Initially, I felt healthier and smugger as I lost a bit of weight. But that trend sort of plateaued and reversed itself as I made excuses to eat out at pork dumpling restaurants and taquerias and developed a habit of adding molten chunks of cheese to everything I cook. Combine that with a steady stream of booze and an aging metabolism and suddenly I'm back up to here:
This puts my Body Mass Index (BMI) at 27.2, i.e., "overweight." In order to be of "normal weight," I should be around 15 pounds lighter, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The problem is that I don't really think about what I put in my mouth. When I make a meal, I instinctively go for hearty things like pastas and stews and greasy fried things accompanied by fistfuls of cheese and glasses of wine. Salads never even cross my mind.
I need to break the habit.
According to self-help lore, habits can be broken in around 30 days, so that's what I'm going to try: train my body to crave healthier foods. Here are the rules:
- this applies only for the month of April
- a completely vegan diet
- nothing deep fried
- no added sugar
- no booze
- no sugar substitutes (I'm talking to you, Crystal Light)
- no meat analogs (texurized vegetable protein, faux ground meats, etc.)
- no fake cheese (easily done since they all suck)
- no fast food, vegan or not
I'm not expecting miracles, but we'll see what happens. This past weekend, I tried to prime my body to make it ready for a healthy change. This process consisted of eating four pizzas, cooking a fantastic grass-fed filet mignon that had been sitting in my freezer for two years (and thus grandfathered past my no-meat pledge) and downing a few bottles of wine. My liver wasn't happy, but the rest of me enjoyed it.
Next, I'll talk cooking strategies.
No comments:
Post a Comment