Day 21

I'm three weeks into 100 DAYS TO GREAT.  Honestly speaking, this last week felt a lot slower than the first two did.  100 days is starting to feel like PLENTY of time to make a big dent in body fat while seriously improving my nutrition habits.  (Win-win!)

On Day 19, I shared that I've been worried about what I'll see at my next weigh-in on 12/3.  After writing that, I decided to be a more active participant in my own success.  Ryan has provided me with a very detailed nutrition plan of when to eat, and what to eat, very specifically.  With more than a week until the weigh-in remaining, I thought about where I could improve in my habits, and identified two things: 1. Portion sizes and 2. Timing.

After weighing in at the two-week mark, I got a little too carefree.  I thought, "Man, I can eat a lot of these awesome foods in large quantities and still lose weight."  Rather than carefully measuring portion sizes, I'd been eyeballing; or maybe adding little garnishes like some shredded cheese in my eggs.  Wrong-o.  So for the last two nights, I have prepped my entire day's worth of food for the following day, to the letter of the nutrition plan.

Beyond that, it's easy to let that time to eat slip by between work, school, or tasks around the house.  My nutrition plan has me eating 300-400 calories every 3 hours or so.  If I let one of those moments slip, all of a sudden I'm behind and eating twice within really close proximity of one another - essentially having one mega meal.  Why is timing important?  I asked Ryan to find out.  Here's his advice:

"It's primarily about consistency.  When you eat at the same times each day, it's easier for your body and your lifestyle to adjust.  It's like a relationship - dating someone who is bi-polar is really hard to regulate.  It's hard to make decisions."

In this case, eating large meals at different times each day makes me the bi-polar one, and my pancreas the poor sap who's trying to accommodate me.  Ryan continued: "[The nutrition plan] regulates your blood sugar and insulin.  It keeps you from high or low spikes, and provides you with better energy levels."  So that explains why I haven't been having food comas, a.k.a. fomas, lately...

Lastly, when one's metabolism is firing consistently, it will burn more body fat.  So I've got that going for me.  And on that note... it's time to eat.  :)