Diet Planning

I promised a post on my diet planning, but didn't get to it that day. So, you get it today.

I've been debating what kind of diet plan I want to follow for a couple of weeks now. Going over all the different options. I'm very against the idea of using any sort of pill to suppress hunger. I feel that's a bad way to go, since it doesn't teach you to eat any less.

I also don't like any diet that vilifies any particular nutrient or food group, with the possible exception of sugar.

I've tried counting calories before, and it's a good method for me. But it does take a lot of focus and thought. Meals need to be pre-planned, or else you end up with times where you're simply unable to eat. Still, a simple framework is usually good enough to block out the general amounts of food you can/should eat.

My friend Lindorm is involved in a diet challenge with his co-workers. Most percentage lost wins the pot ($20 per person involved). His lady J is joining him for the home version. They aren't counting calories. Rather, they're watching portion sizes, and trying to make healthier choices. With that, Lindorm is also banning all fast food, and limiting himself on sugars.

I've thought before about limiting my sugar intake, but it's really difficult to do. There's sugar in most things that I like to eat. Which, I suppose, makes sense.

I've also thought about eliminating fast food from my diet as well. That should be possible to do, it just means a little more effort ensuring that I have lunches planned out in advance.

I suppose that the main debate is whether or not it is going to be worthwhile for me to track calories. To really track them properly, I would need to find a kitchen scale and weigh out the food that I am going to eat so that I can know the correct number of calories. Without that, the best I can do is guess, which seems like a pretty poor way to go about trying to track calories.

Portion control is another possibility. Rather than tracking the exact calories, I can simply try (like my friend Lindorm) to limit the amount I eat, and to try to make sure that I eat balanced and complete meals.

For now, I think this may be the better plan for me. It keeps me from having to calculate every bit of food that I eat. I'll try it for a couple of weeks, and if there's no results from it (or not the ones I want) then I'll try calorie counting again.

With that set, here's my general diet plan:

1. Control the amount of food I eat. Have smaller portions, and only a single helping of anything.

2. Include more vegetables. Keeping in mind that a proper meal contains protein, starch and fat in balanced proportions.

3. Fry things less. Try to boil, bake or broil food more.

4. Limit refined sugars.

5. Eliminate all sodas, including diet sodas.

6. A ban on "burger and fry" fast food places.

These are the main tenants of the plan.