The first dinner has been finished, and I have to say, it was pretty good.  I didn’t feel a single need or want throughout the entire process.  I was going to discuss the grocery trip, but I’ll talk about dinner first, then post about the groceries later.

For dinner, I had a grilled chicken breast (the Foreman Grill is a godsend), a can of Spinach and two Minute Maid Light Lemonades.  For desert, I got a Jello Sugar-Free Pudding Cup.  I’ve had everything with the exception of the pudding cup (saving that until after the post to allow the food to settle for a bit).  Here’s the totals:

• Can of Spinach – 100 calories
• Chicken Breast (grilled) – 120 calories
• 2 Minute Maid Light Lemonades – 10 calories
• Jello Sugar Free Pudding Cup – 60 calories
• GRAND TOTAL FOR DINNER: 290 calories

All in all, I think I did pretty good.  It’s been a sucessful first day, but the road ahead is long and difficult.

The Plan

The “Office Space” diet is the name I’ve given to the current diet plan that I’m using.  It’s my own concoction and leaves quite some room for me to adjust and modify as needed.   Eventually, I’ll move onto something more permanent and will from time to time, try out some of the BIG NAME diets to see if they work for me.  For now, it’s the “Office Space” diet.   If you’ve never seen the movie, you’ll probably not fully understand the point, but in the movie, there’s a huge banner that hangs in the middle of the office.  It states “Is this good for the company?”  The idea is to ask yourself, whatever you are doing, “Is this good for the company?”.  I’ve taken that idea, and run with it for dieting.  The new motto is:

You should ask yourself…for every meal you eat, is this good for your body? Am I helping with my body’s strategic plan?

The idea is to eat decent food.  When you sit down to a meal, look at what you are about to eat.  Think about it for a few minutes before you start munching down.  Ask yourself, “Is this good for my body?”

To start things off, I’m going to go with a lot of veggies and lean meats: poultry and fish.  I’m going to try to have breakfast each morning.  That will usually consist of a piece of fruit, and possibly some yogurt.  (Details are still being worked out.)  For lunch, almost ALWAYS a salad.  I’ll try to keep it to the plain and simple and on most days I’ll bring in tuna with romaine, mixed with a little low fat dressing.  That way I’ll get some protein, some carbs, but still keep it very healthy.   For dinner, it will be more of the same, meat portion with a veggie.  Possible combination are chicken and spinach, fish and broccoli.  And I might add some additional salad to help fill me up.  For a snack before bed, another piece of fruit.   If I need to deviate, I’ll stick with the rule, “Is this good for my body?”

Free Day

One day, each week, I’m allowing myself a “Free Day”.  This will happen either Friday or Saturday, usually the one I spend with friends.  I’m a strong believer in allowing yourself a treat when you’ve been good all week.  This one day, I’m allowed to have whatever I want, as long as it is NOT in excess.  No multiple burgers, no Super Sized Fries, no 1/2 a pizza.  I can have what I want, but it must be decent.  On this day, I’ll have a decent breakfast, eggs and toast, but nothing crazy.   For lunch, I might have a chicken sandwich, or a small burger.   For dinner, I might have a full meal with friends.  This will be the closest I might come to my old eating style.

Not Allowed (Not Even on Free Day)

There are several items that I’m listing that are FORBIDDEN.  Even on Free Day, these are considered enemies of the body, and will be strictly avoided!

• Non Diet Soda
• Cakes
• Doughnuts
• Cookies

It’s a short list for now, but I’ll add on as new ideas come on board.  I just want to avoid things that are REALLY bad for me, and things I can replace with alternatives.  Non-Diet Soda is my biggest vice, and can easily be replaced with diet soda, iced tea, or water.   Everything else, I just feel is an excess.  The “Free Day” is a day to treat myself, but anything high in sugar is just going overboard, and will ruin everything I’ve worked for.

Well, that’s it.  Feel free to comment if you’ve got other suggestions, or just want to tell me that it’s all wrong.   I’d also be interested in hearing any ideas you might have for changes or modifications.

Now, it’s off to the grocery, then it’s dinner time!  I’ll post once I’ve made it through that.

Soon after arriving to the office, I realized I was going to have a challenge to face this afternoon.  We were meeting clients at 11, and it was probably going to be running through lunch, so that meant we were going to be ordering in.  At first, I assumed we were going to order from Lubely’s, a deli/bakery that we usually get lunch from for clients.   That wouldn’t be the case as today was Monday, the one day that they were closed.   The topic then turned to pizza, and my heart about stopped.  I had them order me a salad with no cheese or meats.

When the time for lunch came, the salad turned out to be just lettuce and a cup of dressing.  I took about 1/2 of the lettuce and poured on just a dab of dressing, then mixed it with my fork.  I didn’t take much, so I’m hoping it was about 2 tablespoons worth.  So far, I’ve gone through 2 Diet Dr. Peppers, and it’s been good.  I haven’t been “starving”, and I haven’t even thought about Mountain Dew.   I survived both my first lunch, as well as my first lunch meeting.  Now I’ve just got to keep on the path and not stray.

Well, the diet has officially begun.  I weighed in this morning at 323 lbs.  Not as heavy as the last time I weighed myself (I was 327 a few weeks ago), though that can fluctuate over time.  I’m anxiously looking forward to getting the ball rolling and getting started.  I’m pretty excited.  Hopefully tonight I’ll be able to get my first photos in.

Here I am again. Heaviest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I’ve always been the type of person to procrastinate, and not really put forth effort into doing things until I get annoyed. I’ll put off the laundry until the point that I get tired of seeing the full clothes basket. I’ll put off cleaning my room until it gets just a bit too messy for my tastes. The same goes with my weight and my health. I’ve dieted in the past, but I don’t believe I’ve ever been very serious about it. The last time I really dieted was a little over a year ago, right after my hospital scare. Sure, it was enough to scare me into being afraid of something being wrong, but when it wasn’t anything wrong, and I began to understand that, I quickly gave up the efforts and returned to my old ways.

I’ve been planning this for a little over a week now. In the last week, I tried going places I hadn’t been to for a while so that I could experience a variety of dishes before I cut myself off. Today, I went a little overboard for dinner, and sampled a little of everything I’d been craving from Domino’s…. now, I think I’m ready.

Tomorrow morning, I’m going to weigh myself. My official starting weight. Over the next few days, I’m going to post about my meals, how well I’ve been doing (or not doing), how I’m feeling that day, as well as insight about what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it. By reading, I’m hoping you can get inspiration to overcome whatever barriers you may have to what you’re looking to do. I’m also looking for insight into perhaps what I may be doing wrong, and what I’ll have to do in order to lose weight optimally. Please feel free to comment, though any “negative” comments will be deleted. I’ll read them, take them to heart, and maybe post about them, but I want this to be a place of inspiration, not of humiliation.

One other point to note, I will be photographing myself once per week to put in the image gallery. The hope is over time, you will see the progress that I’ve made, and how much further I need to go. I will be letting you into my life and my world, I just thank you for coming along for the ride!