My Nutrition Plan

Well, I'm following the body for life nutrition plan. It has worked so well for me in the past and I’m hoping that it will work for me again! Below is my understanding of how the plan works from my perspective.
In a nut shell the plan is as follows:

1. Eat 5 - 6 meals per day that are of equal portion Protein and Carbohydrate.
2. Only eat complex carbohydrates (think whole wheat!).
3. Drink 10 cups of water each day.
4. Have portions of vegetables each day.
5. Every 7th day should be a free day, eat what you've been craving each week!

I like this plan because psychologically I can stand not eating my favorite stuff if I know that I'll have a chance to eat that on Saturday (or Sunday if that is your seventh day). Additionally when it comes to the free day I can never eat as much as I think I can. Even by the first week my stomach is so full after that first meal that I don't really eat again until mid afternoon. The science behind the free day is solid as well (in my opinion)… it is based on the belief that our bodies are awesome at adapting for survival. When we limit our caloric intake for an extended period of time our bodies go into a starvation mode and become much more efficient at using those calories… thereby limiting the effectiveness of our "diet". By eating poorly, or rather high in calories… fat… and other things that we haven't been doing we through that cycle off and keep our body burning fat at a high rate of speed!

Some of the difficulties that Leann and I experienced when we were really faithful to this nutrition plan were as follows: We originally had our free day set up as Sunday which meant come Monday morning we felt so terrible… and it was hard to go to sleep at night because we were typically on a Sugar / Caffeine high! Additionally we felt so thirsty and dehydrated because those 10 cups of water we had been faithful with turned into Pop and Beer etc… The other big problem that we had was that we originally had our Free Day set up as a Sunday because that was what it said to do in the book… but we typically had friends that wanted to go to dinner, the movies, etc… on Saturdays and it was so hard to enjoy the social event with them if we had to eat healthy. So we switched our free days to Saturdays which worked great as a social thing… but it was terrible from the sense that if we weren't very motivated our 1 free day a week typically turned into two! Lastly the thing that was tough was remembering to / actually preparing all the food took a lot of effort. I remember feeling squeezed for time each morning trying to pack all my meals. Eventually I got through this by brining pre-prepared protein shakes, eating the same thing a lot each day at work (Hello Tuna Sandwich!), and finding snacks that were easy… like Cheese Sticks and Apple slices.

Aside from those fairly petty and easily overcome difficulties, we loved the BFL Nutrion plan… we never felt like we were really hungry (but my body told me every three hours that it was time to eat with a big stomach growl… or getting hungry if I went more than those three hours). Additionally I lost 40 pounds in three months! That's what I'm looking to do again.

It seems like I always have an excuse to not eat well or not prepare the food that I know will take me to success. I need to just do it…. I need to just get past the social aspects of eating and just realize that I’m eating for nutrition, for fueling my body and not because it tastes good or it is associated with pleasure parts of my brain. I think that if I can think about that every time before I put something in my mouth my logic should win over… but it's tough. It's one thing to say these things and another to actually do them. That's why I'm putting this stuff on paper (virtual paper anyways) and asking for help in keeping me accountable to this stuff. I'm asking for you, Dad, to help me eat healthy when we come over for Sunday dinners… no more potatoskin appetizers and mac and cheese or burgers for dinner. Instead lets have chicken shish-Kabob and maybe shrimp appetizers. I'm also asking for help from my pals at work to keep me in check when go to the vending machine to grab that ice-cream bar after a long 12 hour day working on CDP :). And from Leann, well… I need you to help keep me in check at home and help me to stick to the letter of the law for this program…. I want to do it, and do it right w/o substituting. I got an awesome Email of encouragement from a good friend of mine today suggesting that I take the temptation out of the equation and get rid of the bad stuff at my house that will tempt me. I love this suggestion because it is one of the things that helped us to be so successful last time we put 100% into this. Each week on Sunday night we would pack up all the bad food that we had left over (that wasn't perishable)… we would put it into plastic crates and put it in the spare room closet so that it didn't tempt us all week. For the food that was perishable we would either bring it into work to give it away to anyone that wanted it or throw it out altogether…. Lots of half eaten pizzas got thrown out those three months! In my situation here right now it's tough. Because we live with another family we split the fridge with them as well as the pantry…. And they don't have to work at getting skinny as much as we do… at least it seems that way to me. Also they are both awesome cooks and are constantly cooking great food, or stocking the fridge and pantry with tons of tempting junk food. Just tonight for instance I came home after eating healthy food all day to find rice crispy treats on the counter just begging me to eat them. I'm ashamed to say that I had two… Yikes (which brings me to another one of my buddies points… but first let me finish this thought)! I can't just ask them to stop because I can't push on them my lifestyle. Instead for the time being I think I'm going to be searching for a cheap used fridge on Craig's list and stock it with the food that I need to be successful. The second point that my good pal wrote me about was in my feelings of guilt when I cheat…. He has a very different attitude about things and attributes some of his success to that attitude. He explained to me that when he does cheat he looks at it as a one time occurrences and allows himself to enjoy it… knowing that it will be a long time before he gets the opportunity again… as opposed to being a reason to cheat again later that day or later that week. It think this is great advice… and while I am still going to be trying to not cheat… when / if I do I'll try to have a better attitude and perspective on it!