The Thirty Day Diet Challenge
No bread, pasta, or wheat products.
No fast food.
No fried foods.
No snacks or chips.
No sweets, candy, or dessert.
Diets are tough. Fitness gurus advise against diets and rather advocate healthy lifestyle choices. That’s well and good but sometimes body fat gets the better of people. It’s easy to gain weight and tough to shed it. Follow the Thirty Day Diet Challenge with me and see how we do.
At restaurants stick to salads. (Monarch, Galveston.)
June 18: 183.6 / 25.6
The scale can’t lie. Weigh daily and write it down. Weigh first thing in the morning, naked, just out of bed.
My body composition scale records digital weight and body fat. Obesity is classified by Body Mass Index, BMI. BMI = weight divided by height. Over 30% is obese; 25-30 is defined as overweight. Some Asian countries use lower values.
So if my digital composition scale can be trusted, I’m definitely overweight.
June 21: 180.4 / 26.1
The first week is the hardest. You’ll know the diet is working because you’ll be in a world of pain. But wear the discomfort like a badge of honor. It’s like a monk and self-flagellation. I know this diet is working because I’m miserable.
Keep fruit and walnuts handy so temptation won’t creep up on you. A co-worker put a whole punch bowl full of fun-sized candy bars in the break room with everything from Snickers to Reese’s to York Peppermint Patties to $100,000 Bars, and Twix. It seems demonic when on a diet, but I remained Lord of the Manor.
Keep in mind steamed items for take-out. (Montrose Chinese Restaurant, Houston.)
June 25: 178.7 / 25.7
The scale doesn’t lie but the readings can be erratic. I call these fucktuations, “fuck-u-weigh-tions”. Sometimes you work so hard and stick to plan then the weight spikes. It can be very discouraging. Further, looking at fucktuations on a pad of paper can be misleading. In that case, I made a chart to help visualize progress.
June 29: 177.2 / 24.4
My sister asked me what kind of diet allows alcohol. Honestly, if I give up liquor, I won’t have anything left. Many moons ago when I did Weight Watchers I ended up saving my points all day for wine. But as I don’t drink every night, a margarita at dinner or a glass of wine won’t kill me.
And before I get emails about my soda, I’m not giving every vice up. I like a good old Diet Pepsi in the mornings as a pick-me-up.
The typical Thirty Day Diet Challenge, like found on Pinterest, include soda and alcohol. So, make your own list. But just write it down to keep yourself honest.
Instead of a kolache or McMuffin, I have boiled eggs with fruit
July 3: 178.4 / 23.2
Don’t ruin your social life over a diet. A Mexican restaurant won’t kill anyone. Try, instead of eating the chips, corn tortillas with salsa. And even though cheese isn’t on the list, skip the big bowl of Queso. For sure, everything tastes better when you’re hungry all the time. So, savor and enjoy.
July 9: 177.8 / 23.9
People who diet regularly say to give up everything white. But is rice really so dangerous in small doses? I read that sushi is one of the healthiest things for dieters to eat.
At any rate, a rice plantation and proper manners are what made mother’s side of the family fancy, so I’ll give up rice over my bloated dead body.
Don’t try to take boudin away from a Cajun either.
Definitely concentrate also on eating whole foods, not a bunch of processed or prepackaged crap.
July 12: 176.2 / 24.4
I was invited to one of the finest restaurants in Houston and I refuse to be that turd who says no to good food because, “I’m on a diet.” At Sorrento, one of the signature indulgences is the extraordinary bread platter. So of course I ate bread. When in Rome…
At other restaurants stick to salads. And keep in mind steamed items for take-out.
At Sorrento, one of the signature indulgences is the extraordinary bread platter. (Sorrento, Houston.)
July 14: 175.4 / 25.5
I know a few people on Ozempic. For me, that would be a last resort. I already take 10 pills a day for my heart. Add PrEP and the occasional Doxy-pep to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and that is a lot of drugs for one system. And while this is a promising and seemingly miraculous drug, do we know the lasting side effects of the Semaglutide therapies?
July 17: 174.4 / 24.4
I understand why people on regimented diets and workout plans eat every few hours. While there is no proof that the nibbling diet increases metabolism, it’ll surely staves away hanger. An important part of healthy eating is planning. It is too simple to stop off for a kolache on the way to work or to pick up a Whataburger at lunch.
Instead of a kolache or McMuffin, I had boiled eggs with fruit. Fresh fruit is delicious in the mornings.
For years the American media has tried to normalize obesity. Some social media websites won’t even allow the F-word. No, not fuck; they won’t allow the word fat.
The primary argument for eliminating a word like fat is that it’s inconsiderate to those with health-related obesity, such as hyperthyroidism. However, the most prevalent number that I found was .03%, or 3/100th percent, of obesity in Americans is caused by health-related problems which means that well over 99% of fat people are either food junkies or lazy.
I made a chart to help illustrate progress
Interestingly, doing research I discovered that in developed countries, people of higher social class are less likely to be obese. Form your own conclusions.
Of course, eating healthy foods is best with other lifestyle choices such as rest and exercise. With a multitude of weather-related issues such as Hurrican Beryl, it was not always easy to get outside for fresh air and cardio. But I did and marked it on my notepad with an X.
If you count the bread that fancy Friday night, I failed the challenge. Otherwise, I had a perfect run.
Due to fucktuations, I averaged the first 3 days and the last 3 days for a more accurate reading of how I did. My weight went from 181.0 to 175.6 and my body fat index went from 25.5 to 24.3. I lost five pounds. And I would have liked a bigger result for BMI but overall I think I did well. With more work to do, I’m up to repeat the Thirty Day Diet Challenge to keep the momentum going.
Who’s with me?
***
By the time I left for Philadelphia, I was down to 172 pounds and was down to 22.5% body fat.
And through diet and exercise, upon my return, I’ve maintained the momentum sometimes weighing into the upper 160s. My fall lab work came back immaculate; for the first time in over 15 years, all test results fell within normal range including cholesterol and triglycerides.
Who’s with me?