Well now Peg wrote a comment congratulating Barb and I on our weight loss program. But she raised the question of "what about the exercise program?" Well dear friend, the exercise program is something else indeed. We went out on a beautiful Spring day and (ahem) drove around the neighborhood to map out a one mile course. And we did find a nice route that measured somewhere between 0.9 and 1.0 miles .... close enough. The weather turned mean and snarly so that has been put on hold. We do have a treadmill at home and that represents another tale to tell.
Since we both have knee problems... I with both mine replaced and Barb with a split meniscus in her knee, so you can see that we want to ease into anything of that kind. Me, being the older, decided to test the treadmill first. So I decided to take it in 5 minute bites.. after all Romans weren't built in a day ya know. I got onto the tread and turned the machine on at the slowest possible speed. I looked and felt like Gary Cooper walking into Dodge at High Noon. Anyway that proved to be toooo slow. I only walked something like a quarter mile and burned all of four calories. The next time I cranked it up a notch as Emeril says and got a slight bit further and burned all of 10 calories.
Sooo I have got to ease this baby up to where I am walking for a half hour and covering a real honest-to-god mile.
In the meantime, I am swinging my dumbbells around like a champ. The first day I did three sets of 5 reps each for the waist, chest, arms and shoulders. This way I can re-build those muscles that I originally awakened some sixty years ago. The idea being that they will help me burn calories even when I am sleeping. At least this is what the internet Gurus tell me. The second day I increased to 3 sets of 10 reps and I died. Too fast, too soon. Luke tells me that I should do stretches before I made that comitment to kill myself. He is right I was so sore the next day that I decided to start all over at 5 reps per set... aaaah much better.
Anyway to sum it all up.... after 21 days on this diet and so-called exercise program I have lost
12 pounds and an inch or so around my... circumference. Too soon to call it a waist for now.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
And the beat goes on....
Well folks... the beat goes on.. I hope you notice the larger darker print... cousin weak-eyes here is getting weaker. And that is probably because I have been working on my financial records over the last week or so. Now that the weather is getting warmer and I can spend more time out-doors I suspect that my sight will improve since I will be able to focus on things over a long distance. Right now I can't tell male from female at a hundred paces unless they stand sideways and I remember where the bumps are supposed to be.
During that same period, we have been on a diet program from a book titled something like..."The 17 Day Diet" by a guy named Mike Moreno.
I couldn't tell you what was in it because I just eat what Barb puts in front of me. And you can bet I eat it all because it isn't much.
As I have said more about this in the previous two posts, I won't beat this into the ground. But I would like to report that following this diet restulted in a loss of 10 pounds for each of us after the 17 days. This is interesting in itself because when we tried the south beach diet, we lost a different amount for each for the same number of days. Anyway, the diet is working well and I can safely say that I am down just about 12 pounds now for twenty days and I will definitely take the half pound a day rate for the time being. Of course I don't want this to continue forever or my forever will be up in about a year and a half. And I will disappear....poof.. at zero pounds.
During that same period, we have been on a diet program from a book titled something like..."The 17 Day Diet" by a guy named Mike Moreno.
I couldn't tell you what was in it because I just eat what Barb puts in front of me. And you can bet I eat it all because it isn't much.
As I have said more about this in the previous two posts, I won't beat this into the ground. But I would like to report that following this diet restulted in a loss of 10 pounds for each of us after the 17 days. This is interesting in itself because when we tried the south beach diet, we lost a different amount for each for the same number of days. Anyway, the diet is working well and I can safely say that I am down just about 12 pounds now for twenty days and I will definitely take the half pound a day rate for the time being. Of course I don't want this to continue forever or my forever will be up in about a year and a half. And I will disappear....poof.. at zero pounds.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Today
Well folks... I did not lie, I did not die but I did not try to write a post for about almost two weeks. My whole consciousness was taken up by this diet and my adventures in preparing for income tax time. More about that later.
Since I promised to report on the progress in the modern Battle of the Bulge, I can proudly report that this adventure began on Mar. 3, the day after Mardi Gras... appropriately known as 'Fat Tuesday', I registered 259. Now this is a modest 8 pounds in eleven days, so I was beginning to become a believer. Actually, I have to use weight as a measure because I never measured my waist size ... at the time it wasn't a waist it was a girth and we didn't have a tape measure large enough. But anyway, I have cut my way though so much vegetation that I feel like George of the Jungle.
Aha but we have made concessions already. On Sunday, we drive, not walk or run forbid, to Panera Bread where we sit in plush easy chairs beside the gas fire log in the neat fireplace they have for good customers like us. We luxouriate by slowly consuming a bacon, cheese and egg sandwich on chiabatta bread. This is then washed down by a large cup of their good coffee with hazelnut creamer... just visualize that. This allows us to forget the boa constrictor of a diet that had us in its clutches all week. And with this downtime we can solve all the problems of the universe.. in our heads that is.
During that same time, I decided to put all the financial data that I had for last year into "Quicken" which is a financial software spread sheet. But that may have to be a story for next time since I hear the dinner bell and I don't dare miss my turn at the table... little things mean a lot.
Since I promised to report on the progress in the modern Battle of the Bulge, I can proudly report that this adventure began on Mar. 3, the day after Mardi Gras... appropriately known as 'Fat Tuesday', I registered 259. Now this is a modest 8 pounds in eleven days, so I was beginning to become a believer. Actually, I have to use weight as a measure because I never measured my waist size ... at the time it wasn't a waist it was a girth and we didn't have a tape measure large enough. But anyway, I have cut my way though so much vegetation that I feel like George of the Jungle.
Aha but we have made concessions already. On Sunday, we drive, not walk or run forbid, to Panera Bread where we sit in plush easy chairs beside the gas fire log in the neat fireplace they have for good customers like us. We luxouriate by slowly consuming a bacon, cheese and egg sandwich on chiabatta bread. This is then washed down by a large cup of their good coffee with hazelnut creamer... just visualize that. This allows us to forget the boa constrictor of a diet that had us in its clutches all week. And with this downtime we can solve all the problems of the universe.. in our heads that is.
During that same time, I decided to put all the financial data that I had for last year into "Quicken" which is a financial software spread sheet. But that may have to be a story for next time since I hear the dinner bell and I don't dare miss my turn at the table... little things mean a lot.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Real Battle of the Bulge
Well folks.. I have decided to write on the fitness craze that is of interest at least to us here in the United States by telling you my own personal tale of...."The Battle of the Bulge". I have mentioned here and on my Facebook page the amazing job that Luke has done with his interest in the BeachBody program. In the first 90 days he has lost over 70 pounds and reduced his body fat to a meager 7%. So when Barbara came home and announced that we were going on a 17 day diet to lose weight I agreed, of course, since there are only two of us and she was the cook. So for approximately the next 3 weeks I will report on the progress that I have made in this insane battle to do more with less.
First, I had to take stock of myself. Most people take a before and after picture. I considered that and immediately rejected the thought because there was no way to touch up the picture and flatter myself as motivation to keep on with this silly idea .....so I just decided to go with the numbers. At age 79 after both knee replacements and a double by-pass this didn't seem like a good idea but anyway... Onward and Upward
First step was the scale... ugly really ugly. The 'survey said' 267 pounds buck naked. Now that wouldn't be too bad if I were 6' 2" but unfortunately I am 5'2" with eyes of blue so I just knew that I had a long way to go and 17 days wouldn't do it. But I decided to be a good soldier and GO FOR IT. My body mass index would put a Texas steer to shame so I plain ignored whatever my % body fat would be. And I started day number 1.
Breakfast consisted of two eggs and an orange along with the juice of one half lemon. The eggs must have come from a pigeon or a bantam rooster at least but the lemon originally was of good size. I squeezed the lemon into a cup of green tea and it wasn't half bad... the half that was green tea that is. I followed that up with a cup of water and two cups of coffee with a little milk and a packet of Stevia. The rest of the day was green tea(3 more cups) and finally a cup of water before bedtime. That's 7 cups of liquid and that was as close as I got to the obligatory 8 cups. But ah then the lunch and dinner.
Lunch was a salad.... a wonderful medley of greens and reds and yellows and the like. But it seemed to be endless. I was lost in a forest of lettuce and fetta bits and other nameless items that must have tested Barbara's cullinary skills to the limit. But that was nothing compared to dinner.
The good news was a nice chunk of salmon. The bad new was those hairy green hunks of vegetables along side it. But with grit and determination and Barbara looking over at me from time to time I managed to get it down and turned around to look for mycongratulatory scoop of ice cream. Viola! nothing. Somehow I will survive.
Now on to the exercise program. Fortunately I decided to start with 3-pound weights. This seemed like a piece of cake since I used to work out with 15-pound weights and lift barbells in the 100-200 pound class. But that was 60 years ago. Thee pounders as it turned out were more than enough challenge. But the real obstacle was the treadmill.
I decided to start slow. I put the motor on the lowest setting and started up the platform. It was like a Texas gunfighter walking into town at high noon. After 5 minutes of this torture, I shut it down and realized that my legs had been really strained after years of sitting on my ... computer chair. I managed to burn 4 calories and progressed a whole .01 mile in that five minutes. So I decided to call it Day One and crawled upstairs on four limbs and immediately crashed.
The next day dawned with the sun shining and all that and I weighed myself. Yippee I had lost 2 and a half pounds. Somehow it seemed all worth it as I plodded down the stairs to another breakfast of eggs and mushrooms. (to be continued).
First, I had to take stock of myself. Most people take a before and after picture. I considered that and immediately rejected the thought because there was no way to touch up the picture and flatter myself as motivation to keep on with this silly idea .....so I just decided to go with the numbers. At age 79 after both knee replacements and a double by-pass this didn't seem like a good idea but anyway... Onward and Upward
First step was the scale... ugly really ugly. The 'survey said' 267 pounds buck naked. Now that wouldn't be too bad if I were 6' 2" but unfortunately I am 5'2" with eyes of blue so I just knew that I had a long way to go and 17 days wouldn't do it. But I decided to be a good soldier and GO FOR IT. My body mass index would put a Texas steer to shame so I plain ignored whatever my % body fat would be. And I started day number 1.
Breakfast consisted of two eggs and an orange along with the juice of one half lemon. The eggs must have come from a pigeon or a bantam rooster at least but the lemon originally was of good size. I squeezed the lemon into a cup of green tea and it wasn't half bad... the half that was green tea that is. I followed that up with a cup of water and two cups of coffee with a little milk and a packet of Stevia. The rest of the day was green tea(3 more cups) and finally a cup of water before bedtime. That's 7 cups of liquid and that was as close as I got to the obligatory 8 cups. But ah then the lunch and dinner.
Lunch was a salad.... a wonderful medley of greens and reds and yellows and the like. But it seemed to be endless. I was lost in a forest of lettuce and fetta bits and other nameless items that must have tested Barbara's cullinary skills to the limit. But that was nothing compared to dinner.
The good news was a nice chunk of salmon. The bad new was those hairy green hunks of vegetables along side it. But with grit and determination and Barbara looking over at me from time to time I managed to get it down and turned around to look for mycongratulatory scoop of ice cream. Viola! nothing. Somehow I will survive.
Now on to the exercise program. Fortunately I decided to start with 3-pound weights. This seemed like a piece of cake since I used to work out with 15-pound weights and lift barbells in the 100-200 pound class. But that was 60 years ago. Thee pounders as it turned out were more than enough challenge. But the real obstacle was the treadmill.
I decided to start slow. I put the motor on the lowest setting and started up the platform. It was like a Texas gunfighter walking into town at high noon. After 5 minutes of this torture, I shut it down and realized that my legs had been really strained after years of sitting on my ... computer chair. I managed to burn 4 calories and progressed a whole .01 mile in that five minutes. So I decided to call it Day One and crawled upstairs on four limbs and immediately crashed.
The next day dawned with the sun shining and all that and I weighed myself. Yippee I had lost 2 and a half pounds. Somehow it seemed all worth it as I plodded down the stairs to another breakfast of eggs and mushrooms. (to be continued).
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Guilty or Not
Hello again Folks. I have been out of town enjoying some down time with my friends in the Sabian Assembly. When I got back, I felt guilty about not writing something up in my Blog. So as I sat down to correct that and I reflected on the idea of Guilt or Guiltiness as the case may be. Where did that idea come from? Is it born in us or did we invent that concept perhaps to flagellate ourselves to better effort(whatever that may be). So I did some research.
The dictionary definition which was traditional sent me to the Bible and Numbers, chapter 5. And here there was the old idea of sin being a missing of the mark or a deviation from some standard. Moses was to instruct the priests who in turn elaborately laid the guilt on the sinner and extracted a material penalty from the sinner. Which incidentally became the property of the priest since after all, God could have nothing to do with material things.
Next I asked myself... is there any survival value to something like a sense of guilt? Because if there were survival value then the sense of guilt would be innate and it would have evolved over the millenia. But guilt, unlike fear, did not seem to have survival value. So I had to conclude that guilt represented a survival value only to the community and not necessarily to the individual. For example. If I stole something from some other man, or woman for that matter, it would give me pleasure or satisfaction of some sort. However, it would cause a sense of loss in the other person. Soooo the sense of guilt and the state of guiltiness appears to be a man-made concept to protect man's property.
While I had my nose in the Bible, I looked at the Ten Commandments as a whole. And I thought I saw a pattern. It appears that the first five commandments describe the existence and omnipetence of God and the second five describe the respect for man's property. In biblical times property consisted of a man's women, his children, his animals, his tents wagons and other equipment.
Curiously enough, in today's lexicon this concept extends to women, children, animals, the environment and the like. In other words a respect for the personality of all living things.
The dictionary definition which was traditional sent me to the Bible and Numbers, chapter 5. And here there was the old idea of sin being a missing of the mark or a deviation from some standard. Moses was to instruct the priests who in turn elaborately laid the guilt on the sinner and extracted a material penalty from the sinner. Which incidentally became the property of the priest since after all, God could have nothing to do with material things.
Next I asked myself... is there any survival value to something like a sense of guilt? Because if there were survival value then the sense of guilt would be innate and it would have evolved over the millenia. But guilt, unlike fear, did not seem to have survival value. So I had to conclude that guilt represented a survival value only to the community and not necessarily to the individual. For example. If I stole something from some other man, or woman for that matter, it would give me pleasure or satisfaction of some sort. However, it would cause a sense of loss in the other person. Soooo the sense of guilt and the state of guiltiness appears to be a man-made concept to protect man's property.
While I had my nose in the Bible, I looked at the Ten Commandments as a whole. And I thought I saw a pattern. It appears that the first five commandments describe the existence and omnipetence of God and the second five describe the respect for man's property. In biblical times property consisted of a man's women, his children, his animals, his tents wagons and other equipment.
Curiously enough, in today's lexicon this concept extends to women, children, animals, the environment and the like. In other words a respect for the personality of all living things.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Home Alone... and I am not 5 years old either
Well Barbara has left me alone for about nine days. When people ask, I blythely say "she has gone to Heaven". But before they can express their sorrows, I tell them that heaven is Palm Springs and she is having the time of her life. She is visiting her daughter, Mary, and my old friends Phyllis and Dan Reynolds who have been living there for about 3 years are planning on showing them all the good spots. After a harrowing 11 hour trip due to delays in connection at LA, Barb has settled in to the delights of fruit trees scattered around for anyone to pick and real snow-capped mountains only a couple of miles away. And best of all temperatures in the 60's and 70's which are no challenge to a gal whose blood has been thickened in New England most of her life.
With all the conditioning of a lifetime as mother and wife, Barb left me with a refrigerator full of packaged food for the next nine days. She made sure that three jugs of green tea were cooled in our outside refrigerator, namely the garage and finally a can of coffee and filters should I get a hankering for a fix of caffeine. But this lead to a series of adventures for this old city boy.
Now there have been times in my life when I had to resort to frozen dinners for my sustenance. But pre-cooked and packaged in aluminum foil and whatever are a challenge I was not prepared for. So this is what happened step by step and up the learning curve we go.
Removing the aluminum foil and the Saran wrap was merely child's play but now I come to find that the food was firmly stuck to the paper plate that it was placed on.`
Brute force did no good because that just resulted in more or less paper shreds sticking to the pile of food itself. So then let me just put it in the microwave and heat it for a few minutes.... result.. a smaller snowball and the paper still stuck on but more peelable. Ugh.. remove more of the paper and flip the food and back into the microwave for another couple of minutes...now it is fairly pliable but still pretty cool. Ok so it is a real challenge. Back into the microwave for five minutes this time. Wallah! Now it is completely heated, in fact hot as hell. But that is what the very cold ice tea is for.. to keep my tongue from blistering.
Now I can sit down to dinner. No problem except this one long shred of paper I kept chewing on before I realized what it was and also the lesson that meat tends to get very well done even in the microwave.
This is what I learned on the second day. I left the uncovered plate on the counter for a half hour before I attempted to unbuckle the food from the paper plate. Aha this time most of it came off. And there was only a golf ball sized snowball in the middle of the food. So I put it in for three minutes and stirred it when I took it out... looked pretty good so I put it back in for another three minutes.
Success at last except that the broccoli didn't taste the same somehow as when Barb makes it for me straight up.
But the paper was kept to a trifling minimum.
Now today I plan on unwrapping the meal and placing it on a towel on the counter for about a half hour... this should do a better job of defrosting and allow the paper to peel off 100% and result in a consistency that will allow for stirring or mixing at an earlier stage. Then I can put it in the microwave for only three minutes and eat a warm meal with out making it into shoe leather. If that does not work then Burger King here I come...
With all the conditioning of a lifetime as mother and wife, Barb left me with a refrigerator full of packaged food for the next nine days. She made sure that three jugs of green tea were cooled in our outside refrigerator, namely the garage and finally a can of coffee and filters should I get a hankering for a fix of caffeine. But this lead to a series of adventures for this old city boy.
Now there have been times in my life when I had to resort to frozen dinners for my sustenance. But pre-cooked and packaged in aluminum foil and whatever are a challenge I was not prepared for. So this is what happened step by step and up the learning curve we go.
Removing the aluminum foil and the Saran wrap was merely child's play but now I come to find that the food was firmly stuck to the paper plate that it was placed on.`
Brute force did no good because that just resulted in more or less paper shreds sticking to the pile of food itself. So then let me just put it in the microwave and heat it for a few minutes.... result.. a smaller snowball and the paper still stuck on but more peelable. Ugh.. remove more of the paper and flip the food and back into the microwave for another couple of minutes...now it is fairly pliable but still pretty cool. Ok so it is a real challenge. Back into the microwave for five minutes this time. Wallah! Now it is completely heated, in fact hot as hell. But that is what the very cold ice tea is for.. to keep my tongue from blistering.
Now I can sit down to dinner. No problem except this one long shred of paper I kept chewing on before I realized what it was and also the lesson that meat tends to get very well done even in the microwave.
This is what I learned on the second day. I left the uncovered plate on the counter for a half hour before I attempted to unbuckle the food from the paper plate. Aha this time most of it came off. And there was only a golf ball sized snowball in the middle of the food. So I put it in for three minutes and stirred it when I took it out... looked pretty good so I put it back in for another three minutes.
Success at last except that the broccoli didn't taste the same somehow as when Barb makes it for me straight up.
But the paper was kept to a trifling minimum.
Now today I plan on unwrapping the meal and placing it on a towel on the counter for about a half hour... this should do a better job of defrosting and allow the paper to peel off 100% and result in a consistency that will allow for stirring or mixing at an earlier stage. Then I can put it in the microwave for only three minutes and eat a warm meal with out making it into shoe leather. If that does not work then Burger King here I come...
Friday, February 4, 2011
Out with the old... In with the new
Well folks along with the snow and ice and the responsibilities for year-end financial duties for the Sabian Publishing Society my usual weekly pattern of posts has become bi-weekly during the month of January at least. So as a result I received a "get with it" poke in the butt by my good friend Peg along with a couple of questions on Astology.
Since your "WalrusSez" has been pretty quiet, could I suggest:
Why don't you editorialize on the recent changes they have -- or are trying to -- foist upon us? I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on the new number of planets and the new number of astrological signs.
OK, I figure at least you can put into words I can understand just what these things mean. The planets really don't impact me all that much (and probably that astrology wouldn't either) but I'd be interested in knowing how you feel about it. If you put it out there, the subject(s) might get some comments and we'd see how others interpret them.
What Peg is referring to is two recent comments..(1) the declaration that Pluto is not a planet, but considered a dwarf planet and perhaps maybe not even of the solar system and (2) that the stars which made up the constellations identified as signs of the zodiac are not in the same locations as they were thousands of years ago due to the precession of the equinoxes. And these are scientifically correct observations as our technology has allowed us to make more precise and refined observations of the universe that we live in. But this matters not in the system of Astrology which divides the sphere of the sky into 12 parts and comments on the relationships of the planets of the solar system as they travel around the sun in their orbits.
It is not my intention to write a book on Astology in this blog. But Astrology when it is done in the proper fashion is just as deterministic and follows similar protocols as any scientific discipline as I have ever studied. The purpose of Astrology has always been to solve problems and understand situations more complex than just plain human conjecture can accomplish. So then the main use for Astology and its primary tool, the Horoscope, is to understand human character and personality. To depend on any one or group of stars for that purpose is not necessary to divide the celestial orb into twelve sections. So the prcession of the equinoxes has no bearing on the insight into character and personality that is revealed to the Astrologer by the Horoscope. And by the way, it will return to the way it was orignally in only a paltry 25,600 years roughly.
In the beginning, as the ancients used Astrology some 5 to 6 thousand years ago there were only seven planets in the horoscope. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These were the planets seen by the naked eye. Later on after the telescope was invented, the planets Neptune and Uranus were added and finally around 1930 Pluto was added to the lexicon of horoscopy. So for about 80 years, Pluto was considered a planet symbolizing the higher mind or a quality of personality which shows enlightenment or intellectual expansion.
But alas and alack, perhaps being technically correct is akin to being politically correct but Astrologers will still include Pluto in their horoscopes and use it to signify probity or some other higher values of character inherent in us human apes.
Thank you Peg for your question.
Since your "WalrusSez" has been pretty quiet, could I suggest:
Why don't you editorialize on the recent changes they have -- or are trying to -- foist upon us? I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on the new number of planets and the new number of astrological signs.
OK, I figure at least you can put into words I can understand just what these things mean. The planets really don't impact me all that much (and probably that astrology wouldn't either) but I'd be interested in knowing how you feel about it. If you put it out there, the subject(s) might get some comments and we'd see how others interpret them.
What Peg is referring to is two recent comments..(1) the declaration that Pluto is not a planet, but considered a dwarf planet and perhaps maybe not even of the solar system and (2) that the stars which made up the constellations identified as signs of the zodiac are not in the same locations as they were thousands of years ago due to the precession of the equinoxes. And these are scientifically correct observations as our technology has allowed us to make more precise and refined observations of the universe that we live in. But this matters not in the system of Astrology which divides the sphere of the sky into 12 parts and comments on the relationships of the planets of the solar system as they travel around the sun in their orbits.
It is not my intention to write a book on Astology in this blog. But Astrology when it is done in the proper fashion is just as deterministic and follows similar protocols as any scientific discipline as I have ever studied. The purpose of Astrology has always been to solve problems and understand situations more complex than just plain human conjecture can accomplish. So then the main use for Astology and its primary tool, the Horoscope, is to understand human character and personality. To depend on any one or group of stars for that purpose is not necessary to divide the celestial orb into twelve sections. So the prcession of the equinoxes has no bearing on the insight into character and personality that is revealed to the Astrologer by the Horoscope. And by the way, it will return to the way it was orignally in only a paltry 25,600 years roughly.
In the beginning, as the ancients used Astrology some 5 to 6 thousand years ago there were only seven planets in the horoscope. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These were the planets seen by the naked eye. Later on after the telescope was invented, the planets Neptune and Uranus were added and finally around 1930 Pluto was added to the lexicon of horoscopy. So for about 80 years, Pluto was considered a planet symbolizing the higher mind or a quality of personality which shows enlightenment or intellectual expansion.
But alas and alack, perhaps being technically correct is akin to being politically correct but Astrologers will still include Pluto in their horoscopes and use it to signify probity or some other higher values of character inherent in us human apes.
Thank you Peg for your question.
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