h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good job!




I can't, however, imagine 'Friends' inspiring much physical effort. Perhaps if you had Noggin stand behind you with the computer you could attempt to flee.

Always glad to hear that television does _some_ good!

Renovations seem to be the reverse of your method, I think I've put on 5 lbs. Oh, sorry. 2.27 kgs.

So, this really seems to be radical.


ten pounds.

fifteen.


I'm wasting away.

Seems I shall have to become one of the BELIEVERS soon, before I bloat up into something I no longer recognise . . .

A friend of mine went to visit a dietician the other day because 'she'd been putting on weight'.

It is to laugh.

She asked me if I'd wanted her to photocopy the diet plan so I could use it. I said no thanks.

Heck, easy peasy. Cut down a bit on sugars, starches and fats and take more regular exercise. Lose between 1-2 pounds every week or two. In fact, it's medically recommended that a weight loss of two pounds a month is the best, most natural, and more likely to be kept off . . . well, cos the reason is you have changed your lifestyle! duh.

The mind reels . . .


az

Whenever I think of dietitians, all I can think of is that woman at the hospital in New York who didn't want to hear what I was eating or what sort of exercise I was getting or the fact that I had lost significant weight in the months since we had cut our fat intake radically, or the fact that I was walking all over Manhattan all day almost every day....

All she saw was a fat person.... (and I certainly wasn't the size I am now!)

The morning that she walked in when I had the first solid meal I had seen in 2 1/2 weeks (and not the poached eggs and dry toast I had ordered but the greasy, salty, disgusting scrambled eggs with matzo crackers mashed into it!!?!?!? -- it still makes me shudder!) and started haranguing me about my eating habits.... and wouldn't listen to me point out that

1) if this disgusting greasy, salty, inedible meal was an example of what the hospital served its patients, she should have a word with the hospital kitchens about improving the menu
2) I didn't order it
3) except for pecking at it I WASN'T eating it
4) this was not the sort of meal I normally ate
5) I was getting more exercise than I had in 10 years

I actually lost 26 pounds over the time in the hospital, the result of being on an IV drip only for 1 1/2 weeks (including the time while I was on a "liquid diet" that was so full of artificial sweeteners or so acidic I couldn't "eat" it) and the kitchen's failure to send up the solid food for the remaining week.

Of course, I gained it all back when I got out, as I had, essentially been starving for the duration of my hospital stay.

For some reason, this hospital felt that feeding people artificial sweeteners in everything was "dietetically" responsible.

I got lots of apple juice -- which I can't drink because it causes heartburn.... which was, for some unaccountable reason, sugar-added. I got all the diet drinks I wanted -- except that I don't like the taste of aspartame and would have preferred tomato juice or any fruit drink other than apple juice.

Apparently - as far as I can remember from what someone recently told me - artificially sweetened products still produce glucose in the body (somehow).

Also, fruit juices (even unsweetened ones) are basically concentrated fruit, including fruit glucose. So much better to eat the entire fruit, pulp and all, considering that one glass of freshly squeezed orange juice is actually the juice (concentrated glucose) of at least three oranges. Most people couldn't eat three oranges at once sitting, but they could easily drink down a glass of juice.

I used to quite like pre-aspartame Diet 7-up as it was simply that - a soft drink with half the sugar (and calories) of regular soft drinks. So, about 50-60 calories a can. And I preferred the not-so-sweet taste of it. Then came aspartame and Diet 7-up became sickly sweet with *less than 1 calorie!*. Yuck.

Mudhooks, you might want to try lime water. Take a litre bottle of still or fizzy mineral water and then take a swig or two out of it. Then add the juice of two fresh limes to the water and a teaspoon of sugar (if you like). I actually prefer it without sugar. It's very refreshing (especially when nice and cold) and apparently a good 'body cleansing' thing to boot.


az

I had a fig for breakfast.





Just a fig.



And coffee.

I used to do that too when I was about 19 years old. One fig and a couple of almonds for brekky and some herbal tea. I weighed about 115 pounds then. No wonder!

I think I'd look quite scary if I weighed 115 pounds now - my whole self would collapse into itself. Though some people have said I actually looked quite scary back then (looking at old photos) because my head totally looked WAY TOO BIG for my body.

Can't win, eh?

az

My cat Sunny has been on the *throw up a whole bunch* weight loss programme this past week, and it certainly has worked for him.

Well, of course we are still hoping he just had a bad bout of gastrointeritis which wasn't properly dealt with at first . . . hence more throwing up than was probably necessary.

But it got me to thinking. Even a day or so of eating next to nothing - say, just fruit and yoghurt with plenty of lime water - would actually make a huge head start with the 'do more/eat less' revolutionary weight loss thingy. And sometimes getting some first off good results can help motivate you through the times when you PLATEAU.

Will think about this further and then buy some pears . . .


az

Somehow I seem to be doing about 2.5 lbs a week.

Used to be I'd eat whenever something was available, which was fairly often in this darn capitalist western society.

Today I've had a fig, two pieces of sushi, a couple of handfuls of Guru Lucky ( http://www.gurulucky.com/product.asp# ) Punjabi Mix , and a bagel spread with Gloria vegetable spread from that wonderful place, the Italian Centre Shop: http://italiancentre.ca/mainpage/mainpage.htm .


And a pot of coffee.


As long as I don't drink six boilermakers tonight I'll probably be a couple of pounds smaller in the morning.

You mean if you don't drink six boilermakers *under the table* you'll be a couple of pounds lighter.

One of my favourites long ago was a version of the boilermaker named in honour of the Norden bombsight and supposedly consumed by bomber pilots. A shot of whiskey is held over the pint and dropped in whole to the cries of *Bomb's Away!* (Goes off to see if there's an entry on either here...)

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That actually sounds rather unhealthy. Are you feeling okay?


az

Feeling fine.

Lots of vitamins.


Lots of exercise.





I'll stop when I get to Noggin's size.



In about a year.

Feeling fine.

Lots of food.

Too much alcohol.

Lots of exercise.


I'll stop when I weigh more than one of Mars' moons (the little one).

Keep an eye on us Az. We'll see who's in more danger.

Seriously, Az, I'm being careful.

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Even Noggin doesn't want to be Noggin's size, but no matter how much he eats he doesn't gain an ounce. Quite annoying, actually . . .

Well, *they say* that about 4-5 pounds a month is the healthiest rate to lose weight, though I think it's also usual to lose weight a bit more quickly at first.

So, how much have you lost so far then?


az

pushing 20 lbs.

That's awesome, anhaga!

Well, I'm pretty much into the 'do more' part of the programme, doing about 10 kms on The Bike every day this past week. Tomorrow I'm going to add a small weights workout to that and also start the 'eating less' part, beginning with an 'only fruit day' as a bit of a kick-start.



az

Come out to the RL 'back 42' and toss hay bales around for a month or so..

You'll soon shed those flabby bits!