REPORTER'S LIFESTYLE WILL CHANGE MONDAY: THE DIET BEGINS

Editor's note: Southeast Missourian reporter Heidi Nieland has volunteered to go through a diet plan new to the Cape Girardeau area. She is sharing her successes and failures in a weekly series.

After a week's wait, I've got the Biometrics diet in my hot little hands.

Here's the recap: After years of up-and-down numbers on the scale, I've volunteered to go through the Biometrics program at St. Francis Medical Center. The program is not exactly a "diet," it's more of a lifestyle change.

I selected nine meals from a menu, and Bill Logan, the wellness coordinator overseeing my progress, sent them into the Biometrics company. He also sent in my formidable weight and measurements.

A three-ring binder with everything I need for six weeks of eating came back Wednesday. It says "Designed Exclusively For Heidi Nieland" at the bottom of almost every page.

This diet, which I begin Monday, is thorough. It dictates everything I'll put in my mouth for the next six weeks, incorporating my nine menu choices throughout. There is a shopping list for the beginning of each week with every ingredient I'll need.

I find this a little frightening. While I've been known to cook the occasional meal for my husband and myself, I'm no Julia Childs. We eat out two or three times a week when we can afford it.

While there is a short section on dining out in my three-ring binder, it encourages Biometrics participants to eat at home as much as possible. It also encourages them to stick to the menu. "Remember," it says, "the less you substitute the greater your results!"

The good news is that the shopping list nearly matches what I'd buy anyway. There are a few far-out things, like feta cheese, teriyaki sauce and zucchini, but most of it is normal.

For example, Monday's breakfast is shredded wheat, milk, orange juice, an English muffin and margarine. Lunch is a sandwich and an apple. Dinner is a chalupa grande, cottage cheese and corn. There are two snacks: a bagel with cream cheese and a pretzel with non-fat, no-sugar, fruit yogurt. Dessert is lowfat frozen yogurt.

The meal plan is designed so that 58 percent of total calories come from carbohydrates, 20 percent from protein and 22 percent from fat.

All the recipes I picked are supposed to take only 30 minutes or less to prepare. For a person with a busy schedule, that's important. The Biometrics book suggests cooking several of the meals in advance and freezing them, which is another good idea.

Bill, the wellness coordinator, warned me not to expect quick results. This is eating normal foods in reasonable amounts.

"This isn't for someone who wants to lose a ton of weight in a hurry," he said. "This is a lifestyle thing, and this will help people maintain the weight they've lost."

The other important aspect of Biometrics is resistance training, which begins Wednesday. More on that next week.

For now, I'm saying goodbye to all the fatty foods responsible for where I am today. I ate pizza Wednesday and a few Hershey's kisses Thursday. If only there were time to run to St. Louis for a frozen custard... .

SOME STATISTICS

Reporter Heidi Nieland on the eve of her diet:

Height

6 feet, 3 inches

Weight

283-1/2 pounds

Goals

To reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass.