Nuttin’ But Salads N=1 Experiment: Week 2 Summary

Surprisingly filling. Note three fruits: strawberries, blueberries, and mandarin orange.

I’m a day late for my Week 2 Summary because I was out of town yesterday and had no access to my scale. Weight today is 168 lb (76.4 kg), so down 5 lb (2.3 kg) in the last seven days. That’s amazing and I’m not sure it’s real and repeatable. I may be up a couple pounds by tomorrow.

Weight loss total since starting the experiment 16 days ago: 7.5 lb loss (3.4 kg), from 175.5 to 168 lb.

This good-looking salad is from El Pollo Loco. I topped it with chicken.

I feel good and have plenty of energy. On day 10 I noticed I didn’t have much appetite and tended to eat just because I knew I needed to. I don’t spend much time thinking about foods I should miss, like pizza, pastries, candy, and bread.

This salad was a dud. We saw a five-bean salad in a jar at Sam’s Club, marinated with sugar and vinegar. Just a bad combination with other items on the plate. Even by itself, it’s not my cup ‘o tea. The chicken was one of Sam’s $5 roasted chickens. I learned that I don’t particularly like dark meat on my salads.

I’ve been lifting weights for several years, twice weekly. I did my first weight-lifting session on day 3 or so of this experiment. I noticed my performance was down about 5% from baseline. The workout was harder than usual. But that has not happened since.

My only cheat meal thus far. My wife made us filet mignon, sautéed asparagus, and chocolate-dipped strawberries for Valentine’s Day.

A typical large salad takes me 25 minutes to eat, not counting conversation or distractions. Lots of chewing. I’ve never times my meals before, but doubt they took this long.

I got my wife a Lamborghini for Valentine’s Day

When I’m tempted by fat-promoting food, I tell myself, “No, I’m eating Nuttin’ But Salads.”

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: My weight the day after the original post was 168.6 (76.6 kg), not 168 lb. Go figure.

PPS: Weight two days after the post was 167.6 lb (76.1 kg).