Entry #4, November 29, 2007

STARTING WHERE WE LEFT OFF

YESTERDAY

My significant other is a workaholic attorney and usually comes home between 7:30 and 9:00 P. M. So while I'm waiting for her instead of having one or two cocktails, I usually have three or four, sometimes five. While this does not render me "knee walking" drunk, it is probably a couple more than I should have. I also prepare a large semi-gourmet evening meal which we consume between 9:30 and 10:00.

My first resolutions concerning my quest to become healthier is to eat something for breakfast, to have a healthy but small mid-morning snack, a fairly Spartan lunch, a mid afternoon snack, and a light dinner after no more than one or two cocktails. I also plan to explore an excercise program (more on this later). It will be interesting to see how my ideas change through the program.

My breakfast plans are rather simple as I don't want alot of hassle before I leave for work. I may add an option later, but for now I plan for weekday breakfasts to consist of either a bowl of whole grain cereal with a banana and low fat milk or a dietary supplement product. I know everyone be they layman or nutritionist has their own ideas about supplements. I simply found this particular one interesting and decided to try it. It is advertised to contain the vitamins and nutrients in four servings of fruit and vegetables. Directions offer the option of mixing with either water or juice. I tried it first simply with water. It was all I could do to gag it down, and the goat puke green color didn't help. Next time I used orange juice as a mixer, added a banana and blended. Pretty good, despite the color.

At the time of this writing I am on day three of my program. Day one I had Greens for breakfast, forgot my mid day snack, ate a small piece of fried chicken breast left over from Sunday brunch for lunch (my bad), an energy bar left over from my Medi-Fast diet (almost two years old) and two boiled chicken wings and a liver for dinner from a helf chicken I boiled; and yes, I had two Manhattans before dinner and a glass of wine with the chicken.

Boiled chicken is very versatile. You can do so many things with it. Personally I like to just eat it. You can also shred or chop it and add to soup or make chicken salad. Of course it can also be an ingredient in many non-diet dishes such as dumplings and casseroles. I also have a chicken bias. I know "experts" tell us to skin the chicken and discard the skin because that is where the fat is. That is also where most of the flavor is. I have never tasted a boneless skinless chicken breast that was fit to eat, regardless of how creative the chef may be. If it takes me a couple extra weeks to reach my goal because I eat a little bit of chicken skin then so be it.

There is a school of thought that says you should not weigh every day while on a diet. No matter how "good" you are being, the human body likes to play games with your weight. Sometimes your body retains water and you fail to lose, or even gain no matter how little you ate. Sometimes there is a freak metabolic reaction I don't think even doctors can explain, and sometimes we just cheat and often don't even admit it to ourselves. I normally do weigh every morning after I have performed all my morning ablutions and while wearing only only a T-shirt (more information than you wanted to know I'm sure). First day I lost 1&1/2 pounds.

Just one more thought on supplements before I move on; on the days when I don't have greens, I take a supplement containing omega 3. I also take a vitamin almost every day. I do not lay any claim on being a vitamin and supplement expert and don't want to get into arguments with anyone. There are literally thousands available so use whatever you, your doctor, your best friend, or your bookie recommends or you are comfortable with. I doubt that any will help you lose weight better than another. The only thing I want to caution is that you take a quality vitamin as you will more than likely have some deficiencies unless a totally qualified nutritionist designs your diet. If so, that will totally defeat the premise of my theory. If what you are doing does not fit you, it probably won't work.

Signing off for today, join you again later.