Waisting My Life Away — Come to Jesus and Pizza [Week 6]

I didn't write to you last week because, well, I was licking my wounds.

Whilst enjoying a pepperoni roll and extra garlic knots at a restaurant in Sidney, I began discussing my diet with my girlfriend, who promptly and rightfully told me: "You aren't on a diet."

"Yes, I am. I haven't eaten like total garbage in a while," I defended. "This is the first really bad meal I've had this week."

"Oh, yeah, but it's not like a buffalo chicken wrap you had yesterday was healthy," she retorted. "You are dieting relative to what you were eating. But it still isn't healthy.

"Everything is better compared to the s-- you were eating," she added, lovingly of course.

The message was received. It was time to actually get serious. I thought if I just didn't have pizza rolls, cheeseburgers and, basically, grease, I would magically lose weight. That wasn't the case.

In one month of this "diet," I had lost one single pound -- essentially maintaining by not going totally overboard.

I went into this week rejuvenated (and scared she would yell at me again). I sat down and really thought about ways to make healthy things taste good and not to overindulge.

I made these eating rules and how well I did abiding by them this week:

Drink water only and at least 56 oz. per day. (This was an easy one to keep. I drank a fair amount of water already, just not quite 56 oz. I probably drank around 24 oz, which really wasn't enough to stay properly hydrated.)
Nothing deep fried. (I broke this once, to make sweet potato fries. They were good. It was worth it.)
2/3 meals had to be cold. (This was also easy. Had oat cereal every day, and generally a turkey/chicken sandwich for lunch.)
If I go out for lunch, pick a healthy item. (I had a very hard time abiding by this before. I excused myself by saying I just didn't have will power. However, thanks to the come to Jesus talk, I successfully grabbed lunch on the town three times and didn't have worse than a grilled chicken wrap with only buffalo sauce -- no cheese or dressing.)
When snacking, eat a fruit or Greek yogurt or make a smoothie. (This was also easy. I was never big on chips or the high-calorie snack foods.)

Those are pretty much my rules and it worked wonderfully. I lost nearly three pounds this week "flushing" the system. The water combined with high-fiber cereals and bread has me using the facilities several times per day. But I feel good.

I also am exploring my culinary side. I went to the store looking to make pizza and quickly determined how to make an easy, healthy pizza that tastes great. Here's what I made, the recipe is below:

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Pesto Pizza

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbs dry basil leaves

1 garlic clove, minced

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast with extra fat cut off

1 whole wheat flatbread

1 cup spinach

1/2 serrano pepper (optional)

low-fat Mozzarella Cheese, to taste

Directions:

Pesto Sauce:

Combine olive oil, basil and garlic in small bowl and whisk together (Parmesan cheese is usually added, but I omitted it.)

Pizza:

Grill chicken until cooked through
Spread pesto sauce on whole wheat flatbread
Add Serrano
Add spinach
Cube chicken and add on top of spinach
Sprinkle low-fat Mozzarella cheese
Place pizza on grill until cheese is melted and flatbread is crispy
Remove, cut and serve

In total, this meal was only about 400-500 calories and quite healthy. Raw spinach is one of the best things you can eat.

Anyway, it was a good week and I'm back on track, hopefully on pace to really drop the pounds over the next month. I thanked my girlfriend for the advice and motivation. It's not always fun to hear when you aren't giving it your all, but it's necessary.

Here's where I stand:

Height: 6 feet, 0 inches

Weight: 193 (-3 pound since start)

BMI: 25.5 (-0.4)

Waist: 37.5 inches (-2)

Gut: 41.5 inches (-1)

Exercise habits: Walking/Running a few times each week, also golfing

Disposition: Feeling good

Waisting More of My Life