Diet Log: Week 7, Day 1

So it turns out that Egg Week was not all it was cracked up to be. By Thursday afternoon I had all but given up. (although I DID have an egg-based breakfast Sandwich on Friday morning). What with the game on Thurs. night, and then a company function with nothing but delicious appetizers for lunch on Friday and Chinese food on Friday night (although I did manage to eat an egg-roll), I had too many things that made it difficult to count calories. In addition, there was the fact that I missed my workout on Thursday AND Friday mornings as well.

So anyway, I am going to change things up a little bit this week. A good friend of mine who shall remain nameless (lives in South Berwick and we never see him anymore) tried to convince me the other day that the best way to lose weight is to drink water. He couldn't really explain why, though. Now obviously, water is going to be better for losing weight than milkshakes, delicious Dunkin Donuts Lattes, cool-aid, Regular Soda, etc... but is it better than say fruit juice? And what about Diet Soda? Diet Soda admittedly is a pretty worthless food as far as nutritional value goes, but for losing weight is it different than drinking water? It is zero calorie just like water. He couldn't answer these questions, but he swears that it works. He even said he knew a guy once that did a study on it and found that it's true. Well, that's different, why didn't you say so in the first place? So, armed with this incontrovertible scientific evidence, I am going to make this week "Water Week"

This will be difficult for me. My beverage of choice is Diet Pepsi - and I drink an enormous quantity of it. probably 2-3 cans per day on my daily commute, plus a 20 oz glass or so at meals (way more if its a restaraunt with "free" refills), plus a few more while I'm sitting around watching TV or working in the office at night (or replacing a hot water heater). On average I probably drink a whole 2-liter per day or more. So this week, I will try to drink nothing but water. If I am feeling drowsy during my commute, I will permit myself ONE caffeine-based drink to keep myself from falling asleep and ramming my car into a bridge abutment (after all, what good is it to be healthy if you are already dead?). But other than that, it will be all water - especially with meals.

I'm sure this will be healthier for me, but will it help me lose weight? We shall see.

To reward myself for this sacrifice, I am going to allow myself to eat whatever I want. The other rules of my diet still apply - I will be still be counting calories, and limiting my consumption, but I will not focus on one specific food this week.

Weigh - in: - 16. ouch. Not sure if it was the egg week or the fact that I didn't really stick to it. Actually considering that I have not worked out since last Wednesday, that's not too bad. I've been hovering around the - 15 mark for a while now, and it would be nice to get well past it.

Workout: Oh, man - It was obvious this morning that I hadn't worked out in since last Wednesday. 45 minutes on the treadmill and then 40 pushups and 40 situps. The treadmill apparently enjoyed it's little vacation, because it took nearly 20 minutes to start acting up this morning.

BreakfastI was rummaging around in the refrigerator and found some Yogurt that my wife had purchased for me some time ago, but I never ate because I was on this wacky diet. I looked at them - one was Hannaford Brand Banana Cream flavor, dated April 25. The other was Walmart brand Strawberry flavor, dated April 22. I shook them both and they sounded a little weird, but since there was nothing else in the house, I decided to give them a shot. Up first was the banana Cream stuff - when I opened it, it had a consistency that more like milk than yogurt and I found it was actually easier to drink it than use a spoon. (very convenient since I was driving at the time). It actually didn't taste too bad. Next up was the Strawberry stuff. When I opened it, it looked very chunky - and not from chunks of fruit, either. It also had an odd smell to it. However, I decided to give it a try. After one bite, though, I decided I was better off without it. Calories: 120

Lunch: Went downstairs and had a ham and swiss cheese sandwich with just a tiny bit of mayo. (Dieting Hint: If you can't stand the taste of "light" mayo, then try using a very small quantity of regular mayo. A little bit of flavor actually goes a long way, but if you can keep your sandwich to 1/2 or less of a serving, then it's not that bad for you). I turned down the chips in favor of the pretzels for the side dish. They are not a LOT lower calorie, but they are a little, and they are fat-free. About 500 calories.

Dinner two SMALL pieces of steak (about 4 oz each) and some Pasta Salad. oh - and some leftover pad thai from last week. I have to estimate this one, but I'm thinking no more than 700-800 calories.

Total Calories for the day: 1320-1420 ?