“Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome” is a mindset that allows Marines to deal with any physical, mental, or spiritual hardship. I think that sort of esprit de corps should be adopted by anyone who is starting something they’d rather not do. As in dieting, for instance…..
After a rather mediocre (actually a rather poor) beginning of my seven day diet effort that began on December 25th, I really wanted to get myself back into the grove, and plan out a series of meals that would not only be nutritional, but that would come in under 1400 calories for the entire day. So, here’s how it went… First off, I had gained two tenths of a pound since Day 1. Not good, but considering the 1900 plus calories from the day before…
9:00 AM – For a morning repast, on a day that was expected to warm to 63°, I elected to go for a simple bowl of oatmeal, sugar substitute and a 1/2 glass of milk. Two hundred and forty calories in all. So far, so good. Outdoors, it was currently a brisk 27° and other than a possible trip to a grocery store, I didn’t plan on very much outside time, at least not in the morning hours.
10:30 AM – Snack time! Not much to choose from. I really needed to get to the grocery store! As it was, I had two slices of pineapple for 84 calories. I was really rolling now!
12:00 Noon – Lunch time is also a big event for me, and I wanted to try something a bit different. I heated up my griddle and threw in the last of the sliced mushrooms I had, added two slices of bell pepper, an slice of onion. This whole deal came in at just 173 calories and fitted very nicely into a standard Paleo diet scheme. As you might gather from the picture at left, I wasn’t using very large portions.
For a light snack, I enjoyed a couple of stalks of celery with peanut butter.
4:00 PM – Dinner time had rolled around and I elected to prepare a Healthy Choice Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Steamer Café meal. By this time, the total cost of my food was less than $6. Not too shabby. This was also the time of day where I was likely to ‘fall off the diet wagon’, so to speak, and over-snack my way into real trouble.
I finished this day off with a few beers at a local watering hole. Maintaining good social contacts is crucial, during the current Geo-political crisis.
An aside: Without a doubt, millions of Americans are suffering from the secondary effects of a Chinese virus that’s hung around for an entire year. Alcoholism, suicides and over eating, are just a few of the bad effects, not to mention being out of work or locked down. That’s exactly why I’ve made this attempt, during the real ‘crunch’ time between Christmas and New Years, to watch my weight. Sadly, things may not get much better, if a man like Biden, is allowed to hijack our electoral system. It not only leaves a bad taste in ones mouth, but also helps to exacerbate the overall tension everyone was feeling!
Now, on to Day 3 of 7!!
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