaten donut in one hand and a regular Pepsi in the other.

Stay tuned.

Mike Broemmel
www.mikebroemmel.com