Perroots.com

Do not feed me food in baskets

I don’t get the obsession with food places these days. Everyone wants to feed me food in a basket. I went to Mo’s Southwest Grill yesterday, they gave me my burrito in a basket.

Last week, I went to Longhorn to have a burger… Guess what? It came in a basket.

Today I went to Panera Bread and I was no so surprisingly served in a basket-like tray.  Now to be fair to Panera Bread, their basket is partly a tray, but it is mostly a basket!

But grab a bite to eat at Red Robin and you are going to get yourself the most basket-like basket you ever had. A freakin’ basket.

All of these baskets have wax paper which makes it all that more annoying to eat from.  I feel like a second-class citizen whenever I eat from these things.  Like I’m not worth a plate or something.

“Hey Joe, just throw that food in a basket.  It’s just Len, he doesn’t need a plate.“

It used to be that only fried clamstrips or chicken came in a basket.  Now everything winds up in a basket.  Why?  It all comes down to lazy people and lazy companies that don’t want to buy real plates, nor do they want to clean them.

So to be really clear, here is a Perroots.com list of approved food basket use:

• Fried clams
• Fried chicken
• Fruit baskets
• Easter baskets
• Gift basket (cheese, pepperoni, crackers, etc…)

The Food That I Eat…

Due to the success of my “Not Diet“, I am frequently asked by people what I eat. You can refer to my other blogs to see the foods that I don’t eat, but I decided to focus this blog on the things I do eat and the nutritional information of each.  I will tell you to beware of anything labeled “Low Calorie” – because many times the carbs are sky high.  And the opposite is true of foods labeled “Low Carb” – you need to watch the calories on those.  But with lots of comparisons of nutritional labels between products, you will learn what is good and what is not.  Balance is the key.

Other than the basic chicken, veal, lean beef, turkey and fresh vegetables, here is a partial list of the things that I eat:

Egg Beaters
Serving Size: 1/4 cup
Calories: 30; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 1g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 6g; Sodium:115mg
Notes: I eat an Egg Beater omelet everyday, with 2 slices of Naturally Slender American Cheese and fresh vegetables. The omelet is made with Pam instead of butter. No toast. I also have 1 cup of coffee, no sugar or milk.

Land-o-Lakes Naturally Slender American Cheese
Serving Size: 1 ounce
Calories: 90; Calories from Fat: 60; Total Fat: 6g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 3g; Fiber: 1g; Protein: 23g; Sodium: 50mg
Notes: 2 slices daily.

Protein Shake (EAS Brand from BJs)
Serving Size: 1 scoop (30g)
Calories: 130; Calories from Fat: 25; Total Fat: 2.5g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 1g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 7g; Sodium: 380mg
Notes: I have 2 scoops with water at 10am and again at 2pm 5 days per week.

Pure Protein brand High Protein Bar (from BJs)
Serving Size: 1 bar
Calories: 190; Calories from Fat: 160; Total Fat: 6g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 17g; Fiber: 1g; Protein: 20g; Sodium: 210mg
Notes: I don’t have these as much anymore. I usually only have them if I’m on the road or when I’m not at work.

Beefsteak Soft Rye
Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 60; Calories from Fat: 5; Total Fat: 0.5g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 12g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 2g; Sodium: 130mg
Notes: Less calories and carbs than “Low-carb” and “Reduced Calorie” branded bread. This bread has the best of both worlds- low carbs and low calories. This bread is lower in carbs than any whole wheat bread I have ever seen. This has better nutrition than Weight Watchers brand bread. This is the regular blue-labeled bread.

Ballpark Fat Free Franks
Serving Size: 1 frank
Calories: 40; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 4g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 5g; Sodium: 420mg
Notes: I have these once in a while with horseradish mustard. No bread.

Fresh Spinach
Serving Size: 4 cups or 85g
Calories: 20; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 3g; Fiber:2g; Protein:2g; Sodium: 65mg
Notes: I eat about 3 times the above serving size of fresh spinach 3 to 5 nights per week. Plus I often have spinach at lunch.

Country Crock Omega Plus Light
Serving Size: 1 Tbsp
Calories: 50; Calories from Fat: 45; Total Fat: 5g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 0g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 0g; Sodium: 80mg
Notes: I put about 2 Tbsp on my spinach. By the way, this brand is the exactly the same product as I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light.

Seltzer
Calories: 0; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 0g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 0g
Notes: I’ve gotta break up the water with something else.

Heinz One Carb Ketchup
Serving Size: 1 Tbsp
Calories: 5; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 1g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 0g; Sodium: 190mg
Notes: I hardly use ketchup at all anymore.

Horseradish Mustard
Serving Size: 1Tsp
Calories: 5; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 0g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 0g; Sodium: 60mg

Vlasic Kisher Dill Pickle Spear
Serving Size: 2/3 spear
Calories: 5; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 1g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 0g; Sodium: 210mg
Notes: This is usually my snack packed with my lunch 4 or 5 days per week.

Hellmann’s Reduced Fat Mayo
Serving Size: 1 Tbsp
Calories: 20; Calories from Fat: 20; Total Fat: 2g; Trans Fat: 0g; Carbs: 1g; Fiber: 0g; Protein: 0g; Sodium: 125mg
Notes: When I have sandwiches, I spread a little of this on.

33 pounds lost since the end of May and I feel great!  Now the pounds come off slower, but at a nice, healthy pace.  My guess is that I will drop 10 more pounds, but we will see…

My "Not Diet" Update

(This is an update to my original blog “My Not Diet“)

Well, I can’t believe it, but my results have been truly a success.  Since the end of May 2008, I have lost a total of 31 pounds!  I pretty much lost all of the inner tube that took me 15 years to build!  It’s a great feeling.  The best part of all is that I feel good about the way I have been eating and it is not a struggle at all.  It has been a total lifestyle change.  Hence, the name “Not Diet“.

I have slowly allowed some “bad” carbs into my eating – after all, anything in moderation is OK.  I am happy to say that I am now OK with occasional mashed potatoes (yummy!), whole wheat pasta and pizza (double yummy!).  I even had a lite beer last week after mowing the lawn!  Because of the ongoing healthy eating, that allows me to “indulge” once in a while in the things that are not a part of my daily eating regimen.

Of the above 3 foods, the worst one is the pizza because of the white flour.  It’s that white bleached flour that creates fat.  For that reason, I opt for whole wheat anything if I can.  No doubt that your body needs carbs to create energy, but they may as well be good carbs.

So now after 4 months, here is my updated regimen:

• Low carbs.  I do not regularly eat pasta, potatoes, rice, pizza, etc…  I am mindful of when I eat foods with carbs and when I eat them, I look for carbs with high fiber.
• I still have a protein shake or protein bar at 10am and 2pm daily.
• I drink about 1 gallon of water per day
• My bread intake is reduced but I do eat some rye bread and whole wheat wraps on a weekly basis.
• Nothing fried in vegetable, corn or canola oil.  Olive oil only.
• Lots and lots of fresh leafy greens – spinach, broccoli rabe, etc…  Lots of peppers and onions.
• A lot of chicken, pork, veal.
• I eat lean beef occasionally, but I’ve reduced my beef intake for no other reason than cholesterol.
• I still hate fish so I won’t ever eat it.
• Eggs.  I’ve switched to Egg Beaters on a daily basis due to cholesterol content.  Each yolk is 70% of the USDA recommended daily allowance, so if you have 2 eggs, you’ve exceeded this.  That’s no good.  Egg Beaters are all real egg without the yolk.  So I have regular eggs once in a while when I need to have some “dippy eggs”.
• I’ve eliminated butter at home.  I replaced with “I can’t believe it’s not butter” or an equivalent.  If I’m out dining or over someone’s house, I will have butter.
• I’ve greatly reduced my salt intake.
• No processed foods.  I can’t eliminate it completely, but for the most part, I eat fresh nonprocessed food.
• Portion control.  I don’t think you can eat as much chicken and other high-protein foods as you want (Ahem Atkins).  When I first started this whole thing, I still consumed a lot of food.  And that worked for a little while.  But reducing my intake has helped dramatically.  Did you know that the average American consumes about 4000 calories per day??  I do not count calories at all, but my guess is that I consume anywhere between 1500 – 1800 per day.  Sometimes more than that, never less than that.

So, in the end, I’ve gone from 196 pounds to 165.  I’m often asked how much more weight am I going to lose.  My answer to that is whatever my body wants.  I “think” I could stand to lose another 10 pounds of fat.  And if my body feels that way based on my healthy eating, then so be it.  But I’m not going to force myself to lose more weight by taking any drastic measures.  I feel really good about what I have done so far.  Now if I could only make the time to actually work out, then I’d look really good!

I do think that when I start to work out again, I will gain weight – muscle weight.  I’m 100% fine with that.  I’m not fixated on a number on the scale so much as how I actually look and feel.

My "Not Diet"

I decided to trim up and try to lose some of the pounds that I have worked so hard on gaining over the past several years.  But instead of “dieting”, I want to change my eating habits.  Now most people think of a diet as a greuling activity where you do not enjoy eating.  Man, that’s not for me.

I’ve never really been into sweets.  I hardly ever have cake, ice cream, candy, soda, pie.  My problem is pasta, pizza, bread and potatoes.  Carbs.  But it’s more than just carbs, because for the most part I usually had eaten healthy.  Portion control has always been a problem for me.  I love to eat.  Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Can I have a second helping?  Mmmmm…

(My future abs – sometime in 2012?)

The other thing missing from the picture is exercise.  You see, most of my entire life I was extremely active.  Over the past 5 years, except for a 1 year period 3 years ago, the exercise has basically stopped.  And my body has paid the price.  I have to say that most of the pounds that I have put on were due to my eating and not the lack of exercise.  I say this because even at my most active point in my life, I still had the fat, and no amount of exercise could get rid of it.  I did everything, except change my eating habits.  So, eating seems to be the primary thing that my body needs to have changed.  And of course, I am starting to work an exercise program into my regular life.

I’ve changed my eating now for 5 weeks and I have lost 12 pounds so far.  I have not done anything too drastic.  Here’s what I do now:

• No carbs.  No potatoes or pasta.  Once I reach my target weight, I will add carbs back into my “not-diet” and have them occasionally.
• I eat between meals to keep my metabolism going.  I usually eat a protein bar or some fruit.  I also have a protein shake sometimes.
• No bleached flour.  Only unprocessed whole wheat.
• I limit my bread intake.  When I do have bread, I have rye.  Only 12g of carbs per slice for the brand I eat.  I also have whole wheat wraps.
• Nothing fried in vegetable, corn or canola oil.  Olive oil only.
• Lots and lots of fresh leafy greens – spinach, broccoli rabe, etc…  Lots of peppers and onions.
• I eat lean beef, chicken, pork, veal.  I still hate fish so I won’t ever eat it.
• Eggs.  I love them.  And they’re high in protein.
• I’ve eliminated butter at home.  I replaced with “I can’t believe it’s not butter”.
• I’ve greatly reduced my salt intake.
• No processed foods.  I can’t eliminate it completely, but for the most part, I eat fresh nonprocessed food.

So far, so good.  It’s a lot easier now than it was in the beginning.  When pizza is in front of me, it’s hard to resist.  I can’t wait to reach my target weight so that I can have some of the things that I really like – in moderation of course.

Oh, any why do I call it my “not-diet“?  That’s what Arianna calls it, because I refuse to say that I am dieting.  I say that I’ve changed my eating habits.  She is so funny when she talks about my “not-diet” with her funny sarcasm.

Old English Sayings

Did you ever wonder where some sayings come from? Sayings like:

‘Son of a Gun‘ and ‘Cut Through The Red Tape‘ and ‘Minding Your Ps & Qs‘

I found a neat website with explanations of the origins of such sayings.

You can find it here.