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July 20, 2005
The John Harper Diet
Categories: Personal
Finally, I have a refrigerator. Our Kenmore Elite Ultra Satin was delivered at about 3:30 today, half an hour early, even. This means that, once it has reached it's proper internal temperature in 24 hours, I will be able to have perishable food in the house. This will actaully enable me to cook, thereby improving my dietary habits significantly.
For the past few days, I have been on the John Harper diet. This diet involves eating out a lot, often at Waffle House. Today, for example, I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwitch with a side order of hash browns. While I refrained from getting those browns covered, they were effectively "drowned" in the butter/grease mixture used for cooking at the casa de waffle. I have been suffering the effects of that meal, and the previous days of eating similarly, all day. Poor stomach, tired, listless. Ugh.
With the arrival of the fridge and the emminent return of Sarah, I am going to embark on an ambitious plan to change my dietary habits. This will make me feel better and help me to loose (or dimminish) the growing spare tire around my midsection. It will also stand as a bulwark against the Pope Heart Disease Triumvirate which is beginning to plague my father -- high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol. It's quadruple bypass waiting to happen.
The new eating plan includes the following:
1. No fast food. None, period. If it has a drive through, I am not eating there.
2. A dramatic decrease in the amount of soda I consume. Perhaps I can make the switch to Coke Zero or something, but I just need to drink less soda. I will do this is stages, decreasing the amount I drink in the attempt to eliminate it alltogether. Phase one: only drink Coke during the day (11-6) and no more than 20oz per day. Phase two will be to not drink soda at all on one day of the week. Phase three will be to narrow the time frame and reduce the amount allowed. Subsequent phases will follow the same pattern, until soda has been minimized if not eliminated. Exceptions will be permitted for special events (baseball games, movies, and D&D nights).
3. Reduce/eliminate high fructose corn syrup. This is a really bad kind of sugar and not eating it eliminates almost all candy, which is good all the way around.
4. Eat more fish instead of red meat. Lean protien, good fats, Omega-3's that help prevent Alzheimer's (also in the family history).
5. More fruits and veggies. This is actually the hardest, because I don't like a lot of fruits and vegtables, primarily because of texture. I really don't like things raw. I'm just going to have to get over this and/or find new ways to increase the intake. Smoothies come to mind.
6. Eat less cheese. I love cheese. I know it's not all that bad for you, but I probably consume way too much, getting too much fat in the process.
I am sure there are other things I can do, but these are the six that come to mind first. I'll officially begin Sunday, with Sarah back in town to help me stay in line, but I'll start incorporating things tomorrow once the fridge is able to be stocked.
I'd appreciate other tips and general encouragement.
Man, now I'm really hungry. (It is after class, so way past dinner time).
Posted by Nakia at July 20, 2005 08:00 PM