Day One

Talk about sleeping on a good idea.

I watched "Live and Let Diet," the 1/4/10 episode of "Good Eats" about 24 hours prior to this writing. By the time morning came, I was truly ready to stop procrastinating this whole eating right thing.

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Breakfast: Smoothie w/ lowfat milk, banana, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, flaxseed; Coffee
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As I whipped out the blender, I'm not sure my wife, Stacey, realized how serious this had become. We had been eating slightly better, as a family, for sometime. Stacey knew that whatever she put in her mouth eventually would get to our son, Joshua, and had been the driving force behind some better eating habits.

I didn't follow suit.

Meals were (on average) much more nutritious. However, breakfast was often skipped, portion size was out of control, snacking was constant. Perhaps worst of all was a new penchant (inherited from my father) of snacking late at night.

As Stacey and I downed our smoothies, I told her of Alton Brown's weightloss and his plan of nutrient dense eating. Basically, the plan is to take in nutrient rich foods over energy (calorie) rich foods.

Think of it this way: a 100 calorie portion can be a snack pack of crackers, a quarter of a doughnut or a heaping bowl of minestrone soup.

Which do you think is better?

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Lunch: Baked Lemon Pepper Fish with Spinach, Tomatoes, Black Beans; Cucumber Slices; Pasta with Broccoli; Sweet Potato
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First off, let me explain that the last two pieces of that menu were leftovers and very small portions of the meal itself. Still, the meal was satisfying on numerous levels. Most of all, a variety of nutrient rich vegetables was the centerpiece along some lean protein--a great way to frame any meal.

These are the meals that need to define how I eat.

No more Hamburger Helper or meat and cheese sandwiches. No more days when I can't remember what the last fruit I ate was. No more days of eating "lunch" over a two hour period of Law and Order viewing.

The TV stayed off for most of today. The iPod has a lot of new music on it thanks to generous donations by my wife and father-in-law to my eclectic selection. While we jammed out to tunes, new and old, I studied.

In the coming days, I will lay out Alton's list, which I will be following with very few exceptions. I will also begin to showcase my list, of nutrient dense "superfoods" which will begin to shape my changing diet.

The lists hang on the fridge as a reminder, Stacey was kind enough to re-do the sheets in her much neater hand writing.

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Snack: Half an orange; Carrot sticks; Green tea
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I always grab a snack as I head to work. Driving to Mankato and sitting through a Taekwando lesson makes a person very very hungry--especially when it will be at least 6, if not 6:30 before supper.

Today was a stark contrast to normalcy. On my worst days, Kwik Trip's cheese-filled breadsticks or cheese curds would tide me over...usually accompanied with diet soda or a diet Red Bull.

The snack was as much a victory as the lunch meal.

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Dinner: Massad's Mediterranean Grill 1/2 Roasted Veggie Wrap; Water
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Dinners are going to be tricky. On a normal week, two or three of my nighttime meals will be eating out--part of the job. This means a steady flow of Burger King, KFC, and the like. Tonight was a major win in the form of a vegetarian entree from the River Hills Mall food court.

Romaine Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Onions, Asparagus, and other vegetables tossed with feta cheese and vinaigrette dressing is worlds more nutrient dense than any Chinese food I would have purchased on a normal trip to a food court.

And, it was delicious.

Details of the introductory "diet" shopping trip tomorrow.