"Just The Facts, Ma'am"

First things first. I weighed in at 229.8 this morning, for a loss of .2 of a lb, lol. I have to tell you, I am just THRILLED that I made 2 weeks in a row WITHOUT gaining!! I'm perfectly fine with today's weigh-in. I said I was looking for a 1 lb. loss. I would have been more accurate if I would have said I just hope I don't gain. And I didn't. Yahoo!

Now, about "the facts". Last night's post evoked several comments that disagreed with what the personal trainer told me last night at the gym. I'm glad you all spoke up, it's good to hear things from all sides. I gotta' tell ya'....it drives me nuts because this stuff happens all the time. You never know who to believe, you know? And it happens with EVERYTHING involved with trying to lose weight and get in shape.

As far as counting calories....1500 works for some while 2000 works for others. As far as staying within a certain calorie range, well that's a joke too. Billie and I were just discussing this on the way to the gym. I use sparkpeople as my nutrition website. They say 1/4 c of almonds is 200. The bag that the almonds came in, sitting in my pantry, says 1/4 c of almonds is 170. 30 calories might not be a big difference to some people, but it is to me. And it drives me nuts that they're so different.

Another example....the personal trainer said yellow squash (summer squash, not butternut like someone thought) is a bad carb. Pam emailed me this morning after looking it up and come to find out, the trainer is dead wrong. Yellow squash and zucchini have the exact same glycemic index #, which is believe is a 15, and is on the "low" list of the index. And to top that, zucchini actually has MORE sugar in it than summer squash!!! So why did he write in his book that he sells to all of his clients for $30 (NO, I didn't buy one), that yellow squash is a bad carb???? Who the hell knows, but it bugs the crap out of me, lol.

Here's another one for you. My own doctor, the one who took me off of all of my meds this week, told me that you do not raise good cholesterol with food...you raise it with exercise. When he found out that I'm doing plenty of exercise, he said I must be one of those unfortunate ones that heredity has affected, and will have to be placed on a new medicine to raise it when I come in for another appt in a month. I emailed my two most trustworthy sources....Pam, because she's the research queen and has been on this journey longer than I have, and Sean because I knew the last time he went to the doctor, his labs came back fantastic.

Both of their doctors told them that you most certainly CAN raise the good cholesterol with food, and both of them suggested almonds to me. Then my mom sends me this very informative email listing ALL KINDS of foods that raise good cholesterol. So why did my doctor tell me you couldn't raise it with food? Why were my only 2 choices exercise, or a victim of heredity??? Do you see why I hate conflicting info?

I can't even tell you how aggravated I am with friggin' eggs, lol. 10 people tell me to stick to egg whites, and another 10 tell me to eat the whole egg...telling me there's so much good stuff in the yolk, forget about the bad cholesterol....but then they follow that up with "just don't eat them every day, like....maybe 1-2x/wk". Oh really??? And why is that??? Because the cholesterol in the yolk IS a problem???? Grrrrrr!!

As far as the jogging being bad for you....I can see it being a problem for some because my right knee is just shot sometimes, and I can tell that jogging worsens it. However, I can see how it really benefits other people, and Rebecca made a really good point about if you're already fairly fit, then walking simply isn't going to raise your heart rate enough to give you a good enough cardio workout. She is absolutely correct.

I was noticing this on the treadmill myself this morning. As you know, I've been practicing my jogging for 2-3 wks now. Well I didn't do it today because he told me not to, and because my knee isn't 100% yet. So I entered my age and weight on the fancy shmancy treadmill, and watched my heart rate. According to the chart, at the age of 37, I should have it around 147. Mine never got any higher than a 122 today and I was sweating like a pig in mid July. The fastest treadmill speed I can walk at w/o feeling like I have to jog is a 4.2. That's where I had it, at a 5% incline, pouring sweat, and couldn't get my heartrate over 122. Now yesterday, I was jogging 3 minutes at a time, and walking 3 mins inbetween. My heart rate was 148. Go figure.

I know people say you just have to do what you think is right for you. That sucks, lol. I can choose to do one thing, and the next day someone will show me or tell me how it's wrong, no matter what it is, lol. I'm not an educated nutritionist or dietician. I'm not a doctor, although sometimes I think they know way less about nutrition than they should and they're just medicine pushers, living in the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies. So, as it is, I still have more questions than solid answers, and I probably always will have.

My final analysis is this:

Count your almonds at 200 calories.
Eat all the yellow squash you can hold.
Jog if you feel like it, walk if you don't.
Eat all the eggs you want....as long as it's no more than 1x a week, lol.
And always question everything your dr. tells you. He's not the God of Nutrition.

Have a super fantastic weekend everyone!! And thanks for listening to my aggravated b*tch-fest!! :)

Quote For the Day:

"The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist." -Harold Wilkins