Posts Tagged ‘eat’

Oatmeal Diet, Take 3, Day 2 (of 7)

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Bust! I deviated greatly from my original plan and did not eat only oatmeal today. I hang my head in shame as I confess that I had pizza and salad for lunch. In fairness, I was invited last-minute to meet my uncle who I see only every 4 – 5 years. It was an absolute pleasure to hear from him and I was excited to see him. I thought it would be better to simply put my oatmeal on-hold than bring a bowl of cooked oatmeal to lunch and try to explain.

My first 2 servings went as planned, first at 5:30AM and the second at 9:00AM. For the second serving I withheld honey which turned out to be a tasteless idea. Haha! Seriously, it was a little bland. To make up for the lack of sweetener I added salt; I don’t know if that actually works as an appropriate substitute…Hmmm. I managed to get it all down, and washed both servings down with 8 ounces of water.

A further deviation was at lunch drinking Diet Dr Pepper and coming home to 12 ounces of Mountain Dew Game Fuel, a specially made MW3-inspired beverage. Aaah. It’s delicious.

So what’s the plan, drop the diet like I never started, or get back on the horse and try again. I’m getting back up, dusting myself off and continuing for the remaining 5 days. Oh, I had a banana with peanut butter this evening. I have to admit, eating only oatmeal makes for an interesting…experience…in the…bathroom. *ahem* If you know what I mean. Less substance, more oatmeal. Ewww. TMI, I know. I’m sorry, but truth be told – it’s unusual and mildly uncomfortable. I ate the banana to compensate.

Tomorrow I’m back on schedule just as originally planned. Unless another long, lost uncle (or aunt for that matter) rings my tele and invites me to lunch I’ll continue eating just oatmeal.

Exercise: 1H, stationary bike. 19 miles!
Weight: AM, 182.8; PM, ?

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Oatmeal Diet, Day 2 (of 7) and DONE

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

(This post is a few days late, but I wanted to get it out here regardless.)

I started Day 2 (of 7) with renewed vigor. I woke up late and missed my first serving which was supposed to be, as scheduled, at 5:30am. I didn’t get in the first 300 calories until 9:20am. This time I tried honey, but not just any honey. Last year we bought clover honey at the Roanoke Farmer’s Market. It was still good, although mostly crystallized. I added approximately 2tbsp along with 1tbsp (measured) of butter and a few cranks on the old salt grinder. Mmmm. I think I could actually get used to this.

My wife and meandered, poke, piddled, and otherwise wasted most of the morning. I didn’t get in my second 300 calories until after 12:00pm. It was just as good, if not better than the first. I prepared this round of oatmeal in the same way and enjoyed every last bite. (I didn’t think this was possible after my first few experiences.)

Later that day we went to my parents house. While there my mother told us all about ‘sour dough starter‘ and her new kitchen / food projects. I was impressed with her diligence in getting educated and practicing new methods and recipes. At the same time I told her about my oatmeal diet about which she read (briefly and in passing) on Facebook. She seemed to think that there was some real science behind it and asked where I had heard about it. I told her I’m doing it just because and there’s no scientific basis for my odd choice of diet food. It was then that she explained phytic acid.

I’ll post a few links to the technical definition(s) of phytic acid and what it does, or doesn’t do for you. As I understand it, phytic acid exists in most grains and in rather high amounts (or concentration) in oatmeal in particular. It inhibits the absorption of most of the nutrients and minerals contained in the grains we eat and therefore limits their nutritional value. For this reason, my mother suggested I quit the stupid diet and eat real food – in this case, sourdough cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven. Mmmm.

There are ways around the phytic acid element in grains. Most of the research I’ve done recommends a 7 to 24 hour soak in some type of culture like yogurt, buttermilk, water with whey or vinegar. There are, as always, different opinions on the level of phytic acid and the real benefit obtained from soaking. I think it’s especially worth doing, regardless of the risk (or lack thereof) if you’re eating nothing but oatmeal. It couldn’t hurt and should only improve any existing nutritional yield from oatmeal and/or other grains.

I may give this one last go after carefully planning in what and how to soak my oats. I’ll let you know what I decide. In the meantime, here are a few articles for your reading pleasure:

 

And finally, the oft quoted and seeming experts on all of this rigamarole, Sally Fallon and Mary G Enig, PhD book Nourishing Traditions:

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Day 1 (of 7)

Friday, April 1st, 2011

It’s 9:05pm and I’ve had nothing to eat today except for oatmeal. While my stomach was hoping for a couple hundred more calories, and my tongue would have liked some other flavors, I did okay. I’m beginning to realize what an exercise in self-discipline this is going to be! Here’s a quick recap on how my individual servings played out, and a review of whether or not I followed my own rules:

I woke up, as scheduled at 5:30am and prepared Serving One. This time, instead of stove-top cooking all five servings the night before I decided (per my wife’s instructions) to microwave each serving as it came due. According to my rules I’m allowed one flavor, although I bent that to include both salt and something else as you’ll see below. The other four servings were prepared in the same way as their time came, and each included at least 1/8 tsp of salt.

5:30am, Serving 1:oatmeal, salt, butter; 300 calories (not including butter).

9:00am, Serving 2: oatmeal, salt, 2tbsp (2 servings) strawberry jelly; 380 calories.

12:30pm, Serving 3: oatmeal, salt, 1tbsp (1/2 serving) peanut butter; 400 calories. (Whoa! Not a good idea. The peanut butter essentially disappeared into the oatmeal with the exception of the small pieces…it was chunky. I had a hard time getting all this down, but I made it!)

4:00pm, Serving 4: oatmeal, salt, 2tbsp (2 servings) blueberry jelly; 380 calories.

7:30pm, Serving 5: oatmeal, salt, butter and 2tbsp (2 servings) strawberry jelly; 380+ calories. (I had less than 1tbsp of butter, so it couldn’t have counted for too many calories, right?)

All-in-all, not bad, nearly 2,000 calories in total. I bent Rule 4 by having my Gatorade after Serving 5 instead of just after the gym. I also broke Rules 3 & 4 by drinking Diet Mountain Dew (although I had 8 ounces +/-). I’m coming off of Mountain Dew and anticipated a killer headache today. I felt a little uneasy towards the end of the day, and had a minor headache, but I attribute that primarily to “the Fridays”. I drank this particular serving to stave off an impending headache, but it never got out of hand. Whew!

Tomorrow I’m at it again, Day 2 of 7. I plan to add a little more butter as this project gets underway. It helps with the taste and consistency. As it is, the oatmeal is somewhat thick and sticky which makes it a little hard to swallow. I’m a little hungry, but that’s to be expected. For days 2 through 7 I’ll add my weight and more details on the type of exercise I’m doing, and why not? – I’ll tell you when I go to and how much sleep I’m getting. Psst. I normally go to bed between 10 and 11:00pm. ;)

Thanks for reading. Comment as you’d like. I’ll see you tomorrow.

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Oatmeal Diet, Take 2

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Ummm, my first attempt at the Oatmeal Diet was an absolute bust. It started out as planned, but quickly turned nauseating, literally. The night before, I prepared five 300 calorie servings and placed them in separate containers. I woke up at 5:30am and ate my first serving. Bland. Very, bland. I managed to get it down and left home for the gym.

At 8:55am my iPhone alarm reminded me it was time to re-heat my second serving. I was in a meeting at the time and brought the oatmeal with me. As I slowly picked and poked away at my bowl of mush I started to feel a little uneasy. The lack of flavor and the denseness of the oatmeal left me feeling like I could throw up. I had to stop eating and wait for a few minutes before another bite. I threw in the towel with about three bites left and let the other servings rot on my counter.

I called my wife and confessed that I wouldn’t be able to get through a week of eating flavorless mash. She advised me, again (as she had before I started) to add something else to jazz up the taste, and with that advice I’m going to try this again. I’m modifying my rules to allow for flavor beyond pure, plain oatmeal. Ewww. :)

Rule 1: Eat oatmeal with one added flavor.
Rule 2. Available flavors: peanut butter, strawberry / blueberry jelly, salt, butter, honey.
Rule 3. Drink only water, with one exception.
Rule 4. Exception to water: Gatorade (1 daily after workout).
Rule 5. Consume exactly 1,500 calories daily from oatmeal. (I’ve decided against calculating the number of calories from flavoring.) *Side note – I then changed my mind and added them too, where available. 04/01/2011, 9:23pm*
Rule 6. Eat at specific intervals: Serving 1, 5:30am; Serving 2, 9:00am; Serving 3, 12:30pm; Serving 4, 4:00pm; Serving 5, 7:30pm
Rule 7: Don’t stop before it’s over.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t make it all the way through my second serving, but I’m confident this time will be different. (Don’t people always say that before they undertake (usually for the second time) some unreasonable challenge? ;)) I feel like I have a better plan, but as before I don’t have a particularly good reason for doing this. I just want to. If all goes as planned I’ll be writing about my progress here. Please comment as you’d like and ask any questions about my sanity if you’re wondering whether or not I’m crazy.

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