The Noodle Diet

Just recently, I decided to experiment on eating noodles for a week. Yes, for seven straight days because I planned to fast during The Holy Week. Every year I do something to sacrifice. I tried not to take a bath for a week, tried to control myself of not reading anything for a week, tried not to go out for a week….etc. And I guess this year I would try on my diet.

I have discussed in my second post about metabolism and the importance of eating and sweating. Significantly, that was followed by my third post about breakfast. For almost five months that I decided to lose weight and experiment on how I would diet to become lean and healthier, I was able to meet my objectives. Thus those posts were written because of the effect of working on my metabolism and sticking on a diet I personally prepared for myself. The outstanding outcome of my dieting made me lost six kilograms in four months. It may sound slow but what I read about favorable dieting is not how rapid you lose weight but it is more satisfactory and long lasting if you lose weight gradually. Yes, gradual is the best and acceptable because you can maintain your weight with gradual change even if you would go back to your usual eating habits, since your metabolism has already been stable.
Consequently, I was able to experiment on a diet that would suit me perfectly. And since I was living alone for more than two months now, I was able to tryout different dieting strategies, plan my own menu and buy foods that I know would be beneficial for my scheme. I came to be more health conscious, and maybe was also become afraid of compromising my time thinking of punishing myself by food deprivation. Yet I don’t consider it deprivation per se. I am just being careful. So I guess I am also becoming scared if I have not met my personal demands when it comes to foods. Really scary, I thought I am also becoming pathetic!

But I don’t want think that rationalizing about my health would make me so insane and pathetic. I am very serious of my own diet standards and objectives, and I really wanted to get an outcome out of it. And yes,I was able to achieve my objectives and that is what matters the most. The things I would have to do right now is to maintain and ensure that I still adhere to the ideal ways I organized to follow--to continue eating and prefer nutritious foods to eat. I did it alone.I was able to accomplish something I thought was very difficult to do but realized it is not. So I congratulated myself by dining in my favorite restaurant and savor on a menu I have not tried before. We also need to give ourselves a gift.

My attention was turned to noodles since I planned to fast as a sacrifice. I know you would argue that fasting means no food at all. Water is allowed though but foods, no. Yet I have to argue with you that since I hate the idea of starving myself and compromising my metabolism, fasting is somewhat a no-no for me. It should really be a no-no. But my spiritual beliefs should not also be forgotten. My faith is one of the most important element of my life and I could not dismiss the thought of breaking free from it just because I am maintaining my diet. That is why the noodle diet began.

I was adamant in thinking I would become successful with this one. Okay, my metabolism is already stable and I am maintaining my weight and I can also control my appetite. I learned all the basics of food nutrients and researched about them. I did my exercises and I become hungrier of exertion because I am determined to trim and tone my muscles. I am okay with that. And since I have no problem of controlling any foods I want, I guess I could slowly try to fast.

The noodle diet:

Noodle, noun, a long strip of pasta. It is a staple in Italian and Chinese cooking.
Now, good thing nowadays is that there are noodles that are fortified with vitamins and minerals. There are some that are considered organically packed. Slowly, noodle products are becoming more nutritious yet we could not get away with monosodium glutamate (MSG) it contains. Manufacturers need to put some of it for flavor enhancement so that consumers would purchase their product. However, it is still good to consider that we still get some nutrients out of it. Fortified noodles are more expensive though but what is two bucks difference comparing to non-fortified, right?

I was not used of eating noodles before because maybe we are not used to buying easy to cook foods, and my mother does not recommend it too, for we believe it is not healthy enough. Yet I was able to learn when I became independent that not all noodles are not nutritious. That is if you would really choose one that says it is fortified or you care so much on the product’s nutritional content. That is exactly what happened to me. I told myself, if I am going to eat noodles I want to make sure I can get something from it and not just sodium and MSG. One thing I also discovered is that we can control our intake of unnecessary ingredients from noodles by minimizing its flavor. I mean, noodles’ flavor depends on the powder we need to add to it. The powder contains the MSG and other elements that make it tasty. If we are health conscious enough, we don’t want to mix all the powder and consume it without thinking (If I am becoming sarcastic, sorry). Another thing is that the pasta is healthy because it was made mainly from powdered wheat. Wheat is very essential for our diet and we could get it from wheat breads, flours and unrefined grains as source of carbohydrates.
Whenever I cook a noodle, I make sure not to add all the powder included in the pack. It is still flavorful though even if you lessen its spice. The noodle diet I started does not just end on just a noodle. I also consider it as a vegetarian diet since what I did is add different types of vegetables. So it is also good for vegetarians around. Well, I guess they already know it. What a superb-nutritious meal we could make out of noodles, right? (Now I am imposing again, should I say sorry again?). Then I am ready to do my vow of fasting---with my so called, the noodle diet.
The noodle diet includes any brands of noodle you like (it is more nutritious if you chose one that is fortified or an organic noodles that is made by different vegetables i.e. carrot noodle etc), cooked with a lesser spice of course. Plus any vegetable you would like to add to it. The plan is, eat noodles and vegetables only. Nothing more.

The vegetables you could mix can be of pechay, malunggay, watercress, camote tops, chayote, potatoes or sweet potato, string beans, radish. Almost all vegetable will do as long as you like how it would blend. The pasta can provide the carbohydrates (we could not totally eliminate carbo in our diet for it is the source of our energy. So a zero carbo diet is very dangerous) and the vegetables will nourish your body with vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. You may somehow have to get used to the same routine, flavor, vegetables and the same food. I guess it’s not that bad enough since you are not compromising yourself from getting enough nutrients to sustain your system. You also have to be accustomed to regularly eating vegetables and stick to your objectives not to be seduced by other foods and break up from your aim. Anyways, the noodle diet is not formulated and not effective for a long time dieting. I consider it a choice when planning to fast (if you could not stand hunger) or when time comes that you need to break away from your binge eating habits. One thing I learned with this diet is appreciating more the importance of vegetables. Its not that I was not used to eating vegetables or I despise it, we were trained to have one in a meal and my mother was very imposing when we were kids so we have no choice but to learn to eat anything served on the table (I guess I should really thank my mother for that discipline she imposed upon us) and I also included it in my personal diet plans when I decided to lose pounds so it’s not a problem, but I was more able to embrace it, add it constantly in my diet and got to like those I don’t really like before. I also learned and realized that determination and execution of plans are very essential for success. If you really want to do something and discipline yourself that you can do it, good outcomes are just a snap away.

My goal in the noodle diet is maintenance. Since I was able to work on my diet for a long time now, it would be easy for me to shift into eating lesser or more foods if I want to. And this time I am drifting to reduced intake by stubbornly adhering to this diet. I did it. And I guess anyone could do it too.

Seven days is enough to make me realize how far I’ve been with my diet plans. I fasted but I did not compromised my health. Plus I was able to uphold on my religious beliefs too.

I always remind myself that the best thing to do in losing weight is to continue eating because our body is not designed for fasting and starvation. What are foods are for if we could live without it? We are not machines yet even machines cannot function well without sufficient supply of grease. Again, the basics of a healthy individual is a nourished body to have a sound mind and fresh outlook in life.

So just eat. We have a mouth to feed and a body that needs sustenance. Yet it does not mean that we also abuse our freewill. We should also know our limitations and when to stop when we forgot to love ourselves. Let's eat well.