Weight (Fat) Loss on Track!

The low-salt diet is going ok as I have been discovering foods that I can eat. The funny thing is foods that were widely available in the 50’s are the kinds of foods that I am eating now. Back in the 50’s there were not a lot of fast-food joints to choose from. One might go to the occasional drive-in and order the cheese burger combo from the roller waitress!

Times have changed and the number of fast food choices along with convenience foods (read TV dinners, microwave dinners) has multiplied to the point that your mom, wife, girlfriend or even you – do not cook real food much anymore. In this post I’ll examine what we all probably already know about how to eat and talk about how my weight loss is doing. I’ll give some goals and time-lines too! I found this photo on Flickr.

Going to the A & W restaurants as a kid brings back memories of the gals on skates bring the burger, fries and root-beers! While these are fond memories, with our modern conveniences even many foods we buy at the grocery store can be highly processed fast foods. Individual frozen snack foods as well as most meals have the nutrition all out of wack.

Back when you mom was doing the cooking on a budget, she had to get buy on a set amount every month and one of the ways she did this was to buy whole foods and make the meals herself! Dr. J. over at calorielab.com did a post on fast food recently here. Dr. J. also commented over on my blog about this, “…I realized if people just ate low salt, that would eliminate most of the unhealthy foods just with that change.”

While I agree that if one eats less fast food he or she will most certainly be on a healthier diet. I am also concerned with convenience foods sold on the shelves and frozen isles of our grocery stores. Just eating unprocessed foods, vegetables & fruits would remove the need to be on any special diets in most cases. That and increasing your exercise would lead to in increase in overall fitness!

I have been losing a pound or two fat a week without really trying too hard. Especially after changing from processed to less-processed food based on salt content. It is surprising to me that I can buy a beef roast for $15.00 over at costco and slice it up into 4 ounce servings to get low-salt, tasty lunches! I’m getting a little more fat but I am getting as much or more protein and way less salt!

Another realization is cheese slices have more salt than real cheddar blocks of cheese. The only thing I used to look at was fat and calorie content but now I’m looking at the salt content. 

I am finding that my breakfasts and lunches do not change too much but my dinners I am having one beef or sometimes turkey burger (salt is higher). I am also getting fruit during the day and I am eating vegetables for dinner now!

Wow! Now my problem (not really a problem) is getting enough calories in a day! I am getting filled up and eating closer to the food pyramid. I guess on could say if they just threw out all of the diets out there and listened to the old advice – you would be fine.

For those of you who don’t remember, the advice was (and still it), “Eat right and exercise.”

My goals are to go from obese to normal weight. To get to normal I will have to get to overweight first. At the last weigh in I was 238 pounds. Here is where I am headed.

BMI     Weight      Label

>30     238         Obese

>25     220         Over weight

<25     183         Normal weight

 As you can see I am obese at over >30 BMI but my immediate goal is 220 pounds to be over weight. That is not too far away; only 18 pounds to go. I am going to shoot for an achievable goal of 1 1/2 pounds of weight lost a week. That means I should be at 220 pounds by October 12, 2009.

I hope this information helps anyone going through a similar situation. Remember that if you are having a tough time dieting with processed foods – try less-processed foods!