I’ll acknowledge, hiding a package of cookies in my bedroom wasn’t a good strategy in my effort to lose weight, but I thought, out of sight, out of mind. The first night, I ate five; vanilla wafers cradling a double layer of chocolate fudge. Just one cookie quickly slipped into five. Perhaps I wasn’t quite as committed to this new weight loss plan as I had thought.
For a long time… ok, basically, since the last time I walked out of gym class in high school, I have struggled with my weight. Lots of reasons for this, but primarily, because I like to sit and read, sit and sew, sit and write. Are you seeing a pattern here? The only thing I like to stand for is cooking! I love everything about food – shopping for it, cooking it and of course, eating it. And a lot of it, with butter, flour, sugar, salt…
I won’t say that food influences much of my life, but my movie friends and I picked Tuesdays to see the latest flicks, because it has $2 concessions that day. That’s right, $2 popcorn, all you can eat, all the fake melted butter you can add. That’s why we see movies on Tuesdays.
So recently, a friend recommended I check out the Paleo diet, also called the “cave man” diet. Think the original hunters and gatherers. It’s really high on lean meat/ chicken/ fish and fruits and vegetables, minus peas, beans, corn and potatoes. Also forget about any legumes, grains and dairy – those are all foods farmers gave us – another reason I love farmers! It sort of puts the kibosh on a grilled cheese sandwich, just as we’re moving into that weather. Oh, I forgot to mention – no salt or sugar; not even honey.
I read up on it and had the six weeks of traveling to adjust my attitude. I was ready to commence, even though I hated to give up my breakfast of oatmeal and blueberries (and lots of brown sugar). Nope, now I would be eating steak, or maybe a serving of salmon along with my fruit first thing in the morning. Yeah, right.
Like my one egg a day, I cracked. On just the fifth day. Oh sure, I’ve dropped a couple of pounds; spending all that time in the bathroom has to have some benefit. And I felt full. But what is full without satisfied? I craved salt on that dried, skinless chicken breast, and yearned for just a wee bit of sweetness with the cranberries. And I was grumpy; almost a new low for me, and I do grumpy well.
So something had to give. When I made an emergency run at 3:00 in the afternoon to the convenience store for the doughnut with the least amount of smooshed fingerprints in the frosting, I knew I was near a crisis. I searched the web for cave woman crisis hotlines, but couldn’t find anything. Instead, I bought some milk for my morning oatmeal. I was never meant to eat like a cave woman, though I admit, I can also stop eating like a tri-athlete in training. Fortunately, I have no health problems, no achey joints, and take no medications. I need to find a way to make that last as long as it can. Maybe I even need to change my movie day.
In closing, going to bed a bit hungry and walking away from the table less than satisfied served as a good reminder of the people who experience this every day. Please be kind to your local food bank this giving season, and all year long.
None of us were meant to be cave women. We have evolved.