Day 9 - Weight 122.4 - Bison vs. Beef?

Today was the first day on the diet that I thought of cheating. It's been nine days and it seems like it should be getting easier. Not so. It almost seems harder. Maybe my body is catching on to the whole charade. Something like, "Hey! We aren't actually getting anything to eat!" I don't know.

LIQUIDS
2 C coffee, 1 C Chai tea, 2 liters water


COMBO SNACK/LUNCH

• Grapefruit
• Melba toast (for me), WASA bread (for hubby)
• Steak seared on grill pan & Spring Greens (for hubby) / Asparagus (for me)

COMBO SNACK/DINNER

• Apple
• Melba / WASA
• Hamburger w/ a touch of Bison (salt, pepper, turmeric, garlic powder)
  
• Tomatoes, diced w/ lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, Herbs de Provence

For dinner, I didn't have quite enough of the super lean ground beef to make the 100 gram portions for both my husband and I. I opened a pack of ground bison and added a little bit to each portion to equal a total of 100 grams of protein. It turned out to be about 30 grams of bison/70 grams of 91% lean ground (Laura's). The bison is much more dense than a typical ground beef. There's not quite as much difference between the bison and the super lean but still it's a bit more "meaty." The blend was delicious.

I bought the bison thinking it was on the approved list. Somehow I just had it in my head. It has less fat & calories than beef and is higher in protein, iron, and B12. But it isn't actually on Dr. Simeon's protocol. I'm guessing there weren't many bison available for eating in late 1960's Italy. I'm going to go ahead and finish the package that I bought but I won't buy it again while on the diet. I'm definitely going to choose bison more often after the diet is over. It's a really smart protein choice. The USDA stats on bison as compared with other proteins are below.

	Fat (grams )	Calories (kcal)	Cholesterol (mg)	Iron (mg)	Vitamin B12 (mcg)
Bison	2.42	143	82	3.42	2.86
Beef (choice)	10.15	219	86	2.99	2.65
Beef (select)	8.09	201	86	2.99	2.64
Pork	9.66	212	86	1.1	0.75
Chicken (skinless)	7.41	190	89	1.21	0.33
Sockeye Salmon	10.97	216	87	0.55	5.80
Source: USDA

A few housekeeping items....

• All the recipe ingredients are the amounts allowed on the Simeon Protocol unless otherwise noted. For example, Grapefruit means 1/2 grapefruit, Steak means 1-100 gram portion, Tomatoes means a 100-gram portion.
  
• You can find WASA at your local grocery store in the snacks/crackers section. I couldn't find Melba toast anywhere at any store in St. George but I don't have any problem getting them in OC.
• Stephanie brought up an interesting point. AmaraMedSpa doesn't include the Melba toast on their diet. I got that from the original protocol and didn't realize until I was about a week into the diet that it was missing on the Amara diet. I can't imagine eating less than I am eating. lol! And I'm losing both weight and inches. I'm keeping it in.
  
• Yes, pictures are coming. I know I'm behind. I started the blog before I really thought everything through that I might want to put on it.