Rick's Diet Update!

Oct 14 17:20 UTC 2000

So, my diet is going fairly well.

As some of you remember, I decided about 2 months ago to exercise more, cut
snacks, and generally lose weight.

When I started this diet, I weighed 274.  At last check (a week ago), I was
at 257.  I feel like I'm doing pretty good.  I can take my jean shorts and
my pants off without unbuttoning/unzipping them :)  (it's belt time)

I've been eating mostly instant oatmeal for breakfast every day, with the
occasional bowl of frosted mini wheats, or scrambled eggs. 

My lunches have consisted (weekdays only) of Slimfast (chocolate).  My snacks,
which used to consist of 2-3 trips for various items such as chocolate bars
and potato chips EVERY DAY, are now mostly bananas and oranges.

I eat whatever I want for dinner, without worrying too much about fat content.
The exceptions are:  No more "hot pockets".  If I need a quick dinner, I make
some "beanie-weenie stew" with baked beans and fat-free hot dogs (Ball Park
makes some good fat-free beef hot dogs and turkey hot dogs!)

Recently, I've discovered a tasty prepackaged meal in the health food section
called "Fantastic" - low fat hearty soups.  They tend to have a reasonably
high sodium count (around 25% of the RDA), but they are fairly low in fat,
and high in fiber in protein.

For example, I'm currently eating "Cha Cha Chili"... just added boiling water
and let it sit for 5 minutes.  250 calories, 13 grams of fiber (52%), 17 grams
of protein, and only 2 grams of fat.  It's entirely organic, and it contains
good amounts of vitaman A, vitamin C, and iron.

The chili is REALLY filling... I'm pretty stuffed right now.  I had "Red
Bean & Rice" soup last night (170 calories, again high fiber and protein).
I've also got some Minestrone soup (140 calories).

Of course, in addition to this, I'm still exercising on my bike a couple times
a week.

As for my health - I have high cholesterol, and high triglycerides.  My liver
enzymes tested high so they sent me for a liver ultrasound, at which time they
determined that my liver is experiencing "fatty infiltration".

All of this leads to the requirements that I try to keep my fat intake pretty
low (not zero, of course, but low).  I'll have another doctor's appointment
in the next week or so, and new blood tests... I'll be interested to see
whether or not my cholesterol is lower (oatmeal is supposed to be good for
cholesterol).

Also, the blood pressure medication I'm on is doing very good.. I was hovering
around 140 over 100.... the last couple of times I've checked it's been more
like 125/80.

response 2 of 29:

Oct 14 21:33 UTC 2000

Cool! Let us know how the tests are. 

I need to break my candy bar addiction too...

response 4 of 29:

Oct 14 23:28 UTC 2000

Hmm.  Are hot pockets that bad?  I find them terribly useful.

response 6 of 29:

Oct 15 04:33 UTC 2000

Yes Hot Pockets are bad. Processed, prepackaged foods are bad. 

That said, I don't know why I didn't consider Slim Fast for lunch 
myself. My class and teaching schedule is to where I don't have a solid 
hour or half hour to sit down and eat. So I grab something from the 
vending machines, or starve. Either way I'm usually a zombie in the 
afternoons because of this, and getting poorer because vending machine 
stuff adds up. I really have to start taking better care of myself... 
(thanks for the reminder, ric!)

response 8 of 29:

Oct 15 15:30 UTC 2000

shut up you FATTY INFILTRATOR!

response 10 of 29:

Oct 15 22:57 UTC 2000

Bees - Carnation Instant Breakfasts are also good.  I used to drink those when
I sick and couldn't have solid food.  They have tons of vitamins and stuff
in them and don't taste too bad if you slam them down.  ;-)

Anney and I also like Nutri-Grain bars.  Quick, not very fatty, yummy, and
full of good stuff.

response 12 of 29:

Oct 15 23:55 UTC 2000

I like Instant breakfast... you mean in the can? I always liked the 
powdered stuff, until milk became my enemy.

response 14 of 29:

Oct 16 01:53 UTC 2000

Last I heard, dietary intake of cholesterol was seldom the cause of high
cholesterol levels.  Generally, serum cholesterol is a reaction to fat intake.
And yes, cheese (and peanut butter) have lots of fat and so will drive up
cholesterol levels.  I'm not sure eggs are a problem.

response 16 of 29:

Oct 16 05:43 UTC 2000

In a normal diet, the body manufactures about 50% of the cholesterol
and the other 50% comes from the diet (from _Merck Manual). The liver
manufactures cholesterol from the fatty acid moeity of fats, and
there are fatty acids in vegetables (known as "vegetable oils"). 

response 18 of 29:

Oct 16 17:12 UTC 2000

Remember also, there are two different kinds of cholesterol... LDL (bad), and
HDL (good)... at least I think LDL=bad and HDL=good.

Eggs do have a lot of cholesterol - according to my egg carton, one large egg
contains 62% of the recommended daily amount of cholesterol.  BUT it is good
cholesterol.  

As it is, I'm not doing eggs more than once a week now anyway.

response 20 of 29:

Oct 16 20:18 UTC 2000

Can't do that.  I like meat too much :)

response 22 of 29:

Oct 16 22:32 UTC 2000

I lose my monkey when i see people claiming to be on a diet and
they have gravies, and sauces, and dressings just covering
everything. It's nutty.

response 24 of 29:

Oct 17 01:58 UTC 2000

You lose your monkey?  Thank you for the imagery.  Gary and I are also chaning
the way we eat and our activity level.  Gary and I have each lost about 12
pounds (his in 3 weeks, mine in about 5, but I started working out when he
did).  We stopped eating out as much (major problem for us) and we started
playing soccer together.  When I get home late, Gary goes and rides bike by
himself.  I have cut tons of high-fat dairy out of my diet, and also fried
foods (but still have the occasional stuff in Chinese food - noodles and
veggie rolls).  I just try to take it a day at a time.  

By the way - good job Rick - it has to feel great!