"Daddy, how much protein is in a donut?"

The verdict on the plateau is in: diet soda was holding me back. Lost 1.5 lbs since I stopped drinking it two days ago. No more diet soda for Gina! However the good news is that, since the scale is moving again, I feel fairly confident that I could hold out on my cheat meal til Saturday like originally planned instead of Tuesday when I'm first able to have one.

As I continue to grow weary of my repetitious diet, I realize how much I still have yet to learn about food. I had a session this morning at 9 am and felt that eating a crap ton of eggs and egg whites before my session (especially leg day!) would be an epically bad life choice. So I ate Meal 2 first. When Shane asked what I'd already had today, I told him of my switch and expressed my disdain for the eggs that await me. And he tells me "Well just switch it out for the same amount of fat and protein." Now he says this carelessly because he's been doing it so long that he knows the fat/carb/calorie/protein content of everything he consumes. I am still very unaware of how much of what is in the food I eat. Even on this diet, I know what I'm supposed to eat and that certain things are more fat than protein, but I don't know the actual numerical breakdown.

I'd like to think I'm pretty smart. So I'm confused why facts like these won't stick with me. Why can't I ever sit down, do the math, and remember how much fat and protein is in something so that I can replace it with something else that would be a little more satisfying if not just a change of menu pace? Shane mentioned that I could replace my eggs on my Day 2 menu with probably 5 lowfat cheesesticks for the same nutritional intake. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE AND MISS CHEESE?!??!?! It is to my mental benefit to learn these things at this point!!!

So amongst my normal challenges of sticking to this diet without cheating, continuing going to the gym on a regular (if not more frequent by going twice a day) basis, and keeping a confident and positive attitude, I must also challenge myself to learn more about food. Food should not be my enemy. I shouldn't be depriving myself of things of things I like forever. I should just learn more about them to make informed eating decisions.

Here's to cheese! May it always come to the rescue!