Littler

Well, today's a milestone for me: I've now lost over 50 pounds since last fall. Losing the weight is almost effortless now. The habit of eating a whole foods/no refined sugar diet is firmly entrenched. Exercising regularly gets no fight from me. This morning, I woke early to swim at 5 AM. I was able to swim 18 laps (1/2 mile) non-stop and did it in 23 minutes. Biked to work. I'll walk through the building at some point today. Actually, I would think that it's hard not to lose weight that way.

This morning in the pool, I passed the fitness room with its loud, driving beat. Made me thankful for the pool, where it's quiet but for the rhythmic gurgle of the water around my head. Head out, mouth slightly above water, breathe in. Head down, air out; bubbles surface by my ears. I concentrate on the scull of my hands through the water, reaching as far forward as I can as I roll my body to one side and the other with each stroke. Five years ago, my feet would cramp up as I swam. No longer. Must be all the bananas that I now eat.

Organic Dole bananas were on sale over the weekend. 29¢ a pound. Unreal. I bought 4 bags of oranges ($1.48 per pound), red seedless grapes ($1.88 per pound), and about 30 pounds of bananas. The woman at the checkout asked me, "Like fruit?" Except for four steaks, it was all that I bought.

This morning, after I returned from my swim, I juiced eight oranges and then blended the juice with 5 frozen bananas. Nick and Aaron both love that for breakfast as I do, so we all drank deeply, gladly. It's a ritual, us three tall Rogers men gathered for, as Nick puts it, a "fruit party." He nibbled on grapes while he waited for the nectar from my juicer.

For work today, I donned a shirt that I haven't worn in about 4 years. The last time that I wore it, it was tight. Not so now. I'm now at my year 2000 weight. Once I venture into the 290's later this month, I'll be at 1999 weight. It's like rolling back the clock in so many ways. I just feel unbelievably good. Younger than my 40 years. I actually had a 38-year-old woman guess that she was older than me the other day. And she looks good too! Perhaps she was just being polite, but it's hard not to smile at that.

by Brett Rogers, 9/12/2005 9:00:15 AM
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oh yeah, you get my special cheer...Way to go Brett, way to go...whoo-who!

Posted by Anonymous, 9/12/2005 2:31:32 PM

First off---WOO HOO! Fifty pounds is amazing. WAY TO GO!

Organic Dole bananas were on sale over the weekend. 29¢ a pound. Unreal.

Secondly, your joy in cheap bananas cracked me up, because the only person I know who was as excited about that as you is my own dear mother, who damn near cried for joy in the grocery store the other day and was doing all she could to get me to buy some. She gets very upset when bananas go over .39 a pound. ANd don't get me started on the price of lettuce. Seriously, if you ever have a question about the price of produce in any store in town at any given point in time---I'll give you my mom's number....and every week, I hear the same thing---"I will not pay 1.39 for a green pepper!" Well, almost every week. Sometimes pepper are .99, and the world rejoices. You two would love each other. :-)

Posted by Bella, 9/12/2005 11:42:18 PM

Oh god... lmao. Well, you know, here's the odd thing. I did a little jig the other day because red peppers, normally 2 for $4.00, were on sale at 99¢ each. I bought 8. And I can totally relate to her abstinence from green peppers at $1.39 each. They're typically 99¢ each, which is at least a decent price.

It was back in my vegan days in the '80's that the price of produce mattered to me. Frances Moore Lappe (Diet for a Small Planet) educated me that it takes 12 pouns of grain to produce 1 pound of beef, and suddenly the math of $4.99 a pound for decent steak made sense.

Since that time, I've known that if I wanted to eat on the cheap, produce was the way to go, with bananas (quite possibly the world's most perfect food) leading the way in its bargain basement price. Potatoes are right behind, although I really don't eat them much any more. And oh the frugal joy in dried legumes. Couple that with kneaded homemade wheat bread and boy howdy - that's a great meal. (Suddenly I'm in the mood for bean soup and steamy fresh-out-the-oven bread.)

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 9/13/2005 6:10:07 AM

That is such great news!!! Congratulations, Brett!

You still haven't sold me on the juicer...
Although that might be a great way for me to incorporate more fruit/veggies into my diet. Hmmm...what kind of juicer is it?
~L.

Posted by Laura, 9/13/2005 8:20:48 PM