For the first time in at least a year, possibly four, I'm tipping the scales at less than 180 pounds. I've been as high as 190 as recently as December. For most of the last year I've been unsuccessfully experimenting with diet and exercise regimes, but most of them have only resulted in a maintenance diet rather than any sort of fat loss. Since January, however, I've gone back to my old stand-by and eschewed carbohydrates. I'm feeling great, and I'm down ten pounds from my all-time high.

My diet includes:
low-carb pizzas, homemade with Mission "carb balance" tortillas (baked dry and crispy on a griddle) and good cheeses
Fresh, crisp Fuji apples (one a day, maybe two if I'm munchy)
Uncooked instant oatmeal packets with some milk (treat food, once every couple of days maybe)
Good cheese. Blue, Havarti, sharp Cheddar, spiced Jack, Brie... all used for small snacks.
Lettuce-wrapped burgers at Carl's Jr (maybe two per week)
Fresh broccoli with some blue cheese dressing
Assorted "oh, I might as well have what you're having" meals in moderation, one every couple of days, max.
12oz cans of Muscle Milk, but only right after a trip to the gym.
Assorted sugar-free beverages, some carbonated, some not. Some caffeinated, some not.

I've also been doing the olive oil trick from Freakonomics. Sometimes I'll skip a meal, and I'll just have a sip of extra virgin olive oil instead. It comes out to about 100 calories, and it shuts down my appetite for a few hours. As long as I take it easy with the next meal this trick allows me to almost effortlessly shave as much as 1000 calories off of my day. As an added benefit that's one more meal I don't have to spend time preparing, so I get more work done.

I'm thrilled to be looking at the one-seventies on the scale. My goal is to get myself at LEAST down to 165, with my stretch goal being 155. I still have a long way to go, but this diet feels maintainable.

Tags: low carb
I feel: accomplished

I've been aggressively low-carbing and appetite-suppressing since mid-January, and it has been working. I'm down about four or five notches on my belt, about 1% or 2% body-fat, and my weight is down 8 pounds from my high of 190, and my average weight (the "center point" around which it seems to fluctuate during the week) is down 5 pounds from 188.

Oh, and the cholesterol test I took on Wednesday came back at 160.

I'm feeling great.

Last night I ate out at Bangkok Grill in Orem (800 S State, on the east side of State and the south side of 800 -- you REALLY need to eat there if you haven't) with a bunch of local pros and friends. My stomach seems to be smaller than it used to be. I overate, yes (it's still quite hard not to) but I hit the "I have overeaten" feeling far, far sooner than usual.

My goal: By the time any of you non-Utah folk actually see me again (WorldCon in August, Self-Syndication Seminar in September) I want to weigh in at a trim-no-wait-that's-actually-svelte 160.

Tags: low carb

Before we start with this recipe, I've had one of these each day for the last two weeks and have lost about five pounds so far. Low-carbing doesn't work for everybody, but I experimented a lot with diet and exercise recently, and only a return to lower-carb eating has had the right effect.


The recipe:

1 Mission Carb Balance tortilla -- medium sized (the white ones). These have an "impact carb" count of about 10g.
1 to 2 tbsp tomato paste or pasta sauce. Pick your favorite.
about four to six ounces of good cheese. I used sliced Jarsburg (a sweet cheese reminiscent of emmentaler), queso quesadilla (think "mexican mozzarella") and a shredded blend of jack and cheddar.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Toast the tortilla crisp in a skillet or on a griddle on the stove while the oven preheats. No oil. Do this dry. You want it to be as crispy and dark-golden as you can get it without burning it, and you don't want to add "fried-food" chemicals to it.

Take the crisp-toasted tortilla and lay it on a baking stone or thick cookie sheet. Spread the tomato sauce on it. Layer the cheese on it. No skimping. The cheese should be thick. Put it in the oven, switch the oven to "BROIL" and set a timer for 6 minutes.

Do some dishes while you wait. :-)

What emerges from the oven after six minutes will look, smell, and yes TASTE just like a thin-crust pizza, only with a super-thin crust. Oh, and the cheese will be far, far better than any pizza-chain cheese. Depending on the ingredients and the amount of cheese, this meal will set you back between 250 and 500 calories, and maybe 15g of carbohydrates.

Not low-carbing? Same recipe, use any old tortilla, and get decadent with the toppings. The only real trick here is getting the tortilla crispy enough to support finger-fooding the pizza wedges.

I just had one of these made with Jarsburg and a cranberry chevre -- no sauce, and only those two cheeses. Really, really good.

Tags: low carb