Lee's V-Day 1

...and so I come to this challenge with one part academic curiosity, another part collegiality, and a final part aligned with better health and weight loss. Mark's recent $3 Diet endeavor was both impressive for his dedication to the diet and the physical\physiological results...and it provided plenty of fodder for discussions and ideas which leads me here!

I am unabashedly not a Vegan, although, by some narrow definitions, I will be one for the next 30 days. My last regular meal on Sunday provided an opportunity to grill ribeye steaks for me and my girls, Ashley, 13, and Brittany, 11 (my little man, Alexander, 9, had other social plans). We also had traditional cast-iron fried (canola oil) potatoes with onions which never reach "leftover" status in our house. One of the dinner conversations centered on the girls' curiosity about the potential effects of my diet on their dining conditions; I assured them that I intended no change to their diets unless they voluntarily wanted to share in Dad's adventure...which resulted in my eldest daughter saying that she wanted to go out for dinner and order steak...to test me!

Though not a Vegan, I will readily concede that the diet and associated lifestyle pathways have attractive health benefits.  In preparation for this diet challenge, I conducted a bit of research including download of a "Dummies Guide for Vegan" at: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/living-vegan-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html I wanted to avoid some of the "Vegan Rookie" mistakes by embracing the idea that maple syrup is "allowed" and honey is "prohibited" (I suppose some people took that Jerry Seinfeld movie, "Bee Movie", very seriously).

I do come to the challenge with some tools: My iPhone-based Loseit! app to track calories (intake, burned) and a linked Fitbit for activity. Also, good friends and colleagues to share in the experience. Finally, a now ingrained Catholic-military school graduate capacity to adhere to "thou shall nots"...as I age, I think the compliance zeal is passing, but I should be good for 30 days...

Day 1:

Wow...what a calorie deficit...and a headache at the end of the day. During the day, I had a long impromptu business meeting, 4 hours (2 sessions) of class, an hour talk\overview of being an Army healthcare administrator for officers in the Captains Career Course, and an evening actively watching (I cannot sit still watching my kids play) my son's baseball game and youngest daughter's softball game.

My caloric intake probably looks like an inverted pyramid of consumption:

Breakfast (50 calories):
Two carrots
Coffee, Splenda

Lunch (360 calories)
A Delmonte Mixed Fruit Cup (5 oz)
Cape Cod Waffle Cut potato chips
Coke Zero (20 oz)

Dinner (667 calories)
Potatoes (4 cups), Onion (1 cup), & Mushrooms (1 cup) fried in canola oil
Water (about 24 oz)

Snacks (83 calories):
Almonds
Carrot
Water (about 36 oz)

Bottom-Line:
1,159 calories
No Vegan Violations
9,785 Fitbit steps which earned me 442 calories of activity credit on my Loseit App.