Week 8 – Portland Hikes and lost 3 lbs

This week had a lots of highs and lows. My net carb to protein ratio has come up from 0.8 to 0.95. This is mostly thanks to eating Punjabi Chole (Garbanzo Beans in Indian curry gravy) that I made. I need to be more careful in the future when it comes to chole. I lost 3 lbs this week. I am now 166.4 and down 20 lbs from where I officially started.

Over the weekend, I went to Portland and spent time with my cousins. On Saturday morning, I went to Powell’s Bookstore (great store and this alone could make the trip worth it). Then, in the afternoon, I went for a walk in Washington Park with my cousin Sangeetha. I walked on the Wildwood Trail for the most part. This trail is 30 miles long. I walked about 4 miles in it. There was a great collection of trees including Sequoias. I used Sullivan’s book on trails near Portland. You can see the beautiful trees and a view of Mount St. Helens too.

On Sunday, I went to Multnomah Falls with my cousin Subbu and his friends. Unfortunately, the bridge you see in the picture was too icy. We tried crossing and one of our friends fell. So, we went on to Horsetail Falls which is just 3 miles further east along the Columbian Gorge. It was a wonderful trail. It starts of with one waterfall called the Horsetail Falls. Then, you get to go behind a waterfall called Ponytail Falls. Then, at about 800ft about it is Triple Falls.

  

 

Horsetail, Ponytail and Triple Falls

 

Columbian Gorge

I got my body measured on Monday and interesting have lost 3/4 of an inch around my neck :)

On Tuesday, I got a Root Canal redone. My dentist in India had left one of the canals undone. That puts me in some pain but nothing that Vicodin cannot fix.

I started running for the first time today. It’s exciting – I ran for 2 minutes at 5 mph and then walked and did this about 5 times. I definitely need new shoes – so I am planning to get a pair in the next couple of days.

Tip:

Try to increase your steps each day by doing some of the following: 1. Take the stairs 2. Use a printer that’s far away or even in a nearby building 3. Park at the last parking stall 4. Take a longer route to every place you walk to 5. If you are reading something, try doing it standing up or while pacing. Doing such simple things, increases the calories you burn everyday. Good Luck!

del.icio.us Tags: Multnomah Falls,Horsetail Falls,Ponytail Falls,Triple Falls,hike,Root Canal,Portland

Week 7 – Day 3 – A great exercise for abs

I had my regular work out today and got on the rowing machine for the first time and that tires me out faster than any other machine, so it will be my cardio machine of choice for the coming weeks, till I can do an hour on it, at a decent pace.

Check this video out. It is a great exercise for the abs. Just FYI, I am at level 1 on this one.

Good Luck!

del.icio.us Tags: abs,side plank

Week 5 – 3 to 7 and Week 6 start – lost 3.4 lb

I was too busy at work and at home to update the blog last week. Work pressure was immense and the domestic schedule was packed. It was a routine week physical health-wise. I worked out 6 days of the week and kept up the higher protein consumption low calorie diet. Here’s the snapshot: (Notice the carbohydrates to protein ratio was better than last week (from 1.2 and 0.91 to 0.88). Even though, my average calories went up, I lost weight. My steps did go up. My official weight is 169.4 which is 17 lbs down from when I started the program.

I just love Kefir. It tastes like buttermilk. I also like Greek Yogurt and Cheese. These have become good sources of protein. When it comes to Kefir, buy the one from Trader Joe’s rather than the one from Whole Foods. There is a significant difference. The Whole Foods version has only 11 gm. of protein per serving as opposed to the 18 gm. per serving in the Trader Joe’s version. This is attributed to the age of the fermented milk. The Kefir bacteria breaks down more of the lactose in milk with time and looks like Whole Foods is not giving it sufficient time. A similar reasoning could be used to say why sourer buttermilk is better than less sour versions – Comments?

For those of you who are not in the US, you can get Kefir starter kits (think of it like yeast) and make your own. In fact, you can make kefirs of just about any juice (even Coconut water). Not sure how they will taste but the kefir of milk is just delicious. It make great “chaas” or “neer more”.

From this week, I can eat lentils and beans. A cup of cooked beans/lentils has a whopping 230 calories. Even though it has 18g of protein it has about 36g of carbs (though quite a few good carbs). It needs to be paired with a good source of protein like Greek yogurt/kefir.

As I re-read my blog, I noticed that there are things in the blog that are not very practical to everyone. So, I will be adding some practical and simple tips in coming posts.

Tip:

Some of my friends are going on diets to lose weight. I should warn you that losing weight just by dieting is actually a bad thing. You must exercise otherwise you end up losing muscles. When you lose muscles, your body can burn even lesser calories. Then, you would have to cut your calories even more. At some point, the body could move into starvation mode. So, don’t just diet – work out! (Work-out could mean even an hour of brisk walking at the minimum).

del.icio.us Tags: kefir,protein,dal,lentils,diet,green yogurt,exercise

Week 5 – Days 1 and 2 – 5 lbs down

On Monday, I had a good work-out. I also did some volunteer work at the Vedic Cultural Center. That’s where succumbed to a boondi laddu. I said to myself: I am working so hard over here – one laddu won’t hurt and besides my calories for the days are low. I ate half initially and then 10 minutes later ate the other half. I was really hungry for it. I have happily lived without this for a month and I definitely was not hungry. My dietician says that this is something to be very careful about. Never eat anything and say to yourself that you will work it off. Rarely does that happen.

On Tuesday, I went in for a physical therapy session. My back which was sore last week is all well and good now. I learned some exercise that I need to keep doing. I also learned how to shovel (that’s probably what caused the bad back in the first place). One tip: While washing dishes at the kitchen sink, down slouch. Now you may ask – how then do I get to the dishes? Spread your legs apart to lower your whole body and now you can wash dishes without bending. I was plain amazed at this advice from the therapist. Keep that back straight and untwisted as much as possible.

I decided to take a day of rest – so no work-out on Tuesday.

Drum roll please… I met Chelsea, my dietician and I weighed in at 172.8 (5 lb. off from last week). Yay!

This week, some diary products are introduced in my diet: This include 6 oz. of non-fat yogurt or 8 oz. non-fat milk. I can have these a few times a day. Since, I have fallen in love with Greek yogurt, she suggested that I try Kefir – a much healthier fermented milk. In general, I am supposed to eat carbohydrates and proteins together. So, a Cascade Fresh Fruit Yogurt with Greek Yogurt is a good choice for a snack. BTW, my wife made some salt lassi with Greek Yogurt (Blend Greek Yogurt 8oz + green chili 1/2 + ginger 1 tsp chopped + cilantro 4 sprigs + hing + salt + ice; Serve Cold; Yummy!)

I found Genisoy’s Soy Crisps to be a great snack (available at Fred Meyer’s Natural section). It’s a great alternative to chips and actually taste very good. Unfortunately my dietician banned it because it has rice in it and I am not supposed to be eating grains like rice just yet.

I celebrated with a really nice glass of water :)

del.icio.us Tags: Kefir,Salt Lassi,Greek Yogurt,dish washing

Week 4 – Days 3 to 7 – Hard work

Fairly normal week. I have been working out everyday. I had substitute instructors who worked me quite hard.

I learned about interval training. For example, on the treadmill, I start at a pace of 3 and incline 3 for 1 minute. Then, 2nd minute I go for pace of 3.5 and incline of 4 (Heart rate goes up a bit). 3rd minute – back to 3 and 3 (Heart rate recovers). 4th minute up to pace of 3.5 and incline of 5. 6th minute back…so on and so forth. At some point the heart rate fails to recover – that’s my metabolic threshold. You can learn more about this in this interesting article.

As you can see from the chart below, my carbohydrate to protein ratio has improved from 1.2:1 to 0.91:1. I did notice however that my fiber consumption is a bit low this week. There is also some correlation to the steps (or NEAT) to the calories I consume.

Here’s a video on how to make a salad from HowCast. Though Youtube has lot more videos, Howcast videos are more instructional.

I go in from my official weigh in tomorrow. Let’s see if I lost any weight in week 4. I am hoping for at least 2 lbs.

del.icio.us Tags: calories,metabolic threshold,salad,interval training