Where Are We Going To Eat?

I've had that conversation with my wife I don't know how many times.  It's also the most popular topic of conversation after church every Sunday.


Lot's of diet programs make it tough to eat out; there are real restrictions on what you can eat.  My approach is a little more open ended.  I don't really count calories, but I try to be "calorie aware".  I've tried to educate myself on what foods are calorie dense, what foods are nutritious, and what things I should typically avoid.


If you're one of those people that do okay on a diet plan until you dine out, allow me to make a suggestion.  Pick where you're going to go ahead of time (if you can), and do a little investigating.  Lots of restaurants have their entire menu with nutritional information available online.  I'm not above grabbing my Droid and looking it up on the way to the restaurant.


Sounds too simple, right?  A little strategic planning ahead of time can make a huge difference in what happens when you sit down to dine.  Most people eat at the same places over and over.  It doesn't take much research to find some healthy things at pretty much any restaurant.


Try it...you might be surprised.  

Eat a Pickle

I love pickles...I really do.  If you love pickles, then you're in luck.  Pickles, to me, are one of the best snacks out there.  Why?  Let me tell you.

• Super low calorie - the average kosher dill has between 5 and 10 calories.
• Lots of flavor - When you eat a pickle, you know it.
• Crunchy - A pickle gives you something to CHEW!  Yogurt tastes great and it's good for you, but you can't really chew it.
• Handy -  You don't have to spread it on a cracker, cook it, heat it, or doing anything but fish it out of the jar.

However, you can't just go hog wild and eat 10 pickles a day.  I mean...you can, but you shouldn't.  Pickles are also fairly acidic.  Pickles are also very high in sodium.  Very high.  If you already eat a high sodium diet, be careful about adding a bunch of pickles to it.  That being said, if you sweat a lot when you exercise, like I do, then some extra sodium is not necessarily a bad thing.  I usually grab a pickle after I work out. 

What's your favorite low-cal snack?

Are You Dense?

Well...not you specifically, but the foods you eat?  Calorie dense, that is...

Hunger is the main thing that everyone complains about when they start trying to eat less.  The easiest way to keep from being hungry is to eat large volumes of food.  Of course, it seems a little counter-intuitive to try to eat less AND eat large volumes of food.

But when I say "eat less", I mean eat less CALORIES.  I doesn't matter to me if you eat a medium order of Wendy's fries, or 4 1/2  large apples.  Yes, those two things have the same amount of calories.  

How about one of those little 1 oz. bags of baked Lay's potato chips you get at Subway?  If we continue with our apple comparison, you can eat about an apple and a half for the same calories.  We won't even mention how many apples you can eat in place of a non-baked bag of Sour Cream & Onion Lays.

Even some things that are good for you are very calorie dense.  Lean meat, for example.  Lots o' calories.  Nuts.  Everyone always mentions all the "good fat" you can get from nuts.  They're right; you can get good fat from nuts.  But even good fat is calorie dense.  Be careful that your healthy snack of nuts doesn't turn into a 500 calorie "oops".

For dinner the other night, I had pot roast, carrots, potatoes, salad, and corn bread.  This is one of the same meals that I've eaten for years.  The only thing I've changed is the ratio and the quantity.

In the old days, I would have had a huge chunk of meat, two or three pieces of cornbread, heaping portions of both carrots and potatoes, and ignored the salad.  Now, I try to keep my meat portion smaller, about half of what I used to eat.  I make sure to partake of the salad.  Only one piece of cornbread for me these days.  I'll go pretty heavy on the carrots, a little less so on the potatoes.  The potatoes are more "sugary", and a bit more calorie dense.

There's lot of stuff out there on the web about this idea.  One website that I stumbled on had a "Better Choices Diet" that even had a little graph for each food that shows how nutrition and filling it is.  Here's a nice graph from the same site, showing some of the common foods and how they stack up.


Last word of advice from my friend Teri.  Don't drink your calories.  So instead of that 20 oz Dr. Pepper, have 2 1/2 apples.

Getting Ready for the Next Event

Today I met with Mark Vescio, race director for the Locomotive Race Series, to discuss racing, race promotion, and to generally pick his brain about how to host a good race.  He was a super nice guy, and had a lot of good info for me.


On November 5th, I'm planning my next event.  It's going to be a 5K trail run at Sweetwater Creek State Park.  We're also going to have a short Kid's Fun Run, and finish up with a cookout.  It should be a lot of fun in one of the most beautiful areas around metro Atlanta. Here's a link to some pictures we took last fall..  I purposely scheduled it for the first weekend of November because that's during the height of the foliage change.


Right now I'm in the midst of finalizing all the details, locking down the registration fees, and looking for sponsors.


Another important point: this race will benefit the American Cancer Society.


If you aren't interested in running, but you ARE interested in volunteering, shoot me an email, Facebook message me, leave a comment on this post, send me a letter, or just let me know the next time you see me.


Hope to see you out there!

Treat Diet Like a Noun, NOT a Verb

When people began to notice that I was losing weight, lots of people asked, "What kind of diet are you on?"  Truthfully, I'm not doing a particular "diet".

Merriam-Webster has two main definitions for the word diet.

1. Noun: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
2. Verb: Restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.

Of course, I have a "diet". I, as a person, have foods that I habitually eat.  But I am not ON a diet, restricting myself to small amounts or special kinds of food.  I have some basic guidelines, but that's about it.  Here they are in a nutshell.

1. I don't drink sweet drinks.  I could drink one 20 oz Dr. Pepper...or eat 5 apples.
2. I don't eat seconds.
3. I choose wheat/whole grain over white bread.
4. I try to keep healthy snacks around.  Some of my favorites:  nuts, pickles, string cheese, protein bars, yogurt, fruit.

This is "my diet".  It's how I eat, and will continue to do so.  Nothing short-term, no quick weight-loss plans.  Just a new way of approaching food.


So, what did I eat today?

For breakfast, I had two packs of instant oatmeal.  Then, about 9 o'clock I had an apple.  Around ten I grabbed a diet drink and a pickle.  I usually eat lunch early.  Today, at about 11:15 I had a big bowl of pasta fagioli soup, a couple of crackers, and some light (70 calorie) yogurt.  About 2 o'clock I had a protein bar.  About 4 o'clock I had another pickle.  Dinner was veggie stir-fry over brown rice and one and a half egg rolls.  After my run, I had some low-cal Gatorade, and handful of Macadamia nuts, and split a bag of popcorn with Cheryl.

Sounds like I ate all day, doesn't it?  I did.  My total calories for the day was still well below 2,000.  It is possible to eat, be full, be healthy, and still lose weight.

What's for breakfast?  I think I'll have grits...

How do I start?

Would you like to lose 5 lbs a week, each and every week, until you reach your goal weight?  With no expensive meals, supplements or videos to buy?  No gym membership required?  Do you want a workout plan that's all plan and no work?  A plan that let's you eat what you want and not change your activity level and STILL lose all the weight you want?


Unfortunately, it doesn't exist.  But on the flip-side, there is a super simple 2-step plan that is basically FREE and works every time.


1)  Eat less
2)  Be more active


If you're struggling to do even one of these two simple steps, allow me to make a suggestion.  Pick one step.  Pick the one that is the most difficult for you.  Now, choose one thing you can do to move in the right direction for that step.  Below are some examples.


If you chose step 1:Eat a healthy breakfast.
Don't drink your afternoon Dr. Pepper.Don't have seconds at dinner.
Go buy some healthy(ier) snacks.


If you chose step 2:
Park further from your office.
Go for a walk after dinner.
Shoot some hoops.
Turn off the TV.


You don't have to change everything today.  If you are like most out-of-shape people, this is about changing a lifetime of habits, not "going on a diet" for six months.  Take a step in the right direction, and let me know how it goes!