I am thinking of taking a month off from blogging. If not for this blog, Marketman would be on a serious South Forbes Diet for the next month or so. I feel like I have porked out a lot. And I can’t be on a serious diet and write about food at the same time. I am fairly tall so it doesn’t really show, but I know when I am carrying around several chickens worth of excess baggage. Think of it this way… if you are approximately 15 pounds heavier than your medically prescribed “ideal weight†for your age, body type and height, then visually that would be like stripping down to your knickers and attaching about 6 to 7 Magnolia whole dressed chickens to your body with strapping tape. Can you just SEE it?!? I thought about chaining myself to a basement wall so that I would eat only what was brought to me (bread and water) but it seemed a little extreme. If I continue gaining weight at say just 4 pounds per annum (my average since turning 30) until the age of 80, I would weigh a whopping 340 pounds, assuming I didn’t keel over before then from heart failure.
I realize I am being terribly vain about all of this. But I am not looking for a perfect physique, I just don’t want jiggly, flabby fat deposits that aid the reality that my skin is indeed losing its elasticity after 40+ years on this planet (despite constant regeneration, and the dried skin flakes that form a great percentage of what is thought of as ‘household dust’). If only the world worked in “reciprocal negative calorie karma modeâ€â€¦it would work something like this… for every post I write, each amused or pleased reader would send me a single (1) calorie reduction credit in exchange for the post. I figure I would receive roughly 6,000+ negative calorie credits a day or so and in a month’s time I would have lost upwards of 50+ pounds placing me back at the weight I had when I turned about 21! But the world is unfair by nature; therefore, only older grey haired guys get to drive Ferraris (ever seen an old Lola driving a yellow Testarossa?), only supermodels get to wear the couture bikinis that cost more per gram of fabric than the equivalent weight in gold, and Marketman will have to continually struggle with disconcerting weight gain, all in the service of my wonderful, though 96% totally keyboard-challenged (mute?) readers (hint, hint to all those lurkers out there, I see you on my visitor statistics)!!!
So, should I take a food blogging holiday??? Hmm, maybe not just yet… Maybe the day I cross the 200 pound line I will have to hie off to a weight loss farm in the middle of the Arizona desert, permanently give up eating anything with four legs or sell some major body parts to lighten the load! Have a terrific week, thanks for visiting, pass this website on to friends who like food, and yes, truly, your comments are greatly appreciated and add so much more to Marketmanila!
69 Responses
NO!
I lost 20 pounds on the South Beach diet two years ago and I have not gained them back. With your cooking and nutrition skill I am sure you can also do it with just a little bit of adjustment and a whole lot of watchfulness.
But what is the significance of the rooster? I trust that you are not referring to yourself now as matandang itinali or may be just aiming to train back to your top fighting form. I know that is not a talisain, but is it a bulik?
Don’t take a holiday please…you’ll take away one of the few things I look forward to each day. If having to eat your sumptuous creations is a problem, why not prepare a less calorific dish, say 50% of the time? That way, you…and we…both win.
MM– I honestly have been cringing (as I drooled) knowing you snorted some of those high-cal stuff. You’re already a friend in my book so I’ve gotten worried. This sentiment is validated too by the news last week that even being a few pounds overweight will shorten one’s life….
So gather your bearings, start on a low-carb/good-fat diet (try running too. there’s a New Balance race sometime Sept) and share with us your progress. MM should start for Mini Marketman. Chronicle your boot camp experience. I think you will do everyone good. When you’re feeling Bench-underwear billboard svelte then let’s do that grand MM 2006 eb.
MM, I see the complications of caloric excess in my line of work every day, and certainly wouldn’t want to wish any on you! Having said that though, we would certainly miss your posts if you took such a long break…How about posting stuff about your European trip while you go on a diet? That way we can all continue to eat…vicariously that is! Good luck!
if you take a vacation from blogging, are you sure you won’t eat more? :) lotsa people EAT when they’re bored and have nothing to do.
it’s a challenge to do healthy and super tasty. maybe the next 2 weeks posts can be about that? :)
Well how far are you from the ideal target weight? I’m in my 40s too, 5’10” , 160lbs, and i eat absolutely everything, unfortunately. But i don’t eat (or try not to eat) massive amounts of food. If it’s bigger than your fist, leave it on the plate.
I’ve seen some amazing results on people who just cut carbs out for a couple of weeks. It’s pretty easy: a nice but small perfectly grilled filet, a piece of herbed roast chicken or a nice super-fresh fish, along with a large tossed salad of mixed greens– different lettuces, rocket, watercress, spinach, frisee, whatever you like. That’s not exactly torture. The tough part is no booze either. and no sweets; easy for me since i don’t have a sweet tooth.
Three weeks of that and you should drop 15 lbs no sweat.
Incidentally, did you notice that in Italy you hardly see any fat people? Compared to the corpulent specimens waddling about in American malls sucking on 32oz sodas, rotund Italians are few and far between. One can wander around an Italian city for weeks and not see a single obese person.
Where are they? Are they hiding out at home too embarrassed to come out? Do they live in the deep forests? Where? Seems to me there is something then to the urban italian’s diet that’s worth checking out.
And maybe investigate the traditional Japanese diet as well– before the invasion of the toxic American fastfood chains.
No, you can’t!! I’ll surely have MMgoodies withrawal syndrome.
But seriously, I started my own blog when I “forced” my family to eat healthier 2 months ago so I can keep track of what I already prepared and it makes me creative with Pinoy food. Fabian is absolutely right, healthy and super tasty should be your next challenge.
Millet, tell me what you really think, heeheehee. Apicio, I lost about 8 pounds or more on South Beach after 2 weeks and it took 6 months to gain it back. The fighting cock is a Bulik, and it was on the family farm in Bicol. Actually, it was the only picture of a chicken/rooster I had on file and since I had alluded to being 7 chickens overweight… But you have given me an idea, a visual, that I should target for about a month or two down the road… I should be as fit as the bulik in the photo, sans the rope… CWID, will try to keep posts less high calorie…ha, wait till you see what’s lined up! Whenever I am about to go on a diet (I have only SERIOUSLY tried twice before)I bake like a lunatic so in the past 36 hours we have made two kinds of lemon squares, a blackberry trifle and a tira misu!!! Gigi, thanks for the concern. I can’t run, bad carotids means my brain doesn’t get enough oxygen so then I faint. How embarrassing naman to be found roadside and the headline on the local food page is “Fat Marketman Expires While Jogging…” Heehee. I agree that I just have to eat better and less… Maybe I will do a low fat/carb series in addition to normal posts… Isn’t it so unfair that cows just eat grass and we end up with Kobe Beef? But if we eat cows, we would probably be inedible? ykmd, actually, I have a huge backlog of things to post, despite this being my 700th entry! But i am now pathologically driven to record every nice market, vendor, piece or kilo of produce and what I end up doing with it… I am, after all, an admitted obsessive compulsive! fabian, you are right, I weighed a lot less when fully employed as a management consultant working 100 hour weeks. Gonzo, you are KILLING me. I am a couple of inches taller than you but about 15 chickens heavier! And no, my two inches of brain is not that dense… If I could lose 15 pounds I would be billboard ready, at least below the neck…
Oh no, please don’t go away. Why don’t you post what you are eating while you are dieting so we can follow. I for one could benefit from shedding a few and would greatly appreciate it. As fabian said “it’s a challenge to do healthy and super tasty” dishes. It will be interesting to see what you can come up with.
maybe you can blog about your progress in whatever diet your in. So we can sympathize with you and encourage you if your in a slump and celebrate with you if you loose. Through this way, maybe some of us (like me) can be inspired to join you in your quest.
Hi Marketman, I always enjoy visiting your site and the mere thought of you not posting anything for a month makes me sad:(
if you really intend to lose some pounds, the best way is to avoid carbs, especially white rice. I’m living proof that this is really doable. At the start of this year, I was about 132 lbs, and I started to shun rice and fill myself up mostly with meat, fish and vegetables. If I did have any rice, it would be about just 1/2 or a cup a day, or better than this, I would be having brown or red rice. After 4 months, my friends all started complimenting me on my weight loss, and now I am about 112-115 lbs. which is just right for my 5’4″ height. Cheers!
I’d like to add my vote to the rest who voted no. Please don’t disappear for a month. Maybe alternate some of the backlog posts, with a weekly update on your weight loss challenges. We’ll encourage you, maybe join you in the challenge (hey if Oprah can do it, why not set up the Marketman challenge?). For the Marketman EB 2006, we could all meet at the Farm in Lipa for greengrass juice (yeck) and raw food (not too bad).
Oh please dont. Your stories are just as interesting as your recipes and experiments. I’d offer to diet for you but i just reached the borderline of normal weight. I cant afford to lose a single pound. Underweight people actually have a lower life span then overweight people.
PLEASE don’t go – I finally came out of the shadows. I look forward to reading your foodie adventures everyday. Keep it up!
Please don’t go!
Here are my diet tips:-
1.drink a glass of water 30 min. before a meal
2.alternately substitute basmati rice to yr normal rice(basmati rice is low GI and is a food source and not a sugar source)
3.chowdown on lots of vegies/fruits/fish(the P.I. is blessed with an abundance of delicious tropical fruits and gorgeous greens
4.eat in moderation
5.walk,walk,walk
I join the rest of mankind in saying don’t do it MM! Maybe we, your faithful readers, could be the recipients on your baked goodies :) You get to bake without putting on unnecessary calories, and we get to taste those wonderful things! It’s a win-win situation,don’t you think?
But kidding aside, please don’t stop writing!
ei MM, instead of taking a “blogging vacation” influence your readers with your new diet. Maybe you can have healthier entries for a month :p
hi MM let me join the throng and encourage you to keep blogging. eating well isn’t inconsistent with eating healthy. check out “french women don’t get fat” and its japanese counterpart “japanese women don’t grow old or get fat” (or something like that)
Im out. I broke the chains. About time I commented.
Keep blogging! =)
I’m joining the rest to protest “PLEASE, DONT’ STOP!” I agree with Olive who said ‘you bake, we taste’. That’s a wonderful plan! hehehe. Seriously, please MM, don’t!
I don’t think we can all go that long without reading something…nor maybe can you go that long without posting something! ;-) It would be great, though to focus your blog on the healthy AND delicious food choices out there. That way it will be good for all our waistlines and we get our daily fix.
maybe you can use this blog as your Diet Log. You go on a diet and log everything here. we can all see your progress and maybe encourage one or two to follow your steps. I, for one,need to lose a number of pounds.
HELLO MM, PLEASE DON’T GO!!!!!!!
” And I can’t be on a serious diet and write about food at the same time.”
I could understand, how difficult that would be but like everyone have pointed out, just write about your diet’s progress , you still gotta eat, so why not share the meal you prepare doing this diet.
I cooked some cassava pudding tonight, I decided that the recipe calls for too much sugar, too much eggs, too much condensed milk. Decided to use half of everything and it came out better IMO and not distractingly sweet and there was no need for all those sugars in the recipe. Maybe in instances were you prepared a recipe the healthier way, you could share that with us. :)
I am one of those lurkers. never posted a comment til now. but yes, may i join the clamor of those saying nooooooo! i’ve also put on weight since reading you regularly and would also like to embark on a weight loss program. come on, let’s do it….
Keep on blogging Marketman. Ever since my wife introduced me to your blog, you’ve made this picky eater appreciate the diverse world of food. I always look forward to your new posts and, even if I may not like the dish being featured,your blog has been an eye-opener and a fun read for me. The posts from your readers have also been very educational. So keep up the good work and good luck on your diet.
MM, though I rarely comment, I must say that reading your blog is a pleasure. I’m pregnant and find that your blog helps me keep my appetite up.
So for the sake of the health of my future child, please keep blogging. (How’s that for a burden?!)
I like the topic, diet! I too need to lose a lot of poundage. Also don’t stop blogging MM, it’s my morning therapy :).
MM, its my first time to post but i’ve been visiting your thread in a long while. Let me just say I got alarmed over this latest post…please don’t take a break.
I have a suggestion though so you can keep on blogging without gaining any pounds – you should take a different direction on the type of foods you feature. Go HEALTHY – veggies, fish, less carbs and meat.
diets are not the way we were meant to live! as others have suggested, why not focus on delicious healthy meals for a while! who said yummy had to be bad for you?
besides, if you stopped blogging, i would lose a source of inspiration for homecooked meals and end up feeding my foodie husband store-bought, fast-food, pre-prepared and over-all sub-par dishes! then we would just all be in the same boat, me with an unhappy husband!
Give the MarketMan a break. He goes to the market, he cooks, he entertains, he gives reviews, he researches, he takes pictures, he gathers data, he experiments with diet coke and mentos, he travels, he eats, he gains weight, he more or less writes an average of 500 words per blog, he pays for his blogsite (has no google adsense or other blogads), he answers our queries, etc. It’s a stressful life, give the Man a break.
Sh!&*%!!! previous post was a joke! I just tried to be my usual rebel self and swayed a bit from the sentiments of the majority. haha! I see flaming spears coming my way!
I like Apricio’s comment about the significance of the rooster!!
Although I symphatize with you and can only wish you all the best, I’m gonna miss your daily blogs, Marketman!(Hopefully you’ll be gone for one month only.) You write so well and I enjoy reading you!
MarketMan, you just discovered the secret to coaxing lurkers out of the woodwork…see how a single rooster outed so many of them! Remember what somebody (can’t remember who) said to the Little Prince:”You are forever responsible for whoever you have tamed, or outed..”or something like that. That means you have to keep shopping, cooking, arranging, plating and photographing, and taking two bites max of each dish you make. Padayon, Dodong (or is it Loloy?)!
Oh please, don’t take a break. I need your nice picture each day. I always visit this blog everyday. And if you stop my day would not be complete anymore.
Market man, have you ever heard the saying “Take away the last letter of the word DIET and what do you get?” DIE
Exactly! We eat to live and therefore live to eat. We will all help you on your road to a slimmer and healthier you. Want me to mail you ginseng tea? I promise not to send the Kentucky rib marinade anymore. Too much fat, too much temptation.
Keep on blogging!
reading your blog has already become an everyday habit. hope you’ll continue on blogging. if its your weight you’re worried about you can feature low carb/low calorie stuff and we’ll go on a diet along with ya! hehe :)
Your tinali is, to be exact, a bulik na puti (fyi there are two other types of bulik: sigay and pula).
Hope your bulik remains tinali, not tinalo, in which case it could soon be tinola :-)
Aren’t you overwhelmed with all the response here??!! Please don’t do it!!
LET’S ALL BLOG EACH OTHER AND STILL USE MARKETMAN’S SITE WHILE HE IS ON VACATION. I’M SURE HE WILL MISS US TOO. I LOVE THE ROOSTER BECAUSE I WAS BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER.
No!… Please?
Can anyone tell me the recipe for the best caldereta please?
I agree with all the posters, so I won’t repeat what they said. ;-) I know what it’s like to be frustrated with one’s weight — I lost 20 lbs. on South Beach 1 & 1/2 years ago, but have since gained it all back. :-( I fully intend to lose it again, hopefully soon, but because I still vividly remember how miserable I was while on a diet, I’m absolutely loath to do it again.
Look at it this way, MM: You’re not alone. Since misery loves company, maybe you could take comfort in the fact (and, yes, it IS a fact; I know this too well) that your blog has made many of us gain weight right along with you. You and Lori of DCF are so much more powerful than any diet there is! ;-)
For selfish reasons, I’m actually game on the diet. Maybe because I just came from my cardiologist. Maybe because I just had a 2D echo (an ultrasound for the heart). Sige nga MarketMan, South Beach na, But don’t stop blogging. Makisabay ako. Maybe we could even do “Biggest Loser” MarketMan style! ;)
I am very much attached to your blog and it is part of my day-to-day activities. Needless to say, you will be missed. Your posts are very interesting, informative and playful. I look forward when you come back. Have a fabulous time!!
selfish me would say no, don’t go on blog leave. but if a blog leave means having a healthier, happier MM then so be it. just don’t make the leave permanent. i enjoy reading your entries….
btw, i read in an issue of time magazine that you can be fat and healthy.
see how much we LOVE your blog!you can’t just leave us for one month that’s toooo long. my advice is simple, cut down your sugar intake and go to the gym at least 3x a week.voila!:)))
You can blog about low carb, low calorie food. Then we can all lose weight together! Stop posting cake and dessert recipes (for a while only).
now see what you’ve done. you’ve got everyone worked up in a tizzy, we need two desserts and two kakanins today to calm us down.
millet, you are too funny. Everyone, thanks for your comments…I will have to figure out a way how to reduce while continuing to blog…
Keep on blogging, MM.
Post some SBD recipes, you can also help us lose weight (lol).
hi there marketman…please don’t have a holiday from your blogging. i may not leave messages often but i do visit your blog more than once a day =) so i guess u can count me as one of your die hard fans =) keep it up MM!!
You deserve a break Marketman, though I would enjoy reading your blog as you tackle this “weighty” issue in your life, please keep us in the loop if you so decide. You can do it!
I actually have lost weight since i temporarily stopped blogging. Instead of dreaming of desserts, whipping one, testing and tasting… I bought a bike
but heck i do miss the creativity of blogging and interacting with readers… I did learn a lot while keeping up with my food blog.
just go on…but in moderation
this site has been one of my regular places to visit online, i love your recipes esp. the native ones which makes me nostalgic and homesick.
perhaps you can mellow it a bit and instead of doing food maybe do features on a particular ingredient which is typical Pinoy?
needless to say, good luck on your dieting!
:)
please don’t….
i am a “fishetarian”…(this is my idea of healthy eating)…though i do not eat most of the meat stuff that you post; you, as well as my co-readers, give me ideas on how to explore with food….
if you want to lose some pounds, maybe we could lose some all together….:)
How about doing all your thinking,planning,and tasting on an exercise bike?
please, don’t!!!
I go to your site everyday first thing when i turn my computer on so please don’t and during the day in the office i go back to your site almost 3x a day to check if you have posted a new subject, I am a Marketmanila addict. so please don’t stop.huhuhuhu!!!!
MM, i’m sure people would love to see healthier versions of dishes, or new things that you’re trying that are low-carb low-fat or whatever it is you need to eat to accomplish your goal. i went vegetarian for two months in january and lost 12 pounds just like that. i wasn’t even exercising much, except for 15 minutes on the treadmill every other day the first month or so.
Wha the hey?!!! I miss looking in for 2 weeks and when I do, a notice that MM might take a monthlong sabbatical greets me? Talk about disasters…!!!
But, after thinking on it a bit…Hmmm, MM, I think you just posted that to get us all to react abd beg you not to take off. Naughty, naughty!!!
But do take care of your health. We “voyeurs” wouldn’t mind missing you for a couple of blogs (just a couple, k?)
I hope not, your website is like a close family member that I visit most of the time. And I appreciate discovering a lot, not just food and cooking thru your website. But I agree, from time to time, we really have to take a break from being busy on our computers because it takes too much of our time without us noticing. We get to engrossed that we forget to exercise, eat, take a bath(?)., grabe, (ganyan ba kayo? he he). I gathered that we can also get injuries (neck, spine, hips and fingers) by being constantly on the computer.
You may want to re-arrange your your schedule and add some healthy regimen, morning exercise, stretching and walking. You may also want to go to the gym and have a personal trainor. Being fit is not only by dieting but we also have to work out our muscles and to perspire more. You’ll see, it will make you feel good and look good and still continue blogging.
Sana you can get a lot of good advice from the many reactions here, let’s work it out para tuloy ang ligaya. Cheers MM.
Hi Marketman, I’m truly amazed at how much time you spend doing this blog and sharing your concoctions. It seems like a part-time job to me. Some bloggers don’t even write this often. I am also trying to get into some type of weight reduction to lose some belly fat. I am not fat but just a little vain, hehe. It’s so tough to change what I eat especially when it’s a recipe I can’t wait to try. So I’m trying not to be too strict with diet but instead try increasing my exercise activities. I’m worried though that my body would wear down faster than normal. By the way, when are you gonna do puto? Or did you already do this before here? Have a nice day!
Johnny, I haven’t featured making a pure white puto with ground rice yet…will still have to search for a reasonable recipe. But I have featured many other kakains that should be in the archives…
OMG, for the love of food, NO!
This comment comes late … but I agree that it would be a loss to your readers if you took a break from blogging. I understand that it can seem stressful (to the belly, apparently, in addition to the psyche), but I see blogging as a vacation from life. =)