At Ft. McHenry in 2010. My spare tire is pretty much how it looked 30 days ago – and my Levi’s definitely weren’t buttoned at the waist!
Well, the first 30 days of my weight loss effort have been endured. 🙂
Having surpassed my goal of losing ten pounds (although I was absolutely coerced into breaking the rules on two occasions due to my kids’ daily needs LOL), I am unbelievably back at the first notch on my Levi’s belt which I’ve been wearing since a teenager… and the Levi’s are buttoned up at the top with room to spare. Incredible if I have to say so myself.
This is what I looked like on Day 0:
Just kidding! That’s my oldest boy… and rather than blind you with a photo my daughter took of me on Day 0 of my actual gelatinous pale body, I think the point can be made differently. Besides, the photo at the very top pretty much shows what I looked like when I started without you getting blinded.
So… Below is a photo of me in Tokyo at the Toyota School dormitory on a hot, humid August day, wearing my favorite Levi’s belt many decades ago. This was a couple of years after graduating from high school (19XXXXX BC).
Then this week, I took a photo of the same infamous belt that I wear daily – and back at the very first notch! I even have my top waist button fastened and my shirt tucked it because my Levi’s were falling.
They still fall. 🙂 But the belt’s battle scars clearly show how big my waist had been through the years.
I am but 5’6″ tall and I was carrying 187 pounds two years ago. While certainly not as dramatic as some of your results, I did start at 161 pounds 30 days ago and am now down to 146… Well, 146-1/2 pounds. So I exaggerated…
Overall, I’ve lost 31 inches as well, mostly off my spare tire and chest.
I’d call that a win.
I did drink copious amounts of Japanese green tea (the fountain of youth serum if you didn’t know) and water and ate lots of tofu. The times that “food” was beckoning me were when I’d prepare my kids’ meals being a single dad and from scratch. It was tough not tasting the food to correct the seasoning before plating it – beef stroganoff, spaghetti al limone, Maytag bleu cheese salad, classic pound cake and the like – but since the kids ate it all, it must have been just fine.
One of my approved meals. Frankly, it was easy to prepare.
I have been dieting for the past three weeks.
Dieting for the first time in my life.
I’ve always thought dieting was no big thing.
But now, I’ve come to the realization that diet is a four letter word.
In fact, I found the first three letters in diet is die. 🙂
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Taken at the Yamato Museum in Kure, Japan, Nov. 2013 with my cousin Toshiro. I was near my peak weight then. Notice my Packers shirt, not my belly, please.
In 2012, my oldest son Takeshi (who is now pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy) and I ventured to Japan, mostly to vacation but also to take the ashes of our Aunt Shiz back home to Hiroshima. During our stay with our cousins, Masako always patted my stomach in fondness – implying I was Santa Claus. Yes, for only being 5’6″ tall, I was the jolliest in all of skinny Japan. I tipped the scales at 187 pounds. Japanese people were taking bets if I could squeeze through the train doors.
My son, however, could probably lift the whole bullet train – with one arm. You should have seen the girls stare at him… Well, they were really staring at my belly.
A recent pic of my oldest boy, Takeshi. Not one ounce of fat on him. I used to look like that, by the way.
…But to be fair to myself, this is me below when I was about 20…
Can you guess which one is me? I’m on the right in the tall “geta”, or wooden sandals. I wore them to and from the tavern – drunk as a skunk and never tripped. Taken at the Toyota School dormitory in Tokyo. By the way, I was the arm wrestling champ at the school. Even kicked the teachers’ asses…but my son Takeshi laughs and still doesn’t believe me. Hmmph.
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Two years ago, my great doctor – with whom I’ve been under his wonderful care since 1990 – asked me, “Do you exercise, Koji?”
“Um, no. Whyyyy..?”
“When you first came to me, you weighed 130 pounds… You weighed 183 today. You need to lose 50 pounds…”
I don’t think I heard him… Men suffer from bad hearing, you know.
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Long story short, about four weeks ago, my buddy invited me over to his beautiful home in Newport Beach for what I thought would be a cigar gig… Instead, there were nothing but lovely ladies there… There to learn about a dieting system. They described it as a way of life.
Egads… Never did have that cigar.
Well, two days later, I signed up for a 30-day plan with a goal of losing ten pounds. I was already down to 161 pounds – solely from cutting out breakfast burritos and enchiladas at lunch. I also lost some pounds from being on Leyte for six days in July.
I started the 30-day plan on October 21st. It was a strict plan. Basically, only chicken, fish, turkey, green veggies, tofu, protein shakes and a potion that reminded me of Robitussin syrup of years ago.
Yes, it disallowed everything I loved: salami, mayo, beef, pork, Parmesan Reggiano, chili tamales, fettuccine Alfredo… 😢 I realized determination was key… like resisting the two Pringles leftover in your kid’s lunchbox.
My oldest daughter Robyn invited me over for Halloween, coinciding with her birthday. There were cheeseburgers, homemade tamales… and a chocolate mousse birthday cake. OMFG. But I resisted. I distanced myself from the deliciously smelling food by sitting against the walls. I even resisted the bite-size Milky Way bar my little granddaughter Emi was waving in my face as I took her trick or treating. Luckily, she dropped it somewhere along the way.
I took my Little Cake Boss with her friend to In-n-Out on the fourth or fifth day of my diet. They both had Double-Doubles and those famous, wonderfully smelling, fresh French fries… but I didn’t even lick the wrappers. I wanted to but she told me I’d be embarrassing her in front of her friend if I did.
And the toughest times were when the kids were with me; I had to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for them. I didn’t even TASTE TEST the food before I plated it up because of my diet. It must have been OK since they ate my beef stroganoff, spaghetti al Limone, breakfast sandwiches before school, my famous pancakes from scratch smothered in real Grade A dark amber maple syrup with perfectly crisp BACON… I even baked a classic pound cake from scratch for Brooke to take to school.
Oh, man.
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The results after three weeks?
It is November 11 as I write. Here’s my weight record from my doctor’s records although I haven’t seen him since April; started at 161 pounds on October 21st:
And here’s a pic of my fancy-schmancy scale today (notice my Green Bay Packers socks) – it’s 147-ish, about a 9% drop:
I guess it’s an OK result.
BTW, can you see that belt in the picture with my schoolmates in Japan?
I still wear that belt and it is on the first notch once again! Don’t worry. I won’t gross you out by posting a picture of my belt with my belly as a backdrop.
Moral to story: Son, you have competition… but first, I’m hitting Tommy’s Burgers.
Just kidding.
If I can do it, so can you.
It’s a mindset and with a little encouragement, you can attain your goals.
In reflection of the upcoming 240th birthday of our United States Marine Corps (Nov. 10) and to pay homage to one Marine who lost his life on Iwo Jima after filming the most iconic movie footage in Marine Corps history…
The more immortalized flag was just hoisted in the background, with a few of the seven famous Marines still trying to secure it. The group of Marines in front have just lowered the first smaller flag that had been raised a bit earlier. February 23, 1945. USMC photo.
I assume you know of the iconic flag raising atop Mt. Suribachi by our courageous US Marines on Iwo Jima?¹ It was immortalized, in my opinion, by the most iconic photo of WWII.
But did you know there were TWO flags? And that THREE cameramen were involved with capturing the two flag raisings?
And did you ever wonder where the movie of the flag being raised came from…or who shot it?
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You have seen the above color footage of the US flag being raised on Iwo Jima (above) during WWII countless of times. On TV. In movies (that’s important – the…
Chilled tofu, topped with green onions, ginger and dried bonito shavings.
“My life is like tofu – its what gets added that makes it interesting.”
Angela Johnson
While certainly common as bread among Asians, tofu is akin to “eww” among many of us Americans. To many, it may have the texture of slightly melting jello and dreadfully bland; but truthfully, it’s pretty darn good for you and perhaps a fine change up in your weight loss efforts… especially when you add zing to it.
While data varies slightly by source, my tofu carton’s label indicated it had 60 calories for a “1 inch slice”, or roughly 85 grams. It also has 6 grams of protein. I had “2 inches” for my meal tonight.
Served by itself, it is not fattening. It only becomes fattening if you prepare it with other foods such as pork or beef or fry it up. In my photograph above, the tofu is simply topped with:
Green onions (You can have all the green vegetables, yes?),
Grated ginger for zing (I hope it’s allowed!), and,
Dried shaved bonito for texture and added flavor (“katsuobushi”).
Certain healthy weight loss literature indicates that soy sauce is OK in small quantities but I sprinkled mine with “Bragg’s Liquid Amino” which is allowed. It is close in flavor to soy sauce – like Volkswagen is to Porsche. 🙂 As such and being an Asian boy at heart, I mixed mine at about a 3:1 ratio to be on the safe side.
Bragg’s Liquid Amino and a 10 calorie packet of dried shaved bonito, available at any Asian supermarket or online. If you eat sushi, you can eat this!
It is satisfying and it does “fill you up”, as they say.
Because it’s low in calories, I did add an organic Appleton chicken/turkey sausage (120 calories) as a compliment to complete my meal – grilled without oil, of course. My uneducated guess is that this fulfilling meal was about 400 calories, give or take… and without fuss.
So if you’re looking for a break in your meal routine, give this a whirl. Why drive a Volkswagen when you can drive a Porsche?
(Asian hint for peeling your ginger – use the edge of your spoon to scrape it off.)
Seventy-three years ago this month, thousands of young men and boys perished in a vicious naval battle in the Southwest Pacific: the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. I reblog this in remembrance of these heroic men and specifically, Mr. Johnson.
When the group found out that Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller’s retirement home inSaluda had hit the market, they scrambled to both form a nonprofit and launch a GoFundMe site to raise the $400,000 needed to purchase it.
By contributing to help fund the purchase, former intelligence Marine Sgt. Maleesha Kovnesky, who is spearheading the effort as chair of the nonprofit, said supporters will be directly contributing to a place that will serve as a standing monument to other Marines.
“It’s the perfect place, perfect opportunity and perfect time to make sure there’s a place that fosters camaraderie (so) all Marines everywhere know they have a place to go and people who care,” she told Marine Corps Times.
Puller, who died in 1971 at the age of 73, had one of the most…
“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.”
– John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog
May he rest in peace.
Yogi, my oldest daughter Robyn’s lovable three-legged corgi, left us last week.
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Yogi was such a happy dog. Her loving nicknames for Yogi included “Yogs” or “Yo-Yo”.
The day Yogi became part of the family… Who could resist him?
Yogs made me grin when he would run…if you can call it running. Indeed, it was like watching a huge log of Jimmy Dean sausage on steroids with four Vienna sausages¹ as legs, chugging through the grass.
Man, he loved to play with a ball. You’d toss a tennis ball or a toy and he would just instantly turn his back on you and bound away with his tailless butt the only thing you could see… just like how the famous Willie Mays did after hearing the the crack of the bat. After he chased it down, he’d bring it back near your feet. He’d then stare at the now motionless ball… And if Yogi thought you were ignoring him, he’d use his long, skinny nose to nudge it closer to you if you didn’t pick it up. “Again! Again!” he was saying. The simple joy he must have had.
The only time he wasn’t happy was when fireworks went off. He would cower behind Robyn’s toilet, shaking in fear, with his two shivering rear legs protruding out from behind the toilet. He was such a lovable wuse.
And he always wanted to be alongside somebody. “Hey! Me! Me! Look at me!” he was saying in dog-speak.
Yogi did not like it when I would try to sneak off to work on my computer. He made sure you knew he was there.
Yogs loved everyone – at least everyone who loved dogs. He was always so happy to see you. And he also knew who loved him. He took in my dad and Old Man Jack very quickly on Father’s day in 2011.
Old Man Jack, my dad and Yogi on Thanksgiving 2010.
When Robyn would bring Yogi to my house, I’m sure he sensed in her car with his doggy nose, “Ooo! Ooo! We’re near grandpa’s house… The house that I can jump onto comfy sofas all I want and leave my hair all over them…and mama can’t say no! Woof!”
And one of Yogi’s most favorite spots to sit was on my lap as I sat on my sofa; it was a silent doggy signal… His stubby little Vienna Sausage legs would propel him right onto my lap as soon as I sat down. No invite was necessary. Then, he would would lovingly lay his head on my nice round belly.
Once he made it to my lap, he didn’t have to say one bark; his face said, “Pet me, you dumb human, while I leave tons of my hair as souvenirs!”
Yogi’s “pet me immediately” look… right on my belly.
Well, perhaps I was stretching it a bit. Yogs didn’t really care whose lap it was… It would become HIS spot. No matter what you were sitting on. No matter how little space there was… It was all his space.
Yogs just HAD to jump on my littlest daughter’s lap. It didn’t bother him one bit the chair was narrower than a plane seat in Economy Class.
But make no mistake about it. He knew who his mama was. When Robyn would bring him over to my home to look after him for part of the day and then grew tired of all the attention I was giving him (How rude!), he would patiently wait at the door for his mama to come home.
Can his nose get any closer to the door?
And of course, his “Feed me some of that human food!” face.
“Huh? I don’t care if it has preservatives! …What??? Mama said no??? Well, if you don’t tell her, I won’t!”²
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It was right before Christmas last year; her usual happy boy Yogi was then not only limping, he would yelp after I patted him on the usual spot: his side near his shoulder. After a few persistent visits with different vets, Robyn tragically found out why her beloved son was limping.
Yogi had cancer. He was only eight.
She was devastated. We all were but I felt most badly for Robyn and I knew exactly how she felt. Yogi was a big part of her life and he provided much happiness. But just as if Yogs was her boy, she opted for surgery… but in order to remove the tumor, her beloved Corgi had to lose his leg.
Yogs sans a leg during his final visit to my home where he had unfettered access to sofas…
He returned home the day after Christmas last year. Robyn was so happy Yo-Yo was back home.
We went to visit Robyn on August 23rd. Even with all my failings, Yogs would always greet me with great happiness at the door with his stocky Jimmy Dean Sausage body nearly bowling me over. But this time, he barely made it over to me as we walked in. I said, “Yogiiii… What’s wrong?” I secretly feared for the worst. I knew in my heart something was very wrong with Yogi.
She took Yogi to the vet on August 30th. Inoperable cancer had now spread to his spine; he was in great pain. She called me over that night to say goodbye as did many other family and friends. There was great sadness. But there was a happy moment. She said I could give Yogi some of my human food deli sandwich. I think we all gave Yogi some. He must’ve been so happy.
Yogi left us the next day, August 31st, while being lovingly held by my daughter and son-in-law, just like Masako held my grandma in her arms as she passed away, Yogi was blessed with having such an adoring mom and dad.
I know he is in doggy heaven. More precisely, the “Dogs That Brought the Most Happiness to Mom and Dad” wing of doggy heaven. While very, very sad, I know Robyn’s heart is at peace knowing her beloved Yogi is now free of pain.
I will dearly miss you, Yogs.
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Notes:
For those who don’t know what a Vienna Sausage is:
Masako and Spam Musubi 