amerigoV's new adventure

[amerigoV]

As I mentioned on another thread, I am trying the Nutrisystem approach (as advertised by Dan Marino). The big attraction is that they send you a box of prepacked food. One of the things that seems to kill me is just taking time to make good food (well, I cannot vouch for quality yet, so lets say healthy food).

The big box arrived today. Probably take a few days to sort it all out and talk with an counselor. That is another nice thing -- they have free support if you want it -- not a nagging thing. Some of the website tools are pretty good.

Overall cost is about $10 a day. You get the primary meal plus snacks and deserts. You still need to add some fruit and veg. portions. If I stick too it, it will probably reduce my overall food costs given I eat on the run/out too much.

As for exercise, I have Karate on Mondays (modest energy output) and Wednesdays (more intense), with the occasional Saturdays. I have been getting on the elliptical machine for about 20m every morning to help with some of my conditioning (that is killing me in Karate -- not enough energy to spar effectively).

On weekends I am in Col, I try to play some basketball with Alex. There is a community rec center almost across the street from us. No matter the skill level, Alex is in great shape. So that forces me to move quite a bit. Alex's dad also got him a nice weight bench. We use that as well.

Finally, I may join the YMCA up here in Detroit. They just opened a branch in my building complex (just weights and cardio). Also, another guy at work plays racquetball, and the main downtown YMCA has all the pools, courts, etc. I always liked racquetball (it plays to my historic strength -- quickness), so I am thinking of joining once this month smooths out a bit (Jan. is a killer month in my office).

The one long-term issue I see: what will my diet be if all this works? The Nutrisystem will not get me into good cooking habits (the stuff is prepackage -- thus (occasionally) add water, heat and serve). At this point, that is a bridge I will cross when I come to it.

[kramday]

I am really interested in how you find the taste of the meals. As I mentioned in the original thread, I looked into it as well. Did you get the deal where they send you all three meals, or just one where they send you dinner?

Good luck with it.

[amerigoV]

I did the full she-bang. Right now, I am having the scrambled eggs with peppers and mushroom. It came in dehydrated form -- a cup with powedered egg and such. I was not all the confident. Also, I think I put a bit too much water in (do not have a measuring cup at work) -- had to nuke it a bit longer to get it into solid form.

Not half-bad, in all actuality. Turns out to be a decent sized portion as well.

[BigDog]

I'll also be interested in hearing your results. I haven't looked into that approach, but if it really does the trick, then even for a bridge it might be worth it.

Vickie and I are pondering a diet of primarily vegetable-category soups, chicken, some fish, and fruits. That way we reduce the stuff in the house to those categories and try to cut down on the snacking. We also historically get lots of bad food at the movies, so I've been trying to go with one thing or nothing but water. Once the movie starts, I really don't miss it. Probably our worst empty-calorie offense.

[kramday]

How is it going after a few more days under the program? The taste of the food still holding up?

[amerigoV]

How is it going after a few more days under the program? The taste of the food still holding up?

Food taste is pretty good (I have lowered my expectations and they have been exceeded). It is very convenient -- most things nuke in a minute or two. They are vacuum sealed -- not frozen. So you can take the food where ever there is a microwave and not have to worry about storage (ie, you could "pack" your lunch for a week -- plus you add a side salad as well). For dinner, get to add veggies on the side and some whole-grain bread.

Work has been hectic (travel), so I have not done well on the lunch. But it is coming along.

Although at times I feel a bit hungry, I think it is helping in one key area -- portion size. We just get so much food at restaurants now that it is ridiculous. When I was dating the Princess, we usually would split a meal. I am going to start that with Christine (if I can get her to order what I want )

[amerigoV]

More interesting stuff on the food. One good thing is that I do clean my plate and do not have left overs (adjusting to the proper portion size that will be good, if nothing else).

Although food preparation is very quick, it is odd at times. For example, I had a hamburger tonight. You prepared it by pooring boiling water into this little tray with the burger in it. It was wild watching the "dehydrated" burger drink up all the water. It did work -- the burger was hot and juicy. Tasted pretty good overall (it was beef, but probably heavily drained of fats with a few fillers). It tasted better than a veggie burger. Not quite McD's, but I really could not complain.

[JO]

The burger does sound odd. I wondered how they made those meal for transport. Kinda a cool thing as well. Keep it up!

[amerigoV]

I look at it this way -- when we are ready to send our first actuary to live on the moon or Mars, I'll will have already been through part of the training -- preparation of dehydrated foods!

The couple that really scare me is the sloppy joe and the tuna salad packages. They are obviously the same sort of thing. We shall see!

[kramday]

Actually, I would imagine that their food is similar to what veggie burgers were a few years ago. When I first became a vegetarian, the only veggie burgers that the Big Bear there on Bethel carried were horrible. They were mushy, they tried to taste like beef and failed horribly, and they didn't nuke uniformly in the microwave. Now, with the exception of the tastes like beef thing, it is very different. There are tons of options, and they are pretty tasty. I would like think that the trend would continue and that Nutrisystem would be able to develop better and better tasting food as well.

[amerigoV]

So far, a couple of good side effects from using this system:

1) Starting to get used to the portions you are supposed to eat
2) Eating more fruits and vegetables. You basically have to eat them, as the meal itself is not big (another detriment to the big portions we get is that there is no room for veggies and fruit -- just a big main plate of food)
3) Drinking lots of water. It helps with the "I'm hungry" response, and I read something on the nutrisystem website that not drinking enough water hurts in the weight-loss (throughs off the interaction between the kidneys and the liver in some way).

Although my caloric intake is noticably down, I did feel more "spry" at my Karate session today. Probably just due to the system running better with the better food.

[kramday]

2) Eating more fruits and vegetables. You basically have to eat them, as the meal itself is not big (another detriment to the big portions we get is that there is no room for veggies and fruit -- just a big main plate of food)

What are you doing for the fruits and veggies? Fresh, canned, frozen, something else?

[amerigoV]

For lunch, I go to this deli in our building -- they have a salad bar. The rest is about 1/2 'n 1/2 -- some fruit cocktail cups, some frozen veggies. I did pick up a stir fry medley of vegetables for dinners this week. I have some apples for a mid-day snack. I also picked up clementines to go with breakfast.

[kramday]

Yeah, work is what I was mainly wondering about. Sounds like it is working well.

[amerigoV]

A good thing happened yesterday -- I was walking around work thinking something about my pants were not right. Then, I cinched the belt one knotch tighter than normal -- then it felt right! The scale did not necessarily measure the change, but something is going right.

Tonight, I am going to get an electronic scale. My old one (dial) is hard to read - so if I am making one or two pound difference it is hard to tell unless I am near a 5-pound threshold (which is better marked).