The Rice Dieta

So I’m doing it. I’m doing the rice diet ala lahdeedah style. What that means is that while I understand if I follow it truly, I will lose 20 lbs in a month, I am not able to follow it fully. The only sad thing about that is if I lost 20 lbs that would pretty much um, well, be 5 lbs short of my goal. What I am doing is the rice diet PLUS a lean meat a day and 1 extra fruit or veggie portion a day. This is something the book recommends, so in a way it’s not even my idea, though I thought of it before I read it in the book… Three of the meats will be fish (to my family’s horror) and one of which will be tofu and not meat at all MUAHAHA… okay maybe not. I think the success of this will be based on four factors:

Menu planning

Eating only whole grains and wheats, no processes foods

Not drinking diet coke or more than one cup of coffee

Not being hungry because the diet isn’t sustatinable

Since everyone who knows me knows what I look like and how pudgy, but still cute and slightly curvy dang it, I am, it doesn’t really matter that everyone knows my weight. I’m doing this because I’m going to post my weight every three days. I won’t do it every day because that would be silly. You’re not actually supposed to check weight daily but whatever. I’m also going to post what I ate, including cheats. I am not going to go into calories, just portion sizes. I’m not counting calories, so those will be posted sporadically, when I can be bothered. It is obvious from what I’m eating that there isn’t anything with huge amounts of calories in it, and even more obvious if I eat this stuff it’s about got half the calories of what I normally eat. I also not supposed to be hungry on this diet. We will see. Every diet says that, and frankly, they have all been wrong. I'm only posting this stuff because I am incapable of keeping a food journal, not to impress the world with my lack of willpower. If you are bored with it, skip it. :)

This diet believes the key is a bowl of really fiber intensive cereal or oatmeal in the morning to keep you filled up. I won’t know until tomorrow. Today was yogurt. Keep in mind I’m doing this while giving up diet coke, my mainstay, and next week coffee, so it should be interesting how the two mix, but as I explained, I believe diet coke and caffeine and coffee by extension are evil, and prevent me from actually accomplishing anything aside from increased anxiety about nothing, sleepless nights, tired days and a slightly twitchy feeling…

So here it is.

Day 1
Weight: 148 lbs at 11:14 a.m.

Breakfast

A grande mocha we are just going to pretend didn't happen
Yogurt

Snack

1 cup grapes
1 slice whole wheat toast with 1 tsp smart balance butter spread

Lunch

1 slice whole wheat toast with 1 tsp smart balance butter spread
1 1/3 cup of bean and corn salad

Snack
1 1/3 cup of bean and corn salad
A piece of cantaloupe

Pre-dinner snack (because we eat late I spread out the lunch into lunch and snack)

An orange
1 slice whole wheat toast with 1 tsp smart balance butter spread

Dinner

Coconut curry chicken – 361 calories, 778 mg of sodium. It’s a bit high on the sodium levels, and I am trying to go low-sodium to get my cholesterol down but I don’t think an occasional binge will be bad.

As for the caffeine, well, right after my coffee I wanted a soda, so had a glass of water. Then a half hour after that, wanted a soda. Grabbed a carbonated water with a slice of lime in it. Then, half an hour after that, I realized I was hungry. But wait, I was hungry, but wanted diet coke, not food. Ignored the false signals my sneaky body was sending out and didn’t eat or have diet coke. Had more water. By 11 a.m. well, lets just say that my piss is like water. So cut back on the water, had lunch. Wondering how I’m going to go until 7 with just a small snack of fruit and another slice of whole wheat toast while fending off sneak attacks from my caffeine-addicted body. We shall see. As it is, at noon, I had to pop two motrin – which contains no caffeine -- to fend off an impending headache/caffeine-withdrawal ache… so soon!

As for the cholesterol, I’m supposed to lose 25 points in three months. It’s not high, but it’s not low or ideal. Neat huh.