OMG Graphs!

I’ve been on DailyBurn for almost 3 weeks now, and it’s been a very interesting experience so far.  I got so into it that I tried out the Pro membership, but I wouldn’t say the extra features are that spectacular.  You get some more graphs and the ability to plan your meals and track whatever you want.  It ended up being kinda confusing, and I bet most users don’t need the extra features.  I canceled my Pro membership (you can try it out for free for 2 weeks I think), but now that I am using the meal tracker, I’m afraid I’m hooked and might sign back up again…  Damn these gateway features!

Lost a whole frog in only 1 week!

Weight Loss

The results have been encouraging, although most of them were front-loaded.  I think just counting calories and cutting down on carbohydrates helped me lose 5 lb in just the first week.  That sounds awesome at first, but I think it was mostly water weight.  During the first week, I had to pee all the time, almost every hour.  I felt like I was competing with Bunky to see whose bladder got full first.

At this the brain receives a signal that the body is not getting the same calories & food that it use to have regularly so the brain takes it as a state of drought & starvation in the body, & further sends impulses to activate the storehouse of energy. So now, the body utilizes the energy reserves, which stores glycogen- the stored form of glucose.  When the body metabolizes glycogen, it leads to the production of energy in the form of ATP molecules & water. This is the reason that the body produces more of urine & you urinate more frequently when you are skipping meals or fasting. Therefore, after a few days of following this regime, the person may lose one to two kgs frequently but this is merely the loss of water.

Thankfully, because I wasn’t really going on a low-carb diet, the weight has stayed off even though the rate at which I’m losing weight has decreased.  I seem to be losing a healthy 1-2 lb a week now, although the sample size is small.

You're ALL invited to dinner!

Protein

I’m trying to get a good balance, as “fat burns in the flame of carbohydrate,” and I don’t want my kidneys to shut down or my breath to smell like rotten apples.  I have a conservative 40/30/30 carb/protein/fat spec.  At first it was very difficult hitting the recommended fat, carbohydrate, protein, and calorie ranges, but I ended up treating it similar to an RPG situation.  Put simply, I was using n00b food.  I would say that protein is the most difficult quota to hit, and so my food scouting focused mostly on foods that provide lean protein.

• Seafood is probably one of the best, since it is low calorie, low carb, and low fat.  You can eat a ton of seafood, and really pump the protein levels.  The downside of seafood is that good seafood can be expensive and perishable.  I go with flash-frozen fish fillets because they are cheaper, but it takes a little time to defrost the fillets.  I especially love frozen, cooked, completely shelled (tail off) shrimp, because I am extremely lazy.  I’m not the biggest fan of canned tuna, but I’m willing to give it a try.
• Poultry is pretty good, although turkey is easily overcooked.  I’ve found that turkey jerky (and buffalo jerky) from Trader Joes is a good source of snacking protein, although you have to watch the sodium levels.  I also like turkey burgers when I eat out at restaurants, since seafood at restaurants is generally overcooked and expensive.
• I love eggs, but I can’t bring myself to just eat egg whites; I just have to take the extra fat from the yolk with my eggs, because that’s not a sacrifice I’m willing to make just yet.
• I’ve tried 96/4 lean beef, and it’s alright but not my favorite.  It’s good for mixing in with things, though.
• Tofu is a good source, but I’m not a fan of most of the tofu in the supermarket.
• Nuts have a lot of protein, but the fat content is extremely high (even though it is supposedly healthy fat).  I’ve found myself going away from nuts, even though I love the taste.
• Many dairy products are good.  I have not yet tried cottage cheese (since it looks gross), but many people swear by it.  Low-fat cheese is excellent for snacking, since those cheeses are generally kinda fake tasting anyway.  I tried low-fat yogurt and it’s ok, but then I tried some vanilla whole milk yogurt and it blew my mind.  I’ve decided that I will accept the fat in whole milk yogurt, because whole milk yogurt kicks so much ass.
• Edit: I just tried fat-free cottage cheese.  It’s… interesting.  It has a vaguely cheesy flavor and my mind recoiled at the texture-taste combination at first.  The second spoonful went much better.  Not my favorite food just yet, but I could see it being an acquired taste.  It seems many people like to mix it in with more traditional foods.
  

Protein is usually filling, and if you eat seafood you can eat a lot of protein without increasing your other stats very much.  I like to eat a lot of protein for dinner; and seafood is perfect for just bumping up my protein stat in cases where I’m at my limit for fat and carbs.  This is important for me, since with Bunky on her pregnancy see-food diet, it’s harder to practice portion control.  Plus, it’s demoralizing to doom your diet with just a handful of nuts and a burger.

Hello, my name is Charlie

Whole Grains

I’ve also been trying a variety of whole grains.  The fat content is usually very easy for me to control at home (restaurants are a different story), but I love carbs.  I was sad to see that white rice is not as high-level as whole grains since the bran and germ have been polished away, because I love white rice.  I usually try to eat most carbs (grains and fruits) for breakfast and lunch, so that I will burn them off throughout the day.  Whole Foods, while overpriced, has been invaluable for trying various grains.

• I found I don’t like barley, and it takes quite a while to cook (~45 minutes).  I love barley tea, but I don’t like barley as my grain or in my soups.  I was surprised at how much I disliked it, but it does have an interesting texture.  I tried pearled barley (which isn’t really a whole grain anyway) because I am too lazy to soak my grains before cooking them.
• Couscous is a refined grain, but I still eat it from time to time because it is by far the easiest grain to prepare.  You don’t even have to cook it, per se.  I find couscous very boring, but sometimes convenience wins over (lack of) taste.
• Brown rice is a good choice, although you have to work fairly hard to chew it.  I’ve found brown rice and bulgur to be fairly similar in taste and texture.  Brown rice and bulgur have different cook times with bulgur needing 15-20 minutes, and brown rice taking 30-40.  Although brown rice takes a while, it’s a familiar taste and easily found in most supermarkets.
• Quinoa also cooks quickly, and has a very nice texture (with a bit of bite) and appearance.  I use red quinoa (looks cool with the little germ tails) that has been pre-washed to remove the bitter saponin.  I don’t love the taste of quinoa by itself, but it mixes very well with other foods, and gives dishes an interesting texture.
• I’ve started eating oatmeal every day for breakfast.  I copied this from David.  I didn’t think I would like oatmeal, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

In spite of my efforts, carbohydrate and fat levels usually go out of control on days when I eat out, so I have to be very conservative with my meals on the weekends.  As you can see from the graphs, the main challenge every day is getting enough protein and keeping carb levels under control.  From what I’m reading, keeping a calorie deficit is the key to losing weight, although exercise speeds the process and helps keep the weight off.  I’ll leave that for another post, though.

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