DOWN for the Holidays! (Page 33)

As requested....I have gotten away from this theory lately and it cost me in the form of about 10 lbs.  I'm back on it now though hoping to see the same results as before.

In case you haven't heard of the pickle jar analogy it goes like this.

A professor walks into his class and holds up an empty pickle jar and tells his students that the jar represents their life.

He takes out several large rocks and places them into the jar until they reach the top and asks the students if the jar is full.  To which his students responded yes.  At this point he pulls out a bag of gravel and pours it into the jar and the gravel runs down and fills the voids between the rocks.  After several minutes of shaking and rattling the jar to fill the voids he again asks if the jar is full.  His students have learned and answer no.  At this he pulls a bag of sand and pours it into the jar filling the voids between the gravel.  Again after some time the sand is all the way to the top and the students are pretty sure nothing else can fit and answer that the jar is finally full.  The professor finally pulls out two pitchers of water and pours the water into the jar finally filling it all the way to the brim.

Now in the original version of the analogy the professor says that the big rocks should represent the most important things in life.  Health, faith, and family.  The gravel should represent things that are important but not life altering like jobs, friends, etc.  The sand represents their hobbies and things they enjoy.  And the water represents every thing else.  Which means that unless you put first things first (big rocks) then there won't be any room for them.

During my run this morning I was pondering...I often do that on runs, the application of this analogy to a diet.  Now when I say diet I am not referring to a program you follow for a while to lose a desired amount of weight and then discontinue its use.  I am referring to the way we approach eating and fueling our bodies.

In my opinion the rocks are plant based.  Your fruits, and vegetables.  These low calorie nutrient dense foods should go in first.  The gravel would represent your proteins.  Also important but should only be consumed after your vegetables.  The sand represent your carbohydrates which are important but high in calories and often over consumed by the public in general.  And the water represents everything else like sugars and deserts etc.

I subscribe to a very simple caloric deficit plan.  And eating this way in combination with training for triathlons I have lost a good deal of weight.  I always have fruits and/or vegetables with every meal.  I always consume them first typically raw or grilled with not much else added (like butter).  Like I said the calorie/nutrient ratio if very low.  They are also very filling and will help reduce my intake of the other items.  Then I consume my protiens, usually lean but I do have a steak now and again...followed by carbs, and if at the end of the day I still have some wiggle room in my calories I'll have a desert.

So something really weird happened. I was weighing in at about 178 on Wednesday... thats pretty typical. I got sick, started getting some wicked migraines and a sniffly nose and all that. no fever. Losing my appetite. Saturday/Sunday I was throwing up for probably about ten hours, and for the rest of Sunday I couldn't eat at ALL because anything that went down would come back up about ten minutes later. My appetite is returning to normal and I think I'm back in full swing. Got the minor head cold but thats also going away.

The thing is, despite a massively reduced caloric intake and obvious dehydration due to said vomiting, I weighed in at 185 on Monday. 183 today. I don't understand. Anybody have something like this happen? Its REALLY weird.

As requested....I have gotten away from this theory lately and it cost me in the form of about 10 lbs.  I'm back on it now though hoping to see the same results as before.

In case you haven't heard of the pickle jar analogy it goes like this.

A professor walks into his class and holds up an empty pickle jar and tells his students that the jar represents their life.

He takes out several large rocks and places them into the jar until they reach the top and asks the students if the jar is full.  To which his students responded yes.  At this point he pulls out a bag of gravel and pours it into the jar and the gravel runs down and fills the voids between the rocks.  After several minutes of shaking and rattling the jar to fill the voids he again asks if the jar is full.  His students have learned and answer no.  At this he pulls a bag of sand and pours it into the jar filling the voids between the gravel.  Again after some time the sand is all the way to the top and the students are pretty sure nothing else can fit and answer that the jar is finally full.  The professor finally pulls out two pitchers of water and pours the water into the jar finally filling it all the way to the brim.

Now in the original version of the analogy the professor says that the big rocks should represent the most important things in life.  Health, faith, and family.  The gravel should represent things that are important but not life altering like jobs, friends, etc.  The sand represents their hobbies and things they enjoy.  And the water represents every thing else.  Which means that unless you put first things first (big rocks) then there won't be any room for them.

During my run this morning I was pondering...I often do that on runs, the application of this analogy to a diet.  Now when I say diet I am not referring to a program you follow for a while to lose a desired amount of weight and then discontinue its use.  I am referring to the way we approach eating and fueling our bodies.

In my opinion the rocks are plant based.  Your fruits, and vegetables.  These low calorie nutrient dense foods should go in first.  The gravel would represent your proteins.  Also important but should only be consumed after your vegetables.  The sand represent your carbohydrates which are important but high in calories and often over consumed by the public in general.  And the water represents everything else like sugars and deserts etc.

I subscribe to a very simple caloric deficit plan.  And eating this way in combination with training for triathlons I have lost a good deal of weight.  I always have fruits and/or vegetables with every meal.  I always consume them first typically raw or grilled with not much else added (like butter).  Like I said the calorie/nutrient ratio if very low.  They are also very filling and will help reduce my intake of the other items.  Then I consume my protiens, usually lean but I do have a steak now and again...followed by carbs, and if at the end of the day I still have some wiggle room in my calories I'll have a desert.

Actually the point is that if your fill up on sugars, carbs, and junk first then there is no room for the stuff that is good for you like fruits, veggies, and lean proteins.  Also sure you have room for sugars, if you're willing to work for them.

Case in point last night, I had finished dinner and was still under my caloric intake goal.  However then the wife breaks out the cookies for the kids and I just wouldn't resist those delicious little things so I had 3, but that put me over.

So I had to slap on the running shoes and go out for a little run.

enders_shadow - 2012-11-17 7:26 PM

srichards428 - 2012-11-17 3:45 PM

>Location: Salem, Illinois (east of St. Louis, MO)

You say too little - Salem is home to Miracle Whip and William Jennings Bryan. A fellow southern-Illinoisian here. Although currently located on the east coast, I'm a southern IL girl at heart.) (Besides, when you say "east of St. Louis," I think of Sauget - home of strip clubs and urinal cakes.) Welcome!

Lol.....Dont forget its also the home of the GI Bill Of Rights.  What area were you from and how did you end up on the east coast?   I lived in Maine for 5 years a long time ago.

Okay - my race is over and I haven't done a single workout since (kind of crazy week) but I did manage to go grocery shopping today and spent most of my time in the fruits and veggy section so... LET THE HEALTHY EATING BEGIN!!!  

I honestly think the trick for me will be to avoid eating out (and drinking) and have social gatherings in my home where I can control what goes on the plate. 

Here's my before photo - taken at the race.  I weighed in this morning at 144 which is actually a pound more than our initial weigh in.  I'm wearing black so you can't really see the protruding belly.  Too bad because it's the side profile that shows it all off.  But there's also some hips and a muffin top that I'll be focusing on from now until the new year.  

Okay - my race is over and I haven't done a single workout since (kind of crazy week) but I did manage to go grocery shopping today and spent most of my time in the fruits and veggy section so... LET THE HEALTHY EATING BEGIN!!!  

I honestly think the trick for me will be to avoid eating out (and drinking) and have social gatherings in my home where I can control what goes on the plate. 

Here's my before photo - taken at the race.  I weighed in this morning at 144 which is actually a pound more than our initial weigh in.  I'm wearing black so you can't really see the protruding belly.  Too bad because it's the side profile that shows it all off.  But there's also some hips and a muffin top that I'll be focusing on from now until the new year.  

I actually think you look pretty durn good. But feeling good in your skin is what is important. Good for you for having a plan!