Years and years ago, I signed-up for a free account at Fitday - and online calorie-tracking site.

I decided to see if my account was still “active” - so I went to Fitday today and, sure enough, my account is still working.

The site is pretty awesome - I can enter the foods that I’ve eaten and the site will track how many calories I’ve consumed - and will break the foods down into calories, fat, carbs, etc.

Here’s my chart as of noon today:

I really like this tool - and it has several other features (track workouts, vitamin intake, etc.) that I want to start using.

By the way, I have a new favorite meal:

Precooked Turkey Bacon - Orange Slices - Kosher Dill Pickle  - Diet Mountain Dew

(And yes, I realize that I’m eating way too much sodium…)

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I’ve just finished reading Twinkie: Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger. Let me tell you, don’t read this book unless you are prepared to rethink your relationship with moder food. Basically, Steve set out to study the ingredients in a Twinkie - and you will be AMAZED by his findings. I’ve read through the first half of the book and I’ve already decided to get rid of more than half of the foods that I regularly eat. Did you know that the vast multitude of vitamins you eat are created in huge vats in China? Did you know that they spray CHLORINE on white flour? Do you know how they make High Fructose Corn Syrup - a major ingredient in most modern foods? (Hint: Think vats of acid, boiling water, and thousands of bushels of corn… processed in 7-story high metal containers…)

I don’t care if you download audio book in iTunes, check the book out from your local library, borrow a copy from a friend, or purchase a copy from Amazon, you need to read this book.  (If you click through the link below, I’ll get an affiliate fee.)

I cannot OVERSTATE the impact of this book.

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For the first time in the last, I don’t know, twenty years? I went an entire day without consuming any off the following foods, food additives, or beverages:

Salt: According to this article at Web MD about the relationship between salt and heart disease, the appropriate amount of salt for an average adult is about 1 TEASPOON per day.

Sugar: According to this article, the World Health Organization recommends that the average adult consume less than 10 TEASPOONS of sugar, per day. (One granola snack bar has TWO teaspoons of sugar!)

Caffeine: According to this article at the Mayo Clinic website, caffeine may (temporarily) enhance weight loss, by increasing the amount of fluid that our bodies excrete, but, in the long run, caffeine may contribute to heart disease, loss of sleep, and high blood pressure.

MSG: There are many conflicting reports about the effects of consuming mono-sodium glutamate. Whenever I eat foods that have MSG in them, I feel bloated and my fingers swell.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Again, there is much debate about the effects of consuming HFCS. My opinion? I find it odd that many of the foods to which I am “addicted” contain HFCS.

Soft Drinks: (Soda, Pop, Cola, Coke) I once heard, and this could be COMPLETELY FALSE, that it takes 10 cups of water to “remove” the harmful chemicals from one can of soda from your body. Is this true? I have no idea. But, I cannot imagine that any beverage containing “acid” could be good for me or my body.

I went to the gym today and I WORKED OUT. I really pushed myself to FOCUS on one specific goal and to push myself. Normally, I go into the gym without a “game plan”. Today, I focused on forty-five minutes of intense “cardio”. I used the elliptical, my new favorite piece of exercise equipment. (Am I the only one who wants to put a “z” in the word “exercise”?)

How do I feel after working out AND avoiding all of the above foods? Strange, somewhat hungry, and exhilarated.

After getting home from the gym, I was still a bit “restless”. So, I headed to the local track and I walked for 1/2 a mile and I RAN FOR 1/2 MILE! Yes, my friends, your chubby little pf blogger actually RAN FOR 1/2 MILE! (Okay, I ran for 1/4, walked 1/4, ran 1/4, walked 1/4, but still, you get the picture!)

Basically, I consumed raw fruits, stir-fried vegetables, lots of water, and a little protein. It amazing how LITTLE food I actually needed to eat to feel “full”. My theory is that, when not slathered in the above “unhealthy” food additives, the food actually gets to “do it’s job” of “filling me up”.

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