10 Things I Now Know About Nutrition and Fitness that I Wish I'd Known Sooner

Since beginning my weight loss quest a little over a year ago, I've since become very passionate about gaining fitness and nutrition knowledge. So here is a condensed list of some of the best tips, facts, and tidbits that I've come across.

1. Strength training (weight lifting) is one of the best exercises you can do because while building muscle, it also keeps your metabolism raised for hours after you finish your workout as well. (When dieting you're going to lose muscle as well as fat, so it's important to maintain or grow you muscle mass.)

2. It takes 3500 calories to make a pound of fat and you burn 50 more calories per day for every pound of muscle gained.

3. Push-ups just might be the best strength training exercise you can do with no extra equipment. (I do 4 sets of 25 along with some ab crunches on days that I don't have time to do a full-blown workout.) A simple jump rope can make for a great cardio workout too.

4. You really can't go wrong with fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, low fat dairy products, and lots of water.

5. Spinach, tomatoes, blueberries, oatmeal, yogurt (if not loaded with sugar and fat), nuts, eggs, and legumes are some of the best foods for you on the planet.

6. Never skip breakfast. It's important to kick-start your metabolism in the morning. Furthermore, studies have shown that people who eat a hearty breakfast with protein and/or whole grains consume fewer calories throughout the course of the day. I ran across this saying once: "Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a peasant at supper."

7. Eating smaller portions more frequently keeps you metabolism up and can help keep your blood sugar more constant. (Spicy foods can help to stimulate your metabolism too!)

8. Using a smaller plate helps to create the perception of larger food portions.

9. The only two cooking oils you need are olive and canola.

10. Read the labels! Eating products that use whole wheat flour instead of refined white flour, and that have less sugars than similar products are the best bets. It's amazing what these small substitutions can do for you. (By the way, the Eat This, Not That! books are loaded with this kind of information to help guide your choices.)

With proper knowledge and the right mindset losing weight really isn't that difficult, or at least that was the case for me.

Under 200 Pounds!

It has been over a year since I've felt compelled to blog, but I finally have something that I think is worthwhile to say. At the beginning of this year I decided to read a book that a co-worker of mine had talked about. The book was The South Beach Diet, by Arthur Agatston, M.D. I'd been thinking about losing 20-25 pounds for quite some time...I just lacked the real motivation to do it. I knew that when I finally decided to get serious about it, I would be able to do it though. I figured I would have to make some diet changes and exercise more, but really, I didn't think my diet was all that bad to begin with. And because of that, I didn't think my 20-25 pound goal would be easy to accomplish.

However, when I read the book, it really made sense to me. The South Beach Diet isn't just a low-carb diet, but works more because of the glycemic index. The lower the glycemic index value of a food, the less it impacts your insulin level. Once I read the book, and understood the science behind why the diet works, it just seemed to be a safer and healthier option than other diets, such as the Atkins Diet.

Really there are just three main things I concentrated on avoiding on the South Beach Diet.
1. Sugar
2. Potatoes (and other starchy foods)
3. Foods with bleached enriched white flour

These foods were avoided completely for the first two weeks of the diet, which is considered phase one. In phase two, certain foods were allowed that contain sugar, mainly fruit. I had always been a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so instead of a potato with my meal, I'd just double up on the vegetables. Another key part of the South Beach Diet is to eat smaller portions more frequently. This keeps the metabolism and blood sugar at a more constant level. So I always eat a healthy snack between meals. Other little changes that helped me lose weight were:
1. Instead of 2-3 glasses of milk with supper, limit myself to just one.
2. Use a smaller plate to create the illusion of more food.
3. Convince myself it is okay to throw away food the kids don't eat, instead of cleaning their plates for them.

I began the diet at the end of January 2008. By the end of March, I had already accomplished my goal of 20-25 pounds, so I needed to set a new goal. My revised goal was to get below 200 pounds, which is something I don't think I've been able to claim since sometime in middle school. Well I'm happy to announce that after 41 weeks, I have lost a total of 44 pounds and am now at 198 pounds!

Since I'm still kind of a math geek at heart, I tracked my weekly weight loss in a spreadsheet and made some charts to help track my progress. Here are a couple of those charts.





Prior to July, my weight loss was with diet alone, but beginning in July I added more exercise into my routine. Since that time I have been lifting weights three days per week and taking walks every day, if possible. While I may gain muscle mass, and perhaps weight, by lifting, I've also read that for every pound of muscle gained, you burn 50 more calories per day. So at this point, I'm less concerned with my weight and shifting my focus to shedding the little bit of belly fat that I have left. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to achieve the coveted 6-pack abs, but that remains in the back of my mind for something to strive for eventually. I'm basically just trying to make my body a more efficient machine now.

Of course I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish, and my self-esteem has been through the roof for most of this year. However, when I started this adventure, I had several reasons for doing it.

• I wanted to set a good example for my kids.
• I didn't want to have the burden of being overweight, and associated potential health risks looming over me anymore.
• I didn't like the way I looked when I saw myself in pictures. This really became more of an issue for me in 2007. My passport and driver's license photos are particularly unflattering.
  
• I wanted to inspire others. I've always been heavy and I thought I always would be because "that's just who I am." But I've proven to myself that with a few rather simple changes, that doesn't have to be me. If I can do it, so can you.
  
• I saw that my body/frame had potential, it had just always had some extra fat on it. I want to see what I can transform it into, and that's what I'm working on now by reducing my body fat and increasing my muscle mass.

I don't intend for this to be a yo-yo diet and I never plan on regressing back to my old weight. This is a lifestyle change for me. Having read the South Beach Diet book, I have gained a lot of knowledge about how foods affect my body and cause fat production. Now that I'm equipped with this knowledge, I have no reason to regress.

No weight loss story would be complete without before and after pictures, so I close this blog entry with just that. (These aren't necessarily the best pictures, but they are pretty similar photos and you can still see the results in my face at least.)

Before (Sept 2007):


After (Aug 2008):

Quick Thoughts 6/26

• Yes, it is still illegal to wear headphones while driving a car. Pass the word because based on my observations, this is happening a lot more often now. (Thanks iPod.)
  
• Is it really too hot right now to shut your car's engine off while filling up with gasoline? I bet it will be a lot hotter when it explodes.
• Do people really care what Paris Hilton was wearing when she was released from jail? Is that really news? For that matter, is anything she does news-worthy?
  
• Oh, here's a press release about the project I'm working on.
  

Quick Thoughts 6/21

• Hopefully I still have a few readers left after my blogging hiatus.
  
• I realized the other day that being a Cubs fan is like being married to an abusive spouse. You love them, and firmly believe that they will change, so you endure the pain they inflict on you. But when it's all said and done, they just make your life miserable.
• Don't go picking a bouquet of wild parsnip.
• Take a live look at what's going on at Rochesterfest.
  

Theme Music

Blog inspiration struck me yesterday while attending a Rochester Honkers baseball game. It seems that these days, all baseball players have a song that is played when they come up to bat, or in some cases, closing pitchers have a theme song too. So that got me thinking, what would I use for my theme song when I come up to bat? I have narrowed it down to intros of the following three songs:

• "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC
• "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
• "Stand up and Shout" by Steel Dragon (Theme to the movie Rock Star)

What song would you use as your baseball theme song?

Cody Christopher Evans

Please welcome the newest member of our family, Cody Christopher Evans. He was born at 12:19 PM on April 3, and weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 6 oz, with a length of 20.25 inches. Holly did a great job and had a much easier labor than what she experienced with Payton. She was able to give birth without any medication, and from start to finish, labor only lasted about eight hours this time. More pictures can be found here.

Ping

I just downloaded the new BlogJet 2.0 software.  Ever since I switched over to the Blogger Beta in October, my old BlogJet software stopped working.  I’m not a big fan of the default way of posting via the Blogger website, which is one of many reasons I haven’t posted much lately.  So maybe this will jump-start my blogging again.

Say What?

I used to think that Reader's Digest was a respectable publication. For several years I subscribed to RD and enjoyed the short articles that are ideal for a bathroom reader. But as time passed, I grew tired of the magazine, and decided not to renew my subscription anymore. I received the final issue of my subscription in August, and figured I'd put RD behind me. However, they still send me notices from the billing department about once a month. I'd like to share the content of one of these letter with you.

IMPORTANT - YOU SHOULD READ THIS CAREFULLY

By failing to pay the sum of $17.98 now seriously overdue in regard to several issues of a magazine subscription mailed to the above address, we must assume that there is no doubt that you owe the amount shown on the attached bill. It is our responsibility to collect.

Take notice, we are giving you this last opportunity to make payment to us. So that we may both avoid unnecessary expense, we strongly urge you to MAIL YOUR PAYMENT TODAY in the enclosed reply envelope.

--BILLING DEPARTMENT

IF THE ACTION REQUIRED BY THIS NOTICE IS TAKEN BEFORE THE DATE SHOWN NO FURTHER ACTION WILL BE TAKEN WITH REGARD TO THIS NOTICE.


I had to read that letter about five times to make sense of it. It's so wordy that I can only assume they are trying to scare and confuse me into thinking I am late in paying. Also, there is no customer service phone number on the letter anywhere, which I find unacceptable given the context of the letter. Since I think the majority of the RD subscribers are age 50 and up, I find this to be a very shady practice of trying to deceive older people.

For what it's worth, I paid for a year's subscription in August 2005, and just as I expected, August 2006 was my last issue. Because of the wording of the letters I am receiving, I will never subscribe to Reader's Digest again, and I encourage you to boycott them as well.

A Growing Problem (not a going problem)

I've recently become very concerned with the quality of automobiles on the road. The problem that I am seeing is very pervasive. It happens on all makes, models, and vintages of vehicles. In general, it is an intermittent problem, but the frequency that I observe this problem is rapidly increasing. My car has not experienced this problem yet, but with this growing problem, I wanted to spread the word, so you can be on the lookout for it.

Put simply, the problem is that turn signals are not working in these vehicles. Every single day I seem to be behind a vehicle that is affected by this problem. Perhaps it is electrical in nature. Has the government been conducting tests with EMPs (electro-magnetic pulses)? Or have solar storms been on the rise? I think if it was either of those, the effects would be much more wide-spread than just affecting turn signals. Whatever the cause, please help spread awareness, and regularly test your turn signals before making turns.

Thank you.

Quick Thoughts 12/3

• We were bowling with some friends last night, and I wound up rolling the highest three game series of my life. 177, 203, and 178 for a 558 series. Not too shabby, especially considering it was that crazy black light bowling, and we were next to some kids who had zero bowling etiquette.
• That reminds me of one of my first 200+ games of my life. I was on a date in high school and we went bowling. She was getting about a 50 and I ended up with 201. I really felt awful.
• Hey the Bears won the NFC North today. Congratulations to "the pride an joy of Illinois."
• That was one ugly game today.
• I'm still supporting Rex Grossman, but he's really making it difficult for me to do so. I really don't know why he keeps trying to force the deep ball. It really is getting to be maddening.
  
• Whoever thought Brian Urlacher was over-rated must have been on crack. I swear he is in on every tackle. It's a pretty safe bet that no other Bears will be wearing #54 in the future.
• It was apparent to me today how good Brad Maynard, the Bears' punter is. The Vikings' punter had a few shanks, but Maynard was a picture of consistency. It's the little things like punting that can really make a difference in a game. Dan, I know you've always appreciated Maynard too.
  
• Iowa gets to play Texas in the Alamo Bowl. That's not going to be pretty Hawkeye fans.
  

Quick Thoughts 12/1

• The Bears play the Vikings this weekend. A co-worker of mine suggested that if the Vikes win, I have to shave, and if the Bears win, he will. I might take him up on that. I'm pretty confident that I'll be keeping my whiskers.
• Yet another reason Legos are so darn cool. Just six, eight stud bricks can be arranged 915,103,765 different ways.
  
• Now for some fun. How nerdy are you? I'm not as bad as I thought.

You Are 36% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd. You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

How Nerdy Are You?

You can be a recording star!

You know I love karaoke, but never get a chance to do it any more. Well, I just came across this site, Singshot.com, that lets you make your own karaoke recordings and post them to the site. Spend a few minutes there and you might get addicted to it. There are some really, really bad renditions out there, but they are highly entertaining. I'll let you know if I start posting any. I can see Bigshow posting a few songs.

Quick Thoughts 11/19

• No points given up by the Bears today equals bear claws* Monday!
• Today in the children's sermon at church they were learning about Thanksgiving. The question was asked, "What do you like to do on Thanksgiving," to which one elementary school-aged girl replied, "Go to the Doctor Who convention." I think I laughed for three straight minutes.
• This weekend I was able to convert some audio tape recordings to digital format. Here are some recordings from this past summer for your listening enjoyment.
• Men's quartet (Larry Dodge, Kahn Evans, Bob Kanzelman, Jeff Utecht) singing "Climbin' up the Mountain."
• Men's quartet singing "I'll Fly Away."
• Me singing "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." Accompanied by Brian Nass.
• I suppose we're going to be seeing those annoying Lexus commercials again soon where people give their spouses a new Lexus with a huge bow on them for Christmas. Give me a break.
  

* After doing some calling around this afternoon, it seems that bear claws are hard to find. If I'm unable to locate any in town, I'll bring in apple fritters.

Busy morning

Holy cow, it's sloppy outside this morning. There was thunder and lightning to go along with the snow we're getting. It's hard to believe it was 70 degrees on Wednesday! The snow plows haven't made much progress on the roads, and the snow is really piling up. Holly and I went to the hospital this morning for an ultrasound, and after only 30 minutes there was at least two inches of snow on the cars.

Speaking of the ultrasound, we found out that we're having another boy! Everything looked good and he's still measuring for a due date of April 2, which is the same due date that Payton had. So now that we know for sure, we can start concentrating on coming up with a boy's name. Remember on Seinfeld when George wanted to name his baby "Seven?" I've always liked the ring that Seven Evans has, but I wouldn't consider actually naming the baby Seven. I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for names.

Quick Thoughts 11/3

• You may notice that things look a little different on my blog now. I switched to Blogger Beta, which had some nice features such as labels for my posts. So over on the right-hand side of my blog, you'll see a few categories of labels I've given some of my previous posts. Also, there are some handy expand/collapse buttons in my archive section to make navigation easier.
  
• The reason I switched to a blogspot hosted blog now is that I was having lots of problems FTPing to my Charter-hosted blog. I don't know if my blog was getting too large for Charter, but I kept getting FTP transfer timeouts every time I tried to add a new post. For someone who is already lacking motivation to post, I didn't need any more deterrents. After deleting most of the pictures from my Charter account, I realized that my blog still points to them. So a lot of my old posts don't have pictures with them anymore. Other than that, I think I'll be better off now.
• I think the Bears are going to steamroll over the Dolphins this weekend.
  
• People knock the Bears for their weak schedule. Is it really their fault though? A lot of people picked the Dolphins to be in the Super Bowl this year, but as it stands, they only have one win right now. People also thought Arizona would be good. So even the games that were supposed to be against good teams aren't all there. You can't fault the Bears for that. They just need to keep going out there a knocking off these teams in convincing fashion, one at a time. If the Bears weren't an elite team, they wouldn't be dominating the lesser teams like they have been doing all season long.
• Hey, post some comments so I know that traffic is flowing to the new site!
  

Quick Thoughts 10/31

• I’ve moved my blog. Please update your links to www.kahnskorner.blogspot.com.
• Happy Halloween! Don’t eat too much candy tonight.
• Yes, as I eluded to in my last post, we are expecting another child. Currently the baby is due April 10, but at the first ultrasound the baby measured with a due date of April 2. They haven’t officially changed anything, but we’ll be going back next Friday for another ultrasound and find out the baby’s sex. The ironic thing is that Payton’s due date was April 2, so it’s kind of like deja vu.
• We have no idea what we should name the baby, but Payton suggested “Fendooda.” Where he came up with that, I will never know.
• The Bears got right back on track this past week with an easy win over the 49ers. Next up are the Dolphins in Chicago. The Bears should have no problems with the Dolphins, but wouldn’t it be ironic if that was the only game they were to lose this season? I don’t see it happening though. They should win this game, but stand a much greater chance of losing one or two of the upcoming road games against the Giants and Patriots. This is when we find out just how good the Bears really are.
• Boy, that Nintendo Wii sure looks pretty cool. I hear the AARP is endorsing it too.

When all else fails...Post Pictures!

Payton likes playing his “guitar.”

Pumpkins!

Holly got to go to Orlando the other week for a teaching conference. Can you tell that she’s pregnant?

Our friends had an early Halloween party last weekend. That’s Payton as Tigger, but he wasn’t feeling very bouncy for the pictures.

I'm in disbelief

Is it 2001 again?  The Bears had no business winning that game tonight.  I guess sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Quick Thoughts 10/9

• I think it’s about time to seriously research the NFL Sunday Ticket. The Bears’ game was broadcast in our area yesterday, but when the score was 30–0, they took it off the air and started airing “a more competitive game” instead. I was not happy with that decision.
• I kept my eye on the score of the Bears game after that, and thought for sure I’d be bringing in bear claws today for the shutout. I wish I could have seen how the Bills scored their lone touchdown.
• The Cyclones couldn’t overcome Nebraska or the referees on Saturday night. However, Dan Fouts had one of the funniest quotes I’ve heard during a football game in a long time. He was talking about Todd Blythe and how he was trying to fire the Cyclones up in the second half. Fouts said that Blythe went to all of the Cyclone offensive linemen and told them it was their job to keep the QB, Brett Meyer, erect. I think I laughed for ten minutes after that one. Nice choice of words guys.
• Oh boy, I wouldn’t want to be this guy, or be around this guy today.

Bears/Seahawks Running Blog

One of my on-line must-reads is Bill Simmons’ “The Sports Guy” column on ESPN.com’s Page 2.  He writes about sports, but throws in a lot of witty and humorous pop culture references.  During big games, he’ll often keep a running blog of the event.  So, thanks for the idea Mr. Simmons.  I can only wish that I was as entertaining to read. 

7:21 Kickoff…Let’s get it on!  C’mon Bears show everyone you’re for real.

7:29 Bears punt after a three and out.  I feel like I’ve seen that before.

7:35 Seahawks are driving and end up with a FG.  No bear claws this week.  For such a good defense, the Bears sure do give up a lot of yards.  That’s one thing that still frustrates me.

7:44 Desmond Clark is looking pretty good for a guy with a bad ankle.  It figures that he had his worst game last week when I started him in one of my fantasy leagues.

7:45 Thomas Jones finally breaks off a decent run.  He’s due for a big game.

7:46 Grossman is dropping back way too far when he’s under pressure.  It’s making me nervous as heck.  Most of the time nothing good is going to result from that, but there was this one particular play, (which I witnessed in person) that defied all odds.

7:47 TOUCHDOWN BEARS!!!  Another passing TD no less.

7:58  End of first quarter. The Bears are airing it out again this drive.  I just haven’t gotten used to this aerial assault, and offensive competence yet, but I am definitely loving it. 

8:03 The Bears kick a field goal, and go up 10–3.  On the way to commercial, NBC plays Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4”.  I suppose we’ll also hear “Sweet Home Chicago” before the night is over.  If the game was in Seattle, do you think they’d play “I’m Only Happy when it Rains?”

8:07 and still no mention of Terrell Owens from Al and John.  Can that possibly last the full game?

8:09 Devin Hester fumbles a punt.  I think this kid has a lot of potential, as he’s already returned one punt for a touchdown this season, but 90% of the time he just dances around too much trying to make something happen. 

8:17 Interception Ricky Manning Jr!  At least I’m writing this on my laptop at home…not at a Denny’s.  I feel pretty safe.

8:25 The Bears add three more points on a Robbie “Good as” Gould FG.  13–3 Bears.  I like the way this game is playing out so far.

8:31 Another interception for Ricky Manning Jr.  It was run back for a touchdown, but only because of some illegal blocks.  Still, the Bears take possession of the ball.

8:35 Thomas Jones runs the ball in for a TOUCHDOWN (his first of the year)!  20–3 Bears.

8:49 Seattle kicks a FG to make it 20–6. 

8:51 Halftime.  The Bears’ offense has looked very potent again so far.  Grossman is making good decisions, and looking very sharp.  The defense is giving the Seahawks fits and only giving up a couple of field goals.  I’ll trade touchdowns for field goals any day.

9:09 Thomas Jones breaks off a big run just as Al and John talk about the Bears’ rushing problems.

9:10 Mushin Muhammad makes another catch.  Not that I’m complaining, but what happened to all the big drops that he was having last season?  Most of the guys on offense are the same as last year, but the results are completely different.  I’d hate to say it, but maybe Jerry Angelo knows what he’s doing.

9:16 After being set up by a pass interference call, Thomas Jones pounds it in from the one yard line.  27–6 Bears!  If this continues, I’m sure the Bears still won’t get respect from the national media.  After all, the Seahawks are playing without Shaun Alexander tonight (even though he’s only averaging a little over 62 yards per game this year).

9:24 The game isn’t that close right now, but Al and John are still talking about the game they are at.  Could this have been something they were coached on when they moved to NBC?

9:38 Cedric Benson breaks off a nice run.  Let the running back controversy begin.

9:41 Bombs away!  Grossman hooks up with Berrian for a 40 yard touchdown.  I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of that connection this season.  34–6 Bears.  I still can’t get over how much fun this team is to watch this year.

9:44 Yet another plug for NBC’s new show “Heroes.”  I watched the pilot last week and liked it quite a bit.  It looks like it has some good potential. 

9:56 Chris Collinsworth is interviewed in a split-screen, and I never noticed this before, but he sure blinks a lot.  I think he blinked about a dozen times in ten seconds. 

10:05 Robbie Gould adds another three points via his leg.  37–6 Bears.  He’s still perfect this season.  Let’s see if he can keep that up all season, only to choke at the end of the NFC championship game.  Does that scenario sound familiar Vikings fans?   

10:08 Seneca Wallace has entered the game for the Seahawks.  In case you didn’t follow this link earlier, here it is again.

10:11 Madden criticizes Devin Hester as he almost botches another punt return.  He says “I don’t think I’d want him back there in a close game.”  John, you must not have seen guys returning punts for the Bears last year. 

10:20 I knew we couldn’t go the whole game without talking about Terrell Owens, even though Al and John were reluctant to say anything. 

10:22 Chicago wins 37–6 and improves to 4–0.  Check out these numbers after four games:  Points scored: 116, points allowed: 29.  This team is the real deal folks.