I try to avoid grains and foods with added sugar now. This diet, in conjunction with some new ways of thinking and exercise, has helped me lose around five pounds.

Today’s hotel breakfast of yogurt, orange, and coffee.

I’m still allowed to eat meat, eggs, fish, dairy, vegetables, fruit, fats/oils, and legumes (although the only legume I would seriously consider eating is soybeans, since I’m not a huge fan of most other beans). So it’s not terribly restrictive, although there are many cases where I’d love to have a nice bowl of teriyaki chicken over rice.

Some of the benefits of this diet:

• Proteins and fats tend to be higher-satiety foods than starches
• Cutting out foods with added sugars removes many “hyperpalatable” foods from my diet. Hyperpalatable human food tends to override our natural weight-regulation mechanisms
• By reducing the variety foods I eat, I run into diminishing marginal returns more quickly and get bored of the foods I have available.

Another useful tip I have used in conjunction with this diet has been to eat only when I’m “actually hungry,” which I test by asking myself whether I’d be interested in eating an apple or piece of grilled chicken. If the answer’s “no,” it’s likely that I’m hungry only because some hyperpalatable food is in front of me.

A typical day for me is:

• Breakfast: Soylent (bland enough that even though there are carbs in it, I don’t tend to overeat it)
• Lunch: salad with chicken, bacon, and cheese; no dressing
• Dinner: generally I would get delivery, and it might be Indian food (tandoori chicken!) or Thai food (without rice). Of course, I always eat healthier when my wonderful girlfriend cooks something from scratch!

Snacks tend to include yogurt, string cheese, fruit (apples, bananas, and tangerines), and tuna fish (in oil).

Many of these ideas are due to this post.