Maybe This is the One

Hi Readers!

It's November. And that means we are nigh on another Thanksgiving (aka, the Great Turkey Holocaust).

Perhaps this will be the one where you finally eschew eating meat, and instead focus on the variety of healthier plant based food options you can substitute for it very easily? If you want to give it a go, but find it hard to break with the meat eating tradition of the holiday, consider eating vegan "turkey." There are a lot of great meat substitutes out there these days. [I like the Gardein Turk'y Roast a great deal.]

As a reminder, eating meat is toxic physically, mentally, and spiritually. Unfortunately, the consequences tend to be karmic and happen down the road a piece, when it's far too late to undo the damage. I put forth this post every year as a PSA reminder and wellness challenge for any and all who want to participate.

But, it's your body (mind and soul) and your choice.

In any case, have a superb day!

Resolves

It's the final week of 2022, which means it is time to contemplate Resolutions for the New Year.

Most of mine are mostly the same: Practice Dark Magic*; learn languages (mainly Spanish, but also Welsh) using the DuoLingo app; five minutes of upper body weight training daily; reading daily; writing daily; and practicing music at least weekly.

I'm adding a Resolution to take online continuing education courses for personal development (I already do this for professional development, as mandated by my job). I'm going to mainly use the Coursera app (free online classes) for this, but may also use the Udemy app (not free, but very inexpensive, online classes).

The End.

*Note: Dark Magic comprises daily exercise and mild caloric restriction, in the context of a plant based vegan diet, toward health and wellness goals (mainly weight loss, but also feeling great and sleeping great).

Study

I came across this new study: https://scitechdaily.com/remarkable-weight-loss-study-finds-new-benefits-of-a-plant-based-diet/.

I'll just leave it here for you.

Happy Holidays!

Officially Normal BMI

For about the past week, my BMI has been officially in the "normal weight" range (<25). For my gender and height, that's 189 pounds or under. It's the first time in my adult life that I've weighed this little. And of course it's attributable to my whole food, plant based vegan diet and regular exercise. So, there's little chance of anyone else being able to achieve my remarkable results themselves, because most people won't eat this way or exercise. But my method works and it's simple. I'd write a book about it, but it would be under a page long. Bye.

Addicted to Smart Cycling

I got up this morning at 7:30 AM so that I could do a couple of virtual bike rides. The first one was on the Rouvy virtual cycling app. I rode just over 16 miles through the Aorangi Reserve - Greymouth, New Zealand. It was a race I had joined earlier in the week, kicking off at 8 AM this morning. Although I wasn't there to win, I pounded out that route in about 56 minutes, allowing me about 4 minutes to transition over to the RGT virtual cycling app for a 9 AM social group ride through the Lake District of the UK. I think that ride was just over 23 miles and I did it in about an hour and 15 minutes. I got a bit of a late start because I had to change devices between the rides (tablet to smartphone + laptop) and I forgot to disconnect the Bluetooth on the first device from the smart trainer, so the second device wasn't connected. So, I am in RGT, pedaling away, and basically going nowhere as everyone else took off, until I figured out my biff. I caught up to some people and we had a pretty nice virtual draft line going. Anyway, I burned something like 1,500 calories biking pretty hard for over 2 hours this morning. My knees and legs were pretty sore. It's awesome that I can bike all over the world from the comfort of my finished basement. I highly endorse indoor smart cycling for anyone who likes biking and lives in a place where weather prevents outdoor riding for part of the year. I mainly do it so I can justify eating more food. It's fantastic exercise though and really gives me a nice endorphin boost.

A Fortnight of Fitness: Day 12

Deborah and I are in the home stretch of our fortnight of fitness, to follow a plant-based, whole food diet for two weeks and measure the health effects: objectively, weight and blood pressure; subjectively, mood and overall well-being.

I'll cut to the chase. My weight on the morning of Day 12 was 214 pounds. This was up a pound from Day 11, but it is important to note that my weight was 222 pounds when I began this fortnight-long challenge. My blood pressure on the evening of Day 12 was 118/70. My blood pressure has been variable during this challenge, but this is on the very low end of measured values. At its peak, my BP was around 130/80. I cannot say with certainty that the precision of the Walgreens brand home BP monitor that we are using allows me to call this change in BP statistically significant, but I am happy with the current numbers.

My mood has been generally good. I have some anxiety, but I believe this is due to starting my second challenging semester of graduate school tonight, and nothing to do with my lifestyle changes. Since returning from vacation a couple weeks ago, I have felt a little bit bored and unsatisfied with life, but this is because I have not had enough activities to focus my brain energy on and studying should remedy that. Additionally, January and February in Wisconsin are notoriously brutal months for getting outdoors, which enhances my mood. However, I will continue to track my mood and see. In February, I have February Album Writing Month to preoccupy my creativity through to March, when I hope my rock-n-roll band GUPPY EFFECT will start to play some shows again.

KEYWORDS: healthy lifestyle, health and wellness, vegan diet, best weight loss diet, lifestyle coaching

A Fortnight of Fitness: Day 11

After a decent gym workout yesterday that included 45 minutes of aerobics and several laps of swimming, Deborah and I attended the Well Expo downtown and ended up spending too much money on stuff we only marginally maybe need (most notably some vegan protein powder for our morning smoothies).

My weight has stabilized at 113 pounds, where it has been for the past three days of the challenge. I'd like to knock it under 210 before this challenge ends in three days. My blood pressure has dropped way down, however, to 109/67. I'd like to measure my cholesterol and blood sugar after completion of this challenge, if I can finegle it with my doctor's office...

KEYWORDS: lifestyle coaching, health and wellness, vegan diet, best weight loss diet, losing weight

A Fortnight of Fitness: Day 10

Deborah and I are 10 days into the fortnight of fitness - to follow a plant-based, whole food (vegan) diet for two weeks. There is no caloric restriction on this diet, only that no artificial or animal-based foods may be (knowingly) eaten. We are objectively tracking weight and blood pressure, and subjectively tracking general well being and mood.

The dietary part is not that hard and we have been 100% compliant, to the best of our knowledge. Although there is no requirement to exercise during this challenge, I have gone to the gym every day (I think), and Deborah has gone most days.

I forgot to measure my blood pressure yesterday, but that was the only day I missed. Today I had a doctor's appointment where my blood pressure was 122/76. I measured it again before bed on our home blood pressure meter for consistency with prior measurements and got 117/65, definitely trending lower.

On the left is a graph showing my 10 day weight loss thus far on the diet. The trend is downward, as you can see.

KEYWORDS: health and wellness, best weight loss diet, lifestyle coaching, vegan diet, whole food diet

A Fortnight of Fitness: Day 9

I weighed in at 213 pounds this morning, a substantial two pound drop from my Day 8 weight. I attribute this to an hour long gym workout on Day 8 that included weight lifting, as well as nominal caloric intake (though at no point in the day did I feel hungry).

Blood pressure was not measured today.

KEYWORDS: lifestyle coaching, health and wellness, weight loss, best weight loss diet, vegan diet

A Fortnight of Fitness: Day 8

After a week of this, I guess you know the drill by now.

Weight was down to 215 pounds today, from 216 on Day 7. Blood pressure was 120/77 at bedtime. Not bad.

I worked out at the gym for about an hour today. I was 100% compliant on the plant-based, whole food diet and did not over eat.

KEYWORDS: vegan diet, plant based diet, whole food diet, best weight loss diet, health and wellness

A Fortnight of Fitness: Day 5

My weight was 216 pounds this morning, Day 5 of the fortnight long fitness challenge I am doing with my wife - to follow a plant-based, whole food diet for two weeks. This weight measurement was unchanged from Day 4 of the challenge. However, this is actually a good thing, because I had expected it to go up as a consequence of a greater than usual calorie intake on Day 4. You see, this is my officially recognized birthday weekend, and although we stuck to the dietary protocol, I indulged in a significant number of blue corn chips (whole grain blue corn, salt, and safflower oil) and deluxe mixed nuts (roasted and salted) on Day 4. That said, we also went to the gym, where I burned at least 600 calories on the exercise bike. But enough about Day 4...this is my Day 5 summary.

After the weigh in, I made a breakfast of oatmeal with half a banana, about 20 grapes, and some unsweetened almond milk (my usual breakfast on this challenge). We went to the gym about noon, where I burned around 600 calories on the bike. For lunch, I ate leftovers - vegan chili and some pinto beans with brown rice. I spent most of the afternoon rehearsing songs for my band GUPPY EFFECT's performance at Funk's Pub later in the evening. Before heading to the show, I ate a baked potato that Deborah had made, seasoned only with a bit of salt. At the pub, the smells of restaurant food made me hungry, but I did not succumb. We drank water and that's all. However, when we got home, I sauteed some vegetables (3/4 of a potato, a medium sized zucchini, half an onion, and some celery) in olive oil with some herbs and spices.

My blood pressure was 110/67 before bedtime, reclining. Nice.

A Fortnight of Fitness: Days 3 and 4

Due to a number of other endeavors, I did not record an entry on Day 3 of this fitness challenge to follow a plant-based, whole food diet for a fortnight, along with my wife Deborah. So, I am combining both entries today, which is Day 4 of the challenge, officially.

My mood is elevated. This may be due to the fact that my Day 4 body weight (216 pounds) is down three pounds from my Day 3 body weight (219 pounds) and, additionally, that my culinary attempts proved more flavorful on Day 3. I made pinto beans, mildly spiced, and brown rice for dinner, using dried raw pinto beans instead of canned. I also baked potatoes for Deborah and me and they tasted fine without any seasoning. Once the potato cools, some subtle flavors come out in the starch and skin that you don't notice when you load the potato full of butter and salt.

This challenge does not require any caloric restriction, so we can eat as much food as we want, as long as it is plant-based whole food. However, I have noticed that I don't crave food and don't over eat on this diet. This could be due in part to the increased effort involved in the preparation and consumption of this type of food (what I refer to as "chewy" or "grainy" food), but that can't be the only explanation. Indeed, I prepared enough pinto beans and rice for several servings, but felt no compulsion to eat more than one. I have an initial hypothesis, which will need to be borne out, that the nutritional profile of this kind of food is satisfying all of my body's metabolic needs, thereby activating the satiation sensors of my digestive tract and brain.

My blood pressure was 126/72, down significantly from yesterday. I was somewhat stressed yesterday, due to the aforementioned endeavors I was pursuing, so that may explain some of the change. Today is a Saturday and I have nothing significant on my TO DO LIST, other than to get to the gym for a moderate workout and perhaps work on some music, in anticipation of a possible rock-n-roll set with my band GUPPY EFFECT on Sunday night.

This morning, I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal and unsweetened almond milk, adding banana (half), grapes (20), and raw cashews (10). Deborah also made smoothies in the food processor, using frozen fruit, cinnamon, unsweetened almond milk, and oats. They were not bad, albeit a little bit "grainy."

KEYWORDS: weight loss, whole food diet, healthy diet, weight loss, blood pressure