Wednesday, December 19, 2007

kill the carbs

I recently started the lose weight regime after a doctor's visit. I'm not officially obese but I do classify as overweight. I also have high glucose levels but not officially diabetic. The doctor scared the dickens out of me with a speech that I could end up diabetic if I don't change things. My bad cholesterol levels are good but my good cholesterol levels are low. I did some online research and there do appear to be conflicting camps on exactly how diabetics (or pre-diabetics) should eat. I went with the cut out the processed/high-carb food camp.

My daily eating used to be:

Cereal (sometimes sweetened) and OJ for breakfast.
A morning mocha drink (usually self made - a mix of espresso and hot chocolate mix) but sometimes a mocha or equivalently sweetened drink from the coffee shop.
Sandwich, chips, a few pieces of chocolate, some fruit for lunch, iced tea or water.
Generally a carb heavy meal for dinner like pasta. Accompanied by a glass of milk usually.
Some late night ice cream. Also accompanied by milk.

About a year ago I was doing the above plus a can of soda a day and a couple beers a week. I eliminated the soda about a year ago and the beers in the spring. I also started Taekwondo in the spring.

Right after thanksgiving, I changed my breakfast to be less carb centric. I pre-make a bunch of breakfast burritos with just eggs and meat and heat those up in the morning. I use whole wheat tortillas. I find that I don't eat as much lunch when I eat the burrito. When I do have cereal, it's the plain cheerios with a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or other "whole grain" alternatives like wheaties, mini-wheats, etc.

I changed my morning mocha to use the diet hot chocolate mix from Swiss Miss. It doesn't taste as good but at least it doesn't have the nasty nutrasweet aftertaste. When I order from the coffee shop, it is strictly "skinny lattes".

I've started hunting down low-carb alternatives for lunch. Generally wraps or something of the sort. I eliminated the chips and started eating various nuts instead. The chocolate pieces are no longer to be found at lunch.

For dinner, I'm going with smaller portions. I didn't want to make a huge impact on the family dinner because that affects everybody.

I do have 1 piece of chocolate after dinner. It's 36 calories. If I don't do the chocolate, I have just a couple of spoons of ben and jerry's or some similarly high-density ice cream. Literally, no more than 5 spoons. I've had 1 carton last me for weeks when in the past it would be gone in 4 days.

I've cut out most of the milk consumption. This would absolutely kill my wife because it's the one drink she really likes. I have a 1/2 glass in the evening and that's it.

On the nights I'm not doing Taekwondo, I've started doing 40 minutes of walking on the treadmill. There are generally 2 days a week that I don't do any exercise though. That little calorie counter on the treadmill tells me 300 calories when I stop. Yes, I do suspect the accuracy of those things.

Since Thanksgiving, I think I've lost about 8 lbs depending on when I weigh myself in the day. My goal is to lose 20-25 and then figure out a maintenance routine. My pants are getting baggy at least. I'll go in for more blood work at the next health fair in the spring to see where all those numbers are at.

No comments: