Everyday Systems: nosdiet: message 2963 of 3212

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Hi,

Ok, so I should confess that I'm only joining half-essed here. *snerk* 

I'm only taking on the "no sweets" part of the plan. I'm a grazer, and 

I like it that way. In terms of "no sweets," I don't really save up my 

chocolate cravings--it's more that I give in to impulse too easily--so 

keeping the no sweets rule ironclad is really helping me out.

Btw, I'm not really here for comfort and encouragement. I just like 
reading about people's diets and tips without all the hardcore 
punishment and vigilance, which seems to me to be the core of the no-s 

diet: an easy-going, generally healthy lifestyle. (Not that I think 
there's anything wrong with encouragement, it just doesn't help me 
personally, just like softer words for "failure" don't personally help 

me either, perhaps.)

In terms of my own diet, I try to eat whole grain stuff like 
stoneground whole wheat bread and oatmeal. I usually cook the oatmeal 
in vegetable or chicken broth or mix it with (plain) yogurt, so it's 
not bland-tasting. I became a whole-grain convert a few years ago, and 

it was a slooow conversion from white bread to that fake wheat bread 
that is brown but is still made with enriched flour to whole wheat 
bread to stoneground whole wheat bread or sprouted wheat bread. I even 

check to make sure they don't use high-fructose corn syrup in it, so 
yeah, I'm pretty hardcore about it on my own behalf. Thing is, white 
bread tastes too insubstantial and airy to me now. My palate has 
gotten used to dense bread, and I like it that way. So if any of you 
are interested in switching over, my advice is to not do it hardcore, 
and just let yourself get used to it until you like it. Like, remember 

when you had to get used to the taste of alcohol or coffee? Same 
thing, but in reverse. I still don't like the taste of alcohol, so I 
stopped bothering to try it, and have since gone teetotaler more or 
less.

On the plus side of grazing, I started doing 50 jumping jacks before 
every mini-meal I take, so the more times I eat, the more I exercise. 
It was really surprising to me to find out that it literally takes 
less than 2 minutes to do the jumping jacks--my version of saying 
grace, I suppose. :)

I'm not really trying to lose weight per se. I'm more trying to build 
muscle and lose fat and improve cardiovascular health, so my scale is 
going up right now, and I'm hoping that's mostly muscle weight. Right 
now, I'm doing a fun shovel-glove inspired hit-the-spike exercise with 

squat and tricep extension at either end--without the shovel-glove 
because I'm too weak right now to carry the weight; 3 sets of 15 are 
already kicking my ass. I do think, however, that at my optimum muscle 

and fat mass, I'll probably be 100lbs at a guess (I'm only 5"1, I 

don't have an anorexic deathwish), but that's many years into the 
future, if ever, and it'll depend on what 100lbs muscular really looks 

like. Does anyone have an idea, preferrably with link and pic? I was 
thinking something along the lines of Britney Spears at her fittest--
she's pretty short, yes? I'm at 120 right now, but it's mostly flab at 

the moment.

mayo