GHD Resolutions #1 and #2: Why? (Part II)

In Part I, I talked about the initial changes I've made to my diet: six meals a day, no soda, no caffeine and more fruits and vegetables.

Some other changes I've made, which have been really beneficial, are: drinking more water, cooking more, adding more lean proteins to my diet, and portion control. I'll talk about all of these below and a little more on the changes I mentioned in the previous post.

When I stopped drinking soda and coffee (i.e. no caffeine), it was a hard transition, especially the no caffeine. In high school, I used to work at Starbucks, so I got massive amounts of coffee for free and quickly became a caffeine junkie. I used to also work the morning shift, which meant that I had to get up at 5 AM to open up the store. This quickly turned into me taking 5 shots of espresso every morning. Although that helped me get through the morning rush, I quickly developed a mini ulcer and had the constant taste of coffee/espresso on me. College didn’t help the problem. I constantly procrastinated which always led to me pulling all-nighters and me binging on coffee and soda to stay awake.

However, in the last year, I’ve weaned myself off of caffeine. I started by cutting out coffee from my daily routine (people still think I’m crazy at work for not starting the day with a cup of coffee). I substituted with diet sodas and tea. I soon cut out the diet sodas as well and even tea. I’ve gotten to the point where I no longer need caffeine to function and I don’t really miss it. Cutting it out of my diet has made me sacrifice those nice energy surges that it brought, but also helped to end those constant energy up and downs throughout the day. Also, by cutting out caffeine as well as soda, I’ve been able to supplement that with a much higher intake of good old water.

There’s honestly nothing better than a nice cold cup of water when you are thirsty. Back in high school when I used to play soccer, my teammates and I used to carry around jugs of water throughout the school day and drink them to hydrate us for our games later in the day. However, when I wasn’t in season, I quickly turned back to sodas and fruit juices for my hydration needs. For the most part, unless I was playing a sport, I wasn’t drinking water.

In college, one of the guys I worked with mentioned to me that a lot of people confuse hunger with dehydration. After a little bit of reading, I agreed with his conclusion. (If you don’t think its true, the next time you get a craving, try and have a glass of water first to see if that helps.) I also read somewhere that a nice cold glass of water first thing in the morning can help kick start your metabolism. Whether that is true (I’m inclined to think it is), it has helped me with waking up in the mornings as gulping down a cold glass of water first thing in the morning is kind of hard for me so it forces me to wake up a little.

Besides the glass of water to start the day, I drink water constantly throughout the day. The only other liquid I consistently drink is skim milk. Soda and juice are pretty much nonexistent now in my diet and that staple of college, beer, has also been put in moderation. The added intake of water has really helped me feel better throughout the day.

Another major change has been cooking more often. When I lived in CT, I cooked quite often, but in NYC, its become more of a necessity for me since I just can't afford to eat out all the time anymore. An added bonus is that I actually like cooking.

Most days I prepare my own lunch and dinner. I don't try to make it too make it to complicated, but every now and then, I do make some fancier things. Since I'm cooking for myself, I have more control on what is going into my meals. I've tried to infuse more fresh vegetables in my meal as well as leaner meats (chicken, turkey) and eat fish at least once or twice a week. Probably the most important advantage of cooking for myself is being able to control portion size. I've learned that I get full on less. I'm not too full and then feel groggy or get food coma afterwards. It's still taking some getting used to and is a continuous learning process, but overall, it's made things in my life much better.