Useful website for tracking calories - Cronometer.com

Someone introduced me to this website: http://cronometer.com/

It's free (ad supported). It allows you to enter what you've eaten and it shows you how many calories you have left for the day in order to meet your weight loss goal. It's database of foods is impressive. It also maps out your nutrition.

There's an upgrade to go ad-free which includes support and a PDA application.

I was actually in the midst of writing my own software to calculate my green smoothie calories when I found this. This not only gives me the calories, but it will track my nutritional progress and record my exercise.

http://cronometer.com

It's a nice find.

Diet update

On Aug. 21, 2011, I decided to change the ratio of fruits and vegetables I eat on a daily basis. At the same time, I planned to cutting out some food choices that I know are causing weight gain. I also planned to increase the amount of cardio workouts I did per week to everyday, or as close to that as possible.

My hope was that I would lose weight, improve my health, and feel better about myself. I weigh in every Monday morning. Actually, I weigh in more regularly, but for sure every Monday. So far, I've lost 11 lbs in 23 days. The first 7 lbs came fast, and then things slowed down.

Initially, I made such good progress that I thought I might be able to keep some of my comfort calories, like a nightly nightcap of alcohol. I discovered that this had to cease. My progress almost completely stopped until I gave up the nightcap.

I'm using green smoothies as meal replacements for breakfast and lunch. Often, my breakfast will be the leftover smoothie from the day before (when I make too much).

You can view videos located in this blog on how I make the green smoothies. I use a Blendtech blender, made famous by the YouTube video phenomenon "Will it Blend."

For supper, I've been having a low fat meat, such as fish or chicken with a vegetable.

Specifically, I'm avoiding the white carbs that raise my blood sugar, such as breads, pasta and potatoes. I'm not eating sweets, but I've never really had a sweet tooth.

The weight seems to be coming off at a healthy pace. My goal is 30 lbs by Halloween, which is about 6 weeks away. With 11 lbs down, if I can lose 3 or 4 lbs a week, I'll make my goal. I feel confident that my current choices will get me there if I stick with it.

As a side note, I hope to make green smoothies and raw food a permanent part of my life--not just a diet. I currently do not plan on becoming a strict vegetarian or strict raw-food convert, but I do plan to substantially increasing the ratio of raw foods in my diet.

Green Smoothie with Mixed Greens - Spring Mix

Green Smoothies

Green smoothies are popular right now. It's a simple, fast and delicious way to eat servings of fruits and vegetables. If we eat a smoothie of spinach leaves and frozen strawberries versus hamburgers and fries, most would agree we've made the more-healthy meal choice.

I plan to use green smoothies as part of my plan to lose a lot of weight-- like 50 lbs. I'm using a BlendTec blender

Here's a video I made to show how to make a green smoothie.

Green smoothies and blood sugar problems?

If you are sugar sensitive (insulin resistant) or you've been on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, you are probably aware of the glycemic index (GI). This is a ranking of carbohydrates by their affect on blood glucose levels. The index is divided into three broad ranges:

High: 70 and above
Medium: 56 to 69
Low: 55 and below

Most fruits fall into the medium to low GI (glycemic index), except watermelon, dates and raisins; however, watermelon actually has a low glycemic load. Pineapples, bananas, apricots and mangoes are ranked medium. Grapefruit, apples, pears, plums, peaches, grapes, oranges, and kiwi are all ranked low on the GI.

The difference between a fruit's ranking on the glycemic index and it's glycemic load is the relative quantity you have to eat to raise your blood glucose levels. For example, watermelon has a high GI, but watermelon is mostly water; therefor, you have to eat more of it to to consume enough fructose to elevate blood sugar.

I've read several accounts of people who went on a regular green smoothie diet who reported no spikes in their blood sugar after eating green smoothies. I will link to their stories below. However, my suggestion would be to monitor how your body responds to green smoothies and see for yourself. I assume that insulin resistance varies from person to person.

It is also true that fiber, which is an indigestible carbohydrate, slows the conversion of the plant's sugars to the glucose our bodies convert to fuel (and fat).

Below is an account from blogger Steve Pavlina, who tracked his blood sugar for 19 days while eating green smoothies.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/01/raw-food-diet-day-19


Below is the story of a diabetic who claims that he was able to reduce his insulin after starting a diet of green smoothies. He said that his blood sugar did rise initially, but it returned to normal within an hour.

http://greensmoothiesblog.com/green-smoothie-retreat-helps-diabetic-reduce-insulin

Here's a type 2 diabetic named Dennis who also claims blood sugar improvements after starting a diet of green smoothies.



Another similar video from a type 2 diabetic:



Here's a type 1 diabetic who claims an 80% reduction is insulin need after starting a diet of green smoothies:

Preventing cancer

The use of nutrition to treat and prevent cancer has been well documented in case studies going back a decade. The University of California, Berkey 1992 series of studies is often referenced in health books. Here's the gist of the report:

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Nutr Cancer. 1992;18(1):1-29.

Fruit, vegetables, and cancer prevention: a review of the
epidemiological evidence.

Block G, Patterson B, Subar A.

Dept. of Social and Administrative Health Sciences, School of Public Health,
University of California, Berkeley 94720.

Approximately 200 studies that examined the relationship between fruit and
vegetable intake and cancers of the lung, colon, breast, cervix, esophagus, oral
cavity, stomach, bladder, pancreas, and ovary are reviewed. A statistically
significant protective effect of fruit and vegetable consumption was found in 128
of 156 dietary studies in which results were expressed in terms of relative risk.
For most cancer sites, persons with low fruit and vegetable intake (at least the
lower one-fourth of the population) experience about twice the risk of cancer
compared with those with high intake, even after control for potentially
confounding factors. For lung cancer, significant protection was found in 24 of 25
studies after control for smoking in most instances. Fruits, in particular, were
significantly protective in cancers of the esophagus, oral cavity, and larynx, for
which 28 of 29 studies were significant. Strong evidence of a protective effect of
fruit and vegetable consumption was seen in cancers of the pancreas and stomach
(26 of 30 studies), as well as in colorectal and bladder cancers (23 of 38 studies).
For cancers of the cervix, ovary, and endometrium, a significant protective effect
was shown in 11 of 13 studies, and for breast cancer a protective effect was found
to be strong and consistent in a meta analysis. It would appear that major public
health benefits could be achieved by substantially increasing consumption of
these foods.

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I have never found a better way to increase my consumption of fruits and vegetables than the green smoothie. Sure, I eat salads and would often make a meal of sliced tomatoes, but the range of fruits and vegetables that I used to eat was fairly limited. With green smoothies, I have an easy way to experiment with an assortment of green leafy vegetables and many different fruits.

Leading causes of death in 2010

According to the Center for Disease control, the following were the leading causes of death in America last year. While I'm surprised that movies by Nicolas Cage were not listed, it does point out that we're dying from things that we might be able to prevent with proper nutrition and exercise.

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

• Heart disease: 616,067
• Cancer: 562,875
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 135,952
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 127,924
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 123,706
• Alzheimer's disease: 74,632
• Diabetes: 71,382
• Influenza and Pneumonia: 52,717
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 46,448
• Septicemia: 34,828