Year 3, Day 13: Courtney and the Peanut Butter Sandwich

For nearly four years I worked with a guy named Courtney, who taught me a lot both about the world and about staying fit. Some I learned by his guidance, and some by his examples, which were all over the map. He was the original "get your exercise in anywhere" guy, always parking far from wherever we were going, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and agreeing to go on any chore that involved walking. I think he was as exasperating to me as I was to him with my slothful, sedentary ways. But we were both known to love a Dunkin Donuts coffee roll, though with constant activity and intramural activity (he was involved in every sport anywhere Sober leagues, whatever, he would join a ladies' league to play on a team) he did not have a problem burning it off. My bad influence on him during the last years we worked together was that we always ended up eating colossally large lunches, some of which we got for free (from clients of the newspaper) but more of which we paid for. In order to break from this tradition, he told me one morning when I got in at around 9:30 that he was now going to 'bring lunch every day.' I asked him what his inaugural lunch was. He had the classic—a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I congratulated him on his change of life. At 10:30am he was deep into the second half of his sandwich. At 12:00 we went to lunch as usual.

The reason I never forgot that story is that after I started the South Beach diet I recognized that his inability to refrain from eating the sandwich was an illustration of two things. One; if the food is there and you know it, you'll be tempted to eat it, so if you really don't want to give in to temptation, don't bring it into your house or office, especially if it's nuts or a nut byproduct. Two, the importance of snacking, grazing or eating throughout the day cannot be overestimated. You cannot stay on a diet that makes you feel deprived, and you cannot lose weight by starving yourself.

Breakfast
4 slices of Ham
2 slices balthazar bread
1 tablespoons super chunky peanut butter
coffee

snack
4 sticks beef jerky
2 oz 50% Jalapeno cheddar
1 fuji apple

lunch: new ginza
salad
soup
sashimi

dinner
6-day old brisket
edamame
pickles

I did pretty well overall today, though by the end of the night I feared my body was entering into a sodium crisis. Even though I always request 'light soy' sushi days are loaded with sodium, and as everyone knows, you need potassium to counter your sodium, and I had little in my diet today. The last few pickles and edamame made me feel like a raisin so I drank a tremendous amount of water to compensate, which is helpful for your body, but leads to an irritating familiarity with the path to the bathroom. Many have asked me about the sodium level I keep as a result of being on the program, and I tell you what I tell them: "I don't know."