Day 2

(Most) Everything I ate...

1 organic brown egg - 70 calories / 4.5 g fat / 1 g carbs / 6 g protein

1.5 pieces of Trader Joe's Low Calorie Light Wheat Bread - 60 calories / 16.5 g carbs / 7.5 g fiber / 4.5 g protein

1/2 of a small banana - 45 calories / 0.2 g fat / 11.5 g carbs / 1.3 g fiber / 0.6 g protein

1/4 cup raw broccoli - 7.5 calories / 0.1 g fat / 1.5 g carbs / 0.6 g fiber / 0.6 g protein

1 cup fat free cottage cheese - 160 calories / 12 g carbs / 26 g protein

5 Multi-grain Saltine Crackers - 60 calories / 1.5 g fat / 10 g carbs / 1 g protein

2 Oscar Mayer Light Beef Franks - 180 calories / 14 g fat / 4 g carbs / 10 g protein

1/2 cup raw baby carrots - 35 calories / 8 g carbs / 3 g fiber

1.5 cups steamed broccoli florets - 36 calories / 0.8 g fat / 4.7 g carbs / 4.5 g fiber / 6 g protein

2 tsp yellow mustard - 6 calories / 0.6 g carbs / 0.4 g fiber / 0.4 g protein

1 tsp spicy mustard - 5 calories

1/2 of a small banana - 45 calories / 0.2 g fat / 11.5 g carbs / 1.3 g fiber / 0.6 g protein

1/2 cup Breyer's "1/2 the fat" vanilla ice cream - 110 calories / 3.5 g fat / 16 carbs / 3 g protein

2 cups raw baby carrots - 140 calories / 24 g carbs / 12 g fiber

Total: 959.5 calories / 10 g fat / 121.3 g carbs / 30.6 g fiber / 58.7 g protein

(*Higher due to unlisted nutritional value for my snacks)

Breakfast

One word: BLAND!

The only person I know that eats "dry" bread is my momma.  I do not recommend it unless you have no choice.  (Now I'm starting to wish I got the butter spray.)  I made an over medium egg, with cooking spray of course, because let's face it, dry bread needs some ooey-gooey, oh so cholesterol laden egg yolk.  If I didn't have that option I would have used a ripe banana and smashed it up and covered it on the toast.  

ADDED Snack*

I cheated.  Sue me.  I had 1/4 cup raw broccoli and 10 of my homemade deliciously, awesome croutons.  I couldn't help it.  Also I had a few sips (but only sips) of the BF's strawberry milkshake.  Hello, that's my favorite!  And, I had carrots and mustard before bed, but I included those in the calorie count.  

Lunch

If you don't like cottage cheese you are going to hate this plan!  I mean hate it.  With Passion.  At least I'm truly full, but perhaps that was due to the snack of 1/4 cup raw broccoli and 4 homemade croutons I had before it.  

Dinner...

was awesome.  I ate wieners and mustard.  Plus broccoli is great steamed with a dash of Mrs.  Dash.  However, after looking at the amount of calories I took in I'm pretty sure I could have dressed the broccoli up in cheese sauce.  Oh well, live and learn.  

Tomorrow looks more calorie restricted then today (see I needed the snacks). This should be fun (insert sarcasm).  

Day 1 - Calories consumed and recap

• 3 pieces of Trader Joe's Low Calorie Light Wheat Bread: 120 calories / 33 g carbs / 15 g fiber / 9 g protein
• 2 tablespoons Trader Joe's Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds: 200 calories / 16 g fat / 5 g carbs / 3 g fiber / 9 g protein
• 1/2 Grapefruit: 53 calories / 0.2 g fat / 13.4 g carbs / 1.8 g fiber / 1 g protein
• 1/2 cup Chunk White Albacore (1 small can): 120 calories / 2 g fat / 24 g protein
• 1 cup canned beets (salt free): 80 calories / 16 g carbs / 2 g fiber / 2 g protein
• 1 cup green beans: 44 calories / 0.4 g fat / 9.9 g carbs / 4 g fiber / 2.4 g protein
• 3 ounces chicken breast: 140 calories / 3.1 g fat / 26.4 g protein
• 1 apple: 77 calories / 0.3 g fat / 20.6 g carbs / 3.6 g fiber / 0.4 g protein
• 1 cup ice cream (I mixed a "1/2 the fat" vanilla and full fat cookies and cream): 376.2 calories / 17.2 g fat / 47.8 g carbs / 8.5 g protein
• 2 cup (approx as I did not measure out my food) Orville Redenbacher's Tender White popcorn: 80 calories / 6 g fat / 8 g carbs / <2 g fiber / <2 g protein

Total: 1290.2 calories* / 45.2 g fat / 153.7 g carbs / 31.4 g fiber / 84.7 g protein


So as you can see this is not a starvation diet.  To loose weight one must have a caloric deficit. 1200 calories a day is the minimum recommended calories on a weight loss plan.  Those who are larger or are more physically active may very well need a base of calories that is higher than 1200.  In terms of fiber, I consumed the recommend amount of 30 g per day simply by food consumption.  I'm not sure I've done that in a long time.  The only thing I question is the amount of daily fat consumed.  The American Heart Association recommends no more than 30% of your calories consumed by fat calories.  I've read on multiple websites that it is anywhere from 30 g fat total to 60 g total.  If anyone knows the answer to this question let me know.  If there is a next time I would try to make sure all my fats are the fat-free or low-fat versions.  


Without the popcorn and extra scoop of ice cream I would have consumed 1200 calories.  Despite cheating, I'm very happy with how day 1 went.  


*My calories, and perhaps fats, carbs, fiber, and protein, were most likely higher because I consumed sugar free lemonade in large quantities, which has trace calories per serving.  Also all the above is approximates.  

Din Din

So I apologize in advance for not taking a picture of dinner.  All I could think about was how in todo el mundo am I going to be able to tolerate eating beets?  Perhaps this diet requires you to eat something foul tasting so you loose all desire to consume anything?  Now that would be an idear.


So how did I eat 1 whole cup of beets?  Let's face it, without salt they are not edible.  And they stain things so be careful with them.  The beets were alright with white vinegar, but the salt adds to them quite significantly.  I also tried them with Mrs. Dash, which was a bad idea.  The last thing I tried was salted beets with balsamic vinegar.  Perhaps it is just because I'm a vinegar whore, but those were edible.  I'm not going to go out of my way in the future to eat beets, but if you try a diet like this, balsamic and salt is what I recommend.  And you probably don't want to eat them from the can, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  


So beets, 1 cup of green beans with scant salt, and a Gorge Foremaned (it's a word for the grilling generation) chicken breast complete with salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash and I'm feeling content.  I still have an apple and 1 cup of ice cream ordered for the day, but at this point I'm full.  Those two will be a nice snack later.  


I didn't know how to eyeball 3 ounces of chicken, but this website was quite helpful.  In fact, it tells you how to eyeball a number of foods.


What I like so far about this diet is I do feel content after meals.  I think a part of it is to teach one appropriate portions.  I see a few people who claim that you loose weight on this diet because you are starved of calories, so I'll approximate how much I ate for the total day in an entry to come.  


Update: I mixed 3/4 cup Breyer's "1/2 the fat" Vanilla and approximately 1/3 c regular fat Cookies and Cream.  I was initially full after this, but I think the sweetness of the Cookies and Cream triggered my hunger.  When the BF made popcorn I shared some, which was not part of the diet.  Perhaps I should have only consumed Vanilla ice cream then a cup of tea to curb the cravings?  

Runch time

After my bike ride I chugged a large glass of sugar-free lemonade.  I remembered that you can drink sugar-free and diet drinks.  Then for lunch I had the following:

1 slice bread (remember mine is the low cal so I have a little extra), 1/2 cup albacore tuna in water, and a cup of Oolong tea.  

First off I was shocked that a can of tuna is 1/2 cup.  That is protein to the extreme and definitely contributes to feeling contently full.  Since tuna is quite bland on its own I added a dash of pepper and Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning blend in Lemon Pepper.  

The extra pepper and Mrs. Dash made the tuna tolerable.  I still prefer mayo with my tuna, but sometimes you have to just say, "I have willpower!"  This was actually my first time trying Mrs. Dash.  I see people at work use it and it's not bad considering it is salt-free.  The reason I chose the Lemon Pepper flavor is because it is suggested seasoning for fish, eggs, vegetables, shellfish, turkey, and tuna. The diet requires you to eat a ton of veggies (I'm already gagging at the thought of beat), eggs, tuna, etc., so I think this seasoning will come in handy.  The alternative was a butter spray, but I have a feeling I'm not allowed to use that for flavoring.  

Another large glass of sugar-free lemonade followed by the Oolong and that is lunch.  The verdict?  I feel content and am satisfied.  

Day 1 - Most important meal of the day

I woke up around 9am-ish and then had a cup of black coffee.  Black coffee in my book has none of my beloved half-n-haf and just a tiny amount of Splenda.  If you have good coffee, I recommend Trader Joe's Colombia Supremo, then this is doable.  Also a good coffee pot is essential.  If you are using an old, crappy one, you should ask yourself why?A good coffee pot does coffee right and saves you a good deal of money in the end.   


Since I went shopping to pick up all my necessary items I didn't eat until 10:40am.  Normally I eat 2 hours or more after waking, but I read that you are supposed to eat within an hour of rising.  Que sera.  


On to breakfast.  Ta-dah!

1/2 a grapefruit and 1 slice of bread with 2 TABLESPOONS PEANUT BUTTER

Seriously that looks good.  

I happen to love grapefruit so I had no problem eating the white grapefruit plain (I even drink all the leftover juice).  My tip for cutting the sections of the grapefruit is to cut the membrane between the actually fruit and peel with a small, sharp knife.  Make sure to cut nice and deep.  Then cut each small membrane that lines the grapefruit segments.  When you are done, success.  The slices can be scooped out one by one.  

In terms of why you see 1.5 slices of bread, I chose to do this because the bread in my house is the Trader Joe's whole wheat low cal bread, which is 40 calories per slice.  Bread is normally 90 calories per slice or much higher.  Hey, I'm just trying to follow what the diet says to eat ;) .  And frankly, 2 tablespoons of PB is a lot!  This is like crunchy, peanut butter heaven!  If you haven't tried Trader Joe's Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds then you are missing out on life.  My mom suggested it to me and it has been my favorite ever since.  

Lastly I finished off my meal with black coffee (remember black means just a little Splenda) with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top (see health benefits below* or via this link).  This time drinking it I wish I had half-n-half, but over all I feel full and content.  This breakfast is a winner.  

*Health benefits of cinnamon include the following: 

• Cassia cinnamon is used for: colds; the uncontrolled farts; diarrhea; painful menstrual periods; and improving energy, vitality, circulation.  
• Ayurveda cinnamon is used as a remedy for diabetes, indigestion, colds, and helping aid the digestion of fruit and dairy products.  
• Cinnamon in general has been shown in medical studies to reduce fasting blood glucose and triglycerides while improving LDL cholestrol (that's the one you want high) when test subjects consumed 0.25 - 1 teaspoons daily. Also, other medical studies have suggested some link with cinnamon and antifungal properties.  

My own side note: Pregnant women should definitely consider taking cinnamon since yeast infections are part of pregnancy.  Also, those women who are at risk for GDM should consider this to potentially help prevent this condition or at least manage it.  

It's been awhile...time for a DIET!

I'm going to chronicle something that is slightly embarrassing to me, but if I put it out in the open I cannot back out of it or "cheat" if you will.  I have steadily gained some pounds since stopping a medication I was prescribed, which had the lovely side effect of helping decrease my naturally ravenous appetite.  In the end I lost weight and felt very comfortable with myself.  I think I needed a little aid to get back there, or start the process of getting back there.  I don't want to do it the unhealthy way or medical or OTC option to get me back to comfortable.  I'm just going to eat well.  I'm doing it the right way: diet and exercise.  


So what am I talking about?  The Kaiser Permanente diet plan.  Yes, Kaiser.  I was given this diet years ago (probably close to a decade) and I remember doing it, but never having the will power to complete it.  Thankfully, things have changed and I have a will power of steel, well perhaps aluminum.  I do, however, have a very supportive partner and parents so I think I can succeed at something for 3 days.  


So hear it is, the diet (the website I found it on also has user feedback, which I find helpful):

Day 1

• Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 2 tbs. peanut butter, 1 slice toast
• Lunch: 1/2 cup tuna, 1 slice toast, a coffee/tea
• Dinner: 3 ozs. meat, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup beets, 1 small apple, 1 cup vanilla ice cream

Day 2

• Breakfast: 1/2 banana, 1 egg, 1 slice toast
• Lunch: 1 cup cottage cheese, 5 saltine crackers
• Dinner: 2 hot dogs, 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

Day 3

• Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg, 1 slice toast
• Lunch: 1 oz. cheddar cheese, 5 saltine crackers, 1 small apple
• Dinner: 1 cup tuna, 1 cup beets, 1 cup cauliflower, 1/2 cantaloupe, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

Apparently with this diet you are supposed to loose 10 lbs in 3 days.  I'm not trying to go that extreme.  I've gained 6 lbs from the weight I've been for at least 6 months.  I haven't been eating well, which is a contributor.  I just want to drop a lb or 2 and I would be content. 


Off to buy groceries and then try this out.  Wish me luck!