Time to get serious about dropping the fat belly!

I knew when I started exercising, that I would at some point have to get serious about my diet.  I love pizza, pasta, steak, and all yummy things to eat; especially ice cream.  Well, after three years, it's time.

After talking with a Jon at Max Muscle in Placerville, I took an inventory of my daily food intake to analyze how much sugar I was taking in each day.  Know what, I was eating a LOT of sugar every day.  Oh my!  It freaked me out how much I was eating.  From the brown sugar in my morning oatmeal, to the 5g to 20g in each item I ate like low fat yogurt, to Grape Juice, to my evening ice cream fetish; I was a sugar zombie.

So last Monday, I cut my sugar intake by 75% which wasn't hard to do.  I stopped the brown sugar in my oatmeal, stopped the mid-day cookies, and the evening ice cream.  I replaced the brown sugar in my oatmeal  with Agava Nectar along with high protein supplements.  I also started eating about every 3-4 hours so my stomach always has something in it and I never feel hungry.  Actually, the mid morning and afternoon snacks are basically high protein shakes which keep my stomach feeling full while providing fuel for my muscles.  Lastly, I cut the size of my lunch and dinner portions; this was the challenge for me.

I have to travel a few times a week for business and eating while traveling is always a challenge.  Chipotle is a favorite stop, but their meals are at least 800 calories which is way too big for one sitting.  So I have to drop the flour tortilla and eat just the contents, but that is still 500 calories.

I was always told that you shouldn't fill up just before bed, but this is wrong.  Lean meat and the proper protein (no sugar) for dinner and a late night snack are OK; just not too much.  Oh yeah, drastically reduce the pizza and pasta intake as it will convert to sugar while resting.  That's how God created our bodies, store up for a time of famine which we never experience here in the US.

It's assumed that I'm exercising at least five times a week.  Cardio walking is key, but I switched it around too.  More about that next time.