Here’s what I’ve been eating pretty regularly as of late.

• Breakfast – some fruits
• Lunch – big bowl of yogurt with gronolla, and fruits
• Dinner – Bowl of rice with either beans and corn or some fish. And some yogurt.
• I drink plenty of orange juice and chocolate soy milk.

Todo:

• Bring the greens back into the diet.
• Replace gronolla with a mix of other stuff – maybe more fruits, nuts, some cereal – whatever I can add to yogurt in the morning.

This is starting to get pretty repetitive, so until something changes drastically, I’m going to stop logging about what I ate over the past week. But basically what it comes down to is: eat lots of proteins and vitamins, plenty of carbs, and few fats. Finally eat plenty of greens for their mineral and fiber content. I may add a “what I ate this week” paragraph to future log entries – but keeping a dedicated weekly post is starting to get a bit boring!

Monday

• Lunch – Salad, bread and chocolate soy milk.
• It’s It Ice cream sandwich.
• Dinner – Hummus and bread.

Tuesday

• Lunch – Berkeley Bowl soup and Polenta.
• Dinner – Chocolate soy milk, baked salmon, salad, and polenta.

Wednesday was spectacular:

• Lunch – Pasta
• 2 It’s It ice cream sandwiches.
• Dinner – leftover Pasta.

Thursday

• Brunch – Fruits, hummus, bread, soy milk
• Dinner – Baked salmon and polenta

Friday

• Lunch – Leftover salmon, hummus, bread, and chocolate soy milk.
• Dinner – Beer.

Saturday

• Hummus, bread, oranges, soy milk all day long.

Oh in case you’re wondering: yes, I love hummus and bread

I didn’t really do a good job of recording anything this week. I did, however, get a lot of programing done. AND.. and.. I discovered a cool trick on iTunes (more on that soon). Anyway, here’s the lowdown on what I ate:

• Plenty of almonds and raisins in between meals.
• One omelette – then I ran out of eggs, and decided not to get more. Apparently they’re very high in cholesterol, and one should ideally only eat eggs, perhaps, once a week and not much more.
• Made my own version of Pasta del Diablo twice – the sauce was basically crushed tomatoes, tuna, some salt, basil and 1 Thai green chili.
• Fish n’ Chips at Pacific Catch in San Francisco Betty Tseng, McAllister, Grace and Peter Power.
• Made pasta twice more, but this time with black beans, fresh tomatoes, basil and angel hair pasta. I brought out my Italian and Mexican in one shot… tasted pretty good actually
• Didn’t eat any salad this week.. just didn’t feel like it. Also didn’t drink soy milk (ran out and was too lazy to go get some).
• Ate plenty of tangerines.

The good news is that I emptied the fridge and get all new food today. Also, I think I lost my camera.. somewhere :-/

Thats right; from here on, until the end of October, it’ll be sunny everyday in Berkeley! I declare a declaration.. or something. Anyway, here’s what I ate this week. But first! This week’s food compilation:

Everyday this week:

• Always: some almonds, raisins and biscuits in case I get a bit hungry in-between meal

Sunday

• Brunch – Omelette – from hereon known as the Bankok Dangerous Omelette (egg(s), onion, thai green chili, salt, pepper).
• Dinner – Went to Le Mediterranee in Berkeley and had their Middle-Eastern plate.
  

Monday

• Lunch – Salad with tomatoes, orange, kiwi
• Dinner – Fettuccine with tuna in tomato sauce (tuna, tomato puree, salt, chili, garlic).

Tuesday:

• Lunch – bento box with gyoza and California roll
• Dinner – diner food: tuna cheeze melt, fries, and orange juice.

Wed: St. Patrick’s day.

• Lunch – Salad with the usual ingredients.
• Dinner – Baked salmon seasoned with salt, pepper, chili powder, and basil.

Thurs:

• Leftovers from Wednesday.

Friday

• Breakfast – Bankok dangerous omelette with 1 egg instead of the usual two. I think I’ll just have a 1-egg omelette in the morning from now on – it fills me up just as well.
• In between meals – chocolate soy milk.
• Late lunch – Bread, hummus, raisins, dry fruits, almonds, chocolate soy milk.

Week 4 was hugely better than Week 3. How huge? Well, just take a look at this awesomeness:

Saturday, and Sunday somehow got lodged into last week. But I did have an awesome brunch at Venus in Berkeley with Betty Tseng.

Monday:

• Breakfast / Lunch – Chocolate soy milk, hummus, warm olive bread, and salad (mixed greens, parsley, corn, tangerine, tomatoes, kiwi, some salt and pepper along with some balsamic vinegar).
• Dinner – Baked Chilean sea bass seasoned with salt, pepper, chili powder and a proper crop dusting of basil. I had leftover salad from lunch.

Tuesday:

• All day – Caught a flu, which turned into a solid fever. Had lots of oranges, some tea, and thats about it.

Wednesday:

• Breakfast – Oranges,
• Lunch – Bread, hummus, salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, kiwi, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar).
• In between – chocolate.
• Dinner – Bread and hummus.

Thursday:

• Brunch – Omelette. I made it with half an onion, some salt, pepper, and one tiny Thai green chili (diced). It turned out to be the hottest omelette ever. I hadn’t experienced my mouth burn the way it did in a very.. very long time. A couple of slices of bread, some tomato ketchup, and chocolate soy milk.
• Dinner – Played Starcraft for dinner.

Friday:

• Brunch – Flamethrower omelette (see Thursday).
• Dinner – Salad.

I have more or less forgotten to record my meals this past week. I’ll get back to watching what I eat starting tomorrow morning! =). That said, I still drank plenty of soy milk, ate some salad and some fantastic fajitas, burritos, and some other mexican food. The diet was mostly healthy, but I did not eat nearly as many fruits as the first two weeks. In any case, I should be recording what I eat, regardless of how good / bad it is. Stay tuned!

Theme of this week was – “how to do it well until dinner, when you finally lose control”… or something.

Saturday

• Went for a swim. Had a pear afterwards.
• Lunch – 3 slices of bread and some Tabuleh. 1 kiwi.
• Dinner – Heavy Indian food.

Sunday

• Tabuleh, cup of pistachios, 1 kiwi, 1 pear, 1 glass of milk and 8 digestive cookies.
• Dinner – Pizza and beer. Bread, hummus, tabuleh, 1/2 a chocolate bar.

Monday

• Went for a swim
• Lunch – Salad with mixed greens, 1 kiwi, 1 tomato, 1 mango, lemon juice, and some bread.

In the middle – chocolate – probably two bars.

• Dinner – BBQ’d pork chops, salad, rice, bread and some orange juice.

Tuesday

• Lunch – 2 glasses of soy milk, bread, tabuleh, some tangerines.
• Mid-day – glass of soy milk, bread, tabuleh, tangerines. Cup full of pistachios.
• Swimming
• Oven baked salmon, tabuleh, bread.

Wednesday

• Lunch – Salad with mixed greens, 1 kiwi, 1 tangerine, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, 1 pear, some salt, pepper. 1 glass of soymilk.
• Dinner – bar food (Canada vs. Russia Olympic hockey).

Thursday

• Breakfast – glass of soy milk.
• Lunch – Salad with everything, and some bread. 1 cup of ice cream.
• Dinner  - Shrimp curry, bread, soy milk.
• Dessert – some more chocolate soy milk.

Friday

• Bowl full of pistachios, soy milk, some bread and leftover shrimp curry.
• Indian food – naan, potatoes, lentil soup.

This week started on Wednesday. The plan is to post what I had for dinner, every Friday night. This way you’ll be able to check out what I had, and if you like anything, get your own ingredients on Saturday, which is usually when a lot of farmers’ markets open.

Wednesday – I woke up late, so skipped breakfast entirely and went directly to lunch!

• Lunch: Salad with mixed greens, baby tomatoes, 2 kiwis, bit of salt. Hummus. Bread. Chocolate soy milk.
• Chocolate Bar (Alex’s house is full of it.. can’t resist.. the urge!!)
• Dinner: 1 small pan pizza. 1 pint of beer.
• Late night: 1 glass of chocolate soy milk.

Thursday – It isn’t easy to work from home and not dig into the fridge.

• Breakfast – Glass of chocolate soy milk.
• Lunch – Hummus, bread, chocolate soy milk.
• Exercise: Went for  a swim – 20 50m laps. 1km in total.
• Dinner – Baked salmon fillet with some salt, chili powder, and basil (or was it oregano). Some tabuleh, hummus and bread.

Friday – When making ice cream cakes, it is difficult not to eat some ice cream.

• Breakfast: 1 pear.
• Lunch – Salad – mixed greens, tomatoes, kiwis, a bit of salt, lemon juice. Hummus. Bread
• Ice cream – 1 cup.
• Dinner – Malaysian Rendang curry chicken, mixed sea food, and 4 rotis.
• Late night – 1 kiwi (Kiwis are great.. they’re like the court jester of the fruit kingdom.. or something).

Now you might be wondering, “how exactly is all that Malaysian food, pizza and beer healthy?”. To that I’ll say the following – it isn’t, but as you can see, I only eat somewhat unhealthily when I eat out. And hopefully you’ll see over the next few regular weekly postings that I eat in most of the time. If I eat out more, you’ll see that too – one of the reasons for me to post this is for me to follow my own advice .

What?

• Look fit and feel healthy with minimal work. Thats right, with minimal work!

Why?

• I have quite a few friends that are trying to lose weight. It isn’t easy. There’s way too much misinformation out there and I’d like to share what has worked for me over the past year.

How?

• It definitely can’t be by going to the gym – that is too much work.
• It can’t be by spending a lot of money on food. That means working too much to buy food!
• It has to be simple. Something that can be repeated.

Okay then HOW!?

• By eating well and maintaining a somewhat active lifestyle.

Explanation of the What:

• According to this wikipedia article, men athletes maintain between 6% and 13% of fat as a percentage of body weight, while female athletes have between 14% and 20%. If you are male and have a six-pack, then you have athletic levels of body fat %.
• Definition of minimal work – to spend little time in the preparation of food, very little money in the acquisition of food, and only as much effort as is necessary in pursuing the activities that one enjoys.

Explanation of the How!?:

• To maintain low levels of fat, daily nutrition must contain low levels of fat. Fat that is consumed and stored needs to be worked off and that is too much work.
• Other factors in eating well involve getting enough carbs but not too many, getting enough proteins for your body to rebuild itself, getting enough calcium to keep your bones strong, and enough vitamins to keep everything functioning well.
• The basics are as follows: When you wake up and are hungry, eat fruits until you’re no longer hungry (carbs and vitamins for breakfast). Then when you’re hungry again, eat green leafy vegetables (proteins, minerals and vitamins for lunch and some carbs too). Drinking plenty of milk / soy milk / yogurt with/between meals (calcium). Then for your final meal(s) – some rice, beans, corn, and a small amount of fish (carbs, more proteins, omega-3 fats).
• All in all the most difficult thing here is getting enough calcium on a daily basis – protein rich foods such as red meat, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, wheat, food with preservatives all inhibit the absorption of calcium and force your body to draw the calcium from the bones, weakening the bones over time.

Some possible “negative” side-effects:

• You will have more free time. This may lead to minor boredom. Many people like to eat when they’re bored. My suggestion: find a hobby if you have nothing better to do – learning to play guitar, photography, enjoying the benefits and company of your friends and relatives, and dancing come to mind.

The Plan:

Simply put, I will do the following:

• Log how much money I spend on food, what I prepare and how long it takes and post it here on a weekly basis. I will also post how much I exercised each week.