My New Diet Plan

I've always been weak willed when it comes to resisting foods. I have spent plenty of time thinking about where I have gone wrong in the past. I can name several of my food weaknesses.

Sweets are by far the worst food addiction that I have. I really need to work on eliminating sweets from my world. Actually I think carbs in general have always been a big comfort to me, but I really need to work on limiting what types of carbs I eat. Pop has never been an issue, I grew up without it really around, so I only have it on occasion, and I am most likely going to cut both regular and diet pops out of my diet completely. I can find an alternative, like something along the lines of crystal light, or unsweetened iced tea.

Fast food has been an issue because its just so convenient, and with my weak willedness I have given in from time to time and eaten fast food. Even if I am on my way home from work, I can talk myself into stopping for some fast food. I need to stop being lazy, and I need to be more concerned with what I am eating if I want to make a change in myself. This blog really helped me work through my depression a lot, and this is the next step of what I would like to change in myself.

I think I am also addicted to dairy products, from what I have been reading in the diet book, lactose is horrible for your insulin production, and skim milk causes a large insulin spike. I think that some dairy products are ok, but I listened to a podcast with the writer of this book on it, and he said if you had to cut one  thing out of your diet he would recommend cutting skim milk out first.

I need to work on eating smaller amounts of food. The diet I am reading the book for is not about portion control, but I have not doubt that controlling my portions could be very helpful as well.

Well I am still currently reading my way through my diet book, but I would like to at the very least implement some changes right now.

I am going to need to try to cook more often, and maybe try to make some new types of things. I am always open to new ideas from people. I am trying to think of new ways to incorporate vegetables in my life, so that they don't get boring. I don't think I will be able to eat just raw vegetables every meal of every day. I already do oven roasted vegetables, which are good, but variety is always good. I am also looking for more ways to work beans and lentils into my diet. One of the lessons I have taken from the book so far, is that lean protein is the best way to stay full, as well as eliminating carbohydrates from the diet. I guess I shouldn't say eliminating, but limiting carbohydrates.

My breakfast will consist of some sort of veggie and bean mixture, right now its roasted onions, roasted red peppers, corn, and black beans. Most of those things I had as leftovers. I also mix in some turkey sausage of some kind, and some eggs. I like to make the vegetable mixture ahead of time, and then put it into daily sized containers. I think it will be pretty easy for me to cook one week's worth of this mixture on a Sunday and then  eat it throughout the week. I am also planning on having a glass of grapefruit juice, which when combined with caffeine in tea is supposed to help burn fat in your body faster. I know it sounds like some sort of scam, but this book is deeply researched, and I trust the findings in it. Grapefruit juice tastes like ass...I just needed to share that.

Lunch and dinner are some meals that still need some more work on planning for me. I have been enjoying salads with some sort of lunch meat on it, and some sort of vinaigrette. I need to learn to make some new low fat meat dishes that don't require firing up the grill. I guess I can just cook on the foreman grill.

The diet actually plans in a cheat day every week. The logic is that if you can indulge in foods that would cause you to break the diet once a week, you will be much more likely to stay on the diet for longer. I think lots of people have a habit of being on a diet and then after only a few weeks or a month they cheat on the diet, and that causes them to throw in the towel, rather than continuing the diet after indulging.

I really have liked the book so far, it takes a very scientific and investigative look at dieting in general, as well as disproving some diet myths that are out there. I really like what I have learned and look forward to learning more from it. I will probably share more details as i work my way deeper into the book.

I have been looking through all of my cookbooks to find recipes that fit in well with this diet plan. I need to incorporate more beans and lentils into my diet. I have found some great curry lentil recipes in one of the books I have. I think just adding some chipotle sauce or chili garlic sauce will make just plain beans more delicious.

There is a bit of a learning curve with this diet. I actually need to eat more in volume to make up for all of the actual calories that I am cutting out. The writer of this book actually advises having 4 meals a day, if they are 60%-70% vegetables, that will still be quite low in calories. For breakfast just today, I ate 3 fried eggs, turkey sausage, and a whole can of green beans. I rinsed the green beans to remove some extra sodium. I am still feeling a bit hungry, but I will have some black beans with breakfast tomorrow, I did not have any on hand and had forgotten to buy some last night. The book recommends having at least 20 grams of protein with each  meal, including at least 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up to keep your metabolism

Recipe Ideas:
Mashed white beans to take the place of mashed potatoes or other starches
Mashed cauliflower can serve the same purpose, and I thing both can be delicious
My normal chili recipe is all vegetables and chicken, I would just need to cut out the cheese and sour cream
Curried vegetables, with or without chicken, or with some beans
I could have a nice bean and tuna salad with some other vegetables mixed in, and some light dressing
In the summer grilled meats will be good to have, in the winter there might be more soups/stews
I am thinking that shrimp, and fish would be good to bring into the diet, lean protein is good stuff

For lunch today I am going to burrachos, and I will be having a burrito bowl with no rice, I will ask if I can have extra beans in there, I will either get chicken or carnitas(pork) I will get 2 different kinds of salsa in the bowl. The diet book also says that avocados are one of the few fruits that I can eat, along with tomatoes.

Another idea that I had was instead of having rice with Chinese food, I am going to put some raw shredded cabbage and carrots (cole slaw mix) underneath and use that to soak up the sauce. I am going to make some peanut chicken for dinner tonight, with a lot of broccoli in it and have it on top of the cabbage. I am also going to try this with some stir fry at a later time, its a sad thing that I can not include pineapple in my stir fry though.

I am sure that I will be sharing many more food ideas as I move on further with this diet, but I think that this a good start for me. I am always open to suggestions for new things to cook.

By the way I have not mentioned the name of the book have I?

The book is The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

If you have struggled with dieting like I have in the past, this book is a really great solution. I think that this book takes a unique approach to dieting, and really was helpful in understanding the reasoning behind the different restrictions and suggestions that the book makes. I have only this far read the dieting sections of the book. I am not sure if I will read any of the other sections, but I will have them available to me.

I would have written about my starting weight, but I don't have access to a scale that can measure my massive weight, and right now my budget does not really allow for me to go anywhere to get any kind of body analysis. I have take measurements of my different body parts as suggested in the book. The book recommended measuring both arms mid bicep(for some reason measuring the left one was much easier than measuring the right), it says the waist and around the navel(but that is not really my waist), around the hips at the widest point, and finally both legs mid thigh. If I mention losing inches from my measurements this is what I am referring to.

If anyone else out there has any experiences with this book, and would like to offer me some suggestions, please let me know.

If anyone wants to discuss dieting stuff with me let me know. I am always up for a good discussion.

PS: I have ordered a scale online, but it wont be here for like a week.