The Unfat Challenge.

[shera]

Hey smalls, I just ordered a pound of tea from these guys: http://www.coffeebeandirect.com/index.php?cPath=24

I've been ordering a lot of food off the internet lately. Celtic Sea salt, tea, meat. Today I'm going to a family dairy farm to set up milk shares and get eggs and cheese. I've been reading and learning so much about food lately that it's really changed the way I look at the stuff in the grocery store.

Since Walmart got in on the organic act, there's even cheating going on within the dairy "industry" to get the label. Basically they are raising calfs in the standard factory way (weaned on blood rather than milk, for instance) and then keeping thousands of animals in confined spaces without access to pasture. I'm talking about Horizon. Anyway, it's not organic in any way, shape, or form.

/soapbox

steve - you should enter ALL your food in the log! Somtiems I binge out and have a 3500 calorie day and it's hard the next day to face it, but it's part of the picture, right?

Gym, schmym! The dog would probably rather you went outside, right yentna? In any case, it sounds like you're doing fine.

[steve]

steve - you should enter ALL your food in the log! Somtiems I binge out and have a 3500 calorie day and it's hard the next day to face it, but it's part of the picture, right?

it's not a matter of facing it, but rather just a pain in the ass to figure out all the ingredients in all the foods I ate in a day - take easter - where my italian aunt from brooklyn made pizzarustica for the first course, leg-of-lamb with perciatelli for the second course, and a whole spread of sides and appetizers.. now, i suppose i could ask her for a list of ingredients, and then figured out what portion of each dish i ate, but it's easier just to write it off as a cheat day without bothering to log it..

now, if a restaurant publishes its nutrition information on their web site, i'll go ahead and log that, like I did on Tuesday.. but otherwise, i don't bother.

[snow_slider]

FUCK!

I've been taking the eating a little slower that usual. Been biking a ton more (burning about 900kcal xtra/ day) and got onto the scales today, thinking for the first time in months that I am def seeing improvement.

FUCKIN GAINED 2KG's... I mean WTF?!

It's probably muscle gain. Whenever I start out on a weight loss adventure and up my work outs, I initially gain weight. Muscle is so much more dense than fat, so a little muscle gain will show as a couple pounds of weight gain. Keep your spirits up and continue, the weight will start to drop.

[smalls]

Hey smalls, I just ordered a pound of tea from these guys: http://www.coffeebeandirect.com/index.php?cPath=24

I've been ordering a lot of food off the internet lately. Celtic Sea salt, tea, meat. Today I'm going to a family dairy farm to set up milk shares and get eggs and cheese. I've been reading and learning so much about food lately that it's really changed the way I look at the stuff in the grocery store.

Nice. Thanks.

I hear you on how much it changes your point of view when walking through a normal grocery store. I buy most of my milk and eggs from an local dairy farm (they also make kick-ass ice cream). And most of my veggies come from the farmer's market. Where do you buy your meat online? I've heard of others doing this, but I haven't found a reliable, high quality source.

[shera]

Nice. Thanks.

I hear you on how much it changes your point of view when walking through a normal grocery store. I buy most of my milk and eggs from an local dairy farm (they also make kick-ass ice cream). And most of my veggies come from the farmer's market. Where do you buy your meat online? I've heard of others doing this, but I haven't found a reliable, high quality source.

I ordered from Slankers: http://texasgrassfedbeef.com/index.htm

I picked them over the others I researched because:

- price per pound is not a ripoff
- they sell sockeye salmon (the best fish to eat)
- since they are in Texas rather than up north they have a longer green pasture season
- they have their own herd of semi-wild hogs
- they sell pastured turkey that's really well raised (heritage)
- I like the guy that runs the place, what a coot

But the other main contender was Grassland: http://www.grasslandbeef.com/

My order will ship this Monday to arrive on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

[AbsolutStoli]

friday weigh in, 177lbs. woo hoo. broke into the 170s. sweet.


SheRa, whats a milk share? does that mean you partly own the farm/cow? what im really curious about is, the milk you get from the dairy farm, is it pasteurized or can you get it direct from the cow (more or less)? i know they have to pasteurize it, but can you request to get it unprocessed at all? just curious because unpasteurized milk makes better cheese, and its real easy to make farmers cheese at home (kinda like cottage cheese, but w/o much of the salt and with a bit of a diff. consistency).

[shera]

friday weigh in, 177lbs. woo hoo. broke into the 170s. sweet.


SheRa, whats a milk share? does that mean you partly own the farm/cow? what im really curious about is, the milk you get from the dairy farm, is it pasteurized or can you get it direct from the cow (more or less)? i know they have to pasteurize it, but can you request to get it unprocessed at all? just curious because unpasteurized milk makes better cheese, and its real easy to make farmers cheese at home (kinda like cottage cheese, but w/o much of the salt and with a bit of a diff. consistency).

Yessir, I will own part of a cow today. Titty pictures will be posted.

The milk is completely raw and unpasteurized - that's why I'm going to so much trouble to get it. The reason the farm can provide it is that I am an owner. If you want to find a local source or just learn more abuot what's happened to milk these days, start reading: www.realmilk.com , www.westonaprice.com, or www.mercola.com

This is where I'm going for my milk: http://johnsonsacres.com/default.asp

[steve]

if you want to buy raw cow's milk in new york, you have to go directly from the farm. i meant to get to a place in hoosick falls (on an alternate route to killington) this year, but never did.

connecticut is a little easier, you can get it from a few health-food stores (as opposed to farm-direct).

new jersey - there's one supplier in the whole state, and they deliver - not sure if you can pick it up from them


http://www.realmilk.com/where2.html


i'd like to find an local source of grass-fed beef or bison.. and free-range chicken.
but not until i get to my ideal weight..

-steve

[steve]

I just officially zipped up a pair of 40" waist pants for the first time..

they're pretty tight.. i wouldn't wear them in public yet.. (:

[rideit]

Yeah, Steve.
Good Jorb.

And don't worry, you WON'T be slower on skis at 250...no matter how much you loved that excuse at 300!

[steve]

Yeah, Steve.
Good Jorb.

And don't worry, you WON'T be slower on skis at 250...no matter how much you loved that excuse at 300!

hah!
I already noticed that I can't count on inertia like I used to - to get me across the flat spots..

[AbsolutStoli]

thanks for the milk links shera and steve. im definitely gonna check out that place in clifton. might as well, its like 3 towns over.

i just found out theres a pretty big farmers market in the next town with lots of fresh produce and fish. gonna scope it out this weekend...maybe theyll get some hard to find berries this summer.

[steve]

got a little freaked out today..

since I've started this crazy 1000 calorie thing, i've noticed a tendency to get headrushes more often when standing up. never really concerned me, until i've actually fallen down after standing up, in a ten-second semi-passed out state - never losing consciousness, but nearly so. alarming, but it only happened twice - once, a couple of weeks ago (i thought it was an isolated event), and once last night in the middle of the night. i wasn't too sure what this meant, but my impression still was that it was a relatively harmless side-effect to the 1000-calorie thing. well, today, after a particularly bad head-rush (though not bad enough to cause me to fall down), I felt light-headed for an hour afterwards - as though I was about to faint. I clerk in a shop i was in offered me some cookies, because she thought I looked pale. kind of scary.. when i got home, i ate some cantaloupe for sugar and edamame for some calories, and an hour later, I felt fine.

anyway, i had a celebration meal for being 300-lbs planned anyway, and i figured i better take it tonight. so i had a couple slices of pizza (which, amazingly, filled me up), and popped up some popcorn when i got home. now i feel like shit - i ate too much.

i'm not inclined to be particularly worried about this, but maybe i should be.

[WWCD]

I've got no advice for you Steve, except ask your doctor.

Now if I could just avoid the roach coach at work. Stupid delicious breakfast sandwiches.

[rideit]

have you been tested for diabetes?
This sounds like a blood sugar issue, but I am NO doctor.

Get yo' ass checked out!

[AbsolutStoli]

have you been tested for diabetes?
This sounds like a blood sugar issue, but I am NO doctor.

Get yo' ass checked out!

or hypoglycemia.

http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/diab...s_symptoms.asp

im also not a doctor, but i wouldnt want to mess with either of those. better safe than sorry. keep us posted on what you find out steve.

[steve]

I seriously doubt it's any of those things. Yes, it can be an indication of diabetes (but not hyper or hypo glycemia, at least not according to that link), but diabetes would not make sense at all - why would that show up a month after I assumed a low-calorie diet, especially after I've never been big sugar eater?

from Wikipedia:

Orthostatic hypotension (also known as postural hypotension and, colloquially, as head rush or a dizzy spell) is a sudden fall in blood pressure, typically greater than 20/10 mm Hg, that occurs when a person assumes a standing position.

Symptoms, which generally occur after sudden standing, include dizziness, lightheadedness, headache, blurred or dimmed vision (possibly to the point of momentary blindness), and fainting. It can be caused by blood pooling in the lower extremities; venous return and cardiac output are further compromised, resulting in further lowering of arterial pressure.

Orthostatic hypotension is significantly more common in tall patients. (i'm 6'6")

It may be caused by hypovolemia (a decreased amount of blood in the body), resulting from bleeding, the excessive use of diuretics, vasodilators, or other types of drugs, dehydration, or prolonged bed rest.

It also occurs in people with anemia.

Short lived episodes of orthostatic hypotension are common in children.

It can be a side effect of certain anti-depressants, such as tricyclics or SSRIs.[1]

The disorder may be associated with Addison's disease, atherosclerosis (build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries), diabetes, and certain neurological disorders including Shy-Drager syndrome and other forms of dysautonomia.



anyway, as I said, my gut is telling me not to be too concerned about this, and it's usually right. I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill ; last year I lost a month of training because some vague symptom had people telling me to go to a cardiologist, and the earliest appointment I could get was a month out. The cardiologist told me I was fine, (I knew it) but I never recovered from that lost month of training and the marathon went a lot worse than it could have.

[altachic]

I had anemia for a while and also felt stuff like this. My iron was VERY low. I had to eat more red meat, greens and iron rich foods, plus take a supplement everyday till I got it up and to a safe number. I don't take a supplement anymore, but make sure I'm getting enough of those foods.

I am no doctor either, but If that happens again steve, you should really go see one.

[sherpahigh]

now, if a restaurant publishes its nutrition information on their web site, i'll go ahead and log that, like I did on Tuesday.. but otherwise, i don't bother.

I've found this site to be pretty helpful with restaurant nutrition information. It's for the weight watchers system, but most of them have the details as well as just the point system. There's a lot of other useful info on there too.

http://www.dwlz.com/

[sherpahigh]

Also Steve, I was talking to my wife about your 1,000 Cal diet and the symptoms you described above, she's a family doctor and recommends that you go talk to a doctor about it. It could be relatively minor but it could also be something pretty serious.

[fez]

now, if a restaurant publishes its nutrition information on their web site, i'll go ahead and log that, like I did on Tuesday.. but otherwise, i don't bother.

this site is pretty helpful with fitday.
http://www.dietfacts.com/

they have tons more foods and lots of packaged and restaurant foods. and you can export right from diet facts to fitday as a custom food.

as you can see i havent been too on top of it lately, but a week in europe made it pretty hard to worry about exercise and eating well. though i did run a couple mornings. first running since knee surgery.

[steve]

here's what an NP I wrote had to say about it:

Hi Steve~ I am guessing it is a combination of things.

One~ you are tall and with your new lower blodd pressure and pulse there may be a bit of a lag time for the body to "catch up" and get that pumping adjusted when you go frm sitting to standing. Orthostatic Hypotension is what it is called and it can be from dehydration or from just a baroreceptor response lag as I described above. Just be aware of it and try not to get up too quickly. I often get it in everyday life but I am to usually determine if it is because I am dry (dehydrated) or if it is just from getting up. Funny but this is something we liked to call the "Chuch Faint" syndrome when I worked. We would get folks admitted for passing out at church. It would often be when they went from kneeling to standing, Just a lag in response time by the body.

Low blood sugar can make you feel head rushy as well but it is usually associated with other symptoms. Mine are sweaty, nauseated and dizzy. For me it is a different type of feeling than the other one.

Just be aware of it and don't get up too fast. If it persists or really gets to the point where it lingers then worry about it. That and stay hydrated Smile

OH~ wanted to mention about the feeling associated with weight lifting. Weight lifting requires you to use what is called a vagal manuever. Basically when you bear down to lift weights ~ and you do bear down whether you know it or not~ it stimulates the vagus nerve and that can cause you to get that dizzy feeling and even pass out. So if you are getting that while lifting you may want to lighten it up a bit or rest a bit more between sets.

[snow_slider]

Steve - what is your resting pulse rate? If it's really low, you can get head rushes just from standing up. Mine is in the 32-34 BPM range and I get head rushes all the time. I've had a few where I've almost passed out. The bad ones usually occur when I'm dehydrated after a workout.

[steve]

yeah, my RHR is like 48.. that makes sense.

-steve

[lemon boy]

+~+~+~ to all (especially steve).

Found this quite some time ago but it might be helpful for people looking for natural meat product sources:
http://www.eatwild.com/index.html