The Martin Diet!
August 31st, 2006 by MarkLast week, I was hanging out with two of my best friends in Taiwan- Martin and Nathan. Both of them are philosophy majors, strangely enough. Anyway, the conversation turned to will power, somehow, and Martin told me that my experience gaining weight over the last few years was eye-opening for him. He’d never even considered that it could be difficult for reasonably intelligent and motivated people to keep from gaining weight. Martin, of course, is a skinny bastard. He’s 6″2′, 160 pounds, he eats a lot of dairy, he drinks like a fish and I don’t think his waist has ever made it up to 30″.
Anyway, he had a brilliant diet idea. I should follow him for a couple of days, and eat whatever he does and do whatever exercise he does. He isn’t as active as I used to be, but he does do some pretty intense roller-blading almost daily. He also has to take six flights of stairs to get to his apartment, and while he eats a lot, it’s mostly unprocessed whole foods. The more I thought about it the more I thought it would be a good experiment. Sure, Martin’s a couple inches taller than I am, but it seemed the same basic diet ought to work. I’m sure it would do me some good to stop getting such a huge portion of my nourishment from 7-11.
Those plans have been dashed. After going out to eat with him at a local restaurant a few nights ago, I now know it’s impossible. I’m physically incapable of following the Martin Diet. We started with some 紅油抄手 (mistype?), some veggies, a couple bottles of Qingdao and some egg drop soup. After that it was a dozen dumplings and a couple more bottles of Qingdao. We stayed and chatted at the restaurant and then went to a park. On the way, we picked up a couple more beers at the convenience store. After chatting there for a while, we headed back for my new apartment, hitting convenience stores on the way each time we finished a drink. By the time we got to my apartment, I’d had way too much to drink and just lied down on my back on the floor to watch the ceiling for a bit. Martin, on the other hand, Martin the skinny bastard who’d had three more drinks than I had, was busy walking around the room, measuring spaces where furniture could be moved, turning my bed around to free up more space in the middle of the room, and planning a complete overhaul for my appartment. Basically, I’m a wuss when it comes to drinking.
I weigh 60 pounds more than he does and I couldn’t even make it on the Martin Diet for one day! I guess I’ll have to try a different one.
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August 31st, 2006 at 9:54 pm
You could try my diet, if you want. Cereal with soy milk for breakfast (or whatever the equivalent is in China), a lot of fruits, veggies, and grains for lunch, and soup or pasta or salad or random food around the house for dinner. I get most of my protein from nuts, beans, peas, and various other kinds of legumes, which I count as part of the veggies I have during lunch. I’m not that active, and my job requires me to sit at a computer with headphones on for 8 hours straight, but I’m still basically the same weight I was in high school and college, though I’m a 33 inch waist now as opposed to a 32 inch waist back then. I’d say my average weight since I’ve been in the military is probably between 170 and 175 lbs, and my height is 70″ or 5′10″. We don’t get a lunch break at work, so I snack on my lunch throughout the work day at my computer. Snap-peas, grapes, peanuts, and stuff of that nature are really great for snacking on over several hours. Sometimes, if I don’t feel like eating anymore, I’ll chew on some gum to keep my mouth occupied. It also has the useful side-effect of cleaning my teeth. I also make sure to keep a large water bottle at my computer at all times. I generall will drink a gallon or more of water while I’m at work. Since that’s a lot of water, I need to eat something salty to balance my electrolites, so sometimes I’ll have some crackers or something else that’s really salty. What I had today is pretty typical for me. I had Kashi 7 Whole-grain Puffs cereal with Silk soy milk before work, an apple, orange, raisens, celery, carrot, crackers, granola bar, and lots of water at work, chips and salsa, a couple biscuits, fresh baby-spinach salad and mashed potatoes after work. It makes me feel good.
August 31st, 2006 at 10:19 pm
That sounds really healthy. You always were thin (though not to quite the degree that Martin is). One question, are you a vegitarian now?
September 1st, 2006 at 6:59 am
Is Martin taking on students? I’ve got to meet this guy. A beer diet. The problem is, I tend to get a bit lethargic after I knock back a few; he must be doing something to burn those calories off.
Thomas, you are hard-core. Hats off.
By the way, are you settled yet? Don’t hesitate to hit us up for anything, to include a place to stay as long as you need it.
September 1st, 2006 at 10:33 am
btw, do you have any plans to create a button icon for the Taiwan blog feed site?
September 1st, 2006 at 1:28 pm
LOL! Mark you seemed in your best shape when you were running for the fun of it. I would suggest finding an unattractive woman to chase you or a very attractive one to chase.
I have been pouring into nutrition since massage school and am more happy with where I’m going. (and you and I seem to have the same build)
There are some GREAT suppliments that could help too.
(still trying to get to the point where eating is almost gone and it’s pills and shakes LOL)
September 1st, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Probably not, since I’ve been so busy. Out of curiosity, though, what kind of button icon do you mean?
September 2nd, 2006 at 2:14 am
I’m not strictly vegetarian, but I do make a conscious effort to limit my meat intake. My preferred meat is sushi-grade fish, and my preferred food overall is sushi. My reasons for not eating a lot of meat are varied. It’s not as healthy to eat a lot of meat for starters, but also, I have ethical problems with the meat industry as a whole; most places really treat the animals pretty poorly (except for anecdotes like in Japan where some places baby the cattle and massage them regularly). I haven’t gone so far as to boycott meat, but I don’t go out of my way to eat it either. And to be honest, I don’t really miss it. I don’t go through periods where I crave meat, at all.
September 3rd, 2006 at 10:29 am
I’m 6′1″ and 155 pounds at age 34 and while it is kinda nice to not worry about what I eat (and I eat a lot of crap), believe me, there are times I would love to have another 30 pounds or so to throw around, especially when there is something “going down” (admittedly not very often). Being skinny is a curse and a blessing at the same time. Strangely, I don’t get a lot of sympathy from most
September 8th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
With you Thomas…the only “meat” I eat is fish (sushi of course). Kinda funny too. I am having energy levels up there that I haven’t seen since high school. (Yes Mark, that crazy)
September 8th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Tom’s diet seems similar in many ways to my own. I’m about 6′1″, 170 lbs. I sit at a computer desk most of the day and eat things like nuts and sesame sticks, and drink lots of water (maybe as much as Tom). My wife (Nicole) has been feeding the family healthy food with little meat, so I think that has helped as well. I’ve also been going for bike rides or been using the rowing machine during lunch. But I think the fundamental think that keeps me thin is the ‘eat to live’ attitute. Generally, I just eat because I have to, not because I want to.
September 9th, 2006 at 6:33 am
That’s a lot of water Tom and Matt. I probably drink between 1/3 and 1/2 of a gallon every day.
Interestingly, my Dad’s doctor told him to cut back on water — he drinks a lot! I don’t see why he didn’t recommend eating more salty foods. It seems to me that water is too important to cut back.
Maybe he thought my dad would eat chips that would add too much fat to his diet. What would you suggest? Crackers aren’t fatty, but maybe he doesn’t want the extra carbs either. My dad eats a lot of ice cream anyway, isn’t that full of salt?
September 9th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Matt said:
I guess I’ve always been more of a “live to eat” kind a guy.
September 12th, 2006 at 6:01 am
Hey, you could always try my diet!
Wait… I don’t think the “Burger King” diet is actually a diet after all…
September 18th, 2006 at 12:46 am
such a cute story!
no worries. you can shake them off. I’m sure of it!
October 1st, 2006 at 3:48 pm
[...] I’ve got great, exciting news to report: the ‘flavor’ of Manchuria is soon to arrive in Taipei. Last night I met Mark’s friend Martin. He’s not famous, but he deserves to be, because he’s invented the craziest diet in history, which mainly consists of walking everywhere, pausing only to make pit stops at every convenience store (in Taipei that means every 500 meters) to grab a can of beer. I tried it last night and I couldn’t hang. I don’t think it’s one of those things where ‘practice makes perfect’ either. That guy is just wired differently from the rest of us. [...]
November 4th, 2006 at 11:38 am
[...] After a late night of walking all over this wonderful city, beer can in hand and replacing my drink at a convenience store each time it ran out, I couldn’t stay asleep this morning. So, I got up at 9AM. Considering that I’m a self-avowed night owl, getting up at 9AM is pretty amazing. I bought a Mr. Brown Coffee, and a liter of water and hit the gym! [...]