The Grant Diet

I am on the Grant Diet this summer. I am going to tell you about it, but I don’t want you to interpret it as advice. Follow it at your own peril, or pick things out of it you like, such as recipe suggestions.

The Grant Diet is based on sustenance eating and exercise. Sustenance eating is based on the total number of meals in an ordinary week that will be eaten by an ordinary person, which is 21. The diet requires that 17 of those meals be skimpy ones, or “sustenance” ones. The other four are splurge meals, but splurging within reason.

You can’t have gravy or mayonnaise or anything fried, unless the circumstances are unusual. If I go to someone’s home, and they set an oyster po’boy in front of me, I will eat it. Otherwise, eat stuff you like, but not too much of it. For breakfast this morning, I had Grape Nuts Flakes, some Grape Nuts sprinkled on top for texture, five cut-up strawberries, six pecans, broken up (see? not too much of a good thing), and low-fat milk.

This morning, Karen and I walked two miles. We walk three mornings a week and go to the gym three mornings. Twice a week at the gym, Karen swims. I have already pointed out that for me, swimming is the avoidance of drowning. So I ride the cross-trainer and then work at the weight machines.

We are just getting started, so two miles is my walking limit and 21 to 23 minutes on the cross trainer. I haven’t been working out much the last couple of years. First there was prostate removal surgery, which knocks a fellow down for awhile. And the left hip had been deteriorating for several years and it was replaced in January. So this summer is the first time in awhile that I have been in shape to get in shape. In fact I feel better than I have in years, and I’m not even in shape yet. By August, we’ll be walking three miles, or more. No jogging for me; the doctor says only low-impact stuff with the new hip. And I’ll home in on 30 minutes on the cross-trainer, and work up to medium-heavy on the weights.

Each workout will be about an hour. You can’t lose weight on the Grant Diet if you don’t work out. You can’t really feel good in your shoes anyway, if you don’t work out. I am already feeling a whiff of the training effect, and it is a real rush, but what I’m looking forward to is the feeling of weightlessness that comes with balance between body power and gravity.

Breakfast on the Grant Diet may be the cereal arrangement, or a toasted English muffin with peanut butter (that is my in-a-hurry breakfast). Sometimes I’ll have a slice (or two) of bacon or Canadian bacon with an over-easy egg and a piece of toast. Oatmeal is good, with strawberries, no more than six pecans, and low-fat milk. You can mix together plain yogurt, fruit (strawberries or peaches, fresh or frozen), and some Grape Nuts. Also drink a glass of orange or grapefruit juice every morning.

Lunch can be a ham or turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickle, etc. but no mayo. Mustard and Grey Poupon are good on sandwiches. Some days have just half the sandwich. I like a few tortilla chips, but no more than nine. You can have a can of soup for lunch. You can have a cheese quesadilla with salsa. Sometimes you can have some cubed ham, or even salami, and cheese, and half a ciabatta.

For dinner, I jack up a Lean Cuisine entrée (Swedish Meatballs is my favorite) with a little extra pasta and vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, just cut up and heated in the oven. A small tomato and cucumber salad on the side, and a slice of sourdough. If you drink, you can have a small cocktail before dinner, and a small glass of wine.

The sustenance meals tend to be the weekday routine, with the splurge meals during the weekend. A typical splurge meal is a lean steak with grilled onions and mushrooms, a salad, and a piece of bread. It may be a piece of pork, braised with onions, garlic and tomatoes, with a salad and bread. It can be anything, as long as it doesn’t involve rich sauces or gravies, and isn’t fried. Tonight we are going out for dinner with friends and I will have grilled seabass, pilaf, and vegetables.

When my weight and power are where I want them to be, I’ll eat less Lean Cuisine and do more cooking. That will be about September. By November, I’ll be buff and into the calamari fritti again.