Friday, June 22, 2007

More thoughts on a diet I can live with

I wrote a while back about considering a "hunter-gatherer" diet. I successfully lost 100 pounds on Atkins a couple of years ago. But I didn't stay on it -- and I have a million excuses. So the weight came back, because I just can't eat white bread, and potatoes, and sugar, and everything else, and not get fat. Actually, the term is "morbidly obese." Hate to admit that but it is true. So here I am again, thinking that if I want to live a long and happy life with my dear husband, this weight absolutely must come off. And he needs to take this trip along with me. I think that Atkins is a little too extreme, but I am in tune with South Beach. I'm laying that against research on glycemic index and glycemic load, and building an eating plan for us around that. Pizza and beer definitely isn't on the list, at least for now! But lots of lean proteins, legumes, cheese, vegetables, some fruits, and even wine are okay. Most white foods are still not there -- rice, potatoes, sugar, wheat flour, etc. - though milk products are on the list. So far, so good. Lost eight pounds this week, and good food. Duck (grilled breast and confit leg, with cucumber salad and grilled bok choy). Beef, Swiss steak without potatoes. Beef, grilled slices with poblanos, jalapenos, tomatoes, cilantro, and onions. Thai beef salad (yum neua). Grilled Italian sausage with onions and peppers. Grilled pork cutlets. Bouillabaisse-style stew with lobster stock, calamari, crab, clams, and mussels. All good, all working. And all homemade. This week I'll use spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce I have in the freezer. I'm also going to roast and stuff some poblanos with shrimp, onions, cauliflower, and cheese. Probably some beef burgundy, with a thinner sauce of course but lots of mushrooms to soak it up. Enough ruminating -- time to go figure out what's for dinner!

Reining in extremists-in-training

This is a weird one. I was shopping at my local national supermarket chain today, and scored some lovely beef on sale. While checking out, the courtesy clerk (a young man who looked about 19) commented: "Wow, this beef is really red!" and I replied "The meat guy cut and wrapped it for me fresh." Then he says, "Do you usually buy dead cows?" I laughed, and said yes, and dead pigs, and chickens, and ducks. He said "Really?" and I said "Yes, but I am willing to look them in the eye and acknowledge what I am eating." He replied, "That's why I'm a vegetarian." Implying of course that he doesn't have the cojones to face the reality of being an omnivore. Initially, I just thought it was an interesting exchange, and took my groceries out to the car. But I started thinking: where does this young know-nothing get off commenting on my choice of edibles? He's just a kid, and when I thought more on it I decided that a courtesy clerk needs to learn that it's not his place to make political commentary on the customers' purchases. So I went back in and very nicely told his supervisor that while I did not mind having a dialog with this kid about it, some other customers might be offended. I'm still not sure if I did the right thing, but I wasn't in the mood for playing mother to the kid and taking him aside for a talking-to. And it wasn't my place. Just a weird day at the grocery store :)