Taste Test

The goal of this blog is to track my research on weight loss. Over the past I've gone on diets, lost up to 80 lbs., gained the weight back, lost it again, and yo-yo'd for years. As it stands I'm 50 lbs. overweight and struggling.

In an attempt to stop my yo-yo dieting, I've decided I want to try to lose weight without counting calories. I don't want to rush the weight loss, but rather focus on getting healthy. What follows are observations I've made about my work as well my progress. The goal is to ultimately turn my research into a book, but first I must lose the weight, and second, keep the weight off. Ultimately, the big picture is to become a healthier person.

Now, a little about myself. I'm a 28-year-old male who weighs approximately 210 lbs. The lowest I've ever weighed in my adult like was 153 lbs. I'm 5'9" and my ideal weight is between 140 lbs to 160 lbs. I'm tired of weighing myself and finds it doesn't help me mentally. All I do is obsess over the scale and freak when my weight goes up a pound. Instead, I plan to keep track with my clothing sizes and belt. With that said, I have a 36" inseam. The lowest I've ever had was a 30" inseam! My belt is currently on its last notch, but if I pull it tight I can get it down to two notches. The lowest I was down to with the same was six notches. If you couldn't tell, I have my work cut out for me.

Down to business.

My first idea was to focus on what my body is telling me. Trying to be scientific, I asked myself why I'm having cravings. I wondered if the content of my food had something to do with it. To test this out, when I began craving food around 9 last night, I made myself a small bowl of canned chicken and mayonnaise, which has plenty of protein and fat. After I ate I realized I wasn't satisfied, that I was craving bread. French bread. Clearly just eating protein and fat wasn't enough to satiate my appetite. I concluded I needed carbs as well.

I then made a chicken and mayonnaise sandwich on whole wheat bread. I felt satisfied.

I also did a little test about what to drink with the sandwich. I'm an notorious diet pop drinker, and can easily go through two 2-liters a day. The problem is pop always leaves me craving more pop, and doesn't balance out the taste of the meal I'm eating. I decided to test out what a good drink was to balance the sweetness of the mayo and chicken.

I tried out three drinks: diet pepsi, diet iced lemon tea, and brewed green tea. For a control I tried water.

First I ate a piece of sandwich and drank diet pepsie, which removed the taste of the sandwich but left me wanting more pop.

I next tried water, which helped was the food down but didn't remove the taste.

My third test I drink the iced lemon tea. The bitterness of the tea balanced out the flavor but unfortunately this tea has aspartame and this left my taste buds craving more tea. The hint of lemon also added to my craving.

My fourth test was with the brewed green tea. The taste of the sandwich was removed and I had no craving for more.

My conclusion was green tea seemed to be the right drink to balance the meal and curb my craving. However, I would like to try unsweetened iced tea to really get a bitter drink to go with the sandwich. More tests is needed.

That was my research. I next post on taste and how eating for taste rather than content helps satiate. I plan to do some research test my hypothesis, but so far I can conclude that a balanced meal, such as the chicken may sandwich, definitely made sure I didn't snack for the rest of the night. I did have a hiccup though, I couldn't sleep and hand two bowls of cereal. This is a problem and something I plan to address later.