Day 0: Reason for The Bowling Ball Diet

The Bowling Ball Diet:

Tomorrow it will be 200 days until my new child will be born. I'm hoping for a little boy! Scott weighs 295 lbs. My present to my new child is to loose 45 lbs by the time she is born. That is 6.5 months, or about 42 weeks. A little over a pound a week. Why the "bowling ball diet"? I will focus on 15 lbs at a time, not the whole 45. 15 pounds is a bowling ball on average, or 3 for 45 lbs. Just to make it clear how heavy I am, I should weight 185 for my frame at 6'2". That is 110 overweight! Or a little over 7 bowling balls. Now, just imagine...carrying 7 bowling balls with you every where you go! That's a lot of bowling balls. Wish me luck!

I got the idea from business management tools and from putting. Yes...golf. A pro showed me that the best way to make a long put was to look at it as a series of short puts in a row. The first two feet of the put drive the rest of the distance. When you are looking at having to lose 110 lbs, it looks impossible. Every diet I've ever been on has just added more weight.

So we're going to make a change. The first goal is 15 lbs. That is doable. Especially when you are 110 lbs over, at 295 lbs. That is a scrawny 5%. Not bad. We can do that. So what I'm going to do is focus on the one bowling ball. 15 lbs, and no more. Once it is gone, we'll go after another bowling ball.

I'm not really going on a diet. It is a behavior change plan. What I'm going to do is to influence my behavior and modify it. I'm going to identify the behaviors that are bad for me and that cause me to gain weight. Then replace them with good behaviors that sustain my long term goal of good health.

This won't be easy...but I plan to raise my children and grow old with my wife.

Foods Allowed - First 40 Days

The Bowling Ball Diet

Foods For First 40 Days

BEEF Lean cuts, such as:

Eye of Round

Ground beef:

Extra Lean (96/4)

Lean (92/8)

Sirloin (90/10)

Tenderloin

Top Loin

Top Round

LAMB (Remove all visible fat)

Center Cut

Chop

Loin

PORK

Boiled ham

Canadian bacon

Loin

Tenderloin

POULTRY (SKINLESS)

Cornish hen

Turkey bacon (2 slices per day)

Turkey and chicken breast

SEAFOOD

All types of fish and shellfish

TOFU

Use soft, low-fat or lite varieties

VEAL

Chop

Cutlet, leg

Top round

EGGS

The use of whole eggs is not limited unless otherwise directed by your doctor. Use egg whites and egg substitute if desired.

LUNCHMEAT

Fat-free or low-fat only

MEAT SUBSTITUTES (SOY BASED)

Bacon - Limit to 2 slices per day

Burger - <>

Chicken Patties & Nuggets - <>

Hot Dogs - <>

Natural Peanut Butter - 2 Tbsp (may use as protein choice or limited nut choice)

Sausage Pattie - Limit 1 patty per day

Seiten

Soy Crumbles

Soy Nuts - 1/4 cup for a protein snack is suggested serving

Tempeh

Yuba

DAIRY

Low-fat (1 percent) or fat-free milk or soy milk

Plain or sugar-free low-fat or fat-free yogurt

Fat-free half & half

CHEESE (FAT-FREE OR LOW-FAT)

American

Cheddar

Cottage cheese, 1-2% or fat-free

Cream cheese substitute, dairy-free

Feta

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Provolone

Ricotta

String

NUTS (Limit to one serving per day as specified)

Almonds - 15 (Dry roasted recommended)

Brazil Nuts - 4

Cashews - 15 (Dry roasted recommended)

Pecans - 15 (Dry roasted recommended)

Macadamia - 8 (Dry roasted recommended)

Peanut Butter - 1 tsp

Peanut Butter, Natural = 2 TBS

Peanuts, 20 small (May use dry roasted or boiled)

Pine Nuts (Pignolia) - 1 ounce

Pistachios - 30 (Dry roasted recommended)

Walnuts - 15 (Dry roasted recommended)

In place of nuts, may use: Flax Seed - 3 TB

VEGETABLE CHOICES (includes legumes) (May use fresh, frozen or canned without added sugar)

Artichokes

Asparagus

Beans, Green

Beans, Italian

Beans, Wax

Beans or Legumes:

Black Beans

Butter Beans

Chickpeas or Garbanzo

Pigeon Peas

Soy Beans

Split Peas

Broccoli

Bok Choy

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Celery

Collard Greens

Cucumbers

Eggplant

Lettuce (All varieties)

Juice (Limit to 6 ounces per day)

Tomato

V-8

Mushrooms

Mustard Greens

Okra

Onion - Limit to 1/2 per day

Peppers (All varieties)

Pickles - Dill or those sweetened with Splenda®

Radishes (All varieties)

Rhubarb

Sauerkraut

Snow peas

Spinach

Sprouts, Alfalfa

Squash, Spaghetti

Squash, Summer

Yellow

Zucchini

Tomato - Limit to 1 whole or 10 cherry per serving

FAT CHOICES (with some suggested serving sizes) The following monounsaturated oils are recommended to be consumed daily:

Olive Oil

Canola Oil

Other Oil Choices that may be chosen (Polyunsaturated or a blend of Monounsaturated):

Corn

Enova

Grape seed

Safflower

Soybean

OTHER FAT CHOICES:

Avocado - 1/3 whole = 1 TBS oil

Guacamole - ½ cup = 1 TBS oil

Margarine - Chose those that do not contain Trans Fatty Acids such as Fleishmann's Premium Olive Oil or Smart Balance

Mayonnaise - Regular or Low Fat

Olives (Green or Ripe) 15 = 1/2 TBS

Salad Dressing - Use those <>

TOPPINGS & SAUCES use sparingly (check labels for added sugar)

Hot Sauce

Salsa - Limit to 2 TBS during phase 1

Soy Sauce - 1/2 TBS

Steak Sauce - 1/2 TBS

Worcestershire Sauce - 1 TBS

Whipped Topping (Light) - 2 TBS

SPICES AND SEASONINGS

All spices that contain no added sugar

Broth

Extracts (almond, vanilla, or others)

Horseradish sauce

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Spray

Lemon Juice

Lime Juice Pepper (black, cayenne, red, white)

SWEET TREATS (Limit to 75 calories per day)

Candies, hard, sugar-free

Chocolate powder, no-added-sugar

Cocoa powder, baking type

Fudgsicles, sugar-free

Gelatin, sugar-free

Gum, sugar-free

Popsicles, sugar-free

Sugar substitute Some Sugar Free

Products may be made with sugar alcohols (isomalt, lactitol, mannitol, sorbitol or xylitol) and are permitted on the SBD. They may have associated side effects of GI distress (abdominal pain, diarrhea & gas) if consumed in excessive amounts.

SUGAR SUBSTITUTES

Sucralose (Splenda)

The Bowling Ball Diet

This is the blog for Scott Perry's bowling ball diet. It starts on October 1, 2009.