This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post.
This week, the blog takes a slight diversion while I experiment with soylent, a liquid food substitute. At the end of each day, I’ll write a brief post telling you how it went. Below is my update for Thursday. The Thursday Rant returns next week.
I won’t be be providing an update tomorrow (Friday). Instead, I’ll be posting 10 Questions early from one of my favorite new bloggers. However, I have a lot more to say about this soylent experiment. Tune in Tuesday for a wrap up.
Before we get to today’s update, here are my stats:
Weight
Sunday night: 168.2
Monday night: 168.0
Tuesday night: 166.6
Wednesday night: 166.0
Thursday night: 165.8
Toilet time
#1: Yep, still crazy neon yellow.
#2: First thing in the morning and then another afternoon movement; just like clockwork.
Other important information
Hungry?: Yes*.
Lust after real food?: Yes, read on.
Convinced Mrs. 1500 to try it?: Yes. Read on…
Bacon to the rescue?
Bacon has the ability to make almost anything taste better. I put bacon on my bacon. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Mrs. Frugalwoods suggested I add it to the soylent. I think that this is a worthy experiment and one that I’ll try at a later date.
Now, I turn the post over to Mrs. 1500 who miraculously tried soylent today.
Mrs. 1500 takes the plunge
Hi there, Mrs. 1500 with my take on this stuff. First off, let’s talk about the taste. That is really all anyone cares about, isn’t it? It really doesn’t taste good. That said, it really doesn’t taste all that bad, either. Of course, Mr. 1500 had mixed in a good sized scoop of cinnamon – my favorite thing. And some chocolate protein powder, in an effort to minimize yuckness.
So the taste isn’t all that bad. Kind of bland, with a chalk-y finish. Mr. 1500 described it to me as uncooked. That is perfect. It tastes uncooked, like cornbread batter, but without the delicious corn taste. It is the texture that really gets you. It is gritty, like sand, but large-grain sand or, well cornbread batter.
My first thought was yuck, but my second thought was “I could live off this if I had to, I just don’t have to.” I wasn’t the one who decided to do this, and I certainly won’t be joining Mr. 1500 on the rest of his journey.
Way too many Americans don’t have enough good food to eat. They subsist on peanut butter, beans and rice, or just go without. This could change things up, if people were willing. Nutritionally complete. But they have a long way to go to making it something anyone would want to eat.
Would the real weight-loss catalyst please stand up?
Mr. 1500 has this amazing ability to lose weight. His metabolism is great for him, and terrible for his wife, who is a champion weight-gainer. I swear I could just look at a picture of a cupcake and gain 5 pounds.
So I question his weight loss. He isn’t consuming anything else, except for Diet Mt. Dew and lots of water.* I think he could accomplish the exact same weight loss through eating a mostly vegetable diet. We are going to try that next week.** I have a great taco meat recipe that is totally vegetables, thanks to Mrs. PoP. I have zucchini coming out of my eyeballs thanks to Angi, so I will be turning that into veggie fajitas. A friend posted this link for an Indian Samosa casserole recipe from Vegetarian Times that looks wonderful.
I’ll be loading up on the vegetables for snacks. Sugar snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower and broccoli. Lots of beans and rice for side dishes.
I would love for you to share your favorite veggie meals. Bonus points if my kids will eat it too. They only eat the taco meat because they don’t know it has no meat in it.
*Here is where Mr. 1500 is supposed to tattle on himself***, how he didn’t quite finish all his soylent yesterday, and how he ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast this morning and had leftover orange chicken for lunch. But I am writing this post, so I will tell on him.
**No way am I sharing my actual weight with you. I have a lot of muscle, which weighs more than fat, so on paper my weight looks worse than it actually it. But it is still far too heavy for my short stature.
***Mr. 1500 Update
Yep, I fell off the wagon. I woke up starving and the soylent did nothing for me. I had a bowl of Cheerios and then a small amount of leftover orange chicken. To balance the calories out, I drank less soylent later in the day.
The real food set me straight. I didn’t struggle at all the rest of the day. I have more to say on this, but I’ll save it for my wrap up on Tuesday.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Bettysays
I too thought he should drop weight at a faster pace. Two things are suspect in my
mind. One, he might have an inflammatory response from something in the Soylent.
Two, diet drinks are often a trigger for inflammation/weight gain. I have read that diet drinks will cause weight gain just as much as the regular drinks. Google it.
Yes, consuming lots of green drinks, veggies, fruits, beans, and a few nuts and, seeds should produce a better result. 🙂 I lost a pound a day doing this. The weight and, inflammation fell off. If you read the book Eat to Live, by Dr. Fuhrman you will get lots of ideas on how to follow this type of diet.
I will warn you though. I did drop my metabolism doing this. I ended up freezing cold, weak and, constipated. The trick for me is to not restrict sodium and, have some meat a couple of times a week; too, some potatoes and, rice.
But, for a couple of weeks I think Mr. 1500 will do great on the diet. Then add in the other foods.
I think you misunderstood. I was really happy and surprised with my weight loss, over half a pound per day.
However, soylent isn’t a good long term solution for me. I think the answer is exactly what you described, mostly vegetables with some lean meat and fish (salmon!) thrown in.
For me, the pudge-makers are processed food snacks – our office is always stocked with yummy organic chips and cookies. And when I find myself hitting them a little hard (’cause my jeans get a little tight), I need to back off and go cold turkey on the processed snacks. A couple months of avoiding snacks or more realistically replacing them with homemade snacks I bring in (I <3 snacking!) and I get back into balance. Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…When To DIY And When To Outsource
I would recommend anyone interested in losing weight to try Tim Ferriss’s slow-carb diet. It’s easy to follow (which means it’s hard to fall off the wagon) and the weight just melts away.
Rule #1: Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means all bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and grains. If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. You already do this; you’re just picking new default meals.
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Exception: 1-2 glasses of dry red wine per night is allowed.
Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. (Fructose –> glycerol phosphate –> more bodyfat, more or less.) Avocado and tomatoes are excepted.
Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts. I choose and recommend Saturday.
Try it for a week (yes, that’s a challenge, Mr 1500…): what have you got to lose? Myles Money recently posted…Leftover Lunch | #FrugalFriday
BACON! I jest, bacon shouldn’t go in everything (but it totally could…). We eat mostly vegan meals and we’ve been digging the very simple combo of homemade hummus with fresh veggies (usually broccoli and green pepper). It’s delicious, could be spun as fun to the kids (dipping stuff is fun? I don’t know, I’m improvising here), and sometimes we pop popcorn in our air popper if we’re still hungry. Popcorn dipped in hummus definitely = fun. Plus, it’s a really cheap meal. We get the garbanzo beans in giant cans from Costco and we actually don’t use any Tahini in the hummus (because it’s so expensive). Mrs. Frugalwoods recently posted…Weekly Woot & Grumble: No Heat, No Fire
Oh, bacon. A few people at work tried something similar a few months ago. I am always amazed how people can keep up without real food. I am sure you need a very strong mind to keep going. Good luck.
PS. Mrs 1500, I know how hard it is to keep up with a husband who never gain weight or lose weight easily. Mrs Y recently posted…September 2014 Net Worth Update
I too thought he should drop weight at a faster pace. Two things are suspect in my
mind. One, he might have an inflammatory response from something in the Soylent.
Two, diet drinks are often a trigger for inflammation/weight gain. I have read that diet drinks will cause weight gain just as much as the regular drinks. Google it.
Yes, consuming lots of green drinks, veggies, fruits, beans, and a few nuts and, seeds should produce a better result. 🙂 I lost a pound a day doing this. The weight and, inflammation fell off. If you read the book Eat to Live, by Dr. Fuhrman you will get lots of ideas on how to follow this type of diet.
I will warn you though. I did drop my metabolism doing this. I ended up freezing cold, weak and, constipated. The trick for me is to not restrict sodium and, have some meat a couple of times a week; too, some potatoes and, rice.
But, for a couple of weeks I think Mr. 1500 will do great on the diet. Then add in the other foods.
Hi Betty-
I think you misunderstood. I was really happy and surprised with my weight loss, over half a pound per day.
However, soylent isn’t a good long term solution for me. I think the answer is exactly what you described, mostly vegetables with some lean meat and fish (salmon!) thrown in.
Thanks for the tips!
Do you guys like lentil soup? This is a good recipe and so easy to make if you’ve got a pressure cooker. (Probably pretty easy without, too… but a little more time consuming.)
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/11/lentil-soup-with-coriander-and-cumin.html
For me, the pudge-makers are processed food snacks – our office is always stocked with yummy organic chips and cookies. And when I find myself hitting them a little hard (’cause my jeans get a little tight), I need to back off and go cold turkey on the processed snacks. A couple months of avoiding snacks or more realistically replacing them with homemade snacks I bring in (I <3 snacking!) and I get back into balance.
Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…When To DIY And When To Outsource
Husband and kid friendly – zucchini no noodle lasagna! I remove the beef, add 3-4 cups of spinach and sauteed mushrooms to taste:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/zucchini-lasagna.html
For style points, add panko bread crumbs to the top and broil for extra crisp=)
Refinerr recently posted…How I Took 1 Year Off My Retirement Goal By Selling My Car!
You should really give Whole30 a try. It worked quite great for my wife and I. 🙂
Tawcan recently posted…Recent buys – Suncor and BP
I would recommend anyone interested in losing weight to try Tim Ferriss’s slow-carb diet. It’s easy to follow (which means it’s hard to fall off the wagon) and the weight just melts away.
Rule #1: Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means all bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and grains. If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. You already do this; you’re just picking new default meals.
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Exception: 1-2 glasses of dry red wine per night is allowed.
Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. (Fructose –> glycerol phosphate –> more bodyfat, more or less.) Avocado and tomatoes are excepted.
Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts. I choose and recommend Saturday.
Try it for a week (yes, that’s a challenge, Mr 1500…): what have you got to lose?
Myles Money recently posted…Leftover Lunch | #FrugalFriday
BACON! I jest, bacon shouldn’t go in everything (but it totally could…). We eat mostly vegan meals and we’ve been digging the very simple combo of homemade hummus with fresh veggies (usually broccoli and green pepper). It’s delicious, could be spun as fun to the kids (dipping stuff is fun? I don’t know, I’m improvising here), and sometimes we pop popcorn in our air popper if we’re still hungry. Popcorn dipped in hummus definitely = fun. Plus, it’s a really cheap meal. We get the garbanzo beans in giant cans from Costco and we actually don’t use any Tahini in the hummus (because it’s so expensive).
Mrs. Frugalwoods recently posted…Weekly Woot & Grumble: No Heat, No Fire
Oh, bacon. A few people at work tried something similar a few months ago. I am always amazed how people can keep up without real food. I am sure you need a very strong mind to keep going. Good luck.
PS. Mrs 1500, I know how hard it is to keep up with a husband who never gain weight or lose weight easily.
Mrs Y recently posted…September 2014 Net Worth Update