Author Archives: admin_11618635

Curry

A few weeks ago I took a cooking with spices class at the International Culinary Institute in New York, and one of the things we did was create our own curry powder. Curry powder is a mix of various spices, not a natural occurring spice. As I learned in the class, spices and herbs come from different part of a plant, with the green, leafy part of the plant being a herb (e.g., basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, mint), and the spice coming from the root, stem, seed, fruit, flower or bark of a plant or tree (e.g., cloves, ginger, pepper).

My view on cooking is to be very light on the sugar and salt, and to add flavor through various spices, like peppers, chili flakes, paprika, curry, etc. In store bought food, and in most restaurants, flavor is added with salt and sugar, which over the long term can cause health problems. Another lesson from the class, was that if you are going to use butter in a recipe, only use unsalted butter, this way you can control the taste of the food without having the salted butter add flavor.

So in the class, the instructor provided us with the following recipe for curry (with equal portions, except for cloves, which should only include one to three cloves)

Fennel Seed
Cumin Seed
Whole Fenugreek
Yellow Mustard
Whole Cardamon
Coriander Seed
Cloves (only up to 3)
Optional: Madras Curry Powder for color

All the ingredients should be put in a coffee grinder and mixed until a powder is created. Store in a tight container. I would suggest taking a vegetable, like cauliflower or broccoli, putting it in a microwavable container, spraying it with olive oil, sprinkling the vegetable with the curry mixture, and then microwaving the vegetable, Time in the microwave will vary depending on the size of vegetable, but at least a few minutes over a high setting. Enjoy.

30 lbs. by December 2017

Back in May 2015, I was hovering around 200 lbs., but after my shoulder surgery, that ballooned to 225 lbs. by the end of 2015. I have basically maintained that weight for 2 years, although I have been constantly attempting to get down to the 190 lbs range, which I weighed for 3 years following my 236 lb. weight loss (from 400+ lbs. to 180’s/190’s lbs.) in 2010 and 2011. The shoulder surgery, to repair my rotator cuff, really put a wrench in my weight maintenance program, and I am now hoping to get back to where I was, and provide me a buffer should I suffer further injuries that might effect my weight.

However, now I am ready to again attack my current weight, which was 224 lbs. as of this past Saturday, and am looking to lose 30 lbs. by the end of the year, so my weight will again be in the 190 lbs. range. Part of what is driving this push is that I again want to fit into my tuxedo, which I purchased in 2011. So what has been lacking up to this point, and what am I going to do?

The way I see it, it was a matter of focus, determination, drive, sacrifice, strategic thinking, and discipline that helped my lose the weight in the first place, and that is what I need to bring back to my daily routine. Doing it a second time is more challenging, since it is harder to find the motivation a second time around, particularly, since the weight loss this time around is not as dramatic. Also, my body is more efficient, so it takes a greater push to overcome that barrier. Exercise is not the issue for me, as I exercise at least 2 hours/day, 7 days a week, and my exertion level is quite high. This time, I need to focus more on the input of food to make a difference.

As I have discussed previously, growing up, eating lots of food was a daily occurrence, so I inherently do not have great portion control. So what I have now again started to do is use smaller plates, this way, my portion size has to be reduced, as it would not otherwise fit on the smaller plate. In addition, I am now setting up a more specific goal, losing 30 lbs. by the end of the year, to help focus me at the task at hand, and keep me accountable. Also keeping me accountable will be this blog, which I will periodically update with my progress, so that is another form of accountable, in this case, a public one. Lastly, I have added yoga classes to increase my flexibility and core strength, and am receiving physical therapy on my left knee, which has a little bit of arthritis, and both the yoga and the physical therapy, and helping me to be less sore, and to be more athletic. I will keep you posted, and hopefully sharing this journey will help others in their maintenance and weight loss issues.

Lesson Learned

In the fall of 1982, I entered law school, and moved into an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, located right on the Promenade. It was a great place to run, and I started to run for exercise. Up to that point, when I was training for the various sports that I had played over the years, the longest I had ever run was 2 miles, and most of my running was sprints. When I started running in Brooklyn Heights, I was running around 1- 2 miles every few days, until a fateful Sunday in the fall. That day, I went out for a run in my Nike Waffle Trainers, full top and bottom sweats, no socks, a Walkman, and no money. I was feeling a bit more adventurous that day, so I deviated a bit from my normal route, and ended up intersecting with the NYC Marathon, at the 8 mile mark.

It was a beautiful day, so I thought why not run a bit with the Marathon runners, and then I will go back to my Brooklyn Heights apartment, but since I was not an official entrant, I ran on the sidewalk. Everything was going well, until I got lost, and had no idea how to get back to Brooklyn Heights, but I had a brilliant idea, I knew how to get back to my apartment from Central Park, so I figured I would run to Central Park, and then go back to my apartment from there. To make a long story short, I ended up running/walking the last 18.2 miles of the race, and crossed the finish line with the other runners — however, I did not accept official medal being handed out, but I did take a bottle of Perrier, and a space blanket, both of which I still have to this day. I could not find a cab around Central Park, so I walked to the Empire State Building (about a mile from Central Park), got in a cab, did not tell the cab driver I had no money, and when I got to my apartment, got him his money and gave him a good tip.

For the next week, I could not walk down any stairs, and that day, I thought my sneakers were going to be completely bludgeoned, but fortunately they were not, however, my feet were completely blistered. But from that experience came a dream — if I could run 18.2 miles with no training, and never having ever run more than 2 miles in my entire life, then if I trained, I should be able to run a full marathon of 26.2 miles. That is exactly what I did for the next year, and in 1983 I completed the NYC Marathon in around 4 hours.

So why mention that story with the title, “Lesson Learned”, and with a picture of a knee in distress. Well, after running the Marathon, I suffered an injury to my left knee, and it became painful to run, so I stopped. As any runner will tell you, particularly if you are running in an urban area, your body takes a pounding, and injuries are to be expected. Compounding the injury is the fact that when I was running, I was consuming a huge amount of food each day, which I burned off through running, but when I stopped, the pounds piled on. That, combined with the crazy hours of a first and second year law associate, caused my weight to balloon — eventually, many years later, in 2008, I reached my highest weight, which was in the 460’s.

Now let’s move the present day. When I started my weight loss campaign, I wanted to make sure that the cardiovascular exercise I chose could be done every day in good or bad weather, and was easy on my joints, hence, the recumbent bike, and I later added the elliptical. In the last few years, I also added a long (8 mile) walk/run on Sunday’s, which was primarily a walk, with a 1/4 mile run thrown in . In addition, I would run in the New Year’s Eve 4-mile run in Central Park, and the Gridiron Classic, on Superbowl Sunday. The past few months, I have been having issues with my left leg, including Achilles issues, and swelling of my left knee, so I have been cutting out the Sunday walk/run.

As it turns out, the swelling is due to arthritis in my left knee, and if that was still my primary exercise, I would again be stuck of not having a daily go to exercise. However, this time around, I learned my lesson, so I can continue to exercise on the bike and elliptical even with my arthritis issue, and in fact, that is a good treatment for that condition. Lesson learned, and I would suggest, for anyone wanting to incorporate exercise into their daily routine, for weight loss or maintenance, they stick with a low-impact exercise like a bike or an elliptical, and stay away from running outdoors, or being on a treadmill. If you still want to run, then I would suggest also doing a low-impact exercise, this way, if your physical condition makes it difficult to run, you might still be able to do the low-impact exercise.

The Problem With Huge Food

Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Ginormous Foods, Carnival Eats, Burgers, Brew and Que, are some of the shows on the Food and Cooking Channels that glorify comfort foods, and foods of ridiculous proportions. Everything is better if fried, and the bigger serving the better. Yes, these are entertaining shows, but send a dangerous message, in that comfort food, and big portions, are a good thing, instead of what they really are, fattening foods, that are very unhealthy.

This trend in TV food shows is the polar opposite of what is going on in much of fine dining, where the portions are getting increasing smaller, sometimes leaving you unsatisfied, and molecular gastronomy is creating foods that do not look like food. So what can you do? My recommendation, is to limit your viewing of these shows, like I do, and when you see fried food, ridiculously large portions, fatty foods, sugary foods, comfort foods, etc., do not think how these foods might taste, but instead think how unhealthy these foods are to you, and how much you would have to work out to remove the calories contained in these foods. Something to think about for 2017.

An Oldie From My Log During My 2009-2011 Weight Loss

As I have done in past blogs, I have taken an entry from my weight-loss log, which I started in 2010, and reproduced it in this blog. The below entry is from September 26, 2010. Aside from communicating what I was feeling and going through during my two-year weight-loss period, it is interesting to note that I still fast on Friday’s before my weigh-in on Saturday, and now, my Saturday workout is a harder 900 calorie workout instead of an 800 calorie workout, plus instead of blasting my stereo and having my TV on mute, I instead listen to my music on headphones — my neighbors appreciate the change.

“September 26, 2010. Yesterday, I weighed 307.8. Getting closer to having lost 110 lbs., and getting closer to finally getting under 300 lbs. I have been wondering if is a good long term practice to not eat after lunch on Friday’s, in preparation for my Saturday weigh-ins. On the one hand, it demonstrates discipline regarding food, and I have heard that the body needs to fast every so often. What I am doing is essentially fasting for 24 hours. On the other hand, is it a good long term practice to have only one meal on Friday?

What I have been doing is try to eat a very balanced lunch, with protein, vegetables, and carbohydrates, and then drink fluids the rest of the day. I eye behind the fluids is to prepare for Saturday’s workout. My fluids includes Sportea, which has electrolytes. I remember hearing Lance Armstrong say on TV that hydration starts the night before an event, and that is what I am doing.

Psychologically, that second half hour of my Saturday workout is very tough. By 30 minutes I have already burned 400 calories, and my mind tells me that is enough. But I keep reminding myself that I need the fully 60 minute, 800-calorie, workout for my maximum weight loss. Now I have taken to blast my stereo and watch the TV on mute to really pump up my workout.

One on the rewards of weight loss is that tight fitting clothes become an incentive, whereas when you are gaining weight, tight fitting clothes are a sign of failure and impending doom. This weekend I bought a new blazer, and its sleeves are a touch tight, but I am willing to put up with that since it will allow the blazer to last longer in my wardrobe as I lose more weight. It is almost time to get a new belt and trousers. I still hate shopping for clothes, but I am starting to be able to buy clothes from regular stores rather than the fat men’s stores. Nothing is so embarrassing and depressing than having to buy clothes at the fat men’s store – it just reinforces that you are abnormal.

I had a date on Thursday, and it was one of the best of all my dates so far. I am not feeling so abnormal anymore, and it may be paying dividends. We have a second date (a first for me) in two weeks. One thing I noticed during our date is that she was complimentary about my small talk, but did not compliment me about my appearance when I complimented her appearance. Am I too sensitive, or is that how she feels? However, she did hug me and kiss me on the cheek goodbye, which was nice to feel again after over years of no such contact after Monique’s passing. Time will tell how things go, and hopefully over time, my physical appearance will be more attractive to women. Have to remember to keep on pushing since this is small victory, and I cannot rest on my laurels.

I am still feeling hungry, and want quantities of food, which is still scaring me. Just trying to satisfy these cravings with good non-fattening foods like chicken breast, vegetables, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Also, using my Wasa Mutli-grain crackers to deal with my carb cravings. As Al Rokker said on TV, dealing with a weight problem is like being a recovering alcoholic in that you always have to be vigilant about what you eat, and your exercise. This week I have a lot of work to do, which makes my more hungry, so I will feel better if I can maintain my weight loss momentum this week. Also, this Friday I am going out to lunch with two of Monique’s friends, and then have a lunch date on Saturday with another woman from Match.com. Need to keep “my eye on the prize” which is the slogan on my refrigerator.”

Tennis Rumblings — Maybe the One-Handed Backhand is Not Dead Yet?

I have played tennis since I was 8 years old, played junior tennis, was coached by Harry Hopman (the famous Australian Davis Cup coach), still play to this day, and follow the game closely. For over 25 years I have had US Open subscription tickets (meaning I have tickets to every session of the Open), now have courtside seats, and attended my first US Open in the 70’s at the West Side Tennis Club in Forrest Hills. Also, in the last few years, I have attended Wimbledon and the French Open, and also the Monte Carlo Master 1000 tournament (see picture above), and I am planning, in the next two years, to complete my tennis grand slam by attending the Australian Open. So I have some background, experience, and credibility to opine about the game. So as a change of pace this week, I will be talking about possible trends going forward for the game of tennis, particularly with regard to the one-handed backhand.

When I started playing, a one-handed backhand was the rule, rather than the exception, with many of the top men’s players being 6′ or under (e.g., McEnroe, Connors, Laver). The backhand was commonly hit with slice or a flat stroke, and the racquets were predominately wooden (one exception being Connors’ T-2000 racquet, which was steel) with gut strings and a small racquet face. Today, the top players are between 6′ and 6′ 3″ tall (Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Murray, Sampras), most of the tour players have two-handed backhands, top-spin is the predominate stroke, the racquets are more powerful with larger faces, and are made of a composite materials, with the strings now predominately being made of synthetic materials rather than gut. This has lead to exaggerated western grips on the forward, and the balls jumping higher in the air after hitting the court, and more powerful shots off both the forehand and backhand.

Due to these developments, it has become much more difficult for those players with a one-handed backhand to hit and control a ball that is bouncing higher in their strike zone, plus it is more difficult to hit the angles possible with a two-handled backhand. But in the future, there may be trend back towards the one-handed backhand since there are more taller players (6’4 and above) coming into the game (e.g., Fritz, Zverev, in addition to veteran players Isner, del Potro, Karlovic, and Cilic), so topspin will have less effect on a taller player since even the highest bounce will be in their strike zone. For the taller player, movement and hitting low balls is a bigger problem, so with a one-handed backhand, they will have greater reach both sideways, which can somewhat offset less lateral movement, and reaching downwards, for hitting lower bouncing shots (a good shot to hit against such taller players). Time will tell, but I thought I would get my opinion out there first for posterity reasons.

VO2 max, Mortality Rates, and High Intensity Interval Training

In an article in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, May 30, 2016, titled “Low aerobic capacity in middle-aged men associated with increased mortality rates during 45 years of of follow-up”, by Per Ladenvall, Carina U Persson, Zacharias Mandalenakis, Lars Wilhelmsen, Gunnar Grimby, Kurt Svardsudd, and Per-Olof Hansson, they report that in a population of middle-aged men (54 years of age), low aerobic capacity (measured in VO₂ max) is a significant predictor of early death, aside from traditional risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. So what is VO₂ max?

VO₂ max is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption, which can measured during exercise, typically on a treadmill or bicycle. VO₂ max is expressed either as an absolute rate in (for example) liters of oxygen per minute (L/min) or as a relative rate in (for example) milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute (e.g., ml/(kg·min)). What is considered an excellent, good, fair or poor VO₂ max is age and gender dependent, so for a male my age, and excellent value is greater than 41, and a very poor value is less than 22. When I first went to the Canyon Ranch in 2009 my VO₂ max was 16, and when I last had it measured 6 years later, it was 39.76, bordering on excellent. So by just that measure, I have added years to my life.

One of the ways being touted to improve VO₂ max is through High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which consists of short, intense workouts, which can vary from 4–30 minutes per day, and which are performed at your absolute physical capacity. While there is evidence to show that HIIT can improve cardiovascular development, which could help improve VO₂ max, my feeling is that it is not a sustainable regime.

From my own experience, to took me 2 years to take off all 230+ lbs., and it has been a challenge to maintain that weight loss the 4 years thereafter. I have been extremely disciplined about exercising at least 1 hour/day for just about every day over that time, and most days, at least 2 hours a day, at a fairly high intensity level, but during that time, I have suffered injuries, been sick, been tired, had travel issues, etc., so on a number of days it was hard enough getting an hour of exercise at a moderate level of exertion. Forget about trying to sustain a max intensity level just about every day, even if it was for a much shorter period of time. Also, you should expect, with HIIT, that you will get injured more at your peak level of performance, than would be the case with a more moderate exercise regime, which could then lead to setbacks.

So my suggestion to improving VO₂ max, is to utilize a bit more moderate exercise regime, over a longer period of time per day, than a HIIT regime. I think that works best over the long run as it is sustainable.

Do Men and Women Congregate Differently In Their 40’s and Beyond, Than They Did In Their 20’s and 30’s?

In “Sex and the City”, the Carrie Bradshaw character would start off each episode with the title for her weekly column (usually in the form of a question, “Jeopardy” style), and that title would introduce the story line for the episode. Following that same format, today’s blog entry is my impressions on how straight men and women congregate differently in their 40’s and beyond, compared to how they acted in their 20’s and early 30’s, and is entitled “Do Men and Women Congregate Differently In Their 40’s and Beyond, Than They Did In Their 20’s and 30’s?”

The reason why I find this topic so interesting, is that I have been in the dating pool for 8 years, after the death of my girlfriend of 24+ years in 2008, and in that period of time I have seen and experienced first-hand some of the road blocks that exist for men and women, at a later age, getting together and forming a lasting relationship with the opposite sex. One of those roadblocks is that as men and women get older, particularly in an urban environment with successful professional men and women, the women seem to be more comfortable congregating among themselves rather than seeking out a man to be with, whereas similar aged and successful men, tend not to congregate together. This is certainly not based on any scientific methodology, but just my general observations and experiences.

From these observations and experiences, it is my impression that men, throughout their lives, and outside of work, traditionally congregate around sports, motor vehicles (cars, motorcycles, etc.), and sporting activities, also with an eye to those activities and locations (e.g., bars, clubs) where they can meet women. We go to ball games together, play sports together, take road trips, watch the game at bars, and when we talk to each other, there is a good chance sports, cars and meeting women are somewhere in the discussion. In our 20’s and 30’s, many of us were still unmarried, and in good enough shape to get together to do some sports related activity on a weekly basis. And if we traveled together, it typically involved sports, cars and/or some outdoor activity.

So even if we are traveling abroad sightseeing, there was usually some sports or car related activity involved. For me, for example, when I took a trip to Germany, in my 30’s, a male friend of mine, it was to see how fast we could drive on the autobahn, and to visit the car museums of BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche. As an aside — if you are going to visit one car museum in Germany, make it Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, as it is the best car museum in the world, with a collection that is amazing in its longevity and how it captures automotive history.

Women are different, in that they are not so limited in the range of areas and activities in which they interact with each other. So during the week they seem to get together more often, and their time together seems to be more of a social gathering, centered around cultural activities (going to a museum, etc.), going out together for dinner or drinks, or workout activities (exercise classes, yoga), rather than some sporting event or activity. As a result of the different nature of these interactions, women seem to create and sustain a more emotional connection and lasting relationship with each other, than men do through their activities.

What brings me to this discussion, is the difficulty in piercing those bonds, when trying to date women as they get into their 40’s and beyond, since their bonds with other women stay the same or get stronger as they get older, whereas, with men, their group interactions lessen over time. Moreover, the activities of women in their 40’s are similar to their activities in their 20’s and 30’s, whereas men’s activities together lessen as they get older, and are more focused on their wife, girlfriend and/or family, to the exclusion of spending time with their male friends.

So when the wife or girlfriend, are no longer in the picture, due to break-ups, divorce, or death, there is not that existing network of male friends to fall back on for getting together, or if males friends are still around, you are also usually getting together with their wives or girlfriends. Whereas, even when they are in relationships or married, women seem to more connected and active with their girlfriends, so when their marriage or relationship ends, they can more easily fall back and spend time with their girlfriends, even if they are married. This manifests itself in women more regularly meeting together for drinks or dinner after work, and traveling together, whereas single men just do not hang out much together. The point being my observation that single urban professional women in their 40’s and beyond, who have independent financial means, an existing support system with other women, and who no longer can or want to have kids, just do not have as much incentive to try and start up a new long-term relationship with a guy, given that incumbent disruptions of their lives which comes along in a new relationship. In contrast, men do not have such a support system, yet their emotional well being tends to be enhanced when they are in a relationship, so they end up being more desirous of starting up a relationship, however, due to the mindset of older women, that gets even hard to obtain. I am not passing judgment, just sharing by observations.

Post blog note: I have been working on this particular blog entry on and off for a month, and still do not think I have covered and considered all the issues, written it is the best way possible, or presented my observations in the best manner, but I am nonetheless posting this entry to move on, yet I reserve judgment revisit to entry, to make further changes in the future, should I deem it necessary. The whole point is to express my sense that older professional urban women are more reluctant, and my cautious, to enter into a new relationship with a guy, whereas, guys are not nearly as cautious, and tend to be eager in starting up a new relationship.

How to Succeed Where the “Biggest Loser” Failed — Part 2

More information is coming out about the abuses at “The Biggest Loser.” In a May 22, 2016 New York Post article, written by Maureen Callahan, entitled “‘Biggest Loser’ drugged us so we’d lose weight”, it reports how participants were supplied with illegal (Ephedra) and legal drugs (amphetamines, diuretics, water pills, etc.) to promote weight loss. As I have always maintained, shows like these strive for dramatic effect, are abusive, and take advantage of the participants. Even if any of these abuses did not occur, the process of trying to lose weight so fast, in a sequestered environment, is in my view, a recipe for disaster. So my suggestion is to vote with the remote, and avoid watching these types of “reality” shows.

So to continue my thoughts from my previous blog entry, I thought it best to go over some additional actions, strategies and thoughts about maintaining one’s weight loss:

— I believe it is critically important to recognize that you are susceptible to weight gain, so you have to be constantly aware about what you are eating, and how much you are exercising.

— Unless you working out really hard (like you are having a difficult time speaking while you exercise and you are sweating profusely), I would avoid any sports drinks as they are high in calories and sugars. What I do is brew my own iced tea, called Sportea, and I use it instead of a sports drink, and as a beverage. Water is great alternative, and I drink lots of water during the day, but sometimes you need something different, so that is why I use Sportea.

— Avoid alcohol, as it has sugar and is high in calories, but not much nutritional value. Instead, if you want a drink in your hand at a party, get sparkling water.

— Completely avoid all sugar or sugar-substitute drinks. The sugary drinks are high in calories, and the sugar-free ones can have a detrimental affect on your metabolism.

— Weigh yourself every day, and make changes to what you are eating, and your level of exercise, based upon being able to maintain your weight loss. Even when I travel, I bring a scale with me so I can weigh myself, and track what my weight is doing during the trip.

— Allow yourself one day of the week, for me it is Saturday, where you allow yourself greater freedom what you can eat. This way you do not go crazy, but even on this day, I try not to eat foods that are too high in calories.

— Be prepared to deal with injuries from exercise. I have had many injuries over the years, but a recumbent bike and elliptical allow for low impact exercise. Running, or even walking, however, do involve impact, so during those times I had injuries, e.g, when I had a sore Achilles, or shin splints, so I could continue to maintain my exercise routine on my bike, even when I was not up physically to run/walk, play tennis, etc.

— Exercise first thing in the morning before you eat, and in the evening, exercise after you eat.

— Have a decent breakfast in the morning to get your body’s metabolism going, and do not eat too late (near your bedtime), since you are taking away time from your body to process the food you ate for dinner before your metabolism slows down when you sleep.

— Watch less TV, and get outside more.

— Eat whole grains, and fresh fruit, but stay away from dried fruit since they tend to be high in sugar content. Also, for a snack, think about having air popped pop corn, not popcorn cooked in oil, and if you want to flavor it, lightly spray it with olive oil and add spices.

— Use smaller plates for your food, which help maintain portion control.

— I do not count calories, as I find this too burdensome, particularly when dining out, but I do keep in the back of my mind generally how many calories I have taken in that day.

Well, that is all for Part 2 right now. Maybe I will add some further thoughts at a later time.

How to Succeed Where the “Biggest Loser” Failed — Part 1

I have been working on a blog about the trials, tribulations, and challenges of dating urban professional women, but with the uproar this week about the study in the Journal Obesity regarding of The Biggest Loser reality TV show, and the many articles commenting on same, I thought it best to address the issue immediately. You can find that study at www.obesityjournal.org, and it is entitled “Persistent Metabolic Adaptation 6 Years After ‘The Biggest Loser’ Competition”, Kevin Hall et. al., Volume 00, Number 00 Month 2016. In this blog, I will also be referencing a couple of New York Times articles, the first being “After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight” May 2, 2016, and the second being “Short Answers to Hard Questions About Weight Loss”, May 5, 2016. Lastly, I will be referring, in this blog or the next, to a foxnews.com article, dated April 29, 2016, entitled “‘Having Weight Loss Surgery was a Huge Mistake’: One Woman’s Story of Addition”. This blog is only part 1, of potentially a multiple part blog, since there are so many issues to discuss, and I cannot fully address the topic in just one blog entry.

So what did the study say — basically, that after 6 years from when they appeared on “The Biggest Loser” TV show, most of the participants had regained all the weight they had lost on the show. As I have said previously, I find this shows, and shows like this, exploitative, and in the long term, not beneficial to the participants. This study unfortunately, proves me correct. And I do have a unique perspective on this issue, since I have lost as much or more weight than all The Biggest Loser contestants, yet I have been able to keep off 90% or more of my weight loss, over a 5-6 year period, which is the same time period as the study participants. Should you need proof, see the above pictures.

Yet, there are many of the same issues I struggle with daily, as brought up in the study, and where I have succeed is a testament to the way I lost the weight, and my vigilance, hard work, and strategies, post-weight loss, that have helped me to keep off the weight, which I will discuss below. I am proud of what I have, and continue to achieve, but the point of this blog entry is to provide hope to those who struggle with their weight, that they can achieve and sustain their weight loss, even without surgery or drugs, which are being pushed by many.

First off, remember that “The Biggest Loser” is a reality TV show, and quick dramatic changes make good TV. So the contestant are essentially sequestered during the series, eating few calories, exercising ridiculous amounts of hours a day, and not living their normal life. So it should not be surprising that they are not prepared, after the show ends, to have a lifestyle that helps them to maintain this quick weight loss. My approach, has been to modify my daily lifestyle to add more exercise (cardio and weight training), reduce calorie intake, and employ better eating strategies, so that I lost only lose 1-2 lbs a week, and the lifestyle has been sustainable after I reached my weight loss goal. In previous blogs I have gone into the particulars of what needs to be done, so in this blog I will focus on the maintenance side, what I have experienced, and what has worked for me.

What the study points out is that after significant weight loss, the body fights back by changes in one’s resting metabolic rate (RMR), basically, how your body burns calories when you are not active. What happens after significant weight loss is that the body slows down, with a much slower RMR, so it then become easier to gain weight. What I can tell you from my experience, that it is very easy for me to gain a lot of weight in a short time. For the last 4-5 years, I have been able to keep off 95% or more of my weight loss, however, I was thrown off last year (hence the current 90% figure), when I had shoulder surgery, and ended up losing a lot of lean muscle mass since I could not do weight training for almost a year, even though I was putting in 2 hours of cadio a day, 7 days a week. So here is one tip to sustaining weight loss, weight training, and his is particularly true as you get older. It is only until I restarted weight training (which I admittedly hate) that I have been able to start and make inroads to getting back to that 95% or getter figure.

Another thing from the study, and also mentioned in the May 2nd New York Times article, is that RMR triggers hunger, cravings and binges. This is something I still experience, and am constantly battling. So what do I do? For one, if I feel feel really hungry, I try to fill up on vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, “tomatoes”), fruits (blackberries, blue berries), lean proteins (like peanuts or jerk turkey), and low calories carbohydrates (like air popped pop corn, whole wheat bread) — basically, I try to find items that I can eat in bulk, but that are not too fattening. I also weigh myself every day, do not drink sweetened drinks (artificial or natural), and stay away from alcohol.

The May 5th New York Times article downplayed the effectiveness of weight training to help lose and maintain weight, but I must disagree. After my surgery, I lost a tremendous amount of lean muscle mass, and that helps explain why I put on some extra weight, and have struggled to lose that extra weight. So hit the weights. Also, it is important, to take into consideration, when choosing a cadio activity, that is can be duplicated almost every day, and it will not cause you injuries. For that reason, my go-to cardio exercise every morning is the recumbent bike, which unlike the upright bike, does not hurt one’s buttocks and is low impact. Similarly, the elliptical is my machine of choice for my night exercise, In contrast, impact of running outdoors, or on a treadmill, can cause injuries, which can be a set back to your ability to burn calories, and your ability to counter a reduced RMR.

Quick story, in law school I started running, ended up running and completing the NYC Marathon, and lost about 40 lbs which I had put on my first year in law school. That reduced weight was my target when I started losing weight in 2009. What happened is that I injured myself running, and long story short, that was the start of me gaining over 200 lbs in the subsequent years. That is why now, I chose as my go-to exercise, the recumbent bike, which is low impact, and repeatable every day, rain or shine. And my suggestion to you, and chose a cardio exercise that is equally repeatable and low impact.

Well, I am running to of time this evening, but wanted to leave you with another strategy I use before I publish this part of the blog, namely, that I fast for a 24 hour period at least once a week. One thing discussed in the study and in the New York time articles, is that you can change up your metabolism through fasting. So what I try to do, is not eat anything after Friday lunch, and do not eat again until I have my Saturday workout out and weigh-in (which establishes my weight for the week). What I gain from this is a sense of control over my eating, and a way to try and burn more fat during my workout. But if I am out on a date, or really feel hungry, I will not fast, but that is an tool that I do use.

So in parting, hang in there, and keep in mind that you can also overcome your body’s weight loss defenses, since the benefits are so great.

Drive From Within