Diets, Oh my

Richard Simmons had a "Live it" diet way back in the olden days. He used a play on words to make a valid point.

Why diet, when you can live it?

It made sense to me and I tried his plan, and it worked...for awhile. Then, life caught up with me and I had to "quit it". It was too hard to follow.

I think life today is way too stressful. There is so much to read, and so many distractions.

I collect the junk mail every day. I get piles of it even though I am signed up with the "do not call, and do not mail" list. That's OK, I don't really mind. It insures that the mailman keeps his job for a little while longer, and the trash collectors also have a job. Otherwise, I would probably only have a few small bags of trash every other week.

So, the diet plans have come and gone, and I elected to have my stomach cut into pieces. It works for me.

I couldn't resist getting a book the other day, however. The author was on TV talking it up, and he hooked me.

He had a previous book dealing with a 4 hour workday. That caught my attention because I believe that is exactly how long we should work.

The book he was selling is called "The 4 hour body". He is an obvious ADHD type A personality, and I was amazed that he could sit in his chair for the interview, which was only about 5 minutes. He was hyper to the max. 

It seems that he experimented on himself over the past 10 years in order to find out what worked and what didn't. He applied this experiment to all facets of his life, including exercise, and sex, as well as diet. He came up with some variations on themes that have already been tried. Most of the ideas are valid, although I am anxious to try out the 15 minute orgasm he talks about in the last part of the book. If only I had known about that before.....I think I am getting off topic here.......

So, he came up with a variation in order to lose fat without trying hard. It's something that I am pretty much doing now, except for a few changes that I am not sure are healthy. Let me say that the concepts and the ideas are logical, and he did check with medical personnel before he published, so until they charge him with something, his book is OK to read and try at your own risk.

The first diet listed, is a combination or an extension of the Atkin's diet, with a touch of Dr. Gott thrown in for good measure. He also suggests that you take one day a week and ignore the diet altogether and pig out.

One part of his diet that I am following is where I am very heavy on protein, and lower on carbs. 

Another part is where he suggests that you eat the same meals over and over. I do that too. I do add variety when I go out to eat, but when I am at home, I tend to follow the same patterns. Now, I do mix things up, such as eating breakfast in the evening, and having dinner in the morning. Makes life interesting.

But, he adds some ideas that might surprise you. Anyway, you can get the book and read it yourself. Or, you can wait until I'm finished with it, and ask to borrow it.

The reason I originally wrote this post, was to mention a few new ideas I had with my food plan. If you have read any of this blog, you know that I like to combine all my foods into one container. I make chili variations to this day that are never the same. I can make two different batches in one day with totally different proteins, even the beans. I use a 15 bean soup mix (dried beans) sometimes, or I'll use all black beans, red kidneys, etc.. I'll add various vegetables, both fresh and frozen. I'll add different kinds of seasonings. When I put them into quart containers and freeze them, I will alternate the containers and always keep two different containers thawed in the fridge so I can alternate meals. I never get tired of eating. The variations have been endless so far.

I started adding rice in small quantities to soak up the liquids, but I will abandon that soon. The rice makes me feel too full and is probably not good for me if I don't want my pouch to stretch.

As of this morning, I had about 14 quarts stored in the freezer. One kind is a more traditional chili with red beans, and the other is more of a beef, beans, and rice combination.

This afternoon, while I should have been working on my music, but just couldn't, I decided to prepare more meals.

Let me say that I really don't like ground turkey instead of beef, or ground chicken, so about a year ago, I decided to try a lower fat product. I found a twin package of ground bison at BJs. It was fairly expensive, but that's OK, because I don't eat all that much, so it goes a long way. (about $5.00 a pound)

The bison when mixed with all the other ingredients is just like beef in taste and consistancy. I can't tell the difference. I imagine if I had a bison steak, rather than ground up I might be able to smell and taste a difference. Bison is lower in fat which might make it a bit tougher as a steak.

I also like sausage. I buy the hot Italian links. I freeze them until I'm ready to use them. I had two pounds of links today. They have been  in the fridge, waiting for a few days for me to get to them.

I chopped a huge white onion, and sauteed it in butter and olive oil (Oh, Popeye!). Half of the onion, I just sliced into pieces, and the other half I pulverized with my handy, dandy chopper. I added garlic and some seasonings to the mix. While they were browning, I slit the skin on the sausage and pulled the insides out. I never keep the skin because I am afraid that it will clog me up and force me into emergency surgery. I was warned about sausage back in the beginning and have followed the rules ever since.

After the onions were browned, I poured them onto a paper plate lined with a paper towel to soak up any oil and butter that I could.

Then, I added a little more oil to the frying pan, and added the sausage in pieces, not links. I used the spatula to chop the sausage into small pieces, and cooked it very slowly. When it was cooked to my liking, I raised the heat and added the onions. I brought everything up to a very hot state, and added 3 cans of black beans along with the liquid. The black beans I buy are the generic because they don't add sugar to them. They use salt, and water. Some companies add sugar to their canned beans, which is why I usually use the dried beans. 

I allowed the mixture to come to a boil, and then simmered the whole thing for about an hour to boil off the liquid. 

This mixture cooled for another hour and became 5 quarts of food for me. Each quart is about 3 or 4 meals.

I had some leftover liquid in the pan since I use a slotted spoon to drain as much liquid as I can before moving it to the containers.

I heated the leftover liquid liquid, and while I was doing that, I thawed a pound of bison. Then, I added it to the liquid, and browned the bison. I added a package of frozen vegetables, and another 3 cans of black beans (It cleaned me out. I have to buy more beans now) and that gave me 5 more quarts of meals. I also had some bacon that I added after cooking it separately. Oh, I also added a few different seasonings to change the basic flavor and add variety.

I'm glad I have a freezer. Now, I have 4 different types of meals all based on the same concept of high protein, yet complete in nutritional needs for me. I have enough food to last through the whole winter, along with some other food for variety.

The house smells wonderful and will for another day or so. I will eat well and be happy for another few months.

I do understand other people's need to eat a constant variety of food, but this simplicity seems to work for me. It decreases the illusion that food should be a major part of the day or used for entertainment. Food becomes something you do in order to continue to live, much like taking care of your teeth or basic hygiene. 

I do miss being able to just binge out on junk once in awhile, but the benefits are well worth it.