First week on 9-9-9 rights the ship

Last week I introduced the 9-9-9 Health Care Plan. Here's the back story.

Last Saturday, I had my annual day from hell: Work a half-day in Orlando, wait around the airport for three hours, fly 2 1/2 hours to Dallas, walk directly to a connecting flight, and fly four more hours to Seattle. We go to Florida every fall to meet with a foundation that supports our organization. The conference itself went great, but my eating and exercise did not. It was my third road trip of the month and my body was feeling heavy and sluggish as a result.

I had serious work reading for the flights, but all I could manage was reading two news magazines, both of which ran features on Herman Cain and his "9-9-9" tax plan. I won't comment on the politics, but my mind likes to play with numbers and since I needed to recommit to a diet plan when I got back home, I put what little brainpower remained into what became the 9-9-9 Health Care Plan. It was intended as satire, but the plan is sound and the simplicity has surprising appeal. The next morning, I woke up and decided to try it.

I'm glad I did. I had a three week blow up prior to this week. In fact, I missed two weigh-ins for the first time on the P.O.P. But this week I took a big step back in the right direction.

Weekly Recap

9 Fruits and Vegetables per day - Grade: B. While I never hit 9, I hit 8 twice and probably averaged 6 servings per day. Nine F/V is more of an aspirational target - getting close is a great accomplishment.

9 Sweets or Snacks per week - Grade: B. The plan was for one per day and twice on the weekend. I had a couple of days where I had two. Whatever. This was a success.

9 Miles on Foot per week - Grade C. I did six miles, but five came Saturday in a desperate effort to achieve respectability - two by walking and nine on the bike (equating to three on foot). And tomorrow I finish the October Challenge. Assuming I'll put in the equivalent of 30 minutes of walking trick or treating with my kids, that puts me at 810 minutes for October. Short of my goal of 1,000 minutes of activity, but better than it might have been in a month with travel and some lousy weather.

I'll leave you with a picture from my bike ride on Saturday. No pun intended. Thanks for your support everybody!

The 9-9-9 Health Care Plan

My Fellow Americans,

This country needs a plan to be healthy and thin. But the plans out there are too complicated, and they don't work. That's why you need my plan. It's called the 9-9-9 Health Care Plan.

What's 9-9-9? It's simple:

9 fruits and vegetables a day
9 miles by foot per week
9 sweets or snacks per week

That's it. I know what you're thinking, "It can't be that simple. Tell me more." But it is that simple.

9 fruits and vegetables a day. Have mushrooms and green peppers instead of pepperoni and sausage. Have a Georgia peach. Heck, have nine.

9 miles by foot per week. When it's morning in America, get up and run to the shining city on the hill. Or walk. Or bike, counting every three miles as one on foot.

9 sweets or snacks per week. On 9-9-9, you'll eat three square meals and day and snack on fruit and veggies, but once a day and twice on weekends, you can eat anything you want, like an extra serving of Godfather's Pizza or a bowl of Haagen-Dazs.

That's it. It's simple. 9-9-9. If you want details, ask my National Gastronomic Adviser, Herman Munster.

Some will say the fruits and vegetables in the 9-9-9 plan are too costly for many Americans. But I say if you supply your insides with produce, your weight will trickle down, and someday you'll be thin and rich, too.

Now, I know there will be "gotcha" questions like, "How many Razzle Dazzle Bejazzle Berries make one serving?" I don't know. Do you? What I do know is 9-9-9.

In conclusion, if you don't want a cane to make your way, follow the 9-9-9 plan every day.

It's that simple.

It's "Deja Vu All Over Again"

This week I traveled to Orlando for a conference with a foundation that supports my organization. The combination of flying across the country and ubiquitous eating opportunities was too much. I went this time last year and wrote about it. As Yogi Berra would say, it was "deja vu all over again." I don't really need to write about it again - just need to turn the page and start a new plan.

I'll post on that new plan shortly. It's written as satire, but I really am going to try it, for a while at least. I've already started and I feel better already.

My best to all of you. Those of you in October challenges: finish strong!

A Short Review of the Book "Willpower"

I'm at the end of a weekend that went by as fast as the week preceding it was busy. I'm not really in a place for deep personal reflection, but what I can do is share a little about a book I read a short time ago titled Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Authored by psychologist Roy Baumeister and New York Times science columnist John Tierney, the book covers a wide range of topics related to willpower, including a chapter on weight loss.

For a thorough review, see this article in the New York Times. (hmm...) What I'll contribute are the three things I  remember a month after reading.

1. People are subject to "decision fatigue", which basically means that you have a finite supply of willpower, and every decision you make depletes it, even if those decisions are successful. And every decision draws on the same supply of willpower. So, if you resist donuts at the office in the morning, catch up on email at lunch instead of surfing the internet, and then turn down a colleague's offer to leave work early to go to a ballgame, those decisions all affect your ability to say no to a late night snack. Decision fatigue explains why I bought a second Kindle at a charity auction on a recent Friday night. It was the end of a long week and I knew I wanted to make a donation, so I followed the path of least resistance to the high bid on an object I didn't need, which is now selling on Amazon for half of what I paid for it. (Read more about decision fatigue in a recent New York Times Magazine article by co-author Tierney.)

2. "Bright lines" can help preserve willpower. These are unambiguous rules you follow that keep items from even being a decision in the first place. The book uses an example of an alcoholic establishing a bright line not to drink. The bright line alleviates the need for decision making, preserving your supply of willpower. This is the opposite of moderation, of course. And it's harder with food, which you cannot deny entirely, but I think the concept could be very helpful with weight loss. It reminds me of how easy it was to follow my "No Junk Food" plan - a bright line approach - but how difficult it is for me to limit late night snacking.

3. The brain needs glucose to aid decision making. Wow, here's a catch-22. The authors show how your brain function decreases without glucose in your bloodstream, lowering willpower. But, of course, glucose (sugar) can also lead to weight gain. So, you can't refuse food without eating, basically. No wonder dieting is so hard. Actually, that's the point brought forth by the authors. Rather than extreme dieting, they recommend enough healthy eating to keep your willpower from crashing, such as a fruit in the afternoon. Clearly, it's a delicate balance.

If you're looking for quick info on weight loss, you'd be better off spending your time reading blogs. But if you have curiosity into why people behave the way they do, and you want to understand your own decision making better - and maybe learn something that will help your weight loss efforts - Willpower is a good read.

Burien Brat Trot 5K

The family did a 5K today! I'll get this out of the way first...we didn't run this as a race. We all did a mix of walking and running. The point was to do something with the whole family, including our two sons, ages 8 and 11. And in that respect, my wife and I were big winners.

Before the race, you really got a sense of the theme. This race is put on by a local restaurant and the schools foundation, which also has an Oktoberfest dinner auction coming up. There were people (and animals!) all over with brat-like attire, as well as a German oompah band. This is a relatively new event, and participated doubled this year to 865 people. As a result, the race was delayed ten minutes before the starter's gun went off.

The four of us started out running, as the pack was bearing down on us and it was in our self-interest not to get run over. After things sorted out a bit, my wife took off with my eleven year old, while I walked with our eight year old. My older son ended up running away from all of us, finishing in 37 minutes.

The rest of us mixed walking and running the rest of the way. For me, the race was part social, as I knew lots of fellow runners and race volunteers. I even saw a colleague in front of his house on the route and stopped to say hi to his two year old daughter.

When my eight year old and I turned for home, we ran the final straightaway, the longest run interval of the race for us. Our time (51 minutes) didn't matter, given our stops and his youth. I was so proud of both of my boys for doing the 5K. They did a kids triathlon this summer and we're going to look for more of these events to do as a family.

After the race, we got in line for the race's namesake, and the brats really did taste good!

The shirts were well designed and got everybody in the spirit of things.

Even the pets got into the theme.

The cool, dry weather was good for running, but not for picture taking.

Ahh...the brats. They tasted especially good after the race.

Weekly Goals and a New Challenge

Last week: -1.7 pounds

Total loss: 31.3 pounds

Recap: After a couple of weeks adrift, last week I figured out I needed to establish some clear, simple goals to guide my behavior. The book I'm reading right now about willpower calls these "bright lines", and the strategy was largely successful. Here's what I committed to and how it went in the previous week.

1. No Carb Snacks. Grade: B. This went great, except for Friday night, when I had some late-night snacking. All-in-all though, this strategy was a success. The addictive nature of snack foods must go down, and it must go down hard!

2. Get Enough Sleep. Grade: C. In the middle of the week, my bedtime started to drift later and I stopped getting up at the same time every day. Before long, I was having extra coffee to compensate. It was the start of a vicious cycle. 

3. Simplify. Grade: B. Lots of positives here. For one, I cleaned out my bedroom closet for the first time in a long time, producing three bags for donation and two others to pitch. The rest of my clothes can breathe now, and the activity brought a surprising calming influence to my jam-packed life. At work, I'm more organized than just about ever. But I still have emails to clean out at work and other rooms to clean out at home, so it may be a while before I earn an A. 

Next week: These goals are working well, so let's do them again.

Badge credit: Jessica/See How She Runs

Fall 31 Day Challenge: My longtime blogging pal Big Clyde and blogging friend Jessica have teamed up to create the Fall 31 Day Challenge. The premise is to commit to something for the month of October. For me, it comes along at a good time, as October, with it's chilled rains and shorter days, is the kind of month that can stop my summer momentum in its tracks. 

My goal is to total over 1000 minutes in activity in October. The activity will be varied, which I learned is important during the June Boom, where I had committed to exercise every day. I already know I'll be challenged to exercise on certain days that will be long and/or involve travel this month, but I'll double up on others to make my minutes. 

I've also joined a team at work for "Healthy (my organization) Month".  That's one of those things where we're tracking our mileage as a team. My team is my five bosses and me (doh!), so I'd better pull my weight! Next weekend, I'll be walking/jogging a 5K with my family in an event related to work.

I'll be posting my activity on the sidebar for the month of October. Good luck to everybody in Clyde and Jessica's challenge!