Biffster’s WeightJournal.com

This just in: Don’t skip breakfast!

Despite what parents and doctors have long recommended, many Americans begin their days with little more than a cup of tea or coffee, and in some cases with nothing at all.

That may seem like a good way to save time or money, but a morning without breakfast will probably cost you in other ways.

Over the years, a number of studies have examined the subject, and most have reached the same conclusion: starting a day without a solid meal tends to have slight but detectable effects on mood, memory and energy level.

I find it interesting that coffee drinkers still didn’t do as well on mental skills tests as those who eat breakfast. So the best way to be alert and awake through the work day is to have a good breakfast and drink a cup of coffee!

And here’s an announcement of yet another magic pill, this one supposedly could eliminate insomnia, improve memory, beat addiction and help a person lose weight.

With only 10% of the 20-30% of the population who suffer with insomnia taking medication, pharmaceutical companies have been searching for the perfect sleeping pill. And one company at least has developed a completely new type of drug that not only induces sleep, but also increases the dream phase, consolidating memory and improving one’s sense of wellbeing.

The drug targets the orexin system, which is also associated with feeding and addiction. Because of this, experts think a drug that effectively targets the system could also find application in treatments for obesity and addiction.

If it sounds to good to be true…

Looks like there’s another “promising” drug to help people lose weight:

The study involved over 3,000 patients. According to the report, Acomplia, combined with diet and exercise promotes modest but sustained reductions in weight and waist circumference. It also brings about improvements in cholesterol and triglyceride levels – apparently, twice that expected from weight loss alone.

After one year, 48% of the participants experienced a minimum weight loss of 5%. The amount of weight lost correlated with the dosage of the drug.

Acomplia (rimonabant) blocks canabinoid receptors which stimulate eating. That is why many people are hungry after consuming marijuana. The canabinoid receptors can be found in the brain and other body tissues.

There was a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders among the rimonabant users when compared to those who were on placebos.

If I sound skeptical, it’s because I am. I am not a fan of diet drugs, whether the manufacturers are respected pharmaceutical companies or quack scammers. They all amount to about the same thing (anyone remember phen/phen?). Until I actually see it in action, I will not believe that there’s a magic pill that can undo bad eating and exercise choices.

Those of us who prefer to use Linux on our computers have been at a disadvantage when it comes to diet/nutrition software. Most every diet and nutritional software package is made to run on Windows. But there is software out there for Linux, if one digs deep enough. Fortunately, linux.com did a lot of the hard work for us!

DMAK installation requires downloading a binary archive from Story’s site, a .so file for Euphoria, and the current USDA food database from usda.gov. The pre-compiled program worked flawlessly on Ubuntu.

Shrinking Man is a free food journal that lets you record your food choices and track your weight on a daily basis. This program runs with a GTK GUI, and its calendar feature is nice for referencing historical meal plans and for planning ahead. I didn’t see a food database in this one, though, and found it tedious to manually enter each food and its caloric value.

Weight: 329
Difference from last entry: +6

[sigh] Well, I finally took G. R.’s advice, bucked up and stepped on the scale. 329. Theoretically, things could be worse. Realistically? I feel like this is pretty much rock-bottom. I’ve gotta slow things down and start all over again.

And I’m sorta in the middle of doing just that. I’m making better choices when eating out. I’m eating out less. I’ve been to the rec center a time or two this past week. I need to work on getting the amount of water I drink way up. That’ll help out a lot with everything.

I’m basically in a holding pattern again. Now I just need a push in the right direction.

This probably goes without saying, but I haven’t been doing very well lately. The exact opposite, actually. I’ve completely regressed to my old habits. And I can’t believe that I’ve let myself do this again!

It all started with the holidays. As I stated in my last real entry, I was shocked that I hadn’t gained more weight over the holiday season. I foolishly thought that meant that I had survived the holidays. Instead, what it did was gave me an excuse to use to continue eating poorly and not exercising.

I haven’t stepped on a scale in a long, long time. Because I know that the results cannot be good. I’ve been over-eating, mainly with very sweet, high-calorie foods. I’ve been avoiding exercise like the plague: since November, I’ve maybe exercised for 30 minutes or more 5 times. That definitely isn’t good. If I had to guess, I’d say that I’m back up to 330.

But, also following along with my patterns, I am starting to reign things in. And so I’m back here, confessing my transgressions, and making vows to be better in the future. And, also in my pattern, there was a stimulus to make me want to turn things around.

This time, it was at work. We were having a team meeting in the new conference room. From where I was sitting, I could see a reflection of myself in a window. And through the whole team meeting, I kept glancing at myself and thinking, my god, I’m disgusting. I look like a hippo. That’s when I made the decision to get back in the swing of losing weight.

So here I am, once again! I hope everyone else is having a better time of it than me.