The first real visit - Week 0

This morning I took my food log to Dan for the bad news. Just kidding. Sort of.

The purpose of keeping a food log for two days is to see what kind of caloric intake is maintaining my current weight. Dan looked it over and we have a plan.

I have to admit I'm a little scared. I'm a champion eater and it doesn't look like a whole lot of food. I have decided to have faith, however, because Dan assures me that the complexity of the foods will keep me filled all day long. The goal is to not feel hungry at all, which really is best in dieting.

Then again, this isn't a diet. This is a metabolism kick-start.

I'm starting out with 1422 calories today, more or less. And Dan assures me that by the end I'll actually be eating more calories than that. Either way, 5 meals a day should help too, and it's all foods I'm already eating.

Here's my generic meal plan:
7 am - small bowl of cereal
an egg
a handful of strawberries

10 am - 5 whole wheat crackers
a string cheese
an apple

noon - sandwich (with meat and cheese)
10 Sun Chips

3 pm - half a cup of cottage cheese
a peach

6 pm - 4 ounces of lean meat
green veggies
1/4 cup of brown rice

8 pm - 100 calories of dessert (Skinny Cow)


He said to switch up the fruits, the meats, and the veggies so I don't get bored. Sounds pretty good actually, doesn't it?

The rules of nutrition:
1. Always eat at least 5 times a day. By providing your body with a consistent and frequent supply of just the right number of calories, its need to store fat is reduced.
2. In planning each of your meals (or snacks), a ratio approximately 1 part fat, 2 parts protein, and 3 parts carbohydrate is a good place to begin. Depending on the severity of your daily work routine and training protocol, you may need more or less carbs for energy. Fat is essential for maintaining good health, and it's needed in the manufacture of many hormones in your body, so do NOT attempt to eliminate fats from your diet! Remember that protein and carbs both have 4 calories per gram, while fat has 9 calories per gram.
3. When you sit down to eat, ask yourself, "What am I going to be doing for the next three hours of my life?" Then, if you're taking a nap, eat less carbohydrate foods; if you're planning on a training session, eat more carbohydrates, and so forth.


Most of the fat loss will be done through nutrition, but some will be done through exercise.

Dan mapped out 8 exercises for resistance training - building muscle, or at least keeping it healthy and making sure I don't lose it. And for cardio I can walk or bike or do yoga - 3 times a week for 20 minutes each time. Not too difficult. I just have to schedule it all in. :)

I hope none of you are disgusted by the picture of my fat belly at the top. I don't know that I'll lose fat there first, but I sure would like to lose a lot of belly fat. Maybe I'll take weekly pics of my other fat body parts. But I won't subject anyone to that. When I get to the end I might show a total before picture and a total after.

Anyway, so far so good. We're off!