The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

So part of the reason I’ve been silent recently is the fact I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired. Not for weight loss or living healthy, but putting things down in written form. But that doesn’t really help you, our readers. And then I had an idea. With my Google-Fu I searched high and hunted low. A number here, and a call there. Lo and behold I was able reach Luis Bruno and he was willing to take a few minutes to answer some questions for us.

The Life Ledger (Dave) : Mr Bruno, I would first like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions for us. For those that haven’t read the Runner’s Worldarticle featuring your lifestyle changes, can you describe where you were in your life before your weight loss and what prompted the change?

Luis Bruno : My life was out of control and I couldn’t get a grip on it!!! I was sitting at 400 lbs. I was requiring 6 shots of insulin a day to control my diabetes. My weight also caused loss of feeling in my right foot, a damaged liver and sleep apnea. I also had the stress of running a restaurant and a new baby in my life.

Let me tell you, at that time the only thing in front of it all was my restaurant. I put it before my child, family or my health. I just did not care!

TLL : The article also said you were placed on an emergency diet of 800 calories a day. Can you describe what that consisted of? And what was it like eating that knowing what you could whip up in the kitchen?

LB : It was a liquid diet, and so I wished it had been a beer diet. Not!!! I had packs of powder meals to which you add 8oz of water to and BAM!!! You have a meal. It’s the truth!! It was bad… My choices for meals consisted of: chocolate, vanilla or strawberry shakes, chicken or tomato soup, and a vanilla or chocolate pudding for dessert. I came to enjoy them because of the chef that I am I was able to make some adjustments.

So of the things I ate, excuse me drank (HA-HA), for 5+ months were chicken soup and vanilla pudding. The soup I added more water to in order to stretch it out, as well as adding dried herbs, vegetables and spices. So it was very yummy. For the puddings I made them into a shake by adding extracts, fruit and non sugar syrups. I would do the diet again with no problem.

TLL : One of the things we like to look at here at TheLifeLedger are numbers. What metrics or methodologies did you use to keep track of your progress?

LB : I keep a log/journal on my workouts, food intake and feelings. I initially felt having a journal was a girly thing to do but I’ve come to discover that it works, and helps me a great deal!!! After I overcame the journal thing, I kept up recording in it since August of 2005. Some times I look back over past entries, because reading them makes me feel good about what I’ve been accomplishing.

TLL : Now that I’m so near my own goal, I’ll admit it’s hard to be motivated to lose those last few pounds to reach my target. How have your motivations and goals changed as you approached your goal weight?

LB : I give myself a 10 lb. window. I’m currently 205 and let myself go down to 200 and up to 210 to stay in that window frame of weight. And for exercise I set 6 month goals, so I’ll change my workout routine and not get bored and have that goal to reach for.

TLL : Have you reached your personal goals yet?

LB : Every day has a goal for me, with the challenge being not relapsing into old habits in a bad way. Let’s face it, Food is a drug for some. We need to have it every day to function but someone like me and others need more and can’t seem to stop! Now that I eat only 3 meals and 3 snacks a day I’m a happy camper.

TLL : What is your regular maintenance routine to keep the weight off?

LB : My routine for working out is 3 days of lifting weights and swimming, with the other 3 days of running. On my running days I might do some bricking (which means biking and some running one after the other). Then there is Tennis if I can get it in on the weekend as well as doing sports with my daughter. She’s into baseball, basketball, soccer & karate.

TLL : People usually have preconceived notions of what “good food” and stereotypical diet food consists of. Has the change in your lifestyle been an obstacle to you or more of an opportunity for bringing balance between “healthy” and “unhealthy” foods?

LB : My lifestyle has changed a whole lot, for the best of course, but there’s no obstacles in my diet. I just pay attention to what I put in my body. I guess I can say my life is finally in balance and it doesn’t get any better.

TLL : Any final advice and motivation you can provide our readers for healthy weight loss and exercise?

LB : Listen guys - Pay attention to your body, it does talk to you. Your body will let you know when its not feeling well or sad, in pain or just uncomfortable. Take the signs all in and realize when its telling you something.

If you are over-weight or have some health issues, you need to respect yourself and be strong. For you, family and friends. So take control of it, and do it right!! Get healthy, eat right, exercise…

Let me tell you it has taken me 36 years to face these issues and I’m winning this battle. I’m not going back to that uncontrollable lifestyle again!!!! Trust me, If you have a strong heart and mind you can do anything.

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I was getting ready for work this morning, with the TV on in the background for noise. Good Morning America in fact. While I was listening, Diane Sawyer interviewed Jim Karas about his new book. I admit I didn’t give it my full attention, but what I heard kept catching my attention. Especially how he wrapped things up by promising fast results. This made me inherently wary. But I wandered by ABC News to give him a fair shake, and my full attention. Mind you these aren’t in any particular order, just fleshed out after listening a few times.

Karas referenced a study where 16 very fit women were told to cardio for 45 minutes 5 days a week. Low and behold these women didn’t loose any weight. My god! They even gained a pound! Horror of horrors. Gained a single pound. Given what’s known about water weight and daily fluctuation that’s easily explained away by statistics. But that alone doesn’t bug me.

What gets me is word choice he used - “…16 very fit women…” Very fit huh? That puts me in mind of women who already fit within current BMI standards of healthy weight. And even then, I would expect people who are already doing some sort of exercise to maintain that condition. Don’t stack your test subjects Karas to get the results you want.

And then came the great myth about knee problems. You know its funny he brought that up, considering it was weight machines that were causing me problems the other day. This isn’t to say injuries won’t happen, there is potential for that to happen no matter what you do. This is where education as well as proper equipment comes in.

What does that consist of for cardio? For running obviously a good pair of shoes that take care of pronation and ankle support for your running surface. other cardio machines or classes I would believe a good set of tennis or running shoes for similar reasons. But we can’t forget education. When it comes to running there are ways to improve the quality of your run. You can definitely get benefits Forby just putting one foot in front of the other, but you can improve your efficiency and effectiveness by learning to run “correctly”.

Does he expect people not to hurt themselves when doing weight machines? Probably not, but Karas would expect people to take a class or get educated in how to properly use everything. And from what I’ve learned so far from my lifting buddy you have to focus to do it right. Focus on pinching your shoulder blades. Or keeping your core tight. It’s kinda ironic that Karas thinks that running or cardio can be completely mindless as well. While I can’t comment on cardio classes, I know for running I have my form, stride, pace, and more I can focus on to make sure I’m doing properly. If I want to turn off my mind, sure it’s possible. Let the body move through habit and I can still work up a good sweat. But it won’t be as beneficial as if I was paying attention. But what to focus on takes education.

And education doesn’t include just the exercise. Karas brings up as fact that doing cardio makes people more hungry. Doing a straw poll, 5 of 5 disagreed with that. Personally it kills my appetite for the rest of the day, almost to the point I need to force myself to eat. At the same time, one of the reason I do run is to eat what I want. And I’m sure there are many others that do the same. So what’s wrong with trying to balance your increased intake with cardio?

Karas excellently hits on this point, specifically that most people aren’t aware of how much they are eating. The only way to counter this is by counting calories. Hurray! Something I can agree with. Only by counting everything can you get an honest assessment of your intake, which leads to controlling overeating.That’s the standard Point of Awareness like we talk about here, focused on food.

In fact I will say that part of Karas’s song and dance routine was a nice classic mantra. Weight loss is an equation of calories in minus calories out. The only thing that matters is how you modify those numbers. Eat less to reduce your intake. Exercise more in whatever fashion to increase how much you burn. I think Karas is trying to get known by being contrarian. Shock the status quo to get your name in the newspaper. But when comes to overall effectiveness, I’d be much more interested in long term results from a very different starting point than he indicates.

Arby’s, one of those places that I think about as being “healthier” fast food joints. I shouldn’t have looked up the nutritional info because ignorance definitely was bliss. But lets break this down and see what has potential.

From my previous post, my goal is to aim for around 1000 calories at lunch. Because I’m wanting to be healthy, I try to get a Market Fresh Sandwich of some sort. With random choice I get :

• small drink : 180
• small fries : 338
• Roast Turkey Ranch & Bacon Sandwich : 834

Ouch, that total comes to 1420, with my standard 5% adjustment, and no refills. And just switching to water isn’t going to help. Well they have wraps, that cuts out around 130 more calories, and while close its not quite enough. It’s a shame because I think those sandwiches are tasty but obviously to much food, just in pure volume. Wonder what my other choices are? Little bit of excel magic later I get

Of course the children sandwiches rises to the top. But if have to get that soda, you limited to 17 items or 1/3 of the menu. There’s the Vineyard Salad but any dressings will add at least 200 calories. But the most of the basic sandwiches, with exception of crispy sandwiches, pass my trigger line. Removing soda provides double the choices. But there are limited choices on subs (French Dip and Hot Ham & Swiss) as well no Market Choices. Maybe it’s time to move this choice off my rotation for work lunches. Making educated choices can be a pain!

So today was my first run outside for awhile. Beautiful morning, when I prefer to run, and a nice cool 55 degrees out. The only “complaint” was that I was without tunes - My ipod wasn’t charged. So for most of the way I had to listen to the birds sing. If all off life’s problems were that Horrific. Laugh

But it was a good run, down around the Lake. Running on pavement is worlds different than running on a treadmill. While the health benefits are there for both, actually moving in the world and being able to see the distance you’ve traveled gives a better sense of accomplishment. It’s a more tangible thing, at least to me. Pull up google maps, and I would be able to trace it for you.

Another detriment to running on a treadmill is that the numbers fib to you. The speed setting might be set to 7.5 mph (8 minute mile) but given how you run, you can be moving quite a bit slower. Being 6′ 3″, I just lengthen my stride. And when both feet are off the ground the track just goes by underneath.

The last and most important difference, to me, is the texture. You can feel the difference when it comes to running on pavement, sand, “trail”, and even the treadmill. Each has its own give or softness, its own resistance which is something different. In fact someone who is used to running on pavement can be slower if they try to perform the same on sand, or trails. Your body has to learn. So to prepare for my race, I have to run on roads and pavement since it has been awhile.

Which leads me to today’s numbers. Didn’t wear a watch, but in feeling my pace the first 1.5 miles was cruising right along at an 8 minute mile. After that I slowed down to a 10 min mile. Which isn’t bad. But slower than my personal goal right now.

And in case anyone wants to donate, visit here to donate straight to Habitat, or follow the instructions here for me to donate in your name. Have a great day, and to those that run, waddle on!

One of the things that is so prevalent these days are fast food. It’s easy to travel a mile and pass over 10 restaurants in some places. And no one can deny that they are convenient, and sometimes there are no other nearby options. My goal with this article and others is to look at what is available. Taking the information available on their website, I want to provide a general idea of how much of what someone can eat. At the same time I’m going to indicate what I would get if just going by my natural instincts. I’m going to use my general numbers generated by the government to get me down to a healthy weight. That means 2600 calories a day. Subtract 150 calories for daily fruit and 300 calories in breakfast yogurt. Estimating about 1000+ for dinner, and I’ll give myself an even 1000 calories for lunch.

Today I’m going to start with an old favorite - Wendy’s. I admit, I’m a creature of habit and really like Wendy’s Spicy Chicken sandwich combo. Per their nutrition page that provides me

• Sandwich : 480 Calories
• Small Fries : 370 Calories
• Medium Soda : 220 Calories
• Total : 1070 Calories

So it looks like it’s just at what would be a good goal for me. But I want to modify these numbers just a bit for two reasons. First, I typically get at least one refill on soda. That’s 220 more calories, for a total of 1290. At the same time there is a tendency for Fast Food companies to under-report the caloric value of the foods the make. It’s usually considered within statistical error, but often enough that the values should be taken with a grain of salt. I’m going to increase the value by 5% in an attempt to adjust for that. Wow, that places the end value at 1355. That additional 350 calories cost me another 30 minutes on the treadmill. What can I do differently?

• Sandwich : 480 Calories
• Small Fries : 370 Calories
• Medium Soda : 220 Calories

Well, straight away if I remove soda I get a total of just under 900 Calories. That’s even with my 5% adjustment. It’s amazing how much soda can effect your diet. Maybe you don’t like chicken. You could replace it with,say, a Double Jr or a single Classic. The frescata sandwiches have just as many calories or more than my beloved spicy chicken. And even more surprising are the salads, for most of them with provided condiments have as many calories or more than the sandwiches, save only the Caesar.

So, I wonder. Are my instincts strong enough that if I remove soda from most of the combo meals, I would be able to keep me within my goal of 1000 calories? We will have to see.