Hector Elizondo

Generally, recommended weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week.  That sounds do-able and it adds up  to 50-100 pounds in a year.  Usually there is a dramatic weight loss the first couple of weeks to a month.  But, anyone who has been on a diet notices that there is   little correlation between what one eats or does not eat and the number on the scale.  Body weight varies from day to day by the amount of water we retain and the amount of muscle we put on.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  If you exercise a great deal in one particular week, for example, and have watched your caloric intake, the scale may not reflect the accomplishment.

A good alternative:  taping instead of weighing.  Take out a tape measure and measure you biceps, thighs, calves.  These wont show much change, initially.  Most important is to measure your waist and your chest.  Here is where the most dramatic changes will show in terms of inches.

A few more suggestions for increasing how many steps you walk per day.

1. Take a walk after each meal.

2. Walk up and down all the aisles of a grocery store while you shop.

3. March in place while watching TV.

4. Try walking backwards for a change of pace.

5. Meet with a friend instead of phoning.

Denzel Washington

I want to add a couple of more “un-dieting” tips.  I call it the un-diet because what we are aiming at is changing your eating habits.

Did you know that a pound of fat represents 3500 calories?  Divide that by 7 and to lose a pound a week you just have to eliminate 500 calories a day. So, next time you go to Starbucks, order that sugar-free latte, but avoid the macademia nut cookie which is about 450 calories. The chocolate chunk cookie is over 600 calories. A modest slice of apple pie is almost 300 calories; and a similar slice of pecan pie is twice that.

Read labels.  Food manufacturers are required to put the calories per serving on the box. So those bags of potato chips will have the calories, usually per 10 chips on the package.  (Another quick tip:  don’t eat out of the bag or box.  Take your allotted amount out of the package, put the bag away and leave the room.) In most states, fast food restaurants are required to make a list of the calories in their food available to the customer.

Control your portions.   This is easier than you think.  Picture the average size serving plate.  Draw an imaginary line down the middle. One half of the plate should be dedicated to vegetables/salad.  The other half should be split between meat and potatoes (or pasta or similar carbohydrates.) Don’t pile it on, and don’t go back for seconds.  (If you must, choose more of the salad or vegetable.)

Take before and after pictures.  With digital cameras so available, this is easy to do.  The before picture is important.  It will give you some visual clues to your progress, especially if you add exercise to your daily regime.

Get public support. Join an online diet group.  And tell your friends you are changing your lifestyle, and ask the closest ones to be your confidants so you can call them in a pinch–when temptation is squeezing in on you.

Good luck.  Next post will talk about the un-exercise program!

Ed Harris

As people, animals and things get older, they seem to get thicker.  A tree goes from a sapling to a three storey structure with a trunk as thick as an oil barrel; a baby shark becomes the great white they make scary movies about; a cute little tyke who fits in a size 3 grows into 501s jeans with a “relaxed” fit.

Thickening seems to be a law of the universe. But another law of the universe says that it ain’t healthy for us.  Being overweight leads to a myriad of health problems, principal among which is diabetes.

Eighty percent of us have to spend a lifetime trying to control the thickening process.  We go on fad diets, which are all promise and very little fulfillment.  Have you every known anyone who has gone on one of them who has kept the weight off. I did my share of fad diets, and never succeeded in maintaining my svelt look.

I caught a tv show which was interviewing some of the champion biggest losers, and all of them had packed on weight.  Remember these are well-educated losers, with one-on-one nutritional instruction.

Well, 10 years ago, yours truly was 6 foot and 312 pounds.  I convinved myself that none of the fad diets would work, so I applied myself to counting calories and counting various body reps in the gymn.  Eighteen months later I had lost 100 pounds. I have been around 212 ever since.

I did it by what I call the un-diet.  I changed my eating habits, which is what fad diets don’t do for you.  Here are some suggestions:

Replace a sugary snack with fruits. If you eat Twinkies, Ding Dongs, donuts, candy bars, a carton of ice cream … you know you need to cut those out. Try fruit instead. Berries are my favorite.

Use non-fat milk in your latte. If you use half-and-half in your latte, using non-fat milk will save you about 250 calories.

Eat baked chicken, not fried. Fried chicken contains a lot of fat absorbed from frying oil, as well as the fatty skin.

Plan snacks, don’t snack randomly.  Instead, plan on a midmorning and mid afternoon snack, and make at least one of them healthy. Don’t snack in between snacks.

Eat a healthy breakfast. If you eat eggs and bacon, or something covered in syrup, or anything else sweet or fatty, replace it with something healthier. Steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries, ground flaxseed and almonds is a great choice that is delicious.

Skip butter. If you put butter on your toast, your roll, and your baked potato, you can save 200-300 calories a day if you skip the butter.

Go with red pasta sauce, not white. Marinara sauce instead of Alfredo will save you a couple hundred calories. Skip the meat too.

Skip seconds, and eat slower. If you go back for an extra piece of meat and buttered bread, you’re adding another few hundred calories. Instead, eat slowly, and you’ll get full faster. To help yourself slow down, pick up only a half a forkful at a time.

Go for pretzels, not peanuts. Nuts contain tons of calories. Instead, snack on mini-pretzels (not the soft kind), which can satisfy the salt craving without all of the fat.

Get the idea?  After a while, these alternatives become habits.

There’s more information on grooming for dogs on the internet than there is for men of quality. Who are these men of quality? In this case, they are older males, men in their 50s, 60s, 70s.. They are the good-looking– Sean Connery, Clark Gable, Robert Redford. And those who are looking-good; George Costanza (Seinfield), Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue), Spencer Tracy.

Just 100 years ago, the average male’s lifespan was about 40 years. Today, man’s lifespan has zoomed, out-pacing evolution, to the middle 70’s. But technology hasn’t kept up with the demands of the aging product.

But the older men get, the handsomer men get. All they seem to need is a touch here and a touch there. What they need is some help to keep the body well-oiled and in shipshop shape, looking good.

Quality means optimizing the whole system, taking care of it so that all sub-systems are in order. The body tends to wind down when it is not taken care of. Optimizing means eating right, drinking right, exercising right, keeping the skin in good condition. Most of this can be taken care of easily with natural means. Some tweaking with the cosmetic products whirling around by the thousands will be introduced into the dialog on this website.

Topics up for discussion in this blog: body shape, hair care, skin care, exercise, testosterone, dress.