Dieting is no picnic

This is the second of a three-part series about dieting tips.

Dieting is a pain in the ..., well you know where. No matter the pain, dieting is necessary for some of us from time to time. There are many trails available as soon as a person realizes there is a need to take some pounds off the bones. A person talking about taking pounds off the body is really saying they need to lose fat.

They may pursue the peanut butter diet, the orange juice diet or the rice cake diet. Each person must decide which route they will travel to achieve the goal of losing weight.

There is only one way to lose weight; reduce the intake of calories. Your body needs to use the calories stored in your body instead of using the calories entering the body on any given day. Another way to burn stored calories is to exercise.

Here is a very simple way to lose 52 pounds in a year. Reduce your food intake by 250 calories per day and exercise enough to burn 250 calories in a day. This will mean you are dropping 500 calories each day. In turn, this means you are burning 3,500 calories in a week. There are 3,500 calories in a pound, so you should drop a pound a week.

Yes, this is simple, but the dieter must pay attention to food and exercise. Most important, the person must stick to the plan. This is the downfall of most people trying to shed a few pounds.

My path for losing weight is using the DietPower program, which is a calorie counter and nutrition coach. The program allows me to record the foods eaten and my exercise.

DietPower provided a daily calorie budget of 1797 calories after plugging in my goal of weighing 200 pounds on Aug. 28. My intake of food has usually been below what has been budgeted, so DietPower has given me a projected weight of 192.7. Of course, the projected weight fluctuates day to day, depending upon what has been eaten and exercise performed.

My food, for this day as written at 1:30 p.m. includes: Three, 10-ounce glasses of water, zero calories; one tablespoon of lemon juice, three calories; two, 10-ounce mugs of coffee, two calories; one cup cooked brown rice, 216 calories; three ounces cooked broccoli, 11 calories; two ounces roasted deer meat, 89 calories; 1.7 ounces sweet yellow corn, 18 calories; two ounces cooked unsalted carrots, 20 calories; quarter cup vinegar, eight calories; six ounces naval orange segments, 82 calories. The total so far this day is 449 calories eaten after two meals, leaving 1348 calories remaining of my 1797 budgeted for the day.

Brown rice is the main ingredient of my diet. A digital rice cooker produces 12 cups at a time. Resealable bags are used to store the rice in one cup potions and frozen. A one-cup measure is actually used to make sure the volume is correct.

A variety of other foods are cooked and packaged in two-ounce portions and frozen. These include: carrots, venison, broccoli, peas, salmon, trout, walleye and any other vegetables found in the freezer.

Keeping food ready to throw in the microwave is a bit of work. I suffer a smidgen of panic if the freezer is opened and brown rice isn't readily visible. The same goes for the other items. Rummaging through the freezer has been interesting and has provided all of my food so far.

In the morning a glass of water and lemon juice is downed, as a pot of coffee brews. This is when my weight is recorded in the DietPower program. The program stays up all day, because items are added to the food log as they are eaten.

When my stomach says it is time to eat, a one-cup package of rice is thawed, along with other measured foods, such as carrots, broccoli, venison and salmon.

The food is mixed in a bowl, seasoned with Mrs. Dash, and heated. A combination of sour cream and vinegar is added at the table, sometimes just vinegar is used.

This is a lot of food folks. It is eaten until I'm satisfied and save the rest until the next meal. There are times when one batch of food is used for both breakfast and lunch. About 10:30 hunger pains hit me, so six ounces of naval orange segments were eaten. A bag of orange segments are stored in the refrigerator for this purpose.

DietPower offers a 15-day free trial. The cost is $27.95 after the trial period, but they also offer to refund you money if you aren't satisfied for up to one-year. This is a good deal, folks, as the regular price is $54.99. The special offer is good through May 15. But remember, if you don't like the program, you can get you money back. Another $9.95 will allow a household to upload DietPower on up to four computers. Check the site at www.dietpower.com

Much more than just a calorie counter is offered, such as a nutrient history, nutrient summary and the food log. There are other parts to the program, which will help the dieter through their journey. Log on and take a look.

Stats as of today: After 7.5 weeks and 52 days, have lost 18.6 pounds, which equals .357 pounds per day and 2.48 pounds a week. Blood pressure at 6:55 a.m. was 107/65.

Next week: Eating at restaurants and other diet tips.