New Diet - How goes it?

When I started running back in March of last year I was tipping the scales at 293, today it is 245. I knew back then that I had to do this in a two part process. Trying to diet and exercise at the same time back then, when I had done neither was going to be too much for me, I knew that. So I took last year to make exercise a priority and this year diet. For the past week, I have been really watching and regulating what I have been eating.

This is the challenge for me. I have never really thought much about my diet until now. I always just grabbed something or cooked but didn't really think about it much. Just eat it and forget about it. Portions were what I felt like there really were no limits. Now I think about it, a lot. Here is the typical day now:

Breakfast: Yogurt, oatmeal, banana
Snack: carrots or broccoli - I tried the broc raw today, I won't do that again.
Lunch: half sandwich, cup of soup, celery, apple
Snack: pretzel or orange or other fruit
dinner: fruit, vegetables, small portioned meat
Snack: piece of fruit

I mix some things in and out but you get the general idea. On top of this I drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day. If I run it is more like 10 or 11 glasses of water. I have noticed that I never feel over stuffed on this new system. I think that will take getting used to. I know portion control is my biggest challenge. The good news is that the reduced caloric intake has not affected my running at all.

On Wednesday, I did a 5 miler where I had three miles sub-11:00. I think the diet is helping. I also have been supplementing with vitamins. I will let everyone know how it is going on this. I will say that I am not miserable eating celery and I don't feel hungry.

Eating Challenges

My job can be very challenging in terms of eating. I sit in an office all day and work behind a computer. This can lead to boredom and as a result boredom eating. I have experienced the result of this around my waist first hand. Knowing what I do I am now more careful about what I eat. Here is a painful admission:

Eating before I went on my new health outlook in March of this year:
Breakfast: Pastry, toast with butter, egg sandwich (usually with butter and bacon)
Snack: candy bar, soda or both
Lunch: Fast Food (MacDonald's, Chik Fil-a, Burger King, Pizza, etc.)
Afternoon: soda and chips
Dinner: Heavy and fatty - Hot dogs, burgers, foot long hoagies and so on. You get the point if it was bad for me then I ate it.

I didn't drink much water but did drink a lot of soft drinks.

The truth of this is that I just did not think about what I was eating. I just ate what I wanted. I didn't think about my exercise level or my caloric intake. The results were telling.


Eating Now:
(3 to 4 half liter bottles of water per day)

Breakfast: Yogurt and a banana
Snack: Carrots
Lunch: Sandwich (homemade) or Soup (homemade).. or something else about 400 calories (pork slices baked in cream of mushroom soup with rice, chicken and pasta or some other such meal made at home and reheated at work)
Afternoon Snack: Apple or Orange or other fruit
Dinner: Something reasonable -usually in the 600 to 700 calorie range

I may add an extra apple, celery with peanut butter, a cookie here or there and other small binges from time to time. But this is the usual.

In March of this year, I made some life changing decisions. First I started to run but I didn't mess with the diet until later. It was a little at a time. First, I cut out the fast food gradually. Initially, down to once a day and then over time once a week and now not at all. There is something addictive about the fat in fast food. I really believe that. Now if I don't have any I am fine. But if I have it once I want more and more of it. I don't like it any longer and that is for the best.

Now my problem is soft drinks. I do crave them. However, the same has been true with the soft drinks as was true with the fast food. If I have one I want more and more. Over the last month or so, I have been able to limit my consumption gradually. First, down to 2 to 3 per week and now down to one every 2 to 3 weeks. I find that I don't really need the caffeine. I will admit that I had caffeine withdrawals at first. I had headaches the first 3 weeks I was off that junk.

So now, I can look the other way with most things. Not always, but mostly. It is ok to cheat on a diet every now and then. But I used to make cheating my diet. Burgers, hoagies, cookies, soft drinks, pizza this was all normal fare for me. I can say that this is no longer the case. It is nice to know that once you start eating right that bad food no longer tastes good. This is a general statement, soft drinks still lure me. But I can still say no most times. I now think before I grab for something; this is probably the main reason I have dropped weight as the injuries this year have prevented running from being as big an impact as it would have otherwise been. I am sure my commitment to exercise will pay more dividends next year but this year I think my diet reformation was more important. Perhaps 2/3 to 1/3 is the correct ratio of impact.

Well that is my eating confession.

You Know What Day It Is...

Today is that special time of week in my training routine .... it is 10k Tuesday. My run could not have come soon enough. I have been eating far less snacks and sweets as of late; however, today I caved in and then that led to a nutritional disaster. The extra junk calories were legion it seemed to me: the damage 1 mountain dew (12 oz), 1 small bag of chips, 1 payday candy bar and 1 cup cake. I don't know exactly how many extra calories it was but it felt like a lot. So tonight I was looking forward to the 10k just to feel normal after the massive sugar crash I experienced this afternoon. Wow, what an experience that was. I feel much better munching on carrots these days, because the sugar crash I get off of what I used to eat is enough to keep me off the junk. Plus, once I start it seems that I am in for more than I bargained for.

Well on to the results of tonight's jaunt:

6.36 miles, 1:20:32, 12:40 pace, 1057 calories

(10k portion was at 1:18 total time)

Mile1: 12:28
Mile 2: 12:47
Mile 3: 12:48
Mile 4: 12:35
Mile 5: 12:41
Mile 6: 12:30
Last .36 : 13:11 pace

Conditions: It was windy tonight and that really seemed to throw my pace off. I took a new path tonight and that took me up a pretty good incline early on. I felt I did better with the hills tonight that I normally do. So that is improvement. The pace wasn't exactly what I wanted but it will do for now. The miles are what count for me right now.

As an aside, as I write this the new Dawn of the Dead is on cable. Although, this is not as good as the 28 Days movies, funny the English do make a superior Zombie movie (Shaun of the Dead, 28 DaysLater, 28 Weeks Later). But this version is still prettygood. The Romero cameo is a nice touch. The tension in the survior group is really good. I am a fan of the genre.