I've been trying out new recipes lately. I picked up my Starving Students' Cookbook and tried out some of the tuna recipes.

Baked Tuna Quesadillas: Just like your normal Quesadillas, only the hot-n-spicy jive is moderated by fish oil and black olives! One must really be hungry to enjoy this.

Something Different Tuna Salad: Something different, indeed. I halved the amount of black olives suggested, and it was still unbearable. I'll stick to my own recipe, thanks.

Salmon Patties: No black olives were suggested, thank goodness. Unfortunately, they didn't stick together well in "patty" form. I just dropped them in the skillet as amorphous blobs, and it worked passably.

After these experiments, I decided to call it quits with that cookbook. As a part of my New Year's Resolution to eat healthier, I've been reading Protein Power and Mastering the Zone. It's interesting to see where they agree and where they disagree. To summarize, for those who haven't read them:

1. "Dry Carbs" -- grains, breads, pastas, and starches -- are bad. They cause an insulin spike. Over time, insulin spikes lead directly to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
2. "Wet Carbs" -- fresh, brightly colored fruits and green, leafy vegetables -- are good. Substitute them for dry carbs.
3. Drink lots of water 15-30 minutes before your meals.
4. Figure out how much protein you need daily for your lean body mass and activity level. Divide it equally among your meals.
5. For every 7 grams of protein you consume at a meal, eat 9 grams of wet carbs. This is for people who don't need to lose weight. (Like me.) To lose weight, reduce the number of carbs. To drastically lose weight, try a daily limit of 30 or 55 grams of carbs. As for me, I have 14% body fat, which is towards the lower end of the 12-18% suggested for a man of my age.

I've slowly begun buying lots more fruits and vegetables -- spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, strawberries, etc. As I finish my dry carbs, I'm not replacing them. I'm trying to come up with some good recipes for the fruits and vegetables that I can

I've stopped eating Cheerios for breakfast. While slow-cooked oats are good, oats in breakfast cereals (unfortunately) are about the same nutritionally as white bread. I've replaced them with two eggs (6 g protein each) scrambled with two egg whites (4 g protein each) and a slice of cheese (4 g protein), along with a cup of Tropicana Pure Premium Grovestand (Lots of Pulp) 100% Pure Orange Juice (Not From Concentrate). Total = 24g Protein, 28 g carbs. What a great breakfast!

My lunches, amazingly, have needed no adjustment: one apple + 6 tablespoons of peanut butter. It's a little high in fat, but it's nearly all monosaturated fat (the good kind). Also, a recent study has shown that, gram for gram, peanuts contain as many antioxidants as strawberries!

I've also begun exercising. The college has a gym, so I've decided to take advantage of it. I'm doing Taku's Intervals, an interval-training program designed for combat athletes (like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners). I could see a noticable, measurable improvement by the second session!