Time for changes

I think this is week 3 of Zoning, and things are still going well. I've been more consistent eating than I've been working out. I've yet to hop on the scale this week, but I don't think it has budged much. I'm fine with that. I've been fairly consistent logging in what I eat every day into my FitDay "Diet and Weight Loss Journal." I don't look at it that way, and instead of a way to track what I'm eating, what time of day, where my calories come from, and the break out of my carbs, protein, and fat. Sure, I want to lose some weight and lean out, but that will all happen if I eat clean.

This past weekend I was was up in Philly for the day to visit my former boss and to eat. She knew of my recent addition of meat to my every day eating, even though she's a vegetarian herself, and accommodated our eating likes and dislikes - Feta cheese on the side of the Greek salad, and olives separate from the hummus. We gabbed and noshed on veggies, hummus, and cheese. It was the first time I'd ever had raw cheese (Feta) and it was phenomenal! It made me wonder what I've been eating all along if this is what cheese is supposed to taste like.**

I didn't write down all that I ate that day, but I stuck with mostly veggies and tried to go easy on the hummus and cheese. Okay, notsomuch on the cheese since it was de.licious, and it was also the only source of protein on the table. I brought a bag of cashews and noshed on that on the way home. Getting home at 12:30am was toooough!

In addition to writing down what I eat, I'm trying to eat something new each week. First it was chicken, which has turned into my main source of protein along with the eggs I already eat in abundance. Last week I had turkey bacon for the first time. Over the weekend I had my first buffalo burger. My GF bought some pork chops and buffalo burgers at the weekly farmer's market near her office, so we had pork chops and apple sauce for dinner Friday night, and buffalo burgers Sunday night. We picked up some raw cheddar cheese from Trader Joe's and had a thin slice on top of the burger (no bun). It's still taking us awhile to learn how to grill/grill on the G. Foreman, but the combination of the two is a taste I can't describe. And it's shocking for me to say that meat. tasted. GOOD! I savored every bite and talked about it two days later.

And I only stopped talking about it because I finally had bacon for breakfast. Not the Morningstar Farms stuff that I usually, and still occasionally, have, but a pig with salt and other seasonings. It was all natural uncured bacon from Trader Joe's. I stood at the meat case trying to figure out what to get and said 'this one'. Pretty unsophisticated. I usually take my breakfast to eat at work, and made sure to pour the bacon grease in the container on top of the eggs and bacon. I'd usually do that with syrup, but that is a no-no. Not a bad substitute.

I also purchased salmon over the weekend and have yet to cook it. I'm not sure what new and exciting things I'll try next week, but I'm thinking of flank steak or scallops and wrapping them in bacon.

I'm going to make a few modifications even though I feel fine at 16 blocks and 2x the fat. Looking at my profile, I'm right around 25%-C 30%-P 45%-F each day. I'd like to get those totals closer to 20-30-50.

Here's what I'm looking to do:

- Cut back on fruit and get most of my carbs from vegetables

- Cut back on dairy from 3-4x day to 2-3x as a source of protein.

- Increase fat from 2x to 3x.

- Get more sleep.

- Don't eat dinner so late.

I'm eating dinner around 8-9pm each night and getting to bed around 10:30pm. Not good since I *try* to get up most mornings at 5, but snooze until the GF's alarm goes off at 5:25am. It caught up to me this week as I had to take a little cat nap after work yesterday.

It shouldn't be hard to make these minor changes. I'll keep it this way for the next two weeks (through the first week of August) before making any more adjustments.


**Yes, I'm aware of the dangers of eating raw cheese. Educate yourself a tad