'Money in the Bank"

Ms. S's incrediblly delicious Pecan Pie

 

Featured Topic: “Money in the Bank”

My diet management program is like one of my now grown children’s high school study habits—making an A on a quiz was just so much ‘money in the bank’ to be squandering by goof-off time before the next quiz.  This morning’s weight is an example.  At 176.2 lbs, the MoneyWalker is way ahead of his resolution to weight 174 lbs. by April.  Now comes the discipline, to avoid the pecan pies, cheese spreads, King Cakes, and other fats and sweets that comprise the NFL playoffs and the Mardi Gras season of New Orleans.  I can take one of two tacks—treat the better-than-expected weight loss as an excuse to splurge on calories, or remain vigilant and continue to practice portion control.  It is my call.  Ms. S's pecan pie is the 900 lb gorilla in the room.

As for those that read this blog, perhaps you also have a ‘money in the bank’ personality.  If so, you (and I) need to recognize it for what it is—self destructive behavior--a pattern or cycle of behaviors that has been learned.  As such, it can be untaught.  Most of the time negative behavior results in the need for short term gratification.  The solution begins with ‘cognitive override’—of substituting an immature behavior for a mature one; of letting the mature thoughts of the adult inside of you talk the child in there out of childish behavior.  Just say, “Self, put down that pint of Ben and Jerry and eat a few carrots, or just drink a glass of water.”  For me, cognitive override is to focus on how good those positive scale numbers look rather than how good the ice cream will taste.  The positive scale reading is reinforced with the pride of accomplishment is worthy of recalling the pride over and over; the ice cream with the associated guilt of succumbing to the briefest of a sensory pleasure just leads to more over eating and more guilt. 

Good luck with your child; I’m dealing with mine.

Journal Data:

Weight = 176.2 lbs, a four months low

Coinage = $2.69

GPS data = 4.36 miles walked, 472 calories burned, average pace 16.30 minutes per mile

MoneyWalker



Bobby’s Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance Strategy for 2014 with Three New Tips

 (STRATEGIES AND TIPS BEGIN MIDWAY DOWN)

Today’s Weight = 177.6 lbs., down from 180 at New Years Day.  Hope it is not a rhythmic fluctuation which can be caused by water retention, or waste products that might have been temporarily in my system.  ;

Today’s Coinage found = $1.62 well down from the super find at 6:30 a.m. on January 1.  Right next to the burned-out canisters of celebration fireworks was a scatter of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies totaling over eight dollars.  Did someone suggest alcohol consumption?  Their loss is charities gain.

Nike’s GPS data = 5.14 mile walk today; walked 269.3 miles since beginning the app over 83 walks; burn about 105 calories per mile of walking; average pace is 18 minutes a mile while money searching, about 15.5 minutes a mile with straight walking; activity in addition to today’s walk 4.04 mi Thursday, 3.52 mi Wednesday, 4.08 mi Tuesday, 2.15 mi on Monday, and 5.70 miles on Sunday.

New Year’s Resolution Weight Loss Goal = 174 lbs obtained by May 1, 2014 and maintained for the rest of the year.  Also, to eat less sugar and processed food.  Plan to eat foods high in fiber, antioxidants, and essential vitamins and minerals: Beans, Dark Green Leafy Vegetables, Citrus Fruit, Sweet Potatoes, Berries, Tomatoes, Fish High in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Whole Grains, Nuts, and Low-fat Milk and Yogurt.

Blog Feature: Bobby’s Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance Strategy for 2014 with three new tips, the tips first:

Tip One, break the sugar crave with a three day fast from processed sugar.  Some studies have found that after three days of fasting, the intensity craving for processed sugar is greatly reduced.

Tip Two, begin eating unsalted five nuts a day.  We purchase the giant mixed nut box from one of the membership warehouse clubs, place a small sealed container of nuts in our pantry, and freeze the rest.  Five unsalted cashews, almonds, pistachios, and pecans yield only 20 calories.  Why unsalted, to avoid the addiction to the taste of salted nuts.

Tip Three, as a rule of thumb, you can count on burning  100 calories per mile regardless of the modality—walking, jogging, or dancing.

The following strategy has been featured in earlier blogs.  It is taken from The National Weight Control Registry housed in Brown University Hospital.  The Registry tracks thousands of subjects that have lost 30 or more pounds and maintained their weight loss over several years.  What the subjects have in common has been my strategy for weight loss and weight maintenance for the last five years and I still use them now.

Trait one: Weigh every day.  Why weigh every day?  Accountability and SOS signaling.  There are cautions about every day weighing (see above), I have found that trends are best established by close monitoring of weight.  When I see an upward trend of weight gain, the scales send my brain a SOS to go back to portion control and exercise.

Trait Two: Diet using a restricted caloric strategy, a diet with low-fat/high carbohydrate properties, about 1800 calories for women and 2200 for men.  See New Year’s resolution above, the data are clear, cut the processed sugar, fat, and starching foods and eat balanced meals high in fiber, antioxidants, and essential vitamins and minerals.

Trait Three: Eat breakfast every day.  Most find that eating a healthy breakfast reduces hunger throughout the day.  Also breakfast eaters usually eat smaller lunches and make better food choices. 

Trait Four: Perform 60-90 minutes per day of moderate to heavy aerobic exercise per day (walking).  This means walking, jogging, biking, dancing, swimming and other tasks that elevates and sustains heart rate.  This is a time commitment that requires me to start early, usually 6 to 6:30 a.m. and to have a strong motivation system—thus my money walking system.

Let me know what you think and share your success story.  Good luck with your own New Year’s resolution if it is to lose weight and sustain the loss.

The Moneywalker

Helping Phillip and Pecan Pie

Weight = 178.8 lbs.; holding strong for the holidays in spite Ms S’s wonderful pecan pie for Christmas dinner.  There were five of us, note how much of the pie remained.  That is the problem with pies and cakes and retirement.  There are just the two of us, but Ms S and I both have good discipline, we will enjoy small pieces throughout the week.  The pie story will be one of my tips for losing weight.  See below.

Coinage =$2.11 Ending up giving it to Phillip after I had already given him a ½ pack of cigarettes I had found.  He needed .75 for bus change.  Phillip was young, what he needed was to go to work.  We talked about the New Orleans Saints, our NFL team.  While counting out the .75, I stopped and said, “Do you want it all?”  He said, “Sure if you can spare it.”  Ah, the life and times of the Dukes of MidCity New Orleans.

GPS Data:

Miles walked = 4.05

Average pace = 16 min, 48 sec.

Calories burned = 420

Previews of Weight Loss Strategy:  January 1, 2014 is just a few days.  Of course I will be making my annual weight loss resolution.  Moreover, I plan to share my secrets for losing weight and how I plan to keep it off.

Moneywalker

Five Tips for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off

Weight = 177.6 lbs, slight step backward

Coinage = $.59, regression effect with yesterday’s $3.92.

Best Find = a curb quarter, quarters are hard to find on the street.

Topic: Five tips for keeping weight off, especially if you are 50 or older

You’ve lost weight, now how do you keep it off?  Borrowing from the National Weight Control Registry, people once diagnosed as seriously overweight or morbidly overweight, but who have lost 69 lbs or more and kept their weight off for ten years have all followed a similar four-point path to avoid the yo-yo factor (losing weight then putting it back on.) 

One:      Eat breakfast every day. (For forty-five years and older folks, a high protein breakfast is important for metabolism.)

Two:      Weigh on a reliable consistent scale at least once a week. (I recommend ever day weighing for higher accountability.

Three:   Exercise by walking or similar aerobic program one hour each day.  (At about age 55, the walking program should be at least four times weekly and a resistive exercise program three times weekly)

Four:     Follow a low calorie/low fat diet.  (Track your food intake with a journal and count calories.  Limit eating out and when you do share portions and bring food home.)

If you want to lose weight, follow the same plan.  If you are 45 or older, add a fifth component, follow a three-time weekly resistive exercise  and stretching program.  After 45 years, muscle metabolism slows dramatically and continues over the balance of your life.  Muscles turn to fat and worse, the calories formally burned by a healthy metabolism are left to accumulate as general fat, often belly fat.  However, a resistive exercise program can dramatically facilitate a healthy metabolism rate.

Keeping muscles strong requires systematic protein consumption.  As for protein, 45 and older need 46 grams (women) and 56 (men) grams respectively each day.  For example, good sources for a man include 1) glass of milk, 8 grams; 2) 3 oz of meat, 21 grams; 3) cup of dry beans, 16 grams; and 4) 8 oz of yogurt, 11 grams.

Review the MoneyWalker’s recent blog about how to start and maintain a resistive exercise program.

MoneyWalker

"What 'ya fix'en?"

Weight = 177.6 lbs, about the same as last weigh in.

Coinage = $2.02

Best Find = a “Ben scatter of pennies” (where someone just unloads all of their loose pennies on the curb) eighteen pennies in the scatter.

Comment:  “What ‘ya fix’en?”  On my fitness walk while checking the parking lot of Rouse’s Grocery for dropped coins, a “healthy” woman was heard asking “What’ya fix’en?”  I couldn’t hear, but given New Orleans culinary legacy and being that it was Sunday morning, it had to be something good—Gumbo, Jambalaya, Andouille, Crawfish Étouffée, Shrimp Creole, Muffulettas, Po-boys, Red Beans and Rice, Oysters Rockefeller, Trout Almondine, Bread Pudding, Bananas Foster, Beignets, and on and on.  These are all world famous for their savory tastes. Unfortunately they are all loaded with calories.  I treat myself to these delicacies but reduce the portion sizes and more frequently eat low calorie meals. 

What ‘ya fix’en for Memorial Day?  Burgers?  Use .93 lean and cut the cheese.  Have a good one.

MoneyWalker

Dude, Don’t Stop Walking?

Dude, Don’t Stop Walking?
‘Dude’ is one of those ubiquitous universal words currently in vogue. It is used in every possible corner of the globe, in every possible situation. “I aced my exam, Dude!” “Did you get that raise you were looking for at work, Dude?” Or, maybe it’s your nickname as in Jeff Bridge’s Dude Lebowski from the 1998 cult bowling film.

However, there are limits to its use. The Moneywalker is as engaged as the next person in the cultural life of our times including the slang that we use. Still, sometimes the “great unwashed” go too far. On a recent wedding trip to honor our nephew, Ms MoneyWalker and I checked into a 3.5 star Ft. Worth, TX hotel. After settling in, I approached the twenty-something at the front desk with a routine issue. His greeting, “How can I help you Dude?”

I wanted to reply “Did you say ‘Dude’? I’m old enough to be your grandfather, Dude!” It would have been a waste of time; I can hear his smart-back answer, “Whatever, Dude!” Way too subtle for him to understand not to use slang terms in discourse with people of older age brackets, of higher social status, or of greater responsibility. I like my daughter-in-law’s restraint. She only uses the word when she needs a pejorative put-down such as: “Dude, the line forms at the rear!”

As we approach the holidays and then New Year’s resolution time, these psycholinguistics lessons lead back to walking and weight control, how about a few “dude” reminders, but just for your own self-talk.

"Dude, have you stopped weighing?”
“Dude, is that your fourth glass of nutmeg?”
“Dude, your waist line is losing the battle!”
“Dude, don’t stop walking!”

MoneyWalker

Today’s Weight = 175.6 lbs.

Today’s coinage = $1.26

A New England Fall Foilage Walk

Feature Entry: A New England Fall Foilage Walk

Vacation is a good time to get away from routine. Earlier this month, the MoneyWalker took a break from money walking and focused on the beauty found during an extended New England fall scenery walk during a trip to visit family. I wanted to see the fall foliage viewed through a walker’s perspective.

The walk gave rise to a new walking strategy – Google Map Walking. From previous experience in the area, several potential walking destinations were determined. Then by placing in the address of the departure point and the destination point, Google provided a walking map complete with number of miles, estimated walking time, and the street names of the route. If the mile count was too great or small, a different destination was considered until a match was found between the desired walk length and the designation.

After considering destinations ( a waterfall in Cannondale, the Allen Meadows Park, or Friends of Ambler Farm,) I selected Weston Township Library. They were having a “Friends of the Library” book sale. The distance was 2.6 miles one-way and produced an amazing walk. Given that my usual walk is about four miles, and because I became lost a few times (next time I will download the map rather than rely upon sketchy notes), the actual walk was about 6.5 miles. A 6.5 mile walk is a great way to use walking as an antidote for vacation overeating.

During the walk, a quote from Richard Schmidt from his book Motor Control and Learning came to mind: “When stimulus contacts memory.” Wilton, Connecticut provides remarkable venues with rambling lanes, streams, waterfalls, craggy outcroppings of rocks, resplendent homes, and of course trees of every size, shape and color. As the multiple varieties of stimuli slowly connected with one memory source after another, what occurred was a smorgasbord of delightful recalls from the best of previous walks and of being in the “now.” Moreover, I cannot overstate the value of walking to enhance the experience of seeing beauty up-close in New England’s fall foliage season.

And once more, Marcel Proust’s involuntary memory theories came to mind. The synaptic connections triggered uncontested “unintentional thoughts.” With no distractions presented by the urgency of others, the mind was free to explore thoughts and ideas of far reaching dimensions. In a guilt free state of mind and in the midst of nature’s beauty, such thoughts produced an incredible sense of happiness.

As for the book sale, four bargains including two Nancy Drew novels for my granddaughter, hardly was a burden during the equally lovely walk home.

MoneyWalker

Current Weight = 176.2 lbs

Money found on today’s walk = $.86

The Finifugal Walker and The Psychology of Finishing

Feature Entry: The Finifugal Walker and The Psychology of Finishing

This blog will explore reasons why people drop out of a walking fitness program before meeting their health and weight loss goals; but first a note about Ammon Shea and his book, Reading the Oxford English Dictionary, one man, one year, 21,730 pages. Shea’s goal was to read all 21 volumes of the OED, nearly 22,000 pages of definitions. Daunting! His book about the experience, in part, elaborated on words that he found especially interesting including the word finifugal, an adjective meaning “shunning the end of anything.”

A quick look in scientific psychology as well as Google entries will confirm that many people are what Jim Willis in his book Snap Shots and Visions calls “idea” people; people that are motivated by the excitement of conceptualization of an idea but not actualization the work to complete the project. They can get started, do the all the preparation, push forward into action, but then can’t finish the job. The finifugal walker is a person that wants to lose weight, experience the well-fit benefits, buy the apparel, read the literature, consult with a physician, plan a walking weekly/monthly/yearly calendar based on time and distance, initiate a walking program, maintain it for a significant period and begin to experience the success of weight loss and a healthier feeling, but then inexplicably discontinues walking without fully reaching the envisaged goals.

Why? One reason is a feeling of failure. The MoneyWalker’s last three blogs explored the “yo-yo” problems associated with exercise and diet. The early thrill of losing weight must confront the yo-yo reality. Like the stock market, losing weight is an up and down experience. We must learn to control the binges, not be discouraged by them. Finifugal walkers often have bad mental habits; they can’t balance the thrill of victory with the agony of defeat. Smart mental habits utilize self-talk and support groups to stay on task.

The beginning walking/diet program nearly always results in dramatic weight loss especially for people highly overweight. But then even with fidelity to the walking/diet plan, a plateau occurs. The weight loss mysteriously stops. Moreover, the plateau often last for an extensive period of time. That is when disillusionment sets in and the walking and dieting are discontinued. The answer to disillusionment is perseverance. The performance curve for weight loss is nearly always follows an elongated reverse S shape; that is, rapid improvement at the beginning, followed by a lengthy plateau of no loss, but then with perseverance, the curve again reflects downward weight loss. To defeat the finifugal effect, persevere through the plateaus.

Another symptom of the finifugal walker is time management; we are just too busy to devote the time to extensive walking. We get started but then run out of time. Never mind that many of us find hours of time for leisure pursuits related to electronic devices. Related to time management is procrastination, we will get back to our walking tomorrow. Determination is intrinsic, but don’t be afraid to use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation sources to stay on track.

The finifugal walker is sometimes a romantic. He or she sees the sculptured bodies on screen effortlessly working out sometimes with friends having a great time. They romanticize the walking bout and then realize that taking long walks is hard work and practicing smart eating habits require discipline. Well Yes! For a finifugal walker to become a lifelong walker, food denial and positive work habits must become a part of the psychic make-up.

Blogging about cardio vascular fitness and dieting can sometimes be such a bother. Who wants to read information that is counterpoint to the lovely sedentary strategies of leisure time? But the truth is that maintaining a healthy Body Mass Index requires coming to grips with the reality of the ultimate finifugal walking reality—We never finish! Yet in the end, when we all finish life’s timetable, those that suppressed their finifugal tendencies will have live longer and with a higher quality of life.

MoneyWalker

Beating the "Yo-Yo Diet," Final of a Three-Part Series

Feature: Beating the "Yo-Yo Diet," Final of a Three-Part Series

In our series on how to win the “Yo-Yo Diet” phenomenon we have learned from the theories of Erik Erickson to reduce the high end gains while increasing the low end losses. Each win at the extremes will provide the courage and experience to yo-yo your weight to a manageable sustainable level. We have drawn from the experiences of Reverend Ray Cannata that we can eat every day in a fancy restaurant and still lose weight. Pastor Cannata simply manages portion control (smaller portions), eliminates soft drinks, and follows an aggressive walking program.

Today’s blog features renowned cardiologist Dr. William Davis’s and his thoughts from his New York Times bestselling book Wheat Belly. In his book Davis presents evidence, both case study and empirical, that by eliminating wheat from our diets we can prevent fat storage, shrink unsightly bulges, and reverse myriad health problems including minor rashes and high blood sugar.

After witnessing over 2,000 patients regain their health after giving up wheat food products, Davis reached the disturbing conclusion that wheat is the single largest contributor to the nationwide obesity epidemic—and its elimination is key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health. Quoting Dr. Davis concerning what happens when people eliminate or radically reduce wheat from their diet:

Conservatively, I would estimate that 70% of people experience a substantial benefit beyond weight loss. It might be relief from a chronic rash like psoriasis, relief from struggles with airway and sinus health like asthma and chronic sinus infections, relief from gastrointestinal problems like acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome, or it might be relief from run-of-the-mill arthritis or inflammatory arthritis like rheumatoid. The range of conditions caused or worsened by this thing is nothing short of astounding.

To summarize, in order to win the “Yo-Yo” weight loss/weight regain cycle, the MoneyWalker’s plan is to win the "Yo-Yo Diet" downward cycle, engage a serious walking program, eliminate soft drinks, and radically reduce the amount of wheat products in your diet.

MoneyWalker

Weight Loss/gain from last blog = 174.6 lbs, no change

Money Found since last blog = $4.06 over 3 walks, $1.35 average

“Yo-Yo” Dieting, Can This Cloud Have A Silver Lining

"OMG!"

“Yo-Yo” Dieting, Can This Cloud Have A Silver Lining

The MoneyWalker is an NFL fan (professional football), specifically a New Orleans Saints fan. This past week-end watching the Saints defeat the Houston Texans was stressful. The final score, Saints 40, Texans 33 was a back and forth game with the Texans dominating for much of the game. Still Saints quarterback Drew Brees found a way to win. After the final knell down, the MoneyWalker went for a long walk.

Walking is great therapy for flushing out football-induced stress—win or lose.
During the walk, the success of Drew Brees reminded me of the developmental theories of Erik Erikson. Erikson believes that “crises” or “problems” play an important role in successful maturation and problem solving. Brees’s performance provide a “yo-yo” of emotions for Drew as well as his fans. His first interception was a “low” and then he threw a touchdown pass, a” high.” Then another interception, then a series of passes that resulted in several touchdowns and an eventual victory.

Erikson believes that Brees’s successful problem solving (touchdowns) could not have occurred without his negative past experiences. Brees like all of us learn to solve difficult problems with the successful solving of earlier less demanding problems. When we are successful, the event provides the courage and confidence to attempt even more difficult problems.

This brings us to “Yo-Yo” dieting or medically, “weight cycling.” Weight cycling is the repeated loss and regain of body weight. We diet, lose weight, and then gain it all back, often gaining back more than we lost.

Is there hope? Can we use the “Yo-Yo” concept to help resolve the goal of losing weight and keeping it off? The MoneyWalker thinks that we can use weight gain in an Erikson way. We can use the success of losing weight as a positive experience. Then when we regain weight we can teach ourselves to remember that we lost the weight once, we can do it again. The key is cognitive self-talk. Rather than succumb fully to binge eating, we can say “Slow down the eating. Go back to a strategy based on portion control and food choices. Get some exercise. Weight every day. Eat breakfast.” Make sure that each plateau of the Yo-Yo work for you, not against. On the next trip down, lose more weight than the last trip. On the next trip up, gain control so that the next weight gain is not as high as the previous gain. In this way, the success at both ends of the Yo-Yo trip will give you the courage and confidence to finally reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Yo-Yoing is not medically dangerous and the experience can provide a silver lining.

On our next blog we will present a case study of how a minister in New Orleans gained fame by eating at least one meal in more than 900 restaurants in New Orleans over a three year period and still lost weight. His tips will help you defeat the Yo-Yo effect.

MoneyWalker

Money found since last post = $6.02 over 4 walks, average $1.51 per walk

Weight since last report = 174.4 lbs, "-"

Phone APPS and Weight Loss

The Iphone

Feature Entry: Phone Apps and Weight Loss

To understand this blog entry, you may need a brief crash course in social networking terminology. A smartphone is a personal computer that is contained in what formerly was a cell phone. An app is an application that you can download to your smartphone for a nominal amount of money and are often free. Since the smartphone was invented a couple of years ago, there are apps for everything imaginable including weight loss/weight maintenance assistance.

The National Weight Loss Control Registry of Brown University is making good use of the app for food tracking. The Registry has already established that by keeping a personal food consumption journal, your chances are doubled for weight-loss success.

Here is the rub. As my Anthony Trollope friend Dolly Longestaffe likes to say, “It is such a bother.” But food journaling need not be that difficult. It seems the behavior need not be connected to counting calories—just a quick notation of what has been consumed seems to do the trick.

However, with smartphone apps, you can have it all and avoid the excessive “bother.” Just download an app and it allows quick and painless logging of food and exercise information. A bonus of the app is that it also counts the calories and exercise expenditure. Moreover, the selected app gives immediate feedback as to your weight loss and calorie goals. Available apps include Lose It!, My fitness Pal, My Net Diary, Daily Burn, Calorie Counter by Fat Secret, and SparkPeoples app.

Most of these are free are cost just a few dollars a month. They are customizable and some will establish a daily calorie budget for you—how cool is that? Also, the apps help you establish a community forum for support and questions and most provide motivational testimonials (social networking.) My blogs are filled with comments concerning the value of “personal accountability.” The app lets you know if you are meeting your goals, and if not, why not.

It turns out that we lose weight differently. We all have a nutrient specific RDA—computer speak for recommended daily allowance. For those that like competition for motivation, the app provides an internal motivation device which helps the weight loser/weight maintainer focus on “beating” a personalized daily calorie goal or “outscoring” one’s RDA.

Apps have built-in help for setting your RDA. A general rule is to multiply your goal body weight by 10 for sedentary folks and by 12 if you exercise regularly (exercise 3 times a week); or by 14 if you exercise moderately three to five days a week; and by 16 if you exercise intensely five to seven days a week. Most apps help you with this by asking a series of intensity/frequency/intensity questions. Caution, many of the programs overestimate the calories burned, so experiment with your own exercise routine.

My factor is 16; thus my caloric goal is 2310 calories per day. So why was my morning weigh-in five pounds heavier than my weight goal? Simple according to the app, I am consuming more than my allotted RDA. Solution, up the exercise regiment or cut back on the calories. I guess this is bad news for those late evening raids of the ice cream bucket.

MoneyWalker

No Fond Return of Love

Feature Entry: "No Fond Return of Love!"

Gretchen Rubin in her Happiness Project blog ask a relevant question for those of us that walk in order to avoid gaining weight. Her question, “Are you a moderator or an abstainer?” Think chocolate chip cookies. She provides a simple test:

You’re a moderator if you…
-- find that occasional indulgence heightens your pleasure – and strengthens your resolve
-- get panicky at the thought of “never” getting or doing something

You’re an abstainer if you…
-- have trouble stopping something once you’ve started
-- aren’t tempted by things that you’ve decided are off-limits

The MoneyWalker is a moderator. Offer him a plate of chocolate chip cookies and he can easily eat only one. One of his best friends is an abstainer. If he has vowed off of sweets, he can say no to the chocolate chip cookies. But if he eats one, he will not stop until the plate is finished.

For me, I need a little something sweet after each meal. Gretchen believes that people losing weight or maintaining weight loss should be attuned to their own moderator/abstainer style. She quotes Dr. Samuel Johnson: “Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.” Johnson is an abstainer.

Rubin’s point is directed toward the person that is trying to give up some specific item—ice cream for example. She encourages us to be true to our personality type and not be drawn into someone else’s. If you know your style to be an abstainer and know that eating just one bite will lead to the devouring of the entire container—just abstain from ice cream. But if you know that you are a moderator and fear that you will be miserable without an occasional taste, then follow that style.

Either way, remember the big five secrets to weight loss/maintenance—weigh ever day, eat breakfast, exercise, journal your food, and practice portion control. If you are trying to lose weight, Barbara Pym is a prophet: neither ice cream or chocolate chip cookies will return you love.

MoneyWalker

Discipline and Losing Weight

Photos from the blog of Henry James, March 31, 2010

Discipline and Losing Weight

The last blog featured the role of external motivation systems for weight loss. This blog demonstrates how intrinsic motivation can be used as a basis for losing weight.

Recently, Harry Chapman of Dallas, Texas was featured in the Times-Picayune, the MoneyWalker’s daily newspaper. Harry, always fitness conscious throughout his 30s, was shocked to realize by his late forties he had a 44 inch waist line. With the stress and responsibilities of his job, he lost time for exercise and was overeating. Moreover, all his life quality indicators were trending in the wrong direction.

First he determined to change his behavior by focusing on health rather than losing pounds. He opted for intrinsic motivation to develop a plan of action. He also sought encouragement from significant others. The plan was to exercise six days a week and follow a calorie restricted diet. Two years later he had lost 100 pounds.

Harry’s advice to is to take action with what you can do. For him it was swimming. He supports small realistic goals. Harry’s first goal was to move from lane 1 to lane 2. Lane 1 of his 50 meter pool was for the really slow swimmers. Harry could just make one length of the 50 meter pool when he started. With discipline and consistency he slowly moved up lanes until he reached lane five, the lane reserved for his club’s fastest swimmers. He now belongs to the Dallas Aquatic Masters Swim Club and competes with other masters. Says Harry, “Find a regiment and stick with it.”

Now the bad news, Harry warns that just because you are running, or walking, going to the gym, or swimming; and you are doing everything right in terms of exercise, there is no guarantee that you will lose weight. It is the “eating aspect” that is the most important, not the exercise he cautions. Harry’s final advice is biting but true: “The battle is at the table.” “You cannot work out enough to overcome overeating.“

MoneyWalker

Initiation Impairment

Feature Entry: Initiation Impairment

Surely it is not the lack of motivation or my higher desire for sweet and fattening foods that is keeping me from reaching my Body Mass Index goal of 168 pounds. With great fanfare the MoneyWalker announced to the world on January 1st that he was going to lose 8 pounds and reach the elusive goal of a normal BMI for his height, age, and weight. But after two months, he still has a long way to go. I tell myself that I am adequately motivated to lose those last few pounds, but they won’t go away.

Now I am thinking I might have a medical disorder. While preparing for a blog on my anticipated “nested motivation systems” I found the existence of a new medical condition—initiation impairment. I think that is me. When I begin a carefully conceived intervention plan including the creation of a food journal, practicing portion control, selecting large portions of fruits and vegetables while avoiding starchy, sweet, and fatty foods, exercising daily using American College of Sports Medicine guideline; I just can’t seem to get started. So that must be it, I have Initiation impairment.

It must have happened that day many years ago when I knocked myself unconscious going for a spectacular racquet ball play. Instead, I tripped and suffered a concussion by hitting my head against the concrete wall. It must be a case of delayed onset of TBI or traumatic brain injury that is causing my problem. These days, all the former NFL football players seem to be talking about their TBIs with all their negative consequences. We can't blame them, they have initiation impairment.

Isn’t modern medicine wonderful! Until reading about Initiation impairment, I thought it was just my lazy attitude that was preventing me from reaching my weight loss goal. But not to worry, I am still going to write that blog about how to lose weight using nested motivation systems just as soon as I recover from this dreaded case of initiation impairment.

What excuse are you giving yourself for not keeping your New Year’s resolution to lose weight?

And what was the tip from the photo? Stop using excuses like initiation impairment and start consuming less calories than you are burning. It will cut a little of the belly fat away everyday.

MoneyWalker

“Police your Diabetes"

Feature Entry: “Police your Diabetes”

Last month a very close acquaintance asked me to drive her for a first-time session with a gastro endocrinologist. It was the last in a long line of medical specialists that she had seen in the past few years. Because of type 2 diabetes she has received treatments for the following conditions:

Damage to her retina—she has lost one eye.

Damage to the kidneys—she only has 48% function and experiences serious water retention.

Damage to her nerves that control food digestion in the autonomic nervous system —she can eat very few foods and experiences chronic diarrhea.

Damage to her heart—she has atherosclerosis and has had a heart attack and received quadruple by-pass surgery.

Damage to the nerves and vascular system of her legs—she has gangrene and may lose her toes if not her feet.

I have known this fantastic lady for fifty years. Even with her many damaged bodily functions, she is mentally alert as ever. What a shame she has ignored the well known life-style causes that lead to and aggravate diabetes. As a registered nurse, she was well aware of the risks of high cholesterol, exercise avoidance, and an unhealthy diet.

We are starting to understand much more about the killing disease. Type 2 diabetes begins to develop as long as 13 years before diagnosis according to researchers reporting in Lancet, June 8, 2009. Authors of the study, “suggest that measures to stave off the disease include exercising more and eating healthier food. Practicing these habits might be more effective before this unstable period.” the authors conclude. Red wine in moderation also appears to have beneficial effects on HDL levels. Although some disagree, the authors recommended that beef consumption be limited to 3 oz. per day.



As for the cause of type 2 diabetes, Robert J Ferry, Jr. MD, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, explains that Diabetes mellitus is a set of related diseases in which the body cannot regulate the amount of sugar (specifically, glucose) in the blood. Says Ferry,”Glucose in the blood gives you energy to perform daily activities, walk briskly, run for a bus, ride your bike, take an aerobic exercise class, and perform your day-to-day chores.”
Other important points include:

In a healthy person, the blood glucose level is regulated by several hormones, including insulin. Insulin is produced by the pancreas, a small organ between the stomach and liver. The pancreas secretes other important enzymes that help to digest food.

Insulin allows glucose to move from the blood into liver, muscle, and fat cells, where it is used for fuel.

People with diabetes either do not produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or cannot use insulin properly (type 2 diabetes), or both (which occurs with several forms of diabetes.

In diabetes, glucose in the blood cannot move into cells, so it stays in the blood. This not only harms the cells that need the glucose for fuel, but also harms certain organs and tissues exposed to the high glucose levels.

Type 2 diabetes is usually controlled with diet, weight loss, exercise, and oral medications. Pre-diabetes increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and of heart disease or stroke. Pre-diabetes can typically be reversed without insulin or medication by losing a modest amount of weight and increasing your physical activity. This weight loss can prevent, or at least delay, the onset of type 2 diabetes.

There are alarming and somewhat ignored statistics about diabetes. About 17 million Americans, 6.2% of adults in North America, are believed to have diabetes. About one third of diabetic adults do not know they have diabetes. About 1 million new cases occur each year, and diabetes is the direct or indirect cause of at least 200,000 deaths each year.

What is worse, the incidence of diabetes is increasing rapidly. This increase is due to many factors, but the most significant are the increasing incidence of obesity and the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles.

The causes of adult diabetes are well known: high blood pressure, high blood triglyceride (fat) levels, high-fat diet, high alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle, obesity or being overweight and genetics.

What should we walkers take away from this information? Same old excellent advice—follow a healthy diet so as to control blood sugar levels; do not smoke; and regularly exercise.

Like so many things, avoiding being a victim of diabetes and its horrible complication is in our hands, we must “police our behaviors.”

MoneyWalker

Journal Entries and Rationalization

Photo from Edge Hill University


Journal Entries and Rationalization

The MoneyWalker follows the blogs of several walkers including Roy Bayfield, a college professor at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire UK. He teaches Educational marketing and Brand development. His blog, “Walking Home to 50” chronicles his walks from the Northwest of England back to his boyhood home of Brighton. Besides his witty entries, he documents his walks with excellent photographs. In his recent blog he inadvertently provided one of the banes of walking for the purpose of losing weight—rationalization to overeat:

“I stayed the night in Horsham, a chilly experience - arriving in the dark, walking around wearing every layer I had with me to find the Malt Shovel, which turned out to be as nice a pub as I have ever been to. I had a pint of Surrey Pilgrim, figuring that I had earned it by walking through that county to arrive here in Sussex.” (Emphasis added.)

Sadly, the MoneyWalker uses this excuse to overeat all too often.

Journal Entries:

Feb 10, 2011: Weight = 174.0 lbs; Coinage = $.99, 29 pennies, 2 nickels, 1 dime, 2 quarters; Glass Bottles = 1; Ground Score = 1.

Feb 11: Weight = 173.0 lbs; Coinage = $.40, 25 pennies, 1 nickel, 1 dime.

Feb 12: Weight = 172.8 lbs.; Coinage = $1.10, 35 pennies, 3 nickels, 6 dimes.

Feb 13: Weight = 173.4 lbs.; Coinage = $3.40, 100 pennies (1 wheat)(one Canadian penny), 7 nickels, 8 dimes, 5 quarters; Glass bottles = 7; Ground Scores = 2.

Feb 14: Weight = 173.6 lbs.; Coinage = $3.95, 135 pennies, 8 nickels, 12 dimes, 4 quarters; Glass Bottles = 12; Ground Scores = 3.

Remember, you aren't required to eat the whole box of Valentine candy in one setting.

MoneyWalker

New Year’s Resolution 2011: “Not to give in to the ‘new normal.’”

Photo by Zed Nelson, shot at the Association for Overweight People

Feature Entry: New Year’s Resolution 2011: “Not to give in to the ‘new normal.’”

Andrew Perrin, sociology professor at U. of North Carolina, is concerned about grade inflation at America’s universities. Notes Perrin, the average grade point average (GPA) at UNC is now 3.21 as compared to 2.99 as recent as 1999. The GPA average in 1967 (the year the MoneyWalker graduated), the GPA average was 2.49. Moreover, in 2008, 82 percent of the UNC students in received a “B” or an “A.” Come on academia, not all of your students are excellent, don’t accept the ‘new normal.’

Bill Gross, investment banker for PIMCO’s Investment Outlook opines that America must accept slow sustained economic growth and high unemployment as the ‘new normal.’ Others suggest that in the so-called global economy, American workers can no longer compete and that the middle class must get use to a lower standard of living. Come on America, we must learn how to compete again, not accept the ‘new normal.’

The enigmatic Oprah Winfrey sometimes cheering on her overweight/obese audience and other times cautioning them about the dangers of Type II diabetes and being overweight is characteristic of pop cultures dilemma. Do we cheer and encourage the O/O to maintain a healthy self esteem and be proud of their body image or do we find ways to reverse the O/O epidemic.

From a health care perspective the data are frightening. According to Katherine Flegal as reported in JAMA, as of 2007/08 68% of Americans over 20 years of age were either obese or overweight, 34% for each designation. This is up 8% since 1999. The MoneyWalker entered “overweight and proud” in Google search and received 346,000 hits. We all should strive to maintain a healthy self-esteem but we should not lose sight of the health facts. Those in the O/O class are at serious risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, cancer, and other maladies. O/O is not healthy; it must not become the ‘new normal.’

And now for the MoneyWalker’s New Year’s resolution. I resolve to lose 6 lbs during the 2011 calendar year. Six lbs will lower my body mass index (BMI) from 25.8 to 24. The overweight range is 25-29.9 and obese range is 30 and greater. Everyone tells me I look great, just right, and even thin. But I know better, I am just over the limit and in the BMI overweight category. Sorry William James, author of this pessimistic thought: "How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young--or slender;" I will not accept a 36 inch waist line as the ‘new normal.’

MoneyWalker

How to Party Through the Holidays Without Gaining Weight

Photo from "A Guide to Healthy Eating During the Holidays80."

Journal Entries, but first a note. To establish transparency of purpose, the MoneyWalker posts his current weight in each journal entry. My walking goal is weight management, to achieve a recommended Body Mass Index of 168 lbs. I am also a believer of the importance of external motivators to sustain the habit of walking for exercise over a life-time. Since I use the bizarre motivation method of finding money as my primary motivator, I post the amount of money found during the walks. By posting both my weight and money totals, I seek to provide an example for others that may share my goal of losing weight and keeping it off. Whether I succeed or fail, the blog entry tells the story. The MoneyWalker is fully aware of the importance of goal clarification and specific objectives. He is also aware that if there are those that follow this blog hoping to gain information if not inspiration for their own weight loss strategies, the MoneyWalker must follow the principle of transparency of purpose.

Dec. 1, 2010: Weight = 175.4 lbs.; Coinage = $1.95, 90 pennies, 7 nickels, 7 dimes; Ground scores = 4; Glass bottles = 8.

Dec. 2: Weight = 174.4 lbs.; Coinage = $.81, 51 pennies, 2 nickels, 2 dimes; GB = 3; GS = 5.

Dec. 3: Weight = 174.0 lbs.; Coinage = $.37, 12 pennies, 1 quarter.

Dec. 4: Weight = 174.0 lbs.; Coinage = $2.11, 56 pennies, 3 nickels, 4 dimes, 4 quarters; GB = 5; GS = 7.

Dec. 5: Weight = 175.0 lbs.; Coinage = $3.15, 185 pennies, 1 nickel, 6 dimes, 3 quarters.

Dec. 6: Weight = 175.6 lbs.; Coinage = $.74, GB = 7; GS = 5.

Feature Entry: How to Party Through the Holidays Without Gaining Weight

I like the wisdom of Molly Kimball, a registered dietitian and contributor to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Her recent article extolled the importance of strategic planning before attending the holiday party circuit. Before each party, she advises to negotiate your choices—to choose indulgences wisely. She says go for the lean proteins like turkey and ham and avoid the weight boosters such as high-calorie starches—think macaroni and cheese and scalloped potatoes. Make sure that sweets are really worth the calorie investment. Take a small bite and discreetly trash it if the taste is only adequate. If you drink, select no-calorie mixers rather that the pre-mixes.

She offered several pre-party strategies for the December and January months. Don’t starve yourself waiting for the big party. Instead eat several small snacks every four hours. Even if the weather is unfriendly or the busy schedule takes over, stay with your exercise program. A one hour moderate exercise program will burn 600 calories. Get a good night’s sleep. If not the hormone system will influence your body to feel hungry. She recommends that we weigh twice a week. The MoneyWalker prefers daily weighing for raw transparency. Then at parties, keep your focus on the people, not the food.

MoneyWalker

Paracletic Walking and Dieting—Discerning Together

Photo from Gallery of Fine Art America

Feature Entry: Paracletic Walking and Dieting—Discerning Together

The MoneyWalker’s blog is in part, an attempt to practice paracletic walking and weight control. The ancient word paracletic is scriptural and is frequently called the Paracletic Canon, or discerning together. While the MoneyWalker prefers solo walking, he gains strength of purpose by sharing his walks with others. In his book “Practice Resurrection”, Eugene Peterson opines that we humans “...need heart to heart talks, soul to soul talks, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers to hear our confession, cry with us, encourage us, and hold us accountable.” By blogging about exercise, weight loss and maintenance, and the motivation to sustain these positive habits, the MoneyWalker is practicing paracletic cannon.

Paracletic walking as a topic occurred on a recent walk. On an earlier walk, I had found a full pack of Salem cigarettes, about a four dollar value. The moral dilemma followed, trash them or give them away. I opted to give them to one of the numerous “brotherhood of the street” members in the neighbourhood. The brother selected was right out of central casting—unshaved, matted hair, soiled clothes, etc. I knew he was a smoker from previous observations. I spotted him in his usual haunt, nodded our acquaintance, retrieved the Salems, and asked, “Would you like these?” He smiled, then shocked me with his response: “I can’t use that brand.”

We moved on with my mind trying to understand his incredible discernment. Then as often happens during walking, I quizzed myself as to why the word discernment popped into my mind to define his choice to refuse my gift. Why wasn’t this homeless and penniless person eager to accept this significant gift? It wasn’t his lack of perspicacity; it was his quick judgment and discrimination of brand that produced the descriptive “discernment.” And it was his use of words that triggered my several blocks of reflective thinking. When he said, “I can’t use that brand.” he indicated a sophistication of thought processing. Poverty or no, the gentleman obviously doesn’t like menthol cigarettes and possessed the language skills to clearly and succinctly communicate his position. For the MoneyWalker, another stereotype bit the dust.

Now, back to the theme of the blog—Paracletic Walking and weight control. The episode resulted in a thought journey that linked discernment to the strength that is gained when we discern together. The Holiday season is a landmine filled with tempting negative food choices and reasons to forgo exercise habits. But together, we can encourage one another to hold our resolve. When we post our temptations and admit our frailties of purpose, we are following Peterson’s advice to seek “soul to soul talks” with like minded travelers.

It is the holiday season; for walkers it is a time to discern the bad choices and opt for the good ones. It will be easier if we do it together.

MoneyWalker

Journal Entry Summaries November 16 through November 29, 2010 with seven reports included; averages and grand totals where appropriate for body weight, coinage found, glass bottles, and ground scores.


Weight Average: 174.5 lbs.
Coinage: $9.71 total
Coinage Average: $1.62
Total Pennies found: 295 Pennies Average: 42
Total Nickels found: 18 Nickels Average: 2.6
Total Dimes found: 27 Dimes Average: 3.9
Total Quarters found: 20 Quarters Average:2.9
Total Glass bottles: 66 Glass bottle Ave:11
Total Ground Scores: 24 Ground Score Ave: 6

MoneyWalker

The FitnessGram and Childhood obesity

Note: The MoneyWalker's journal entries are at the end of this blog.


Feature Entry: The FitnessGram and Childhood obesity

Recently the MoneyWalker was invited to a Past Presidents Reception sponsored by the Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (LAHPERD). We had no agenda except small talk and past pleasures, but the informal conversation eventually led to two topics of interest for this blog. One was “exercise as medicine” and the other was childhood obesity. We eventually talked about what Louisiana schools could do to reverse what has become a national epidemic according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One solution was to adopt the well established FitnessGram, a product of the world-famous Cooper Aerobics Center of Dallas, Texas.

Two states, Texas and Delaware require that the physical fitness assessment tool be administered each year. In Texas, all 3rd through 12 grade students are administered the test and the results sent to parents. Students do not “pass” or “fail” the tests, rather they are evaluated against established standards denoting a healthy level of fitness including the body fat index, a measure that sends cautions for both anorexia and overweight/obesity.

Data from the mandated test indicate that 42 percent of Texas’s 4th graders are overweight and 36 percent of 11th graders were overweight. Other data point out that the Texas data reflects similar findings in most U.S. state. There are six sub-scales in the FitnessGram—aerobic capacity (the ability of the body to sustain long bouts of cardio respiratory work), body composition, muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility.

One interesting finding from the Cooper researchers is the existence of a strong correlation between physical fitness and academic performance: “There is a direct correlation between a student's physical fitness and school performance. Data shows that students who were able to achieve a Healthy Fitness Zone in at least five out of six FITNESSGRAM tests scored higher academically and had fewer discipline problems in school.” However, caution should be followed before interpreting this data as causal. For example, we know that being overweight is also highly correlated with stress, anxiety, and lower self-esteem. These factors are also associated with academic performance. Perhaps it is a more positive self-image that is driving the better grades data.

Accompanying the FitnessGram sent to parents is the Cooper Fitness Activity Pyramid designed to resemble the popular CDC food pyramid. At the activity base is “lifestyle activity.” The second level is “aerobic activity” and “aerobic sports”; third is “muscular activity” and “flexibility activity”; and the apex is “rest.” Examples of lifestyle activity include walking, bicycling, playing active games, and work-active jobs. Aerobic activity examples include aerobic dance and running while aerobic sports include field sports such as football and soccer. Examples from the third level, muscular activity and flexibility activity, include gymnastics, weight lifting, stretching, and yoga. The rest level includes school work, home work, reading, computer games/TV/videos, eating, and sleep.

The levels are not value ordered. The Cooper pyramid is provided as a simple way to inform students and their parents of what activities promote a healthy lifestyle and that prevent problems associated with becoming overweight.

As might be expected, there has been pushback from parents and others concerning the Texas requirement. Harriet Brown’s popular blog, Brave Girl Eating, and the parent of a daughter diagnosed as anorexic suggest that an unintended consequence of the Texas law is to promote anorexia in school children. Others have warned that the test will damage the self-esteem of the children in that it amounts to a negative external motivator, fear of peer labeling and bullying to pressure school children to follow unproven “best practices” for maintaining or achieving health related physical fitness practices. Still others reported that schools should be spending scare resources on more academic pursuits.

The length of this blog is already beyond the MoneyWalker’s knowledge of how long a blog can hold the attention of his readers. A future blog will address the motivation issue. In the mean time, we applaud Louisiana’s effort to follow Texas’s lead in their effort to combat the rapidly growing problem of childhood and youth’s alarming propensity to be overweight.

MoneyWalker

Journal Entries: November 5, 2010 through November 10, 2010

Nov. 5: Weight = 175.8; Coinage = $2.09, 53 pennies, 2 nickels, 7 dimes, 3 quarters; 5 Glass bottles; 3 ground scores.

Nov. 6: weight = 173.6 lbs.; Coinage = $3.31, 56 pennies, 2 nickels, 9 dimes, 5 quarters (one super find and one wheat); ten glass bottles, 5 ground scores.

Nov. 7: Weight = 176.0 lbs.; Coinage = $6.17, 122 pennies, 17 nickels, 21 dimes, 8 quarters (two super finds including $1.75 in a newspaper coin return); one glass bottle; 8 ground scores.

Nov. 8: Weight – 175.2 lbs; Coinage = $4.52, 72 pennies, 9 nickels, 11 dimes, 9 quarters; four glass bottles; 3 ground scores (two more super finds).

Nov. 9: Weight = 174.4 lbs; Coinage = $3.95, 35 pennies, 2 nickels, 14 quarters (13 quarters provided by Jason at the Mid-City Car Wash as a donation to the Friendship House); 14 glass bottles.

Nov. 10: Weight = 174.0 lbs; Coinage = $2.10, 70 pennies, 3 nickels, 5 dimes, 3 quarters; 3 glass bottles; 5 ground scores.

Note, each of the six day reports above indicated a coinage total of $2.00 or more value, easily a MoneyWalker record.

MoneyWalker