How to eat a healthy lunch-on-the-go for less than 6 bucks

There are plethora of reasons that I love living in South Florida, not the least of which is the ubiquitous best grocery store in America, Publix, where shopping is literally a pleasure!

Today I stopped into the Publix in lake Worth Beach and was able to get a delicious lunch for less than $6. The trick to doing this is not ordering the pre-made sandwiches and salads, which are very good. But I do build your own type of lunch. 

First, I stop at the deli. I typically get a quarter pound of some boar's Head turkey or chicken breast. But sometimes I'll venture into the Publix brand if it's on sale. Today I got a quarter pound of ham, which brought me a nice amount of protein and low-fat at a cost of about $2.25.

Then I went over to the bakery. They had rolls in packs of eight. But you asked the person behind the counter to sell you one of them, and they are happy to repackage it as a single item for you. This was just $0.62!

I also got two bananas, and I zipped open a huge package of grapes and placed the amount I wanted in one of the available plastic bags. This was about two dollars for fruit.

Finally, I was able to get a special price on Fage plain, 2% Greek yogurt. 

I could have gone to a fast food restaurant and gotten a "deal" soda with some nuggets and a burger and fries for about the same amount. And right now I would feel disgusting. Not to mention, tomorrow my, forgive my frankness, bowel movement, would be greasy. 

Instead I feel satisfied and healthy, and tomorrow going to have a smooth and beautiful movement as a result.

Yay, Publix! My pursuit of a healthy weight is right on track!

This is what I ate in December to lose 30 pounds

I'm currently living in South Florida living in motels and sometimes sleeping in my car, so it makes shopping and planning meals a bit difficult. But I manage. And this is what I ate in December to lose nearly 30 pounds. All this food totals around 2,200 calories and is protein-centric, but I don't cut single food type or macro nutrient totally out of my diet. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I eat six meals per day over the course of 12 hours. While this isn't what I eat every day, it's a sample of what I typically at all last month:

1) I have a snack at 7 a.m. to break my fast. This is usually a banana and a yogurt.

2) Just before starting work I have a meal, usually a breakfast sandwich for convenience.

McDonald's breakfast sandwiches are a weakness that works for me

3) Then there's a snack at 11 a.m. This is almost a vegan protein shake. I'm not vegan, but my wellness coach friend Angela put me on to pea protein and while it's gross at first but I convince myself that they taste like health, and that works to trick my brain just fine.

4) My lunch meal at 1 p.m. is usually a hardy bean and vegetable soup with a packet of water-packed tuna or some ritz crackers and a can of sardines in oil

5) My afternoon snack is another protein shake and maybe a couple pistachios or carrots or fruit.

6) Unfortunately, my last meal of the day is almost always some kind of convenience food, capped at 400 calories. Maybe a McChicken sandwich with pickles and mustard instead of mayo or a ham and Swiss croissant at Starbucks. On the weekends when I have more time I'll go to Publix and get a quarter pound of Boar's Head turkey, fresh fruit, another carrot, and a small roll.

These seven simple habits helped me lose 30 pounds in 30 days

Moderation in everything, including moderation! That's my mantra these days. So with that in mind, I skipped the "dieting" and simply made these seven changes in December to lose nearly 30 pounds in 30 days in December.

1. Drinking my coffee black

Cream and sugar are banished! No explanation needed. It's just a smart idea, and we all know it.

2. Drinking more water

Based on my weight I should be drinking five liters of water daily. Well, that's not happening! But I'm up to drinking two 1.5 liter bottles and a cup here and there with meals. It helps flush toxins from my body. I feel the difference.

I like my water cold and my coffee black

3. Eating one plain Greek yogurt daily

It's got protein to help me maintain muscle while losing fat, probiotics for gut health, and a bit of satiating fiber, Plus, I feel better about this mid-morning snack when I skip the added sugar and hidden weird ingredients in yogurts processed with sugar-laden fruits (or "natural" fruit flavors and colors).

4. Fasting for 12 hours per night.

They call this intermittent fasting, and lots of people recommend eating all your food within an eight hour block during the day. Well, I guess that's a good idea. But I do for 12 hours at night because that's what I feel like doing. The key is not to be hard on yourself. So I take a good idea and tweak so I can have some success without suffering.

 5. Making sure I get at least 2,500 steps in

This is not a lot. "They" recommend getting 10,000 steps daily for general health. Well, I'm not there yet. And 2,500 is as good as it gets. For now I do what I can. Besides, it's a heck of a lot more than what I was doing before. Sadly, since the pandemic started and I began working and intermittently sleeping in my car, I had barely been getting 300 steps a day. Yikes, I know. But now I'm getting a mile in over the course of my day. Yay me.

6. Limiting myself to 2,200 calories per day

Lots of diets tell men to reduce their caloric intake to between 1,500 and 1,800 calories per day. Well, that's great for some people. Cutting myself down to 2,200 per day still gets me into a calorie deficit because of my size. And weight loss is as simple as that - burn more calories from your system than you put in. So there.

7. Eat six times per day.

Spreading out my calories  throughout the day keeps me satiated enough before "feedings". As I mentioned, I fast 12 hours, and I eat during the other 12 hours. Twelve divided by six is 2, so I eat every two hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 

We CAN pivot, make decisions, and make choices to create big changes in our lives

I Banished 26 pounds in December, and even though my goal was 30. This weight loss journey is all about resilience. I had lost a little over 50 lb in July and August, but my failed attempt to relocate to South Florida set me back and I gained 25 of it back. So now I am back on track, under 400 lbs. And I'm moving forward with confidence.

I am not using any weight-loss medications or supplements, I'm not subscribed to special food deliveries. And I haven't had any surgical intervention - not that I'm dissing those methods. But I have been focussed in treating physical ailments like sleep apnea that were impacting my mental health and stability.

These things I share not to brag, but I think it's important to be transparent about how folks achieve their weight loss when there's a huge industry out there lying to people, backed by social media myths, that tells us we can't do it by other means. Because we can!

It's okay to utilize the tools that are out there. But just know that we each can tap the power we already have within ourselves to begin making healthy decisions. We can pivot our lives in the directions we choose, and make choices that support these decisions.

Happy New Year everybody!

I guess I'll just have to inspire myself this time

Fifteen years ago I lost nearly 200 pounds in less than two years. It was hard, I'm not gonna lie. It took 100 percent focus and dedication. Every waking hour was filled for those two years with the realization that I alone held the key to changing my body and improving my health. I was convinced of it. I lived in the realization of it. I had a community of support, driven by my mother who bought me new clothes ever time I dropped a size, from 6XL all the way down to XL. 

Back then, I made a deal with my future self that I was going to be the man the child in me would have been had he not been forced to deal with decades of unchecked trauma. So I did it. I lost the weight. And I kept the weight of for about six years.

Then my mom died.

After that, my selfishness broke loose. I was like, FUCK YOU WORLD! I was hurting so badly on the inside that I just wanted my outside to match the ugly that I felt deep down in the core of my being. I was FUCKING PISSED! And I just ate and ate and ate and ate until I had reached the goal of destroying my body and my health so I didn't have to live so long in this world without the love that had just been ripped from my heart. 

So anyway, here I am nearly a decade later sitting in the morbidly obese shell of misery that I alone am responsible for creating. Fifteen years is a long time. I'm no longer a 30-something whipper snapper but rather a mid-50s fatty with a plethora of health issues that make every step I take 10 times harder than the steps I took the first time I hit this road a decade and a half ago.

The forecast is not all bleak, though. Fortunately, I left breadcrumbs to find my way back home to me. So this time around I have myself to inspire myself. I have a super successful journey into fitness and fabulosity to look back on. I know what works, and what doesn't. I know progress, its ups and downs and twists and turns. It's that experience that has made me the most resilient mofo I know!

I am 100 percent certain that I will be successful losing weight once again. I will do it slowly and surely, and like that turtle beating the hare, I will cross that finish line a winner.

I ain't getting any younger. It's now or never. It's go time!

By the way, I should mention that this time just like the last I am doing this without weight loss medications, without surgery, and without any money to pay trainers and coaches. Although I believe strongly that life is better when you have a coach, I cannot afford one right now so I will be my own. 

If resilience is in our nature, it is up to us to create the spark of change

Why is it so hard to start a new habit? All the intellectualizing in the world, the preparing of your physical environment, and everything else we do to set us up for success when we take on new objectives add up to a bunch of nothing until we are ready to take action. We must be more than fed up with the results of our current actions. What is it that ultimately motivates us to act? How can the intellectual recognition of our future self convert itself into action, especially when we draw so much satisfaction from inertia and status quo? 

We are all resilient, but but change remains a challenge

I have been trying to figure this out my entire life, and even though I've experienced enormous success from changing my mindset, I find myself in times of discouragement unable to act on my own best intentions. Do you ever feel this way? It's a real challenge to the human's nature which I believe is intrinsically fueled by a resilient spirit.

Tapping into that resilient spirit is the key. For some they achieve the change they desire through small incremental changes over time. And of course, this is necessary for all of us regardless of our own unique process. For me, though, it takes big changes in my environment to spark the change I see inside. 

We are all different. But never forget your natural inclination is resilience. So continue to seek your motivators while always remembering that you have the ability and all the wisdom you will ever need to guide your own life in the direction you will it to go.

Act now! Live to reap the rewards of your success or failure

Sometimes thinking about something and chewing over every detail during the planning process is essential to a project's chances of success. But don't forget, success can also be counted in degrees of failure and in a person's measure of bounced-backedness, a.k.a. resilience.

After all. "Action is the foundational key to all success," according to Picasso. And he was a genius of sorts apparently. 😛