Ok.  It's Tuesday, day five.  As of this morning I was down 9.5 lbs from Friday morning.  It hasn't been unpleasant at all!  Sure, I've felt a little hungry at times.  Sure, I've had to fight those impulses to grab a handful of chips and a bowl of salsa.  But the experience hasn't involved any suffering or even difficult moments.

I have stayed on a routine.  Breakfast around 7am is usually a chocolate shake.  I really like the shakes.  They are thick enough to enjoy.  It's like drinking Nestle Qwik.  I precede the chocolate shake with a cup of coffee, usually about 13 ounces of dark roast and a stevia.  Then I bring another 13 oz. cup to work with me.

That holds me until noon when I have a vanilla shake.  The vanilla shakes are good, but they don't seem to be quite as satiating as the chocolate.  It might just be my imagination.

Anyway, that holds me until I get home after work.  Around 4:15 I have another chocolate shake.  You see the pattern.  Well, I change up the pattern at dinner time.  Around 7pm I use the potato soup mix.  I add chicken boullion, garlic powder, and two tablespoons of olive oil.  I have to whisk it a while to blend the oil, but it's really satisfying.  About 90 seconds in the microwave, and I have a nice diversion from the same ole stuff.

Then, before bed, I have my last shake of the day.  It's another vanilla to keep the balance going.  That prevents me from going to bed hungry.  I'm often not hungry when I go to bed, but the rules state that I have to drink all the shakes.

Each shake contains 15g of protein and 160 calories.  So skipping a shake would deprive me of necessary nutrients.  That amounts to 75g of protein and 800 calories every day.  When you add the two Tbs of olive oil, the totals are 75g of protein and 1040 calories a day.  That's pretty amazing.

The highlight of the day is when I step on the scales when I wake up.  Thus far, I have lost about 2.5 per day.  I know that will slow down, but it's really encouraging.  Stay tuned for further updates.

Here's the Thing

When I moved to Louisiana in 1987, I weighed 190 lbs.  Today I weigh 320 lbs.  That extra 130 lbs is an expression of the joy I have experienced as citizen/participant of the party we call Louisiana.  You see in Louisiana, a meal isn't just a way to nourish the body.  In the Bayou State, a meal is a celebration.  The anticipation that goes along with planning and preparing a meal, any meal, only adds to the experience.  We gather with friends and celebrate with food.

So here's the thing.  In a couple weeks I will start a liquid diet.  The good folks at Pennington Biomedical Research have invited me to participate in a five year weight loss experiment that begins with four months on a liquid diet.  I plan to blog the experience here.  Stay tuned.

It Begins

So I'm starting my diet today.  About two hours in, I am happy to report no ill effects.  I started with the chocolate shake and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.  The consistency was better than I expected!  I had pizza as my last meal before I started the shakes, so I wasn't very hungry at breakfast.

My goal is to have a shake at 7am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm.  By noon I was starting to feel pretty hungry.  After lunch I was still a little hungry.  I drank some water and that helped a bit.  I think I will make 3pm with no trouble.

As it turns out, I powered through with no trouble.  I had a shake at 3, then 6, then 9.  I made through the first day without too much struggle.  Now, I get to wait for my weigh-in in the morning.