Week 6: I May Be Frying In My Own Fat But I'm Thawing Out Some Frozen Dinners

[This article was first published as Week 6: I May Be Frying In My Own Fat But I'm Thawing Out Some Frozen Dinners on Technorati.]


I've never been a frozen food fan, but I finally succumbed to eating frozen meals for lunch because apparently I am too stupid to visually gauge portions.

I even went to the Mayo Clinic website and watched a nifty little slide show about portion control. "If your portion control is out of control, you may be supersizing your meals and yourself," the site says. But have no fear, it's easy to correct, they promise.

You can use "every day" objects such as baseballs, hockey pucks and dice to help you determine portion size. I'm not exactly sure how a hockey puck can be considered an "every day" object, but hey, I thought, I like hockey so I'm OK with that.

I was whipping through the slides until I got to Slide 11.

The one where they have four squares of cheese (yummy) and four dice. Jeepers, now I see my problem-o.
My portion dice don't look anything like those dice. Rather, they look a bit more like those fuzzy ones hanging off a rear view mirror. No wonder I have such trouble with this whole weight loss thing.
You can see why I've been spending some quality time in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store and why my weight loss report for the week shows no loss and no gain. At least I found some decent meals to take for lunch. Let's see how it goes this week because I must admit I'm getting a tad bit frustrated that after six weeks, all I have less to show for it is five pounds.

Week 5 Frying in My Own Fat Weight Loss Challenge: State Fair Fryfest Serves as Too Much Temptation

 [This article was first published as Week 5: State Fair Fryfest Serves as Too Much Temptation on Technorati.]


The great State Fair of Texas gets underway in just a few weeks.

Sadly, I will not be one of the more than 2.6 million people expected to attend this year. Sorry, Big Tex, but I can't afford to get much bigger.
I love the state fair, but it's filled with all kinds of tasty, fried treats. (I can hear my arteries clogging just at the thought.)  New to the fryfest this year include deep-fried pineapple, fried salsa, fried bubble gum, and what I thought would be my personal favorite– a very special fried banana (think banana rolled in a flour tortilla fried then topped with whipped cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and then drizzled with caramel or chocolate syrup).
That little healthy apple in my lunch box doesn't look so good now.
Last year, The Dallas Morning News had the Cooper Clinic crunch some numbers on the winning fried food finalists at the fair. According to the article, if we ate those entries "you'd consume a heart-pounding, take-your-breath-away 5,089 calories, about half of them from fat."
Since I struggled to lose one pound this week, you can see why Big Tex will have to do without me there this year. 
I don't want to have to borrow his size 284 W x 185 L pants.

Week 4 of the "Frying In My Own Fat" Weight Loss Challenge–Better to Fry in Brown Fat Than White Fat

[This article was first published as Week 4–Better to Fry in Brown Fat Than White Fat on Technorati.]

I love that "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" song by the Smashing Pumpkins. The one that goes, "Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage."
Usually, I'm not fond of feeling like a rodent, but after reading about this little study, well, there could be some benefits there.

Apparently there is "energy-storing" white fat and "energy burning" brown fat. Who knew? We apparently want that "energy burning" brown fat. According to this study, our little furry mice friends transformed that bad white fat into that good brown fat when they were "given a more engaging place to live with greater opportunities for social stimulation."

The little furry guys who lived in the enriched environment also lost 50 percent more of their abdominal fat than the control critters.

So since my little weight loss endeavor didn't go as well as I had hoped this week with a zero (that's nadda, zilch, zippo) pound loss and only a one inch smaller waist to show for it, perhaps I need to take a closer look at that study. One writer even said it was "surprisingly simple." Apparently, I just need to be busier (is that even possible?), have more friends (so I now have to be less snarkier?), and more room to run around.

Really?

Now, if I can just get over this sudden craving for cheese, I'll probably be all right.

Frying in My Own Fat Week Three: Yoga Brings Little Stress Release

[This article was first published as Week 3–Yoga Brings Little Stress Relief on Technorati.]

I'm not quite sure if it's the lack of sugar, sleep or just a general malaise from this record setting heat, but quite frankly this "Frying In My Own Fat" Weight Loss Challenge thing is making me just a tad bit grumpy.

OK, so maybe more than a tad bit grumpy.

My yoga buddy, Becky, and I came within a nanosecond of earning the dubious distinction of being the first people on planet to be tossed out of a yoga class. Who knew yoga could be so stressful?

OK OK OK so maybe that's a tad bit of an exaggeration, but if we had actually put our thoughts into actions, let's just say my little yoga crane hands would have poked out Mr. Gumby Guy Yoga Instructor's eyes out, and that would have been a very, very un-yogi like thing to do especially during National Yoga Month.

It's not that I don't love yoga. I do, and with it being National Yoga Month, you can actually get a free week's worth of yoga at just about any place. Which, after my little class with Mr. Gumby Guy Yoga instructor, is a great idea so you can find an instructor that matches you like my favorite teacher of all time, Chris.

I most certainly can understand why people are reticent to sign up for a gym, continue an exercise program and or try something new. You get tired of people expecting you to do things you just can't do, and then chastise you for "not pushing yourself."
Since I apparently have these anger issues, for a fleeting instant, I almost succumbed to one of those slick advertisements and signed up for a fitness boot camp specials from Groupon.

Almost.

I thought maybe, just maybe, it would help jump start me a bit more after that crème brulee fiasco of last week.

Even though those boot camp sites claim their programs are for people of all ages and skill levels, well, just look at their camp videos. I didn't see one person who looked like me… old…fat…grumpy…tired…nonrunner…

I bet they have an entire army of Mean Mr. Gumby Guys.

Except these guys probably yell at you.

Instead, I purchased a nice little Groupon facial.

I figured I deserved a little stress reduction and a little reward. I lost two pounds this week, and I didn't poke anyone's eye out.