April 25 - Day 2

April 25 - Day 2
? pounds

I forgot to weigh in this morning when I woke up, but that's ok. I doubt anything other than water weight has changed in 24 hours. Just another day in paradise here in San Diego. I woke up, had my coffee and went out for an easy 45 minute run with my girlfriend Maggie. We raced a half marathon in La Jolla last Sunday so, my legs are really sore. I could only run very easy and just take in the majestic sights along Pacific Beach where we live...only?! We live here!

Meal 1 Breakfast:

Crunchy PB and strawberry J on toasted french toast bread with some strawberry light cream cheese with scrambled egg whites (1 yolk) with onion and tomato and pineapple salsa to finish it off. Water and my daily vitamins.
= 745 calories (including coffee from before my run)

Right on target of 700 calories per meal and damn good. The egg scramble really brought things to life. This ensemble makes an interesting, but tasty sandwich if you put the eggs on the toast with the PB and J. I'll have to think of a name for that one...

Nothing shocking to report. I feel good.

Meal 2 Lunch:

Toasted cinamon raisin bagel w/ PB and J (just one tbsp of each to make it official) with banana slices and some chocolate whey protein powder with 1% organic milk. Definitely not bad. Not quite a Salvaggio's famous sub sandwich, but it'll do. Incidentally, they make THE best sandwiches I have found anywhere and that includes Chicago where I grew up. Where are they? Boulder Colorado! I was shocked too.
= 725 calories

I missed my snacks today because I was busy getting into other things. I'm sure I could have found my way to an apple or orange as usual, but I wasn't really hungry and it just didn't happen. I got a new idea for dinner including PB and J from my good friend B while she was cutting my hair yesterday though. We haven't quite dialed in the name for it yet, but here are some of the "ingredients" we're using to come up with one: manteca de cacahuete (peanut butter in spanish) and jalea (jelly) "tostida" (a combo word arrived at by merging tostada with tortilla...now that's a mouthful.

Meal #3 Dinner:

I ran out to the store to pick up some new materials for tonight. My friend B was onto something that I had to try. Nothing shocking, but it was actually pretty good for what it is. Whole grain tortillas (50 cal each) warmed on the stove until slightly crispy with a little of the magic PB and J spread on each. Inspired by the good ole cheesey quesadilla. To go with the main course, I opted to grill some fresh veggies and season them up along with a nice dinner salad (a staple in my dinner menu most nights). Now, I promise you that I really don't have a beer every night, but I did again tonight. This was a BIG meal volume wise full of foods that are mostly low calorie for their volume/size (low calorie density). I felt like I ate closer to 1,000 calories, but nope...not even after my homemade dressing and all.
= 680 calories

After dinner came a cup of Starbucks decaf with a little coffee mate cuz I'm really not that hard core. Just a warm cup of something.

In total today, I ate 2,255 calories. That's pretty low for me and my activity level. After taking my easy 45 minute run into account, I should be at a negative energy balance today of about 1,095 calories. At this rate, I should definitely be able to lose the weight I'm curious to see if I can, but it's hard to say for sure that I will. This is again a little on the high side of my defecit goal (above it technically), but I'm experimenting with my numbers a bit right now. The human body is very complex and there are many factors that affect how the body responds to changes in nutritional strategies.

Today was a good day for the PB and J. All systems go. Typical confidence early on...let's see what happens next.

I've been getting some interesting emails from friends and family about what I'm doing so far. Great to hear from all of you. Bring on those recipes! If they're pretty wholesome, I'll give them a try. Mos def. Here are some good ideas from a friend of mine in Georgia:

"I have always been a fan of peanut butter, sliced banana, and honey on a whole grain waffle. You can always go with a PB and berry, protein powder,milk and yogurt smoothie ... again a departure, but you may be interested inthat after a couple weeks of PB&J sandwiches."

Thanks Lorrie! Please say hello to my crew chief! Lorrie's husband Patrick was our team's crew chief for 6 and 1/2 days during the bicycle Race Across America in 2003. 4 guys, 24 hours non-stop riding in rotation, no shower for nearly a week, and a few PB and J sandwiches for sure...and at the strangest hours in some of THE strangest places in our country between San Diego and Atlantic City, New Jersey. PB and J on crumpets was one of my favorite fuels for that adventure.

See you tomorrow.