ABSURDLY SITUATED

So far, so good

2011-12-10T09:52:00.001-05:00

You (and you know who you are) are probably wondering how many hundreds of pounds I must have lost by now. Well, I'm holding at a 20 pound loss, but I FEEL GOOD!!! and any week now I should be losing twenty more. I'm right now drinking a spinach, strawberry, peach, banana, tangerine, unsweetened almond milk, flax seed smoothie. And, get this: I actually think it's delicious. My recipe is casual: about a cup of each fruit and about two cups of spinach (frozen strawberries, canned peaches without sugar and some of the juice included, 1/2 tangerine, a banana, 3/4 cup almond milk, and a tablespoon of ground flax seed (which I grind up in my old Mr. Coffee long-lived coffee grinder). I blend this in my Ninja blender which crushes just about any kind of food).

Good stuff.

I've excluded all dairy from my diet except for cream in my coffee (I'm working on it!), and the very occasional slice of cheese.

I eat very little meat (or fish) and the more I read about how livestock is handled and destroyed, the less I want to eat meat! I'm not a crazed fanatic, but it seems like animals should not be born to suffer and maybe if we all ate LESS meat, we wouldn't need to kill animals in such massive quantities and it would be possible to treat them more humanely. Just a thought. If anyone has a perspective on this that would indicate that animals are not treated badly by huge processors, PLEASE, share it with me.

2011-11-23T17:48:00.001-05:00

Get me! I was just a kid, really. Exploring the infinite abyss.

Mark Twain speaks...

2011-11-14T18:52:00.001-05:00

"There are few things harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example."

-Mark Twain

Today is my birthday

2011-10-07T16:18:00.010-04:00

Today is my birthday. Proof positive that I was born. I do not feel as old as I thought I would feel way back when I was so very young that I thought 59 years old sounded quite elderly. So, I am grateful to be the age I am because it means I get to be alive!!!!!!!!! and see how things are turning out.

I'm at a loss...

2011-08-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm still short, but twenty two pounds are gone, gone, gone! and I owe it all to fruits and vegetables :-)

Seriously, I did not think this would work out. Speaking of working out, I do need to do more of that.

POSITIVELY PEACHY

2011-08-02T21:53:00.002-04:00

So, anyway, it turns out that eating 5 or so servings of fruit and 5 or so servings of vegetables each day, along with ground flax and under 12 ounces of meat each week, and no dairy and a couple of ounces of cheese and a slice of bread here and there, and some nuts and oatmeal and quinoa, and other whole and unprocessed food per week, means that I have now lost TWENTY pounds. And I betcha' I will lose 15 more, and if that happens, I will weigh what I weighed in my twenties. In my twenties, people, when I weighed what I should weigh.

Get me, I lost twenty pounds without feeling deprived and in fact feeling so much better. Fewer headaches, smoother skin, fewer allergies of all kinds, and better digestion. All in all, I am amazed at how this happens. I do this, the weight diminishes and it is such a welcome relief. I really like fruits and vegetables most of the time, but even when they don't sound good, I eat them to live and think of the nourishment they provide.   I can always eat something that is less nourishing if I feel the need, as long as most of the time I eat real, whole food. So that works for me.

When I see people so obviously struggling with their weight, I want to tell them, "Try this!" But I think sometimes people aren't ready to try it. They think it will be too difficult. It's not.   I found that the thing that was too difficult was weighing 20 pounds more than I do today. That was difficult. This is easy-peasy. I don't know why it took me so long to understand that food is meant to provide nourishment. Of course, we hear that all of our lives, but somehow it didn't totally sink in for me that it's not just that sugar or fat is bad for us, it's that they don't provide the nourishment we need to be healthy and strong. We need to eat to live and if meat and cake is all there is, then eat that, but it's not going to provide the stuff we need to thrive.

Previous to this "eat to live" regimen, I did not eat massive quantities of food, and I did include salads and fruits and vegetables, but not a lot of them. And I ate much cheese and eggs and turkey and chicken. It was healthier than some diets, but lacking in the quantity of fruits and vegetable that I include now.

If you eat real food, and make the desserts or cheese a treat rather than a part of every-meal, the results will astound you. Seriously, you may not believe me but it has not been difficult to eat well --- and I thought it would not only be difficult, but impossible. Smoothies have been the key for me. You can pack a lot of the day's fruit in one smoothie. Throw in some kale or spinach and you've got a jump start on the veggies. Smoothies have made my life smoother.

I may be jumping to conclusions, but it seems like the advice I've gotten is working--------- and it goes a little something like this:

EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. You know the stuff: GREENS, ONIONS, MUSHROOMS, SPINACH, BEANS OF ALL SHAPES AND COLORS, GRAPES, MANGOS, CHERRIES, BANANAS, BLUEBERRIES, AND MORE.
Do this. SERIOUSLY. And with great humor.

Hey, Nineteen.................

2011-07-16T07:52:00.001-04:00

It took another month, but I just reached a 19 pound weight loss. YeeHa!

Plus, I'm getting a new refrigerator.

Those two things are not necessarily related, but it will provide better storage for all the amazing fresh fruits and vegetables becoming available from our garden and from the local farmer's market, so there's that.

Makes me happy.

EIGHTEEN AND I LIKE IT

2011-06-10T19:21:00.002-04:00

It has been very gradual, I admit that freely, but it's a lifestyle change rather than a temporary fix. So, 18 pounds in six months. Three pounds a month on average. I can live with that.

Presumably, six months was going to go by anyway and in another six months, I could lose another 18 pounds, theoretically. Maybe by eating this way, (mostly real, whole foods, hardly any dairy - less and less as time goes by, and minimal meat - maybe 12 oz a week at most) I will just gradually reach my optimal weight. It could happen! It could.

Speaking of Fresh!

2011-06-01T10:06:00.002-04:00

HEY, KARI......YOU MUST HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL BABY - OH, LOOK, YOU WERE!

Simple Luxury

2011-05-31T21:04:00.003-04:00

I just keep noticing how nice it is that when I'm thinking I need a certain container lid, for example, I go right to an easily accessible place where it is supposed to be and THERE IT IS!

I read once that it's good to have a shelf somewhere with nothing on it, leaving room for expansion. I love that. I have a space in a drawer with nothing in it. What luxury.

And now I have a drawer, a deep drawer with plenty of room, just for my purse and the extra bag I carry to work --- I moved out some clothing.

'kay, now what did I do with the clothes? you might ask. And who could blame you. Well, due to my recent weight loss of SEVENTEEN POUNDS(!), which I may have alluded to recently, mostly they didn't fit. It was time to let them go. So I donated them along with some shirts and shorts that are suddenly too big to be worn with any semblance of dignity. This opened up most of another drawer, leaving the aforementioned space.

It does feel so refreshing to use drawers and cupboards for things that I use rather than simply to store things that I don't use, no longer need, and keep on hand only due to some misguided belief that I will NEED them some day. Even if a day arrives that finds me wondering where that thing-a-ma-jig is, I really think it would be stretching it to use the word need. I have plenty of food, clothing and shelter, love, and work, so “need” need not be applied to expendable, unending, never-to-be missed paraphernalia.

I was feeling overwhelmed and burdened by so much stuff; it is such a fresh feeling of lightness to have less and less unnecessary detritus lurking about. I thought I would be all panicky and miss having something or other, but exactly the opposite has happened. And this is happening even though I'm not precisely sure what detritus even is.

Words and Phrases....what are your choices?

2011-05-30T11:02:00.001-04:00

Words and phrases I am tired of hearing people use:

Having said all that....

At the end of the day........

Clearly...

What are your choices for phrases people use way too much?

_____________________________________

I wonder why................

2011-05-24T07:59:00.004-04:00

I wonder why certain novels are considered great art and others are considered frivolous --- and in certain cases are considered to be both, albeit at different times.

Seems like the "great art" designation would come into play when a novel is particularly profound and insightful and eminently readable, but that doesn't always seem to be true, i.e. Ulysses, by James Joyce (seriously, you cannot convince me it is eminently readable).

So, I assume I cannot write a novel that is profound and insightful and full of art. I assume this because I know myself quite well and have judged me to be incapable of great art. I find myself, though, in a place and time in which I can be capable of quite commendable mediocrity, and that hardly ever translates itself to greatness.

This leads me to this project, this poorly planned and unballyhooed project, to NOT write the great American novel but instead to simply write a novel which could, someday, be deemed "a mediocre novel written in America".

I hesitate only because novels tend to delve into messy scenarios and things that may have happened but didn't actually happen and you go through all this rigamarole and emotional trauma about MADE-UP stuff. Stuff that could happen, though, and so may provide insight into some long-sought universal truth.

What is the point? To entertain. To connect?

I suppose if I were to ride across county on a bicycle and encounter various adventures, then that could be a story, but: ride a bike all over the country? Hell, no. Then what amazingly and perhaps surprisingly interesting story could I tell. I do not know. I do not.

It took me over fifty years to get where I am and I've no intention of writing about all of that, although some of it might be funny or instructive, but bottom line, it was all rather ordinary life. Ordinary me. And I am grateful for the ordinariness of it all.

I survived polio and Catholicism, a brief bout with Jehovah's Witnesses, and a colonoscopy not to mention a hysterectomy and the birth of one lovely and magnificent daughter -- not necessarily in that order.

I cook. I play the piano quite badly, I dabble in water color, I study Italian; my motto: anything worth doing badly, is worth doing. I grow vegetables and raspberries each year.

How does all of this coalesce into a coherent story and provide some grist for the mill -- assuming writing a novel requires grist....and a mill? It does not. It does not coalesce.

(to be continued)

In case you were wondering...

2011-05-23T20:15:00.000-04:00

I've lost 17 pounds, and I seem to be stuck at 17, but only temporarily, I presume. I have been walking for 1/2 hour each day. I've done an aerobic workout every day for 8 minutes....trying to establish a habit by starting out at 8 minutes -- some advice I read recently to start small in order to establish a habit. So..........any day now I should be losing many more pounds. Many more.

A pound is a pound, the world around,

the ones that I've lost

can always be found.

Oggi è sempre oggi

2011-05-21T15:04:00.002-04:00

It's the end of the world as we know it.................and I feel fine........................

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T11:28:00.000-04:00

Life is just a bowl of cherries much of the time.

Cholesterol down 20 points -- Dow Jones Soars

2011-04-29T19:11:00.003-04:00

In case you're wondering how the Eat to Live plan can affect a person's health, I wanted to let you know that I just had blood work done and my cholesterol is down 21 points, so far (hdl was 63 and ldl was 157 for a grand total of 220) - last year it was 69 and 172. So, that's a good thing, although I don't know why the hdl went down. Triglycerides were 98.

And all kinds of other numbers were darn good - none out of the normal range. Previously one liver enzyme was elevated and thyroid number was a little high --- now way normal

Probably too much information, but I'm all wound up about the overall good report! And that's just after 5 months. So, there's that.

A RECIPE FOR DISASTER (averted)

2011-04-29T18:59:00.000-04:00

'kay, Jesse made this for dinner tonight: a mix of zucchini, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, leeks, beets, topped with pineapple sections. He put that in a casserole dish and microwaved it for about 10 minutes, then put it in the over (covered) for about 50 minutes. Now this is the strange part: IT WAS GOOD.

The salad prep was mine: fresh spinach, carrots, red onion, sweet red pepper, and strawberries with a little bit of yogurt-ranch dressing.

Breakfast at Benjamin's

2011-04-18T19:48:00.004-04:00

It's a "tofu scramble" and includes tofu cut up into little cubes, parsnips, red pepper, green onion, spinach and two eggs.....................no cheese. I also chopped up a turkey smoky link and tossed that into the mix......and I'm telling you this to show that while I'm reducing the use of meat, I do include it in minimal amounts every now and then. And for the smoothie: peaches, banana, mandarin orange slices, a tablespoon of ground flax seed and almond milk - DELICIOUS!

PESKY AND PERTURBED

2011-04-17T21:39:00.001-04:00

I'm only being the way I am because that is what it is possible for me, at certain points in time, to be.

It is not unforgivable to be pesky and perturbed – on occasion.

Tidings of Comfort or Joy

2011-04-17T18:37:00.007-04:00

December 26, 2010

Comfort or Joy

Second chances

Second guesses

Second hand

Second grade

Second rate

I second guess myself and over-analyze. How to stop? Stop.

Remind your second-guessing brain that enough is enough and even if you weren't great, the best or even okay it's okay and you are in there trying, and that is good enough. Make friends with good enough.

Ayn Rand and the Catholic proselytizers (not necessarily in that order)

got me way too fixated on perfection.

Let it be what it is. Perfection is not even a reasonable goal for brilliant people, never mind, me.

Since I have a predilection to worry and fret, that is what I usually do.

I would like to find a way replace that predilection with something that feels better

When I worry and even wonder excessively about what will happen, what already did, or what I should or shouldn't say, it provides no comfort or joy.

Sometimes I begin to understand that whatever happens, I will manage. I will fear no man or woman and I will remember that my intentions are good and my work is verifiable. And if that is not enough, I can move on. Whatever happens, I can be pretty damn happy. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “A man is just about as happy as he makes his mind up to be.”

and further remember:

Only Art Van can bring you the ultimate winter close-out sale,

and only God can make a tree

Happy Boxing Day!

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE NIGHT BEFORE

2011-04-17T18:35:00.011-04:00

Notes from Sunday, December 21^st (or second).

'Twas the night before the night before the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except I was having a hot flash, no, a cold flash, oy, with the flashing, already. So you must realize that I am a woman of a certain age and this is what happens to such a woman as I. Women such as I. Me. Anyway, while emotional upheavals are to be expected, I do not like to feel so

intensely sad every few hours; though on the upside, I also feel intensely happy every few hours – which really is a plus, when you think about it. I'm learning to accept the yin and the yang of things. Whatever happens next, I will be open to the opportunities presented.

This menopausal moment has been brought to you by ME. And if you don't like it, or find it pointless, Jimmy crack corn and I don't care. Aw, who am I kidding – I care. It's a blessing. And a curse.

Anxiety for Beginners - written: NOVEMBER 2008

2011-04-16T14:00:00.001-04:00

Anxiety for beginners

from ABSURDLY SITUATED by Robin Kimball Benjamin

As for me, I am still wound up a bit too tight so anxiety and panic will shadow me all the days of my life except for when they don’t. I try to keep my thoughts moving so that the really painful imaginings may flow into the brain, but are quickly swept through and out so that I am not ruled by every stray thought that finds it’s way into my consciousness. Fascinating as I think I may be, all of my considerations are not worth considering. Not every thought is worth entertaining and not every eventuality is worth imagining. The scenarios I’ve invented! I’ve had such troubles, some of which have actually occurred, most of which have not - they served only to torture me and it just seems so unnecessary - an advantage of aging (wisdom?) - I actually have come upon a certain calmness every so often that eluded me before. Maybe I just had to be quiet for a while and let it unfold. Maybe. Wisdom would be nice. It’s a goal.
And then the hormones scramble for attention; they diminish and then they crumble and then they transform and I am left gasping and beaten, looking for balance in a topsy turvy world that is not for sissies. What the hell. I finally sort a few things out, accept the way I look as "not so bad" - become damn grateful, actually, to be what I am. It takes 25 years or so to get over adolescence and just when the zits are gone, the wrinkles set in. But wrinkles don’t bother me. They show character and laughter and a life lived. So I adjust and just when I do, the next big thing hits - my god, the sagging! Everything is changing shape. Will I adjust to this too? Ah, well - what is, is, and I can accept what I cannot change. And I can accept that as long as I have cliches to see me through; I will see me through. It’s not easy being 52, but I think it is easier than being 12 or 15 - there are compensations. I am less likely to freak out in traffic and more likely to laugh at the absurdities in life instead of cry at the unfairness of it all. If life were fair, I might be in a mess and instead I have a life that is good although sometimes painful so maybe it’s fair enough. Life is full of contradictions and so am I.

I'm Nobody. Who are you?

2011-04-14T20:16:00.006-04:00

I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you ---Nobody-- too?

.....anybody know the next line to this poem?

I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you-- Nobody-- too?

Monday, Monday

2011-04-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

Okay, apparently there are no questions for me at this particular point in time. Fine. I am not bitter.

A Nod to Invictus

2011-04-10T19:49:00.000-04:00

"Due to circumstances beyond my control,
I am master of my fate,
and captain of my soul."

-Ashleigh Brilliant

From the edge of OK

2011-04-08T09:31:00.003-04:00

I will now be taking questions. Go ahead. Just jump right in at anytime. Anytime at all. One at a time.

SEVENTEEN!!

2011-04-07T10:05:00.000-04:00

17 Pounds -- gone, but not forgotten! Makes me happy!

Practically OK

2011-04-07T08:13:00.003-04:00

...and this morning (in spite of the M&M's) I weighed 129 pounds! My height is 4'11 ¾ inches, so, you can see that I still have some weight to lose, but I am getting closer to my goal (my first goal is to reach 119 pounds, which I used to consider my “fat” weight, but that was when I was in my 20's and thought I would always weigh 105 pounds). If I can get to 105-110 pounds, that would be icing on the cake (still using cake metaphors!), but right now 119 sounds good and for the first time in way too many years, it sounds remotely possible.

I know we've all heard this before about the change of attitude toward food, but this is the first time I've experienced it without all the asterisks; like with the Atkins diet that I tried 20 years ago ---- I lost 15 pounds but I wondered if it was worth the bad breath and the restrictions against eating food like fruits that I knew were nutritious and important – and with Atkins I still craved sweets and salty snacks. Oh, and I gained back the 15 pounds.

I'm hoping not to sound all self-righteous and obnoxious, but this feels like something I can really run with for the rest of my life, which I have hopes will be a healthier version of my life.

But wait, there's more!

My blood pressure is in the range of 115/65 --- it was previously more often 139/70 and in the doctor's office it jumped to 155/85! Dry skin conditions cleared up---headaches reduced from one every week or two, to only three in 21 weeks.

Practically OK

According to the weight chart in the book, You: on a Diet, I am practically okay. For my height and weight, I'm just inside the line on the chart between "OK" and "Overweight". It feels good! And I do believe I can make it to the other edge of OK.

Re: Photo of Sid (the cat) He has nothing to do, I suppose, with the commentary here, but he has been very supportive in his own way :)

A NEW LOW!!!!!

2011-04-06T09:55:00.002-04:00

I hit a new low! But in a good way. As of today, I've lost 16 pounds.

And that's without totally eliminating the things people often think they can't live without. Although I have eliminated them from my daily fare, on occasion I have a cookie or a piece of cake or some kind of chips, but maybe once a week instead of everyday. And sometimes less than once a week because they just don't call to me the way they used to call. If this all changes by next Tuesday, I will let you know.

Things I Can't Live Without:

And now I believe it's not chips and pie and cake and donuts and candy and meat and cheese that I can't live without. I believe I can't live without bokchoy and spinach and tangerines and bananas ( I love bananas) and beans (I love beans!) and peaches and strawberries, and ---well, you get the idea. Even the veggies or fruits that I simply eat for the nutrients have won me over.

In the truest sense, those are the things I can't live without - literally.

On a side note: I'm reading a book about bone health called Building Bone Vitality, by Amy Joy Lanou, Ph.D and Michael Castlemen; and after reviewing massive amounts of research, what do you think it is that they conclude contributes most to building better bones? Not calcium supplements or vitamin D supplements, not drugs. Instead it is, wait for it: FRUITS AND VEGETABLES!... and minimal meat and dairy. Oh, and walking for 30 minutes or so each day. Not sprinting or running marathons. Walking.

The News

2011-03-31T22:19:00.000-04:00

From the Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd: "August turned it (the radio) off. Enough was enough. You cannot fix the whole world."

A line by Laurie Colwin

2011-03-30T22:20:00.000-04:00

"She had the deep optimism of a scrapper, but she felt she needed to be told quite often that the roof was not going to cave in."

To Furhman

2011-03-29T23:38:00.001-04:00

Spinach and red beets

and schnitzel with noodle

yams and spaghetti

and crisp apple strudel

yogurt and bokchoy

and green beans with strings

these are a few of my favorite things.

Except for schnitzel

Except for strudel

Those aren't true for me

I simply included them here 'cuz they rhymed

As if it were meant to be.

A work in progress...

2011-03-29T23:28:00.004-04:00

The food I ate today - some good for me; some, not so much:

serving of low fat chips, slice toast with pb & j,green beans, potato & mushrooms, tangerine, bagel with veggie cream cheese, salad with greens, beets, carrots, onion, black beans, celery, fruit smoothie with ground flax seed and spinach.

The song was in my head and I needed to get it to stop, so:

To the tune of My Favorite Things:

Flax seed and bagels, and cream cheese and kittens,

Green beans, potatoes and warm woolen mittens,

Salad with black beans and 2 kinds of greens,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the chips crunch,

When the toast browns,

When I'm blending fruit,

I simply remember my first tangerine

And then I don't feel so fat.

All I Need Is a Line a Day.................

2011-03-29T21:34:00.026-04:00

Uh oh, I was intending to present a line each day that I like. But I forgot. That kind of thing happens all the time. The follow-through is often a problem when it comes to things I'd like to do, but nothing dreadful happens if I don't. It doesn't mean that I am not capable of coming up with a line each day that I like. You just don't know what I am capable of. Of what I am capable, to be grammatically correct.

Ecco, la linea: The jig is up. I don't have a line. Although I do like that line. The jig is up.

Wait - here it is: Unto you shall come a savior and he shall be called Lydia.

If that seems too irreverent, then how about this: Stop responding to unpleasant things by being upset. Now that's a good thought, admit it, why doncha'? Discuss.

Or, and unlike the other lines, this did not originate with me: Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Who said that? I will remember soon.........but if you know the author, please tell me.

Good evening. Buonanotte.

New Feature: Line of the Day

2011-03-23T19:29:00.001-04:00

Line of the day : I had a childhood that was mercifully brief.
(Paul Simon)

LOOK AT ME

2011-03-23T19:09:00.001-04:00

I occasionally arrive at a moment of acceptance of my limitations, my strengths, and my life; and then it is, in that moment, all very clear and clean and, um, what is the word? acceptable? maybe. It seems to make sense, in that moment, that I am the way I am and isn't that okay? That I am the way I am with all that may imply. Funny, annoying, insufferable, petty, passionate, judgmental, self-centered, compassionate, insightful, discouraged, wrong, right, clear-headed, muddled, amazing, amazed, brave, a scaredy-cat, a giver, a taker, a wise woman and a fool. All kinds of good things like that.

Plus, I lost another half a pound and took a walk in the rain. So there's that.

I feel good...

2011-03-18T20:36:00.000-04:00

So, anyway.....Just made a yummy smoothie.....included a banana, a cup or so each of strawberries, peaches, frozen black, sweet cherries, a cup of unsweetened almond milk....that's it...simple, delicious and blended in our Ninja super blender. In spite of all the abundance of fruits and veggies and the minimal amounts of meat and dairy, I seem stuck at the 15 pound loss..................but I feel good!

Thinking of cancelling Charter Cable

2011-03-04T08:39:00.004-05:00

Today I am boycotting television. The ubiquitous commercials and inane discussions

have driven me away. "Later we'll talk about…" so I wait through yet another set

of advertisements. Nothing in this segment. More ads, another threat to discuss

the subject I wish to hear discussed. Still nothing. I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE.

And what substitutes for news is posturing, arguing, condescension and

out-of-context conjecturing, interspersed with some intelligent discussion,

but I just will not wade through the muck to get there anymore - for awhile.

And I'm someone who actually likes t.v. so what must it be like for someone

who doesn't. We pay for cable and the advertisements have expanded -

that's my rant.

As far as the picture of the pear goes, it has nothing to do with

what I'm saying, I just like the colors.

15 pounds - yahoo!

2011-02-22T08:44:00.006-05:00

'kay...looks like it was the flu - fever, aches, along with sniffles and a cough....Seems to be about over so I must amend my whine to say: If I'm so healthy, why do I have the flu?

I've read that colds and bouts of flu help our bodies develop antibodies or something against other more dangerous diseases like cancer, so there's that. If it's true.

Meanwhile, I ate mostly fruit and fruit smoothies along with some veggies, so one more pound down.

Plus, we never lost power during the ice storm of the past few days --- so I feel lucky about that.

This isn't remotely funny.

My cat might like to cook if only he could

2011-02-19T08:23:00.000-05:00

If I'm so healthy, why do I have a cold?

2011-02-19T08:16:00.001-05:00

I'm just saying.....shouldn't I be able to fight it off? I feel achy and sniffley, which is probably not even a word. So far, no fever, just fairly miserable. Here's hoping this is as bad as it gets. It could happen. I better go ingest some mass quantities of fruit.

Just good food...

2011-02-19T08:12:00.000-05:00

Last night I sliced two potatoes, microwaved them for about three minutes, then set them out on a baking pan that I lightly coated with olive oil (about 1 tsp) and sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning and Mrs Dash seasoning (on both sides). Baked at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning once.

This was a side dish to go with a green salad and a soup created with low sodium chicken broth to which we added the leftover cauliflower, mushroom veggie mix from the night before. Not too shabby.

I think I can

2011-02-17T19:10:00.011-05:00

So, the thing of it is, is, I seem to be not losing additional weight right now. And further, I think it might be because I'm drifting a bit from the eat to live philosophy. This is good news because I can drift back any time at all. I may even be drifting back right now.

So, these chips I bought were Tostito brand Chipolte Artisan tortilla-type chips. Pretty good ingredients, except for about a gram of fat in each chip. Too tasty, too much fat. They are gone now and I think I better not buy them for quite a while.

So, tonight my husband cooked cauliflower (steamed with a tablespoon or so of vinegar added to the water) - turned out good. And then he stir-fried bok-choy, mushrooms, onion, green pepper, red pepper and orange pepper in a tablespoon or so of olive oil, with salt and pepper and it was quite delicious. I'm constantly surprised at how much I like these things called vegetables. Even without cheese! or mushroom soup! Who would have believed it? Not me, that's for sure.

With this, I ate a banana and a Clementine tangerine, following up with a slice of toast and peanut butter.

So, in order to end with another paragraph starting with the word "so" and maintain a certain gimmicky pattern, let me summarize: The food for today was a fruit and yogurt smoothie for breakfast (with 1 tbs ground flax, 1/2 cup almond milk,peaches, a banana, 1/2 cup yogurt and frozen strawberries); for lunch, a green salad with beets and black beans and 2 tbls light dressing; and, of course, the above mentioned dinner.

P.S. I'm not saying I had a cream-filled donut at some point today, but I'm not, not saying that either. See, this might be me sabotaging my efforts, or it's a temporary variance. Don't judge me! Are you perfect - dude? No, I didn't think so. Who am I even talking to? To whom am I even talking?

A Byron Katie Quote and Coffee

2011-02-07T21:31:00.002-05:00

Am I the only one paying attention to me? Well, if so, I find myself quite interesting. Except when I don't. I am losing weight and gaining strength and possibly even getting closer to the size I was meant to be. Chocolate has been inching it's way back in to my daily food intake and I think I need to inch it back out. It's good to include it, but not on a daily basis - seems to interfere with achieving my goals.

Here is a quote from Byron Katie:

"Bodies don't have the power to take away your peace. I'd rather be happy instead and let the body do what it does.""

It does seem to me that USUALLY what the body does is move towards healing itself and/or maintaining health. Sometimes I just need to stay out of its way.

Aw, nuthin'

2011-02-04T23:35:00.000-05:00

14 pounds and holding

2011-02-04T23:34:00.001-05:00

Apparently, I am nowhere to be found.

I am quite possibly invisible. Plus, I wonder what it will be like when I finally go gray.

I wonder if I'll look in the mirror and not know what to say.

I wonder if I'll go to work or stay at home all day.

So many things I wonder.

POST TOASTY

2011-01-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

I LOVE TOAST. SARKOZY'S BAKERY HAS THE BEST RYE BREAD EVER AND IT MAKES THE BEST RYE TOAST EVER AND IF YOU ADD A THIN SLICE OF HAVARTI CHEESE, WELL, IT'S THE BEST, I TELL YA' - THE BEST!

Big Mac Attack

2011-01-27T18:54:00.006-05:00

So, anyway, I didn't want to admit this, but for dinner on Tuesday, I had a Big Mac Wrap. It tasted delicious, but I knew it was not a good choice.

Coincidentally, I woke up the next day with a headache! Felt like a sinus headache. I haven't had one since I began this Eat To Live course of action. It hurt all day long so I ate almost exclusively fruits and vegetables (plus a 1/4 cup or so of Mac & Cheese) on Wednesday, trying to kick it. No headache today.

See, maybe there is something in the Big Mac that is causing a reaction and maybe whatever it is was in other things I used to eat because I would get those headaches just about every two weeks or more. I attributed them to the weather, but maybe it's the food---or a food/weather combo.

I don't know, but it could be ..................or it could be not.

Taxation without representation

2011-01-23T10:27:00.002-05:00

I wonder,

If you think so lowly of humanity,

that you're sure they won't voluntarily help each other enough,

then why do you want to help humanity -- by force?

P.S. I, myself, think they will help each other enough, with enough encouragement by those who wish to encourage

Io, penso......

Politics As Usual

2011-01-23T10:19:00.008-05:00

Minds & Politics:

This is not a debate

So I'll never win

I can answer your assertions

If you'll assert them again

We will never agree

I am sure that it's true

Since this isn't a dialogue

It's a monologue --

For two

Let them eat salad

2011-01-23T09:19:00.009-05:00

This is so amazing to me. Lost one more pound --- fourteen so far. AND I FEEL GOOD! And I don't feel edgy or resentful about what is included in my day-to-day meals. And I have, on occasion, eaten exactly the wrong things, but only about 10%-15% of total intake, I'm guessing.

Now, I am ready to take questions from any of you out there who have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to ask.

You may ask. Go ahead. I will wait.

'kay, I will just get things rolling: "How long, Robin, has it been and how many pounds per week have you lost?"

It has been 9 weeks and I have lost a total of 14 pounds, so about 1.5 pounds per week. I was thinking that even if it's one pound per week, that's actually quite respectable when you don't keep gaining it back right after you lose it.

I'm a loser, but in a good way, in this case.

I'm a human, Jim, not a miracle worker

2011-01-22T09:38:00.004-05:00

Seems like I ate too much sodium yesterday --- that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I gained almost a pound overnight and I'm blaming it on the baked potato soup I had for lunch yesterday at the local bagel place. Dairy (saturated fat) and sodium --- a bad combo for me. But the flavor was fab. I succumbed to the siren call of high fat. I'm only human. So, today, back to basics. I think tomorrow will show less poundage. Stay tuned.

13

2011-01-19T21:41:00.009-05:00

Thirteen pounds. That's what I'm talking about. You might wonder what purpose a flour sifter, a measuring cup, a grater and a shaker thing have got to do, got to do with it. And who could blame you.

It's all so symbolic.

GOMS

2011-01-15T08:50:00.003-05:00

Super foods: Greens, onions, mushrooms, and seeds. That's what I've heard.

I believe, I believe, it's silly, but I believe..

2011-01-15T08:09:00.009-05:00

Until I was about 7 years old, I totally and passionately believed in Santa Claus. The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy.....those seemed kind of fake anyway. But Santa Claus seemed real. Then someone named Carol (and you know who you are) told me that there was no such thing and I was appalled. She said in her little girl, know-it-all voice: "What do you think is in those laundry bags in your parents' closet? There are presents in those bags."

See, right there I knew how wrong she was. MY PARENTS DIDN'T HAVE LAUNDRY BAGS IN THEIR CLOSET! But she had planted the seed and when I asked my mom about it, she confirmed the horrible truth. Santa was a story, a myth, and in my 7 year old mind, Santa was a lie and I was a fool. I felt so betrayed. It was a lie perpetrated on me by people I trusted and how could I have been so tricked. I may have over-reacted.

Eventually, I adjusted. But later in junior high and high school, it seemed that the Santa Claus and God stories had many similarities. Just as people went way out of their way to pretend that Santa was real, making movies and profound declarations to support his existence (yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus), they did the same with God. While I understand the motivation - the whole Christmas ambiance is a wonderful thing - I don't understand why we can't have the ambiance without the deceit.

So, while I would like for there to be a god who knows who I am and gets me and cares particularly and especially about me, it seems quite as absurd as Santa making his way around the world in one night. With presents. Carefully skipping the non-Santa-believing households.

It seems that the majority of people believe in a personal god whether they be liberal or conservative so it's not a political predisposition. I just don't get it.

Some of my best friends are religious and some of my not best friends and people I love and like and admire and people I don't even know. Even the little Natalie Wood character seemed to believe by the end of the movie, of which I can't remember the title- you know with Maureen O'Hara? Oh, wait, that was Santa she believed in. See, it's easy to confuse the two. It's the Santa/God conundrum.

So could it be that I am the one who is missing the point? Do they also believe in Santa Claus? Do they not see the parallels? Can they even spell parallels? Can I?

Aw, honey, I don't know. And that's the bottom line. I don't know. And neither, perhaps, does anybody else. But they believe they do know. But, face it, parallels is a difficult word to spell.

Lucky twelve and three quarters

2011-01-15T07:56:00.008-05:00

Okay, it's very close to 13 pounds lost (not to be confused with Paradise Lost), but not quite there yet. It's probably because I have eaten some mac & cheese (it was extremely delicious) and hot chocolate two days in a row.

Or I just need to eat more fruits and vegetables to counteract the sugar or I need to exercise more. Which I can now do because my ankle which I previously totally twisted and possibly crunched a little is now almost totally healed and it took about 3-4 months for that to happen. Just so you know....healing can take a long time in the ankle area as it turns out.

Ohmygod, I am boring myself completely with this information and since I may be the only one being even potentially entertained by this, I need to knock it off.

The helpful thought for today: Eat only real food. No food-like substances that only seem to be food. Even healthy-sounding things like protein bars or granola bars have ingredients that may not be whole foods and they often include sugar and even organic, pure, impressively-named sugar, is still SUGAR and contributes nothing in the form of nutrients so it's not likely to be an ideal choice. Fuhrman recommends that 90% of the diet be nutrient dense so I guess the above-mentioned bars coud be includede as part of the 10% of the diet that is left for less-than-ideal choices.

Lots of hyphenated words in that paragraph; that doesn't make me a bad person.

Oh, lord it's hard to be humble

2011-01-06T20:53:00.003-05:00

I feel humbled lately by my own vulnerability and it focuses my attention on how impatient I sometimes am with the missteps and mistakes of others -- as if I am so completely centered at all times. I am not. And sometimes I just catch a break and for that, I am grateful. What if I am neither as wonderful or hopelessly inadequate as I respectively and alternately think I am. In other words: I like grape jelly.

Cheaper by the Dozen

2011-01-04T22:06:00.001-05:00

Twelve pounds - a new high. A new low? 12 down and 18 to go. It sounds both possible and impossible. Oatmeal and fruit for breakfast; big salad at Irvings Deli for lunch (because sometimes I really like for someone else to be in charge of the washing, chopping, dicing, and slicing of all the greens and vegetables. My god, the rinsing of vegetable should not be such a drag, and yet, that is something of which I tire - on occasion. Maybe I'll try thinking of it as meditation next time); and for dinner white bean chicken chili that I made the other night along with an apple and a tangerine because I've had enough of the green salad, already. Oh, and with lunch I had a small serving of mac & cheese with the salad because a person needs variety. The goal is that 90 percent of the food eaten each day be good whole food - unprocessed and nutrient dense - so I think I'm still meeting that goal. I accidentally ate a no-fat, low salt saltine cracker just now. And it was good. Though as we all know by now, it is not a nutrient dense food and the timing is wrong, and yet if eating a saltine cracker at 10:23 pm is wrong, I don't wanna' be right.

Sabotage or Are you there, God? It's me, Robin.

2010-12-29T09:01:00.002-05:00

ELEVEN POUNDS. ....and that happened even though for lunch yesterday I ate 3 mini Snickers bars, along with an apple and a banana!

Breakfast was shredded wheat and fruit.
Dinner was the BIG salad with black beans and beets and regular salad veggies; spaghetti sauce made with ground turkey (about 1/2 cup); and some applesauce.
Then later a few peanuts (shelled variety).

This is not to bore anyone, but to give you an idea of how this way of eating can play out in real life.

An important factor in this whole thing is that I don't feel edgy and like I have to be careful and aware every minute about what I may or may not eat or have eaten. It's a calming effect instead. On diets I've been on in the past, I felt edgy and cranky and irritated if someone used butter or sugar or bananas, or whatever I thought at the time was the wrong thing to eat --- I felt they (usually my husband) were sabotaging my efforts when in reality that was not the case. Dieting made me crazy and hungry. This "diet" so far has made me feel damn good..it's structured and reasonable and seems right instead of difficult.

Plus, my i.q. has risen, too. Dieting has made me clever. (not really, I just made that last part up -- my i.q. don't be risen.)

An update

2010-12-26T12:28:00.001-05:00

Anyway, it's the day after Christmas and all through the house,
the weight loss is stagnant, I ain't lost an ounce,
but it's not as bad as it could be I've found,
'cuz it turns out I only gained half a pound.

All in all, from Christmas Eve through today, along with fruits & vegetables, I ate cream-cheesy parmeson bites for appetizers, two pieces of pumpkin pie and two pieces of lemon meringue along with chicken and vegetable pot pie - all homemade. So even with adding chicken and pie, oh, and a few ounces of chocolate candy, I am doing well. I'm back to mostly fruits and vegetables and oatmeal kind of food today (along with one last piece of pumpkin pie)and I feel good about that.

Now, enough about me --- Oh, who am I kidding!

I forgot to say that altogether I've lost 10 pounds (before I gained that aforementioned 1/2 pound). So, yahoo, as they say.

On Christmas day I had a slight headache, the first in five weeks (or since I've started the Eat to Live deal. Coincidence that I ate sugar and flour and such? Weather related? Aw, honey, I don't know. Stay tuned.

It's not really about Wendy's

2010-12-17T19:01:00.000-05:00

Okay. Nine pounds have been lost so far and it's been almost 4 weeks.

Yesterday I made a fruit smoothie and it was so good I'll tell how to make it. I'll tell you right now. One banana, a 1/2 cup of peaches, 1/2 cup no fat yogurt, a sprinkle of ground flax seed, 1/2 cup of water (I used Perrier because I had that and it turns out it tastes kinda' salty if you drink it all on its own and I thought it was quite not good, but it worked great in the mix). That's all - and it was delicious. So that was breakfast. Just so you have an example.

An example of a lunch menu would be one carrot, some grapes, 1/2 banana (and two "new recipe" french fries from Wendy's that someone brought to work but that's just random and not an actual lunch recommendation. The fries tasted kind of the same as always to me, they were just thinner - and I didn't want more). Believe it or not, that was enough to eat for lunch.

Dinner: big salad with mixed greens, black beans, onion, carrot, grapes with 2 tbsp low fat dressing (1 tbsp yogurt-ranch, 1 tbsp honey mustard - turns out I really only needed 1 tbsp but it tasted good); fresh steamed asparagus; 1/2 cup of some kind of cabbage, mushroom, potato, ham concoction; and an apple with a tsp of peanut butter, which does not go well with apple if you ask me and you did not.

Good day. I said, good day.

Eight Days a Week is not the same as eight pounds

2010-12-14T09:57:00.005-05:00

Eight pounds and holding. I am good with that for now since that is the way it is and it would be futile to feel otherwise.

Progress

2010-12-11T10:02:00.005-05:00

Week three just ended and I have lost EIGHT pounds. Not too shabby. I was hoping to have lost 21 pounds by now, but that may have been a bit too optimistic. Meanwhile, I'm very happy about the 8 pounds and my blood pressure seems to have gone down, too. 112/65 and 116/65 the last two times I checked. It used to be that low and then seemed to go up as my weight went up. Now none of this is remotely funny, but that's just the way it is right now.

Seven

2010-12-05T15:46:00.001-05:00

Even though I've lost 7 pounds, I'm still quite fat for a person my size. But, you never can tell, I could keep losing. Seven pounds down, 23 to go. Is that even possible? I wonder what will happen.

And 23 pounds is just to get me down to what I saw as my "fat" size back in the olden days when I was in my 30's and 40's. But according to size and weight tables I've seen, that would be a healthy weight.

Now why would you care, you people out there who aren't even reading this? Because if it works for me, it could work for you. But it really is a decision first that concludes that maybe processed foods aren't essential on a day-to-day basis for a happy and full life.

I'll let you know if it turns out that it's possible on a longer term basis.

I went into McKenzie's Bakery yesterday for a loaf of bread and usually I buy a danish or donut whenever I go-- I really seem to crave that. But this time, I was not tempted. Again, could be temporary insanity, but I think that whole blood-sugar thing is a factor. I don't feel hungry all the time now. The reason I wanted a donut or danish wasn't due to lack of willpower; I WAS HUNGRY. This way of eating seems to keep me less so.

Last night, though, I did eat one time in between meals and I also ate dairy, so I do divert somewhat from the "plan". I had a saltine cracker (no fat) and a 1/2 slice of Mozzarella cheese. It tasted like nectar of the gods. Funny how that works - when I don't eat much sweet/fat stuff, regular food tastes like candy. And it seemed like enough.

Like I said, we'll see if this is possible for longer than a couple of weeks. Moving into week three right now!

Reverse Foodology

2010-12-04T18:53:00.001-05:00

This morning while wondering what I should have for breakfast, I thought I would start out with a Clementine tangerine, which I like, but it didn't really sound good to me. Then I remembered to remember that the focus is eating to live and gaining nutrition from what I eat. So I had a tangerine and it was fine.

Trying to get in the habit of thinking of fruits and vegetables and greens as the main part of the meal instead of the side dishes. For lunch I sauteed onion and green pepper in 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil (which was more than enough, as it turned out. Then I tossed in a few tofu cubes. After a few minutes, I tossed in some spinach leaves and that cooked down in a hurry. Finally, I cracked in an egg. It was fabulous! It really was good - see usually I would have two eggs and a tiny amount of veggies instead of the new way around.

I think I can. (So far I've lost 7 pounds in about two weeks).

Uh-oh

2010-12-03T20:31:00.001-05:00

Uh-oh. What if I am living up to my full potential?

Words

2010-12-02T19:36:00.001-05:00

As I was saying: Blah, blah,blahty, blah, blah.

Half way to nowhere

2010-12-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

Anyway, I had a half a can of peas for lunch and some grapes and a half of a banana. Dude! It doesn't get much better than this. Or does it?

I've also been trying to have only one cup of coffee each day in which I use half and half, and one cup black. It's like the hardest part of this deal so far. Does anybody know something that has the texture and flavor of half-and-half and no fat or sugar? And don't bring up that non-fat Land o' Lakes half-and-half. How can it possibly be half-and-half if it's got no fat?! Then it would be not half-and-half. Unless they mean half water. It's understood by one and all that half-and-half means half milk and half cream. It's like naming something pumpkin pie and not including any pumpkin. You can do that but then IT'S NOT PUMPKIN PIE.

But I digress. Probably because I'm not getting enough caffeine because without cream, why would I even drink coffee in the first place. I drink it like medicine to avoid the killer headache and lack of focus.

The First Temptation of Tuna

2010-11-30T10:09:00.000-05:00

So the other night I woke up and really wanted a tuna salad sandwich. I almost got up and fixed one. Some fanatics of the Eat to Live persuasion might have a problem with that since:

a) tuna is neither a fruit nor a vegetable
and
b) a tuna salad sandwich eaten at midnight could be construed by some to be eating between meals.

As it happens, I did not succumb to tuna temptation and I'm kinda' thinking that's a good thing.

I have been eating inordinate amounts of fruit and vegetables and oatmeal for about a week and a half and have so far lost 5 pounds. Which, actually, I could almost do on any eating plan, but with this one I do believe I am eating a much healthier, nutritious diet.

I have to say that I am not adhering totally to his 6 week plan for starting up with this, but he did say it's not an all or nothing plan and I am eating only tiny, minimal amounts of dairy and egg. Plus, it was Thanksgving last week, for cryin' out loud. I ate some good food that I cooked (like mashed potatoes WITH BUTTER). And pumpkin pie ----and I still lost 5 pounds.

Now if it all ends at 5 pounds, it would be disheartening.

EAT TO LIVE

2010-11-29T20:13:00.001-05:00

OH, MY GOD! I do like fruits and vegetables, but he says a pound a day. All I need is a pound a day? Dude, that is way too many vegetables. Am I a cow? I am not. I will admit that I am not hungry even after less than a pound of greens and such a day.
Maybe I will adjust, but I think food tastes better with butter. Better with butter. Better.

EAT LIVE PRAY

2010-11-29T11:30:00.001-05:00

I am embarking on the Eat to Live, eating plan (book by Joel Fuhrman). It entails eating pounds of fruits and vegetables every day. Literally. Pounds. The idea is to eat whole foods, less meat and fish, less processed foods, more healthy fats, less saturated fats, little or no dairy. You get the idea. See, that other diet? The one I made up? It kept me from gaining more weight, but the losing more weight, just didn’t happen. So, it could be that I don’t know what I’m talking about even when I think I do. The doctor who wrote Eat to Live, mentioned a few times in the book that it is not an “all-or-nothing” diet and while he does not recommend coffee, he thought that a cup a day wouldn’t be likely to hurt. Good. Because I really think I want to continue drinking a cup a day. And by “a cup a day” I mean 2 cups a day.

2010-09-26T22:31:00.001-04:00

Anybody?

WHAT CAN HAPPEN!?

2010-07-22T19:42:00.005-04:00

I seem to worry as if it were a directive from God to do so. If I do not feel uneasy, I wonder why not and then find something lying around about which to worry.

Having said that, it's been a nice day with nice people and things went well, so..........WHAT CAN HAPPEN!!?? What did I miss? Seriously. I'm not kidding. I'm not. Kidding.

I seem to have lost my perspective. I misplace it on a regular basis.

I will find it again soon. It's probably the last place I'd look.

If you see a fork in the road, take it................

2009-08-17T22:00:00.004-04:00

I was just about to explain the “plateau” effect that most diets lead to – so gather round. Anybody? Bueller?

This is where you lose a few pounds and then hit a wall and just can’t seem to lose any more weight. I cannot guarantee that this won’t happen to you on this “not a diet” plan, but I can guarantee that it might not happen. I don’t really know yet because I have not been at it long enough to see whether or not it will happen. I think it won’t happen because I am going with the theory that if you actually get into the pattern of eating less than you used to eat, and if you eat real food and good food for most of your meals, you will achieve an optimum weight because that’s what happens when you are very aware, attentive, and mindful of what you are eating. You may be asking yourself, by what authority does she make this statements, and to that I would say: Who are you to judge me, Judgy Mcjudgerson?

Oh, as to exercise. When you read about it in most books, the suggestion is that you “work-out” three to five times a week for an hour, and include aerobic stuff and strength training, run a marathon, join a health club (and actually go to it) – you know, outlandish stuff like that. Now, I’m not gonna’ lie to you. You probably are supposed to do things like that in order to achieve optimal health and to tone up and feel better. I’m not going to suggest you don’t engage in such activities. What I am going to suggest is that you start out by doing something, anything, that encourages you to move more than you currently do.

It seems inconceivable to me that the choices are to work out for an hour a day or do nothing - and that anything in between is unhelpful. My Mom, for instance, started walking a mile a day a few years ago, and now we don’t know where the hell she is. (That just is not true.) Seriously, I started walking a mile a day and my blood pressure went down and my mood went up. It works. And I’m not suggesting any crazy walking – you know, like that pretentious power walking, or walking with weights a.k.a. soup cans, or walking while swinging your arms at crazy angles, or doing some wiggly jogging-walking combo thing while keeping your elbows crooked and your wrists limp, or walking quickly while hula-hooping. (Any more than I’d suggest riding a large tricycle while wearing some kind of awful helmet with a lightening bolt stenciled on it.) You’ll just make yourself an object of ridicule. But I digress.

Here’s the idea: If you don’t take walks at all, take one. Even if it’s just getting up from your desk more often or walking to the mailbox, or walking into the bank or into a restaurant instead of using the drive thru. Then gradually add more and more moves --- if you tell yourself you must walk or run five miles or it won’t count, than you might choose to do nothing and then you’re stuck. Start where you are. If you already walk a mile a day then, add some other movement. It could be you will want to do more if you don’t pressure yourself to follow unrealistic plans. You’ll feel better. I'm pretty sure about that. Check with your doctor before walking into the bank instead of using the drive thru as any changes in activity or diet might need doctor approval if you have some situation I don’t know anything about. All the books say that, honestly. I read one that recommended eating more blueberries and other fruits and then cautioned the reader to check with the doctor first. Really? For blueberries?

It seems that exercise does not ensure weight loss. It could be fun or healthy or possibly even necessary, but it won’t ensure weight loss. Eating less food will ensure weight loss. This isn’t just me talking. It’s science. Oh, wait, it is just me talking, but it’s possible that it’s science, too.

I’ve heard that metabolism does affect ability to lose weight, but only within about ten pounds or so unless you have a serious metabolic disorder. I don’t know if this is true, but if ten pounds were my problem, I would not really have a problem now would I? So metabolism be damned – I will achieve a weight that is more acceptable to me. For me, this means I shall not waddle. I mean it – it just makes me mad to think that would be my fate. I draw the line here. _______________________________________________ See that?

---Okay, I drew the line. It’s out there.

Point to ponder: If you see a fork in the road, take it. What does this mean?

Write your answer here____________________________________________

I will stop for now because I would like to go get something to eat. I know what you're thinking: It's after 10:00 pm and you're not supposed to eat after so late at night . That, my friend, is conventional wisdom and if I am anything, I am not conventional. I don't go in for that stuff. You know, no food after 7, no white food after labor day, that kind of thing. It depends what you've eaten all day long. If you tend to get heartburn, don't eat too late in the evening -- and seriously, I'm not talking about eating ginormous amounts of food, for crying out loud. If you've eaten enough already, then don't eat after 7 pm, but if, as in my case, you have not, then have a small bowl of Kix with a little bit of banana in it. And be sure the bowl is blue. No, wait, pink. Pink or white, you choose. Or blue. I think blue would really be the way to go.

INTRODUCTION TO AFI DIET

2009-08-12T17:19:00.005-04:00

IntrIntroduction to the AFI Diet: Here's what you do. Oh, but first the disclaimers: consult your physician before starting this, or any other diet. I know you probably won't, but if you don't, DON'T TELL ME!! and don't blame me for your possible future problems. Um, oh yeah, this is unlike any other diet book you've ever read - don't they all say that? Well, this time it's true. I think most of them say that, too.

But it must be true sometimes. So, let’s say it’s true this time. It could be. You don’t really know.

Many diet books include checklists and charts that you fill in or sentences that you finish. As in:

I eat the most when:

a. I’m hungry

b. I’m lonely

c. I’m tired

d. I’m awake

I’m most hungry:

a. In the morning

b. At night

c. When I haven’t eaten for 7 hours

d. When I’m awake

......and finish the sentences with your own feelings and needs:

Food makes me feel _______________________________.

I am eating too much because________________________.

I stop dieting when __________________________________________

…….and other gimmicky ploys that take up lots of pages. Then you add up all the a’s, b’s, c’s and occasionally d’s and you get a personality type or some such categorization or label, but I say, when you label me, you negate me -------or was it Kierkegard who said that? But I digress. The point is, pages and pages are taken up with this kind of cockamamie thing. I say it’s laziness pure and simple. If I wanted to write the book myself, I wouldn’t have purchased yet another one that is only pretending to be an actual book when it’s all about paper and lines. (Like a kid writing an essay, it’s just so much filler. As in: last summer it was very, very, very, very hot and we were very, very, very happy to go to the beach.)

Once you realize it’s a some kind of “self-improvement” book formula, it’s impossible to take them seriously.

See the chart on page 5, find your height in column B and your weight in column A and multiply it by your age and you will determine that YOU ARE QUITE DAMN FAT!

And the recipes! Half of the book is filled with recipes. I swear some of the books use the same recipes. Again, formulaic. Of course, I might include a few recipes, but they will be new, all new, mostly new..

It won’t be the usual thing they use like: Open a can of tuna, weigh the tuna and carefully remove any excess tuna until it weighs 2 ounces, then mix it with 8 stalks of celery, finely chopped , garnish with parsley, sprinkle it with lemon juice and call it “Tuna Magnifique” and pretend you believe this isn’t diet food.

Now where was I? Oh yes, the AFI diet. Here is what you do. First, memorize what AFI stands for:

Alternative – which means a different choice than you usually make

Food – which means, well, food.

Intake – which means what you take in.

And plus it’s kind of impressive sounding. Try saying, “I’m on the AFI diet. People will like you better when you tell them that. They will think, “Ah, AFI, impressive.”

These words are the heart and soul of your new eating plan (notice it is a “plan” not a “diet” because plans are easy and diets are pains in our asses and possibly in our rather large asses). Notice, also, that it is now YOUR new eating plan--- when you say words like that it encourages ownership of the plan and you start to think it was your own idea so you like it better.

IMPORTANT THOUGHT BUBBLE (imagine this is inside a bubble):

Note: now most diet books include the words glycemic and glycemic load. These are very important things so I recommend you read about them. JUST NOT HERE.

What is the plan? – you may be asking at this point. And who could blame you. Okay, the plan is as follows. Starting right this moment think of yourself as a person who loves to eat, and respects the process and wants to enjoy it and not abuse the privilege we have fallen into. The privilege of being in a place and time where food is so abundant. It is a privilege that probably should not be taken for granted. It would show a lack of perspective. So when you are hungry (and this happens to most everybody every 3 to 4 hours or so), have something delicious and nourishing to eat, why doncha’?

(again, imagine a bubble here):

"IT’S STILL JUNK" BUBBLE

And, maybe stop counting the calories in cookies and candy and donuts as if it mattered. If you decide to eat non-nutritive junk food – as I do on occasion – then eat it and move on. Even if you find junk food that has fewer calories, please note: IT’S STILL JUNK. No nourishment. So quit perpetuating the myth that it matters that you only ate 400 calories instead of 800. It contributes nothing to your body’s nourishment. So eat it only if you love it and can’t imagine life without it – but eat the best and tastiest junk food and forget the calories and don’t eat it everyday or you just won’t feel good. You won’t. Even when you think you will. So don’t. There is always a price to pay --- depression or grogginess or bloating--- you get the idea. In fact this would be a good place for a “choose one” section.

When I eat inordinate amounts of sugar with no nutritive value whatsoever, I feel:

a. bloated

b. angry

c. happy while eating, and sad in three hours

d. groggy and sad

e. none of the above, and I hate this plan

f. I forget what f is for

When I eat inordinate amounts of sugar, I feel bad within:

a. 1 hour

b. 1 day

c. 3 days

d. 3 hours

e. I feel perfectly fine

f. Inordinate is a very judgmental word

It really is just a matter of time, but sometimes the crash is a little delayed so we don’t associate it with the lack of nutrients. Again, this is just based on my own experience. I have done no double-blind studies. The fact is if I eat whole bunches of M&M’s in the morning or early afternoon, I will be crying, about something and I won’t know what exactly, by 7 pm. These are the facts – it happens. Cry, baby, cry.

"IMPORTANT THOUGHT" BUBBLE

KEEP YOUR EXPECTATIONS LOW AND YOU MIGHT BE LESS FRUSTRATED

And if you are feeling that you should be a certain weight in order to be a worthwhile person, you are sadly underestimating yourself. Remind yourself of all the pathetic, not-very-nice, thin people you’ve met. You weigh what you do and this is what you must weigh based on your circumstances. Change the circumstances and you have a reasonable chance of feeling good more often. If you are, in reality, not worthwhile, it’s probably for a different reason than what you weigh. For instance, you might just be annoying or obnoxious in some way.

The AFI diet (I mean, plan) has not been endorsed by anybody. I just made it up

That doesn’t mean it won’t work. I have been on this diet for 4 months and I’ve lost 4 pounds. You may scoff, but a pound a month if it continued could add up to a lot of pounds depending on how many months we’re talking about. You can do the math on the following blank page.

The thing is, you just don’t know for sure what will happen even when you think you do. So despair ought to be rare. I had tomato plants, for example, that were dried out with stunted, brittle foliage and they have literally blossomed. They are deep green and healthy. Same with the pepper plants. The leaves were lacey and troubled. Now they have grown new sprouts and are quite lovely. So you just don’ know, something essentially beautiful may be about to happen.......

to be continued......................................

OF THE UNIVERSE

2008-12-19T19:13:00.005-05:00

ABSURDLY SITUATED

IN MY PORTION OF THE UNIVERSE

I PONDER OUT A COURSE OF ACTION

AGAINST POSSIBLY INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS

MOST OF WHICH

I MYSELF TOSS WITH GREAT GUSTO

INTO THE PATH AHEAD

WHY IS THAT?

hormones - not for sissies

2008-11-12T19:04:00.000-05:00

The Joy of Soy
-a conundrum-
Soy will set you free, she said;
It keeps you well;
Until your dead.
The hormones will be peachy keen;
Your temperament stays quite serene.
The only drawback,
I later read:
It makes you stupid,
In the head.
Maybe.
Or maybe it will keep you all kinds of clever,
Except when it doesn’t, not now and not ever.
So back to the pharmaceutical trick?
Which makes you feel good,
While making you sick?
Shall I try "bio-identical" - no matter the price?
It might be no different, but it sounds so precise.
After much study,
What did I learn?
If you’re well into menopause,
There’s cause for concern.
Except when there’s not;
So enjoy what you’ve got;
‘Cuz whatever you do, whatever they say,
You’re gonna get old and die anyway.

oblivious

2008-11-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

Perhaps I need to be a little more oblivious. Just be. Thinking it through 'til you can't even move is highly over rated.