A New Motivation to Stay Fit

Have you shopped for women's clothes lately? Everything either fits like a trash bag with arm holes or looks like what a stripper would wear. Over the past week, I've sent back half a dozen blouses that were low cut, fit like a sausage casing, or were see-through. Even though they were from an upscale store, they looked trashier than any top I've seen on hookers in Indianapolis.

I finally found some nice blouses by Liz Claiborne at JC Penney, of all places, and some nice t-shirts I can wear under sweaters or blazers at Land's End. (The U-neck jersey t-shirts are $8 there if you want to stock up.) Another one came from Amazon--it's a brand that's also at Target.

Now that I finally have some nice tops, after weeks of searching, I don't want to outgrow them. I don't want to look flabby in them, either, since some of them are form fitting. To that end, I'm continuing working out a few times a week keeping nuts and dairy to condiment levels.

My new favorite workouts are by YouTubers called Juice and Toya. Their body weight and dumbbell workouts for beginners challenge me just enough and don't make me feel like I kinked something the next day.

Even with more exercise, cleaning up my diet, and taking more iodine, I haven't lost weight, but my face is less puffy and I have more energy. I look firmer. I listen to music to put me in the mood to exercise.

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Not Only Cheaper, But Easier

A while back, I wrote about saving money on break time coffee and snacks. I haven't done very well putting it into practice. But a post by James Clear today got me thinking about it again: Warren Buffett uses a two-list system to prioritize things. Check it out --and follow the instructions. Using Buffett's two-list system, two of the goals I ended up with were taking care of myself and saving $400 more per month than I already am. As I said, I've been wanting to save money, and the system made me really focus on this. I came up with 11 money-saving ideas, six of which had to do with food. Buying hamburger in bulk. Ranch Foods Direct sells one-pound packages of 80% lean pastured ground beef in bundles of 20 for a lot less than Whole Foods. Sprouts only carries super-lean beef that's grass-fed, and it's more expensive, too. Not driving to Whole Foods. Whole Foods is out of my way, and saving a weekly trip saves gas. Coffee at home, tea at work. Tea is fr...

We Hate the ADA; Why does the Perfect Health Diet Get a Pass?

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Palpitations Gone with Iron

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Years ago, before the Perfect Health Diet came out, I followed a program that involved eating quite a bit "safe starch." It was called Body for Life. It involved eating six small servings of carbohydrate along with six small servings of protein, plus two servings of fibrous vegetables per day. (A serving was the size of your fist or the palm of your hand.) There were six workouts a week (three weightlifting, three cardio) and one free day every week where you ate whatever you wanted and didn't exercise. In all fairness, these two programs are different: BFL allows certain grains, legumes and low-fat dairy and discourages fat. It doesn't call for a wheelbarrow full of vegetation. Nevertheless, my experience eating lots of fruit and lots of starch is relevant to the PHD because the amount and type of digestible carbohydrates are similar, and for the first few years, I didn't eat wheat except on free days. At first on BFL, I felt great. Before, I was continually...

Doing Old-School Atkins

Last time I wrote about getting jittery and having a rapid heartbeat on VLC (very low carb). I cut way back on nuts a few weeks ago and felt remarkably better: more energy, and I can tell I lost a little weight because of the way my shoes and watchband fit. As I mentioned, taking a potassium pill helps the jitters and rapid heartbeat, and if it gets really bad, I can just eat a candy bar (we don't have safe starches at work). So for the first time, I tried Atkins induction. Why Atkins induction? It started with shorts. I'd been shopping for shorts and everything was very short (think Officer Jim Dangle on Reno 911 ), wildly patterned, ridiculous (where do you wear lace shorts if you're not starring in a Korean drama?) or knee length. There was even a high-waisted, pleated, acid washed pair from circa 1985. So when I saw a gray pair with sailor pant buttons, I bought them--even though they were pretty short (but not tight). Think Officer Dangle again. Being conscious of wea...

Pain, Pain, Go Away!

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