FDOE Mar 21 2018

Well, we've just learned from the health & fitness media that diet might be the single most important aspect of weight management--far more so than exercise.

My diet of choice is keto/low-carb high fat. In the past week, I've made a renewed effort to be more disciplined in my food choices, thus making the enjoyment for each individual meal more important, because greater satisfaction leads to an increased likelihood of adhering to a particular dietary discipline. In other words, the less you feel the sacrifice, the more inclined you are to make it.

In this case, I thought I'd highlight my dietary choices for the past day and discuss them a bit at length.

For breakfast, I had crustless quiche (with onions, mushrooms, herbes de provence and some leftover Italian sausage) with double-smoked, thick-cut bacon and a single slice of low-carb sourdough toast and butter. Oh, and of course, my beloved coffee. I can't honestly say that I have breakfast every day--it depends on my goals. Today, I intended to balance out my carb consumption, so the 7 net carbs were well worth it.

For lunch, I really treated myself with roast eye of round (medium well--just look at the pan juices, kiddies!) and some grilled asparagus with fresh garlic, onions and mushrooms, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with a touch of sea salt and black pepper. Total: 6 net carbs. This was truly satisfying, yet not terribly heavy--no coma afterwards.

Dinner was also quick, light AND delicious; I had a salad made from butter lettuce for the greenery, a light touch of diced green pepper and onion, a decadent and slightly garlicky bleu cheese dressing, all lightly dusted with freshly ground black pepper and topped with some of that moist, succulent roast beef. Oh, yeah! My beverage of choice was some hot Earl Grey tea. It was lovely to just savor the texture of the cool, crisp lettuce, the rich, tangy dressing and the tender roast beef. Carbs: 5.

My evening snack arrived in the form of a charcuterie plate; this one featured a 3-cheese selection of sharp cheddar, colby and white cheddar, spicy salami, pepperoni, braunschweiger and some peanut-free mixed nuts. I experienced a variety of tastes and textures, from the creamy, tangy and salty cheese, the spice and concentrated richness of the meats and of course, the crunch and slight sweetness of the salty almonds, cashews, brazils and hazelnuts. This was accompanied by more tea. Carbs: 6.

Total carbs for the day: 24 with plenty of micro nutrients, fat, fiber and protein. It's a pretty well-calibrated menu and my enjoyment was profound. I mixed fresh vegetables with high-quality meats and overall met my goals. I ate approximately 1970 calories, for those who play along at home.

My point, however, is this: I'm laser-focused on controlling my diet, but I try to minimized the negative emotional impact of maintaining a strict discipline. Some of that effort comes in the form of reminding myself why I'm doing this, but I also try to avoid myopic vision by also enjoying the journey. I'll do anything I can to keep my head in the game.