Running on Awesome

 After my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad weigh in yesterday, I’ve decided to try something that really should have been a huge part of this journey from the getgo.

I’m going to try counting calories, and actually stick with it this time.

A couple months back I was doing it, but it was a half hearted effort and only really “when I felt like it”.  That can’t really be the case now.  It’s true that I can work my ass in the gym (and for all practical purposes, I really do think I am), but if I’m eating horribly right after (or before, whatever) then it’s all kind of in vain.

I kind of feel like I have to take it a step further though.  I know the key to any successful diet is moderation, and that you really don’t have to cut yourself off from ANY food as long as you are responsible about it.  It’s worked for Tyler at 344pounds (who has lost over 125 pounds) and for countless others.  Unfortunately, I am not any of those people.

That’s why I have also decided that I need to take certain trigger foods off of the table completely, at least for now, until I get a decent amount on control over my food intake.  There are foods that I feel I should completely blacklist, and there are those that I am going to brownlist.  The blacklisted foods are the ones that I am not touching at all.  The brownlisted foods are ones whose consumption is going to severly limited, maybe to once a week or every two weeks. Brownlisted may or may not also be a term that I just pulled out of my ass, I don’t know.

THE BLACKLIST

• Sweets: By sweets I mean cookies, cake, brownies, muffins, donuts, ice cream, stuff like that.  I’m probably not going to completely ignore my sweet tooth, but there are healthier ways to satisfy a craving, and if I have really have to find them, I will.
• Candy: Skittles, M&M’s, Starburst Jellybeans (my Kryptonite), Snickers, etc…etc…  Again, there are healthier ways to satisfy a sweet craving.
• Fried Foods: Fried chicken, french fries, onion rings, fried cheese, stuff like that.  ANY (if any) nutritional value the food may have had, is lost as soon as it goes into the deep fryer.  Because of that, it won’t be going into my tummy.
• Vending Machine Snacks: No good has or will ever come out of a vending machine, as least in my experience.
• Bread, Dinner Rolls, Biscuits: This is bread as a standalone product, bread in restaurants, toast, cheddar biscuits at Red Lobster (yum!)

THE BROWNLIST

• Red Meat: I love me a cheeseburger, but if a turkey burger option is available, I’ll try for that.  Otherwise, I’d like chicken and fish to become more of the meat staple for my diet, with red meat being an occasional thing. 
• Bread: Bread as a standalone is blacklisted, bread as part of a burger, or a sub, or sandwich, is something I want to try to avoid when possible, and limit intake otherwise.
• Beer: I don’t drink much AT ALL anymore, this past Saturday was the first time in over two months, but it still needs to go on the list.
• Condiments: I’m going to put this on the brownlist, but treat it more as a blacklisted item.  In my opinion, a world without Ketchup and mayonaisse (and bbq sauce, and ranch dressing…) is a world gone mad, but I will do my best to curtail the intake.
• Soda: Alot of people blacklist it, but I cannot. I love Diet Coke and Pepsi, Diet Sprite, and Diet Orange soda.  My consumption of these, however, has already been scaled back greatly, so I’ll just step it up a notch.

Thats…it, I think.  If I missed anything major I will add it to one of the lists, but overall I think that addresses my triggers.  Everything else would be fair game, within moderation, and I plan on replacing alot more of the crap food with more fruits, vegetables, and otherwise healthier fare.

I asked this via Twitter (by the way, are you following me?) but if anyone missed it, do you have a blacklist and/or brownlist?  Are you counting calories, points, whatever?  How are you trying to keep your diet in check?

Have a great day, everyone!