I’m not planning to update every day, but here’s two in a row. I cleaned out my shelf on the fridge and in the cupboard to eliminate the temptation of unsweetened mini-wheats and oatmeal. I hit Trader Joe’s and Safeway. As you might expect, I bought meat and cheese. And also vegetables, the usual–broccoli and mushrooms, slightly odd stuff–asparagus, and bok choy, which I have triennially when it’s oriental week at some random cafeteria.
Also, I sort of left out my thoughts on the actual day yesterday (since it was sort of an intro post). I went to a friend’s birthday BBQ at Vasona Lake Park. And I ate a lot of beef. It was my first experience really avoiding the carbs. From what I remember, there were cupcakes, chips, strawberries, rolls for tri-tip sandwiches, popsicles (it was over 90 degrees so these looked real good), and naan. It looked good. But I’d really be in much worse shape mentally if I were avoiding meat. I don’t think I’m displaying superhuman powers by any means, but I don’t feel that the low-carb thing is overwhelming. You basically get to replace most of the calories you’d normally consume through carbs with protein and fat. Even saturated fat. Mom, I’ll be ok, it’s all in the book!
Honestly, the harder part is letting people know I’m starting a diet, and a low-carb diet on top of that. It’s tough because it’s seen as outdated and stupid since it was all the rage a few years ago (and possibly also because Robert Atkins had a heart attack). I’ve also heard “you don’t need to diet”, so I usually just say I want to put on some muscle. And I don’t want to be the guy version of the girls that say they’re so fat even though they’re like 100 pounds and you wonder what kind of heifer they see when they look at you. But I’m down here with plenty of time to work out and higher opportunity to follow a diet closely. No better time than now. The fact that it’s called the TNT diet doesn’t help either. I’d prefer the human inferno plan or the fat furnace diet.
I thought it’d be good to share excerpts from different books and sites that I read, for knowledge or motivation. The first is from LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout. Most of the book is written in a conversational tone from LL’s point of view. The following passage is from chapter 16, the diamond phase specifically for women. LL Cool J, a true master of subtlety:
As a woman, you really shouldn’t waste a second worrying about morphing into a muscle man. (Believe me, ladies, I want to be the hardest thing in the bed.)