Thursday July 30th, 2009 One more day left

I suppose I'll take my final end of "July" weight on Saturday. It will be okay if I miss 20 pounds because I am in so much better shape, I'm eating healthy, and I've lost inches anyway. I was thinking that I should set a modest goal for next month, but that just wouldn't be me. I know that I can increase my exercise and I'm in a real nice groove with my calorie intake. Sooo, we'll set a goal of another 20 more pounds in August.

Yesterday, I had my first "5" on my calorie scale. I ate all my meals, but they were completely within my calorie intake goal and my calorie burn rate was awesome. This morning I weighed in at 332.8. That's down from 350 at the beginning of July. I tend to be very muscular and I like that, so my ideal weight is 200-210. If I reached that goal in one year, it would be the same as the bariatric surgery claims of weight loss. And, that would be 250 pounds from November 2007. My calorie burn rate surley out paced my calorie intake by more than 3,500, but I did eat well today. Try Red Robin's veggie burger. It's that best I've tasted and they serve it on a whole wheat bun. Yumm.

This morning was rainy, so I held off my bike ride with DW. Around 10am I felt guilty and went to the gym. I will now try to hit the gym everyday or as much as humanly possible. While at the gym, I rode this "virtual" bike that had a screen in front of you and you get to ride with other virtual rider on different courses. It is so cool that it has horses, birds, and all kind of realistic scenery. It has different skill levels. When I used to ride it, I usually killed myself on "moderate." Today, I was feeling gutsy so I went for an "extreme" 10 mile ride. It was 80% up hill. Every time you thought you were at a crest, more hills would appear. I was completely drenched with sweat when I finished and thought I was done for the day. However, the sun came out in the afternoon and I called my buddy DW and scheduled a 4pm ride. We did 11 miles of up and down, but not as silly as the virtual bike. So, I rode 21 miles today. I need to use longer trails. If time permits, I would like to start hitting 40-50 mile trails this month.

I remember when I started this quest in April. I could barely make 5 laps in the pool and I could only ride about 2 miles. Now, I'm going to beef up and do no less than 66 laps in the pool, increase my weights and sets, and increase the miles on the bike. I am also going to start playing Frisbee golf up in the mountains and probably sneak some basketball in. And, of course, stay on the vegan diet and watch my calories. Soon, it will be football season and I can go out and "play" with my friends.

The Friday before the party July 24th 2009

Tomorrow is my little (6'4") brother's bachelor party. I'm going to have a good time, but I also want to keep him safe. Tomorrow night's post will most likely be through a text message. If I can get up early enough tomorrow, I'll try to swim and then I have a 10am mtn biking date. Today, I swam a mile (33 laps) in 45.2 minutes. It was after lunch and I just couldn't get my groove on. I really want to break 40.

Yesterday started out as a 4 on the food scale, but ended up a 3. I weighed 337.4 this morning. Again, either I'm retaining water from the nuts I ate yesterday or it's new muscle weight. My wife keeps telling me that my body is rapidly changing shape and I am losing inches from my waist, but I'm not losing as much weight as I wanted. I was hoping to lose 20 pounds this month, but I'll probably only lose 15. Of course, that's okay especially if I lose 10 to 15 pounds a month until I reach my goal weight. Once, before children, I was at my "ideal" weight (somewhere around 180), but I felt horrible. I tend to be pretty muscular, so I prefer 200 pounds. The most important thing to remember is a diet should be a change in thinking; a change in life style. I have to remember to look at my weight loss over the long run. I am determined to remain vegan for the rest of my life. Hopefully, it will be longer life than my life expectancy as a fat man.

I've done some research on vegetarians and vegans. Who said, "Nothing will benefit health or increase chances of survival on earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."? Answer: Albert Einstein. So was Abe Lincoln, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Doctor Benjamin Spock. Their are literally hundreds of famous vegetarians. However, vegans take it one step further and abstain from dairy products as well. Many stars and athletes are vegans. Just to name a few...Paul McCartney, Carl Lewis, Carrie Anne Moss (Matrix chick), Ellen Degeneres, Grace Slick, James Cromwell, Joaquin Phoenix, Moby (musician), Vanessa Williams, Pamela Anderson, Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Adams, and Weird Al Yankovic are all vegans. Side note: I actually met Weird Al in a vegan restaurant in Buffalo, New York. One of the "cheerleaders for the vegan diet is Kansas City Chief Tony Gonzales.

Thursday July 23, 2009

Today went well. I finally submitted my "Milk: The Perfect Drink?" article. It should be published next week. I believe I updated the previous post to the submitted state. I had some good help editing and formating the article until it really conveyed my hypothesis.

Every once in a while I run into friends that don't really understand vegan. It is a very strict diet, but not as bad as the post-bariatric surgery diet. The vegan diet is a little different than the vegan "life style" which includes a lot of political activism against cruelty to animals. It's not that I like what happens with farm animals, but it's just not my focus. My vegan diet consists of no meat of any kind including my favorite, Lobster. As opposed to vegetarians, vegans do not eat any dairy or byproducts. I also severely restrict my caffeine and alcohol. I don't eat anything with processed sugar or corn syrup and I don't eat bleached flour. Sounds strict, but it's actually quite easy if you shop at a good health food store. You would be surprised at how many vegan foods you can find in King Soopers. I do take special vitamins aimed towards vegetarians and vegans and I monitor my food ingredients closely. For instance, today I had fruit and nuts for breakfast; pinto beans, salsa, and corn chips for lunch; and finally, for dinner, a lot of veggie rich salad with vinaigrette, some rice, and lots of broccoli. No butter; however, I do have some vegan butter that is quite good, but it doesn't melt as easily as dairy butter. If I really need desert, I have some vegan oat and raisin cookies or even a vegan "ice cream" sandwich. If I want milk in my cereal, I use regular soy milk. It's all vegan and it makes you feel great.

This morning I had my oncologist appointment. I had some time before the appointment to workout. I knew I was going to cut it close, but I rode my bike on my favorite BC reservoir loop. I really put the metal to the peddle to make sure I could get back on time to take a quick shower. With that motivation I rode as hard and as fast as I could. I believe my previous benchmark for this ride was 1.22.24 hours. Today, I plugged out a 1.04.10 hour time. It was a pretty serious 11.13 miles of hills and I feel it now. Tomorrow morning I'll swim some more laps and work out my upper torso with weight training. The oncologist appointment went as well as could be expected. My platelet count still hovers around 70-80,000. No real problem as long as I stay above 50,000. I did get my monthly B-12 shot.

I was tired this afternoon and needed to chill (aka. nap) for about an hour. I would still say my mental health is good. Probably a 4 out of 5. My calorie intake was fair yesterday. I'd give it a 4 out of 5. This morning I weighed in at 337.2 before my bike ride. As usual, I lost 1.2 pounds of water weight on the ride. I suppose that you could double that if I didn't push water so much during the ride. Boy, it was hot out there this morning. I have lost about 14 pounds this month, but I'm as concerned with my weight because I'm still building some great muscle tone. I'm actually caught up tonight. Maybe I'll watch an hour of "on demand."

Early Afternoon Post 7-16-09

Woke up and weighed in at 338.4 pounds. I knew I shouldn't have eaten so many salty pistachios and last night's salad bar my have been too much. All vegan, but still. My new scale for food quality and quantity is still 1 to 5, but now the bar has been raised due to the vegan diet. Taking for granted that I'm eating vegan, the new scale will measure volume. Yesterday was a 3.

This morning's bike ride was intense. Assume you're ideal weight; now strap on or pull an extra 150 pounds. That's me. The sun was blistering bright, but the temperature was only a dry and windy 85 degrees. I rode to and around the 11.38 mile Bear Creek Reservoir trail. Deadly lifts, but rewarding downhills. Earlier this morning, I ate a bowl of bran cereal (with soy milk) and drank some water. I drank a bottle of gaderaid and some water on the ride and weighed 337.00 pounds when I returned home. I set the benchmark for the ride time at 1.22.24 hours. An average speed of 9.3 MPH. I can live with that. I may go lift weights with my son after I return from the doctor.

I'm going to add a new measurement here. I think mental health is so important that I will rate my mood on a 1 to 5 scale. Considering the pending doctor's visit, I would still give me a 4. I feel pretty darn good.

Early post: July 13th, 2009

The biopsy infection has slowed me down a bit, but I still went and worked out my upper body this morning. Knee is a little stiff. I'm not sure why, but I have to see the doc for a follow up tomorrow anyway. Yesterday was a bit better with diet. Definitely a "4" on the 1-5 diet quality scale. My family had kind of a New England clam and crab bake last night and I did try one mussel (I won't miss them). I did eat a healthy portion of corn on the cob (no butter, but I could have used the soy butter) and some small potato's.

I realize that it's possible to deprive the body of nutrients with a vegan diet, so I'm carefully monitoring my food and vitamin intake. I am consulting with my primary care physician, cardiologist, and my oncologist. Between the three of them, I have fairly regular and frequent blood labs. If you decide to try vegan, do your homework. Don't let a new life style derail your progress.

My weight this morning was 339.6 pounds. I have lost 10.4 pounds in the last 15 days. Prior to starting the blog 15 days ago, I was on a regular "count calories" diet and I was already exercising and very slowly losing weight, so I know my continued weight loss is not water or muscle. The vegan diet is not only shedding the weight, but I also physically feel better. I'm burning pure fat baby!

Friday July 10th 2009

Today was a productive day. I got an infection in my biopsy wound, but I went and got some antibiotics, so it's fine. Managed to finish my writing with time to hit the gym for an hour and then rush downtown to teach the mixed kids lesson. It was fun as usual. It's nice to see your work in action. After the museum, I went with my son to Quizno's and had a small veg sandwich with Jalapeños and vinaigrette on whole wheat bread. Tasted great and no dairy, no meat. This mornings weight was 341.2.

As each day passes, I start leaning away from surgery. I am still a strong proponent of bariatric surgery because it literally saves lives. Super morbidly obese people wear out their organs and bodies because of the strain of all that weight. They need the bariatic tool to be successful in the long run. Maybe I'll need to reconsider it, but for now I think I'm eating great; feeling great; and losing lots of weight quickly. Personally, I find the idea of being a vegan for the rest of my life more appealing than my diet after surgery. I'm fairly confident that I will lose 20 pounds this month. I think I can lose another 40 before the holiday's. That's better than I expected from surgery. I will continue this vegan journey until I'm sure it will stick and, in the mean time, I'm going to delay my surgery.

July 9th 2009 quick notes

I should have rated Tuesday and Wednesday as 4's on the food intake quality because they were pure vegan. Today will also be a 4. A 5 may be achievable when I get used to the new diet. However, maybe yesterday was a 5 since I ate every meal and had fruit snacks and still lost a pound! That may sound like a lot, but it's only .0029% of my body weight. It would be real cool if I lost 20 pounds in July. Especially because it would be done without diet pills or starvation. Speaking of exercise, today I only swam the mile, but did it in 41.28 minutes! Very tired now. The pool will be closed for three days for a big swim meet, so it will be biking and weight lifting for the weekend. This mornings weight was 342.2.

Super killer day

Kind of quick notes: Slept good last night. Today was marathon day. I am genuinely exhausted. This morning, in 90 degree sunny weather, I rode my bike up BCR, then down the mountain trail and back up to the top. 9 miles that felt like 20. I was out riding for 1.45 hours. Did some chores, wrote July 10th's lesson plan for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, then went swimming. Swam a mile in 44 minutes flat. Very tired. Second full day of vegan. It's really not that hard. It maybe an alternative to bariatric surgery. I won't schedule a surgery date until after the end of the month. I want to see how much I've lost by then. The restrictive diet you have to be on for the rest of your life with the surgery is harder than vegan. I prefer the soy milk, fake cheddar, yummy bread, and the ??? butter. I've used agave nectar as a sweetener for a long time, so that's not hard. I ate three great meals and had some fruit in between. Drank lots of water and one non- sweetened Gatorade today. Weighed in at 343.2 this morning.

I think I'll do so more research and write an article on dairy products. The "Skinny Bastard" book was a grizzly start, but I want to explore the benefits of a dairy free diet. Other than animal flesh and fat, dairy seems to be my personal weakness. Not milk. I hate milk. But cheese, sour cream and, OMG, ice cream! After reading their book I realized how horrible my "healthy," balanced diet was. I feel like I will greatly improve my weight loss with this vegan life change. My PCP said he tried to be a vegetarian when he was in Berkley (ha, ha, ha) and he said most of his veg friends were not thin (munchies), but the elimination of dairy is the key... I think After all, I am the Obesity Warrior! I need a chant or something. Like Tim the tool man. Huh, huh, huh. Not very convincing. Ho ho ho. Now, I'm Santa.

First Vegan day

Quick notes: Had mole removed this morning. Could not swim and it got too hot to ride, so I'll have to make up for it in the morning. Yesterday should have been a 3, but it felt like a 2 on the quality/quantity scale. Weighed in at 344.4. No biggy.

Stayed up and read through most of the "Skinny Bastard" book. It is the strongest argument I have ever heard for Vegan. In a nutshell, due to the horrible steroids, antibiotics, other crap they give animals, and the way meat for mass consumption lives and dies, you should NOT eat anything with a face or it's byproducts. Also, quit caffeine, processed sugars, and all liquor except for the occasional red wine without sulfides.

That's really not too hard for me. I don't drink caffeine (other than the occasional iced tea), and I hardly ever drink. I've never liked milk. But I do love butter and sweets, so those are areas of concern and diligence. I was so horrified and upset about what I read in the bastard book that I went to the book store for a vegan cookbook (the one for dummies) and bought vegan supplies at the health food store. I was 100% vegan today and I liked it! Can't wait to see how it effects my weight.