The whole nitty gritty of my diet, what exactly I eat

I've been wanting to write a post for a while that describes my diet plan in detail. I have said a lot that I made a complete change in my dietary regimen, but I rarely discuss what I actually eat, or what my practical rules are. So here goes:

First of all, I am doing Weight Watchers (which has re-branded itself, "WW.") I really like WW, and I think they are one of the only weight loss plans that is science-based and maintainable. I find that their "PointsPlus" system works really well for me. It keeps me accountable without obsessing over calories, and teaches healthy eating habits by rewarding positive behaviors. Rather than restriction, WW is focused on creating a diet and activity routine that works for individuals, and makes you feel good and want to do the right thing. It is oriented toward individual plans, flexibility and results.

I do also use MyFitnessPal because I want to track my macros, which is one thing that WW does not let you track. And, I have found by comparing my WW data with MyFitnessPal data that the WW system is legit -- I see comparable data between them, although WW is a little more forgiving toward some foods in terms of how many calories they really have. I also find that MyFitnessPal is a better tracker for my cardio and weight lifting, and it is so easy to use that it doesn't bother me to be tracking everything twice.

In spite of my glowing review of WW, I am actually considering cancelling my membership. I have re-set my nutritional profile. I am eating under my WW points every day, and I have learned what I can and can't do in terms of food and stay on my health goals. WW costs me $20 / mo which is not terrible, but I could use the extra money -- who couldn't? That's a tank of gas (well, like 2/3...) or a self-treat, or savings. I am smashing my goals, and I have learned the why and how behind all of it, I'm not so dependent on WW to give me direction any more. I am not decided on it either way, and I have to stay until May to be able to cancel without paying a fee, so a couple more months anyway.

OK -- the food, Kyle. What the fuck do you eat?

As I often point out: Saturday is my "Zero Day," meaning I eat whatever I want on Saturday. The rest of the week, I have the following rules:

• Eat a salad for lunch
• 50%+ of my calories from vegetables, all the time
• Eat a lean protein with every meal
• One 24-hour fast every week (usually Fri into Sat.)
• Drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water a day, a full 8 oz. at least 15 minutes before every meal

So, my daily breakfast:

• Mon - Fri I usually eat about 1 cup of fresh fruit with approx. 2 tbls of Greek yogurt and about 1/8 of a cup (yes that little) (yes, I measure it) of Kashi Go Lean Granola.
• On Saturday I usually don't eat breakfast
• On Sunday I usually make myself a 2-egg omelet with whatever vegetables I feel like that day, about 1 oz of feta cheese, 2 oven-baked hash-brown patties, 1 English muffin and sometimes (about every other week) 3 slices of oven-baked turkey bacon.

My daily lunch:

• Six days a week I make a large salad consisting of ~ (approximate amounts)
• 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce, 2 cups mixed spinach, baby kale and chard greens, 1 cup dry coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup diced onion, mixed bell peppers, garlic and jalapeno and / or cubanelle peppers
• 1/4 cup sliced salad olives
• 1 dill pickle spear
• either roasted red peppers or banana peppers
• a handful each of medium black olives and garbanzo beans
• 6 oz. of either deli turkey or imitation crab meat or grilled chicken breast
• 1 large hard boiled egg
• a healthy sprinkle of mixed hemp, chia and flax seed (I am switching to ground)
• a palmful of mixed nuts (usually peanuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and cashews -- whatever I grab at the dollar store, it's WAY cheaper to make my own mixed nut blend than to buy it that way...)
• sometimes a sprinkle of bacon bits, literally a sprinkle just for the taste boost
• I make my own salad dressing every day in a little tiny container, normally with like a half tsp of oil, hot sauce, dry spices, lime or lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and spicy mustard and / or balsamic vinegar. Sometimes I switch it up to pesto, and once in a while I do a peanut-butter based quasi-Asian style dressing. Like 50 calories at most, usually less than 10.
• On Saturdays I usually don't eat lunch. If I do, it is a salad.

My daily dinners:

• Six days a week, I am boring as fuck and I eat basically the same thing every day:
• Either a chicken breast or a lean pork chop
• A huge fucking pile of vegetables, here are the ones I prefer (not all of these every meal:)
• Brussels Sprouts (I eat them like every other day, or more)
• Summer Squash & Zucchini
• Asparagus (I buy a big bunch every 2 weeks when I go grocery shopping)
• Mixed bell peppers
• Onion (I eat at least 1 whole onion a day between my lunch and dinner, usually more)
• Garlic (I eat a shitload of garlic)
• Broccoli & Califlour
• Red potato (I love potatoes and it is a BS lie that you can't eat them and lose weight.)
• Ginger (I eat a LOT of ginger)
• jalapeno
• I use whatever dry spices I like any given day, salt & pepper to taste, toss it all together, wrap it in foil and let it cook in my toaster oven on 420 for an hour, uncovered and on broil the last 15 min. Sometimes the potatoes take a little longer to get to the softness that I like if I didn't pre-heat the oven first. 
• On Saturday I sometimes eat the above. But, I also allow myself to have "indulgence meals" on Saturday if I want them. I often have Buffalo chicken tenders and oven-baked french fries. Last week I had sushi. I sometimes have take-out Thai. Whatever. 

My snacks:

• First of all, if I eat something like 1 piece of candy, or drive-by graze a couple chips at work, or something like that, I don't track it and I don't consider it a "snack."
• On Thursdays at work it is "Popcorn Day" and I always eat a bag of popcorn with some shitty super-sodium-artificial-garbage-food flavoring -- I like the "chile lime" mixed with "garlic parm." It's the grossest thing in my diet, totally does not qualify as "eating clean," and I don't give one fuck. It's yummy and it is a highlight of my week. 
• At home in the evening I usually have a couple spoonfuls of fat-free cottage cheese
• When I am prepping my meals for the next day, I also usually have a spoonful of Greek yogurt and a handful of nuts (huhuhu I like nuts in my mouth...) and sometimes a dill pickle spear.
• If I feel actually hungry later in the evening, about once a week I have some saltine crackers with peanut butter.
• A few nights a week I make myself a snack platter with some olives, pickles, and a sliced apple
• Also a couple nights a week, I will eat 2 small frozen (cooked of course) bean & cheese burritos with my home made pico de gallo.

"Forbidden Foods"

I do not have any forbidden foods. If I want something, I have it. I do have some rules about certain types of foods though.

• I no longer eat sandwich bread. If I do eat anything like a sandwich, it is in a wrap. I do still eat English muffins once in a while. And I have eaten at Subway a couple times which was a whole wheat sub roll. So really, I don't make or buy bread any more, but it is not totally out of my diet.
• I have not eaten pizza at home, period. And I have only eaten 2 pieces of pizza -- at a party at work -- since I started losing weight in November 2018. Frozen pizzas were a huge problem for me, I was eating an average of 2 a week by myself. They are a binge food for me. I cannot control my eating if I have one in the house -- I will eat the entire pizza in one sitting, and then have another meal afterward. I cannot yet trust myself with pizza. This is the closest thing to a "forbidden" food for me.
• I've stopped eating chips and things like trail mix. Those are also binge foods for me. I only allow myself to buy saltine crackers, and even with those I have to use a lot of self control. 
• I also use the following rule to check in with myself before I eat a snack or an unplanned meal: drink a whole glass of water and wait at least 15 minutes. If you're still hungry after that, eat something, but start with some pea pods or carrots and see what happens from there.

I didn't mention coffee. I drink coffee with non-dairy creamer and Stevia extract. I drink as much coffee as I want, and I do not track it. I don't care. I tend to drink about 3 cups of coffee a day, although sometimes I have a cup of coffee after lunch at work. If I have any coffee after 2 pm or so, I have decaf. I love coffee and no one will ever convince me to stop. There is plenty of supporting data for the positive benefits of coffee, and the amount of additives I put in it are negligible in terms of diet.

So that's that. My whole diet. It's not that impressive. But, it is a vegetable-based whole food diet that is very low carb, high protein, fat-adapted. I am not specifically eating the Paleo diet, but it is pretty close. I have also read the book, "It Starts With Food," which is the Whole30 diet, and again, I am not doing the Whole30, but close. I don't totally agree with any diet plan that is out there, but the two I mention here are ones that I think are science-based and do not have any long term health risks.

Not perfect, but I'll take it

Weighed in this morning at 272, meaning I've officially lost 25 lbs. 

I am feeling the difference literally. I said last week I had to tighten my belt down a notch; I am going to have to do it again pretty soon -- in fact, yesterday I did cinch it down another notch and it wasn't horrible, although I know I could not have worn it that way all day. But I was able to, which is great. 

Met all my goals last week, although I just barely scraped by. As I say in the title of this post though, it's not perfect, but I'll take it. I did hit all my goals. But, because I decided it would be a great idea to get drunk on Thursday night, I did not go the gym before work, and it was a struggle to make myself go after, but I did. So, I did manage to hit the gym 4 times. 

Ug. I took myself out to Subway yesterday. (Fri.) I was at an all-day training off-site, so I used that as an excuse to treat myself. I resisted the urge to go to Burger King, but when I got to Subway I failed at my resolve to get a chopped salad instead of a sub, so I wolfed down a foot-long Italian BMT with a Coke and a bag of Salt & Vinegar chips. It was very difficult being truthful about what I ate when I was entering that meal into my WW tracker. 42 points -- my entire days worth of points on one meal. And, when I got to the gym my pre-workout heart rate was 110, when my normal heart rate any other day is about 65. Can you say sodium?? And Subway is endorsed by the American Heart Association, that's scary really. It was quite eye-opening. 

The negatives of that aside, I still enjoyed myself and I don't mind a little indulgence once in a while, it is in my overall nutritional budget, and honestly it was the chips and the soda that probably spiked my blood pressure. And, no I will not ever drink a Diet Coke -- yuck, disgusting. I drink soda so rarely I truly could not tell you when was the last time I had one. I never buy it, I don't consider it a beverage choice. So one Coca-Cola every few months is a non-issue, and it has the positive of being a really satisfying indulgence. Also, chips are something I don't eat any more. And salt & vinegar are my favorite, I'm salivating writing about it. LOL. So, it was a good self-care meal, although the nutritional bases were not really met. And I woke up this morning and still lost weight, so I call it a win. 

So I said if I could pull off going to the gym 4x this past week, I would test drive going 5 days, every work day. We'll see what happens Monday morning. I was tentatively considering trying out 5 days this week, but Mon morning I just could not get out of bed an hour early. And then when I didn't go Fri morning because of the hangover, I was like, Oh shit, I'm gonna fuck it up, I'm only gonna hit 3 days. Fuck. Which is what got me to the gym after work, which was weird and all different people were there and I kinda hated it. So there's an object lesson. I really do prefer going to the gym early in the morning. I have the most energy and it really gets me going, I am starting to really like the feeling I have after I am done working out. I find I am in a good mood, I have a better outlook even on problems, and my ability to set goals and meet them carries over into work and my personal life. So yeah, I am going to try really hard to go 5 days this upcoming week. I am not moving the needle on the goals though, officially my rule will stay 4x/wk. which is up one from 2 weeks ago, so I need to pace myself in terms of how far I step it up. I will only set goals I can achieve 100%. So, this upcoming week, I will test drive going to the gym 5 days, but the goalpost is still 4. 

I also want to make an adjustment to my weekend routine. I am still convinced that I want Saturday to be my Zero Day. I call it a "zero day" instead of a cheat day or something like that because for one, there is no cheating in my plan, there are only misses. And truly, I haven't missed my goals much and I don't plan to start now. What my "zero day" means is that it is the day of the week where I do not have to do anything if I don't want to, including no diet rules. If I want to stay in my pajamas all day, eat 5 meals and watch 16 hours of Snapped, I do it. However...

I am not happy with the fact that I am regaining weight over the weekend. Pretty much every Mon, I have put on a couple pounds, once it was 9 lbs. (oops...) and I know it is mostly water weight, but I don't like it. I am sabotaging myself and back tracking all my hard work for the sake of some sloth. I am not going to set any rules for Zero Day, other than it is Zero Day. But, I am thinking I want to make a Weekend Rule which says I do have to do something active every day no matter what. I'm averaging 2 lbs. a week lost, which is really great, but I am actually losing 5 - 10 lbs a week but I'm regaining it over the Fri-Mon window. I have observed my metabolism / GI tract seems to have about a 48 hour cycle, so often I don't see a difference on the scale for 2 days, although when I am active, I see the number go down the very next day. So..... being even the least bit active has an exponentially larger positive impact. I am hoping this will allow me to continue to insulate my Zero Day but not have to deal with the resulting weight gain. I can accept that my weight is going to fluctuate, and I do understand how water weight works, but I still don't want to see the scale go up. I am going to try to minimize that, but I need Zero Day for my psychological well-being. 

Well, I guess that covers my week. Onward!

Spiralize me baby! 5-star week

I didn't write anything last week because I was very disappointed to see the Thanksgiving Backslide continue. I managed to top off at 4 lbs gained, and successfully managed to feel like shit. Oddly, my resolve was hardened by this, an unusual reaction for me. And, I applied myself this week with gusto and hit a new landmark: below 290. There's an 8 where that 9 was. This morning my weight was 287.8, meaning I have lost 7.8 lbs since 11/11/18, four weeks.

I have added some exercise to my routine and will continue adapting it upward as I gain conditioning. I have been using my 30 lb hand weight, and doing sit-ups in the morning as soon as I get out of bed. The first thing I noticed is that it is getting easier to get up and down from the floor. And by the end of the first week, I found the sit-ups getting easier and have added more. I'm still struggling to get enough walking in though. I need to prioritize that this week.

I also stayed within my WW points every day this week. And the scale tells the tale. It works. Eat clean, track your food intake, get some exercise. It works. And I even had enough Points budget to buy some brie (my favorite cheese for snacking) and to eat some fat-free raspberry sherbet -- twice. It was nice to eat an indulgence food and a sweet dessert, both guilt free. Particularly with a big weight drop (I lose 4.5 lbs this week...) to underscore the success, I am feeling really good.

I had a really stressful work week, so I was a little surprised to see myself stay so disciplined. Normally, I would be opportunistic toward something like that -- it is primed for a crash & burn that I excuse myself from any culpability for. Instead, I doubled down on my good habits. Very interesting.

I even didn't buy a pizza yesterday while I was out doing my grocery shopping. I like to shop at Save-A-Lot because you really do save a lot, and their produce and deli are just as fresh as anyone's. But, I had to go to Walmart to get cat stuff (litter and food) and I wanted to buy myself a spiralizer, so I also got the groceries there that I couldn't find at Save-A-Lot; that is one drawback of that store -- you have to buy what they have, and they don't have the selection of larger chains sometimes. Anyway, while I was in the frozen aisle getting veggie burgers and frozen fish (yes filet, not breaded) I turned around and angels playing harps appeared and golden light shone down on the Rising Crust Supreme... mmmm, delicious demon.

And I didn't buy a pizza, even though that voice in my head said, "It's the weekend, I can have a treat..." And I lingered. And considered it. And tried to talk myself into a thin crust pizza as a compromise. (Disgusto.  Ew, I hate thin crust pizza.) And stared longingly. And then I said, "Fuck no. I am not buying a pizza." And walked away. *phew*

I'm doing fine with the supplements I take. I can tell that I have leveled out on the St. John's Wort. I said I was going to wait until that benchmark to adjust my dose frequency, but I actually did it a couple weeks ago. I said I would start taking 450 mg 2x / day, but the supplement I buy comes in 300 mg caps, so I have been taking 600 in the morning and 300 at bedtime. I am pretty pleased with that. I need the stronger level during the day anyway. I am going to add a B-complex to regimen, a good one with all 8 B's. My research has led me to believe that a good B-complex is important for dietary health overall. And I know that when I take B-12, it really helps me feel alert and refreshed (that's why 5-Hour Energy shots work, they have like 400% the DRV B-12) so I'm thinking I will be just as pleased with a B-complex.

I am trying to focus on eating whole foods as much as possible. I am also going to maybe start paying closer attention to buying organic, and non-GMO. As the demand for that kind of mindfully sourced food is increasing, it is becoming more available and more affordable. I particularly like Hannaford for that, because they prominently feature locally grown produce and local food producers (like Sister's Salsa Twice Spice, which is made right here in Blue Hill, like 20 miles from me.) I have noticed since I have started eating a salad for lunch every day at work and generally increased my intake of vegetables that my GI performance is a lot better, less discomfort, more regularity and I have not taken a Tums since I started this dietary regimen. I'm starting to feel the direct consequences of anything I eat, and for whatever reason I have not had any serious backslide except the Thanksgiving 4-day.

Oh right -- and the spiralizer. So, a couple weeks ago I tried out some spiralized butternut squash spaghetti that I got at Hannaford. And I loved it. It was an awesome pasta substitute, and I am totally going to spiralize everything I can get my hands on. The one I bought has 4 settings to make spaghetti, linguine, curly, and wide band. I am not giving up pasta, but I am going to default to spiralized veggies, and the spiralizer will pay for itself in savings really quick. It was $40, which is not bad anyway. And compared to paying $5 for 2 cups of spiralized squash from the grocery store...

So, it was a five-star week, which I really needed. If I had gained weight or not lost more than a pound, after such a bad backslide, I might have fallen off the wagon. It will be hard not to hold this week up as the new bar. I know losing 4 lbs in a week is not going to maintain, but if I drop some weight really fast, that will be just fine with me. Anyway, it was a good week. Here's to another one.