Starving Foodie

” I don’t have time.”

We’ve all used this excuse for something.  When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, this is typically used for exercise.  I’m sure I’ve even uttered this excuse on occasion. I call this excuse the “Time Dragon”.  Why a dragon?  Dragons have a mystical nature and often portrayed as cunning, and ruthless.  The “I don’t have time excuse” is very similar.  The excuse is ruthless  – you can always use it.  The excuse is cunning – it resolves you of responsibility. To make changes, you have to slay this excuse.  There’s no +10 magic sword to do this.  You have to find your own motivation, but here’s some thoughts.

Think Long Term: The Time Bank

Indulge me in a thought experiment.

What if exercising prevented you from getting sick at least 1x per year?

What if exercising relieved stress, increasing your work productivity 1%?

If you are using the time excuse, then you must be a really busy person.  Let’s say you work 10 hours a day with 4 hours of other tasks.  That’s a 14 hour day.  Not being sick on one of those days gives you 14 hours.  Improving your productivity by just 1% when working 50 hours per week give you an additional 25 hours per year.  So now you have 39 hours in the bank.  What can you do with 39 hours?

Work out for 20 minutes 117 time( that’s more than 2 sessions per week).

Work out for 30 minutes 72 times (that’s more than 1 sessions per week).

Work out for 45 minutes 52 times (that’s 1 session per week).

Outsource: Pay for Minutes

We’ve all heard about outsourcing to China and the impact it has on the US job market.  Outsourcing, however, does not have to be for the fortune 500.  You too can outsource.  There are many services that you can outsource.  By outsourcing, you give up some money but you get back some time.  Once again, think long term and what value you will derive from the extra time you have.

For example, I’ve outsourced the cleaning of my house.  Sure, I have to pick things up, but the routine dusting, sweeping and mopping is left to someone else (Rachel, who rocks!).  Yes, this costs money, but I gain back at least an hour a week.  I spend that hour investing in myself.  If I’m healthy, then I may be less likely to get sick or be sick for a shorter duration.  Being self-employed, being sick can really rick the paycheck, especially if it were for a long period of time.  So I consider hiring a housekeeper a financial investment in myself — think health assurance rather than health insurance.

Other things you can outsource:

-Lawn care: Check out Angie’s List for good recommendations.

-Laundry

-Grocery Shopping: Join a buyers club or PeaPod

-Appointments/Errands (anything online or by phone):  Check out Your Man in India or AskSunday

-Car Care: Mobile Detail and Oil Change services

-Cooking: Chef at home or these cooking clubs where groups cook homemade meals together

I highly advise any one to check around before saying, “I cannot afford it.”  With the current economy, you may find the services are less than you think.  Also service based companies tend to raise prices carefully.  For example, I get 15% off of my housekeeping services thanks to the economy and using Angie’s List

Go To Bed!

One of my biggest challenges was staying up and watching the late night talk shows.  You get involved in something and before you know it, the midnight hour is upon you.  Getting ready for bead at midnight means I don’t get to sleep until about 1 AM, which makes it pretty hard to get up at 7AM for a bike ride or other exercise.

If there is some late program you cannot live without, get a DVR.  I think I pay $5/mo for my DVR from comcast. If you consider that gives you an extra hour of rest every day of the month, the investment does not require Warren Buffet’s wisdom.

Trying to get to be earlier is a major change for me.  I was historically a night owl.  Making this shift has taken time, but I really enjoy riding my bike before work.  I get 30-60 minutes to myself before the busy day begins.  That helps me focus and increases my productivity, meaning I work less.

Simple Planning

If you find chores difficult in the morning, do them before bed.  Look for ways to move tasks to different days or different hours to be more efficient.  Fix your lunch the night before, lay out your clothes or your kid’s clothes if you have monsters in the house.  Small things can really help out.  If you have a smoothie for breakfast, consider portioning the fruit on the weekend, so you can just dump the bag into the blender and you are ready to go.  A few minutes here and a few minutes there do add up, especially when you make this a permanent change.  If you can find 15 minutes per week, that’s 13 hours a year.

Start Small

You have to start small.  Embarking on some rigorous time saving schedule will likely fail.  Find simple ways to claw back a few minutes here in there.  Outsource some tasks.  Enslave your family for more assistance.  Every minute you can get back for yourself is an investment in your health.  Think of the minute as an ounce of gold — how hard would you work to get an ounce of gold, now trading over $1000/oz?

Focus on the Benefits

Keep the benefits in mind.   Focusing on the outcome is what propels me to drag myself from bed at 7AM to endure an hour on the bike.  I know about 15 minutes into it I will,

• Feel more energized
• Reassure myself that I can do this
• Gain confidence
• Relax
• Be glad I did it

Your rewards may be different than mine, but if you discover both short and long term benefits, you can use these to push yourself to find more time to exercise.

My Battle

I too have used the “I don’t have time excuse.”  I finally stopped doing it.  Here’s what I’ve done to slay my Time Dragon.  I’m sure it will raise its ugly head again, but these things keep it in check:

Hired a housekeeper (saved 3-5 hours/month)

Go to bed earlier (gives me 30-60 minutes before work)

Delegated more tasks at work (saves 5-10 hours per week)

Consolidating my Traveling Preferences to 1 Site (saves 30 minutes to 60 minutes per trip 12+ trips a year)

Cook More on the Grill (kitchen is cleaner, fewer pots and pans 10-15 mins vs. cooking indoors)

Put all workout gear in one drawer in dresser (saves about 5 minutes looking for shorts, socks, etc)

Ride with a Bike Club (being new to the area, going to the bar is about the only other social activity 2 hrs/wk)

Considering ….

Instead of journaling my food, I may just start taking pictures with my cell phone and upload them to flickr.

Only doing blog posts once per week when I feel I’m ready to post.

Prepping my bike the night before for early morning rides.

Slay the Dragon

In the end, you have to slay your own Time Dragon.  You have to find that balance between work, family and self that makes sense for yourself.  Steve Covey’s time management may be for you, but for others it will fail.  Keep trying to find what works.  Claw back those few minutes.  They begin to add up.  When you see the benefits, you will be encouraged to find more time.

I’ve never was a fast-food junkie.  Sure I had my Micky D’s every once and awhile, but I think its been several years since I’ve eaten at any major burger or casual dining place.  I find the food lacking in flavor and when you have to eat small portions, the bits need to pack a punch.

Despite the economy, fast-food places are holding their own.  McDonald’s and others are seeing an increase in sales as diners downgrade from fast-casual to less expensive alternatives.

Given the ubiquity and ease of eating at these joints, I wondered how many calories could you consume a day by living on a fast food diet.  In his movie Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock gained nearly 25 lbs eating at McDonald’s for a month.  Here’s my own mini survey of how you could get 10,000 calories a day from stopping off at some favor fast foods restaurants.

Breakfast: Burger King

Double Croissan’wich with Double Sausage

Hash Browns (medium)

Mocha  BK Joe Coffee

1650 Calories, 900 from fat, 2800 mg sodium

Lunch: Whataburger

Triple Whataburger
Large Fry
Large Soda
Apple Pie

3850 Calories, 1540 from fat, 4747 mg sodium

Afternoon Snack: Starbucks

Venti Mint Chocolate Chip Frappacino w/ Whipped Cream

Chocolate Chunk Cookie

1110 calories, 360 from fat, 790 mg sodium

Dinner: Pizza Hut

8 Piece Hot Hings
9″ Panormous Meat Lovers Personal Pizza
Cinnamon Sticks w/ icing
32 Oz Mountain Dew

3010 calories, 1080 from fat, 6387 mg sodium

Late Nate Snack: Marble Slab Creamery

Large Rocky Road Ice Cream

1288 calories, 698 from fat, 21 mg sodium

GRAND TOTAL:

10,908 Calories

4,578 Calories from Fat

14,747 mg of salt

Ready to puke?

Synopsis

I have nothing against any of these establishments.  They were chosen as they are within a few miles of my house.  I can get to any of them in less than 5 minutes.  With cheap, calorie-packed food so easily available, I’m not surprised at the obesity and health issues in our communities.  I’ve not priced up these meals, but I think a pretty safe bet is under $30 for the day.  That’s enough calories to feed 5 adults.

Aside from the big chains, small local chains are just as egregious.  Just because it is local does not mean they don’t pack in the calories as much as any international chain.  They likely woo you with the local appeal, friendlier service, or nicer decor. In the end, nearly all fast-food is laced with calories, fat and salt.  Even “healthy” sounding alternatives, often have calorie packed foods.  So it is always eater beware.

Portion Control

Last week, I was in Seattle to visit some old friends.  Dinner consisted of baked beans, dinner rolls, and some great Italian sausage made at Oregon State University.  OSU is an ag school and they routinely have fresh meats, veggies and other items for sale. The sausage was good and the homemade baked beans were phenomenal.  I had only 1/2 a sausage and loaded up on the salad.  I did have a second helping of baked beans, but the first portion was purposefully a small one.  There were some chips on the table, which I had Juli move to the other end.  Out of arms reach.

Steamer Pot Delight
I love seafood. Clams, fish, oysters, squid, conch, prawns, octopus, urchin eggs, and the list continues. Provided it is fresh, I like it. On our way back from Cape Flattery, we stopped at The 3 Crabs in Sequim. I opted for the steamer pot as it was not fried, pan seared or broiled – I was hoping to cut back on the fat by having something simply steamed. I ate everything but the half crab, only had one dinner roll and skipped the desert. Clams, shrimp, oysters, and fish are relatively low in calories. So despite what appeared to be a large portion, there was actually very little. About a dozen small clams (~7 cals each), two larger oysters (~ 10 cals each), 4 small scallops ( ~ 5 cals each), 3 medium shrimp (~ 5 calories each) and about 3 oz of cod (~ 90 cals). Seems like a ton, but only comes to about 230 calories. Throw in another 30-50 cals for the butter in the broth, 100 for the dinner roll, and 100 for a salad and you are still under 500 calories.

Splitting Portions
I also dined at a very nice bakery/restaurant. Juli and split a portion of bruschetta and then had a bowl of soup. I’ve not been successful at this yet, but I good tip I received while at H3 was to split your portion first and have it wrapped immediately. This prevents you from picking at the other half. Also, I try not to linger around at the restaurant. I try to get away from the table as soon as possible. If the conversation is continuing, drop by a coffee shop or bar. Have a (as in one) glass of wine or stick to club soda.

Apps as Meals
Increasingly, I’ve been pairing appetizers with a salad for my meal. A place near my house does Angus beef tips on their bar menu. This is about a 2-3 oz portion of beef — that’s plenty. Pair it with a house salad and a dinner roll for a complete meal. At another restaurant, I found a crab cake appetizer was plenty when combined with a salad. Pairing apps with a salad or soup is a great way to control the portion size.

Portions are Key
I’ve long given up eating fried, greasy foods. Rarely indulge in sweets like ice cream, cake or pie. I eat pretty clean. However, I was not eating good portion sizes. Dinner was often out-sized. In retrospect, I think this overstuffed my stomach and when it started to shrink, I started feeling hungry again – at least psychologically. So I would snack. Eating smaller portions at dinner actually makes me less hungry later on. Perhaps I’m just paying more attention to what I eat because there is less of it, but getting portions under control has helped me continue my weight loss.

Portions are Everything when Traveling
I’ve managed two successful trips this past month with no weight gain. I think I may have actually lost a couple of pounds. The key thing was having snacks, such as apples and fruit, and keeping a close watch on portion. I know almost always ask about portion sizes of apps, salads or soups before ordering. If you don’t order too much, you cannot overeat. Never forget:

If you are hungry, you can always order more.

Benchmark … still losing
I think I’ve lost another 10 lbs since H3. I need to get on the Wii fit and look at the dates to be sure. But the weight continues to come off despite 2 weeks of travel and 1 week with a sinus infection. I’m hoping this month I can be back on track for 2-3 lbs per week.

Moments of Reckoning
About 3-4 years ago, Juli and I went to Boston for a weekend get-away.  We both like history and tooled around Boston on the Freedom Trail.  One of the stops is the Bunker Hill national park where a  221 ft obelisk is the focal point.  I climbed to the top and nearly died in the process.  I blamed it on the heat, but in reality it was poor health.  Terrible diet, no exercise and too much partying was the real reason.

Looking back on that moment, I realized that my quality of life was suffering because of my poor health.  A year or so later, we were in Montreal for the F1 race.  F1 is like crack for an adrenaline junkie.  Nearly 800 horsepower launches the car from 0-60 in under 2 seconds.  These are phenomenal bits of machinery.  Plus, the international atmosphere is great.  However, poor health coupled with  record heat wave made the event barely bearable.

Hiking to the Furthest Northwestern Point in the Lower 48
This past week, I was in Seattle. One of the highlights of my week long stay was a day trip to the Olympic Peninsula and Cape Flattery – the most Northwestern point in the continental US. The best thing about this trip — no health issues. I managed the ~2 mile hike with ease. If I had the time, I could have hiked for miles.

Perfect Motivation
For the first time in several years, I was able to really enjoy myself without nagging health issues. I never realized that I had “health” problems, but I did. I avoided certain routes, stayed out of the heat, chose to drive instead of walk. Now, being as fit as I have been in a long time, I don’t shy away from a 5 mile walk through a city because I know my knees will hurt the next day.

I probably walked 20 miles while on my trip. Only did a long car trip annoy my back, which some yoga took care of pretty quickly. Sprints up the stairs to Pike Place Market, which would have killed me a few years ago, where part of my exercise routine.