Steve Merens' Diary: Day 12

What a treat last night to come home to a cooked dinner of fried chicken and wonderful side dishes. Since I am on the go today, I will make this journal a bit shorter than "normal." I ended up having not much in the way of breakfast. Rani made pancakes this morning and I had two of them and a very large glass of water. I had a snack-food lunch going to the Stop and Munch store next door to work. I bought two bags of peanuts for a buck and a long beef jerky. That and two cans of caffeine-free cola I had brought from home tided me over till dinner. It's funny; the appetite suppression on this diet has kicked in so much so that the plate of food pictured in this journal was only half eaten. It is such a gas not to feel like I have to finish everything on the plate. Once I am full I don't have the triggers to make me overeat. I will admit that later in the night I had a cheese spread made out of three kinds of cheese, cauliflower, a dab or two of plain yogurt, and bit of oil and butter. It was spiced with Cajun spice and cold tasted like a cheese spread and heated in the microwave was out of this world. I used pork rinds as a chip and just sat back and enjoyed the basketball games.

An independent observer told me I look like I have lost more weight since this all started and that is great. It is getting into size 34/36 underwear -- that is the real kick. It is notching the belt we bought just a year ago in another inch from the last time I notched it. At the time we bought the belts they were on sale and I was not near enough to the size I am now. I told Rani it was silly to buy them I would never get to be that small. It is not about weight; it is about size and how good I feel both inside and out. I was talking to my wife Rani about a e-mail she got commenting on our Cabbage Soup dieter. She seems so light-headed from the experience. She thinks that she is not eating carbs when all she is eating is carbs. Milk, bananas, and other fruits and veggies have in some cases many carbs and the rice alone shoots her carb count off the chart. It is the protein her body is craving and once she starts to eat the same mixture of carb-laden foods she will most likely yo-yo back. Again, I wish her wellness and I hope she looks into a low-carb lifestyle as an alternative to her current eating habits.

I must say here and now I am really getting tired of people telling me that this diet is dangerous. What is dangerous is eating the kinds of things that make you want to eat more than less. It is dangerous to keep eating in a way that loads your body up with all kinds of sugars making your body store it in the form of fat. It is dangerous to listen to the media beat the drum of the food pyramid and get us more and more when we are just following the recommendations of the "experts." Now I am not suggesting that you go out and live a carb-free diet. In my opinion, that is dangerous. As I have said before, picking your carbs, choosing which you will allow in your day, is important. Being knowledgeable about what you eat, the contents of the ingredients, makes you a better consumer and a healthy person. Yes, moderation is a great mantra but if you eat in a good low-carb way your own body will tell you to stop eating and you will not overeat.

As I said in the first few days of this, we had a lot of pork products in the fridge and freezer due to the fact that they were on sale. This week it is chicken so be prepared for a few nights of chicken dishes to be coming your way, like the fried chicken today.

Please feel free to write to me and ask questions. One of my favorites asks about recipes. Keep going down to the bottom of this page and click on Rani's journal. She posts food information, recipes and she can link you up with Web sites that specialize in the Locarb life style.

Another thing is I want to thank Bridget for motivating me with her e-mail to get out and do my exercise. It was hot this morning and I felt like shining it on but her message about her success and wanting to not be alone in this diet and exercise routine got me off my butt and out to the park for a brisk ride and swim.

Well, I am having the pancakes Rani made for me this morning and we will see how the rest of the day goes. Peace on your journey and I hope that whatever eating lifestyle you embrace, you find the satisfaction and ease I have in living the Locarb lifestyle.

-- Steve

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