Bob's Skinny Rules #7, 8, & 9

I'm a day late because we were vacationing for a long weekend away. Let me tell you how difficult it was to follow these rules while away! I had lost a 1 1/2 last week and I wasn't about to gain it back due to our trip. We will see how I did in the morning when I weight myself. Overall I think I did pretty good. We brought food for breakfast and lunch. I was able to make high fiber oatmeal and even add egg whites and top with banana and strawberry slices. Lunch I ate a turkey sandwich with Ezekiel bread and some snap peas and carrots and fruit. Aaron ate potato chips. My snap peas were looking pretty unappealing next to his chips! Even Madeline agreed and wanted some chips.

Friday night and Saturday weren't bad. In fact Saturday I ate a lot of fruit and veggies and even got a 3 mile run in early in the morning- before we did a lot of walking the rest of the day. Sunday was a little tougher. I had to eat normal wheat bread for lunch. I felt so guilty! We ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I ate soft corn chicken tacos, but did eat some chips and beans... and rice.

So, we are back in town and I am ready to start the next three rules. Oh, I was going to mention that I really think rule # 4 about the grains is really working for me! So I out the pretzels, any animal crackers, and all granola bars that I used to eat. I substituted veggies and in the afternoon I eat an apple with pb2 (a peanut butter alternative with very few calories and 85% less fat). It's working! I also think eating my 1-2 apples a day is helping!

Okay, like I was saying.. the rules

Rule #7 No carbs after lunch. I've been practicing this one, but knew it wasn't possible with our trip. Bob says you can eat fiber, protein, veggies, and fruits. At dinner you should eat lean and green (although I do add a fruit at the end for my "dessert".)

Rule #8 Learn to read food labels so you know what you are eating. At first I thought, well easy, I already do that. He did mention some things to look for: serving size, number of servings, calories, protein- here he reminds me that I should be eating more protein. Bob says to figure out how much protein you should eat a day take your weight and divide by two! That's a lot of grams of protein. I still haven't been able to get all that in! Also look for sugar- if it is one of the first five ingredients, don't buy it. Watch out of the sodium, fat, trans fats, carbs, fiber, and net carbs (carbs minus fiber). He says the more items listed on the ingredients list it is probably  not good. And if there is anything you can't pronounce- don't buy it! He also says to watch out for chemicals in your foods and lists several. Here's the thing right about now, I am not so concerned with this because Bob has already eliminated pretty much all processed foods from my diet except this cardboard bread anyway (which is growing on me).

Rule #9 Stop guessing about portion size and get it right- for good. There are two techniques Bob gives for this. 1. Forced portion control. He says to put food in containers already pre-cut into serving sizes. So, cut up your chicken you will cook for dinner tomorrow night and put the set amount in a container in your fridge.
2. Harpersizing- You can take advantage of high-fiber, low calorie foods that fill you up. He says there are many veggies that have no serving size- eat up!

I am excited that summer is here. My goal is to workout more- starting with an hour long workout tomorrow morning. Or maybe a run.... hmmm. decisions, decisions.... Also, There are so many numbers to remember. How many grams of fiber, how much protein. I am thinking of making a meal plan for myself (Bob has one for  the first month, but I'm pretty picky) with all these requirements met. I am a creature of habit. I can and like to eat the same things over and over again. I can plan my meals for the day and then repeat daily. Hoping this will help me get all the good stuff in. What I like about this is that I don't feel it is as restrictive as other diets. There are a lot of foods you can eat, and he focuses on those as much as what you can't eat.
How are you doing? Are you following the rules? Adapting them? They are pretty radical! Wait til next week! They are tough!

Hoping the scale is my friend tomorrow...