Tuesday, January 11, 2011

28 Day Cycle (?)

So I was doing a little late-night WholeFoods.com browsing (obviously), and upon a classic slow-motion scroll-down, I noticed an ad for a 28-day diet challenge. I thought to myself, 'Whole Foods promoting a diet plan? Must be somewhat legitimate for them to back it up.' Not going to lie, I always imagined Whole Foods goers as the Hippie types who refused to eat processed foods, while still refusing to give into the man and his concept of what it means to be skinny, not just-- oh what's the word?

Oh yeah, healthy.

Away I clicked, and was immediately swept me onto a new page with bright red letters telling me to BEGIN THE SURVEY NOW! 'Well alrighty then, why not?' My book could wait a few more minutes while I humored the website, fully expecting a generic health summary after spending fifteen minutes feeling rather proud of my mostly-health related responses. Instead, I was presented with a full analysis of my family history, how my eating habits are related to those risks, and how even a few risks I was unaware of could potentially be related. Further shocking my mind, I realized that the material was not presented in a way meant to scare the late-night dieter. Instead, it was more of an educational presentation of my lifestyle and a few basic steps to change it. And not only that, they were feeding me those steps with a silver-spoon and it appeared they would be holding my hand through four weeks of the change.

'Brilliant!' I thought as I stumbled upon a menu guide. *Correction, a daily menu guide, giving me recipe ideas for how to prepare my new and improved meals, with specific measurements and how many servings I could make (because after all, it is in fact easier to diet with a buddy), despite the fact that my dieting buddy happens to have a disease that does not allow him to process many nutrients to begin with (though he is in fact a wonderful food buddy), so the recipes would just end up feeding me twice. But I digress, and I've decided to attempt this 28 day challenge, or lifestyle cycle as the website likes to call it. Some of the changes will be more drastic than others, as to be expected, but I think it will be nice to have a guide (with pictures!) to help me through this process. But, since it is now midnight, and Publix closes at 10/opens at 9 for some ungodly reason, I will not be able to shop for tomorrow's cinnamon fruit oatmeal. Therefore, I will begin with lunch tomorrow, or I will use the meal guide exactly how its title indicates, as a guide, attempting to create my meals around its guidelines.

On the menu for tomorrow:
BREAKFAST
-Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal
-Orange juice
LUNCH -Russian Fig Dressing/Dip on whole-wheat pita stuffed with shredded romaine, sliced tomato, chopped cucumber, and avocado slices
-Strawberries
DINNER
-Tossed Green Salad with dressing of choice
-Spiced Haddock or Tilapia
-Brown rice -Braised Bok Choy
-Poached Pears with Raspberry Sauce* or fresh fruit

Hmm, little pricey for my taste, but this diet did come from Whole Foods' website. And so it begins. Kind of. For tonight, Tuesdays With Morrie will suffice.

Bonne nuit tout le monde.

Monday, January 10, 2011

The health track.

So, after a wonderful four day spell of Betty's Best Burgers, Nathan's Famous Hotdogs, BWW, and homemade BBQ with blueberry pie for dessert, I have decided to get back on my healthy track. I refuse to call this a diet because I don't really see anything wrong with what I chose to eat for dinner the past few nights, simply because I made healthy choices during the day. However, since "healthy" food is more expensive, I've found myself skimping on the brightly colored fruits and veggies I've grown up loving. A giant $3.99 bag of baby carrot sticks has rejuvenated my spirit. A few crunchy bites and a successfully healthy shopping trip, I left Publix with a small bottle of olive oil, a head of garlic, a lemon, some medicine, my giant bag of carrots, and a box of couscous...to go along with my lemon-garlic chicken recipe and steamed broccoli.

It's not that I want to be a health nut all the time, but I've been lazy. And after biting into the carrot stick, I realized that cooked carrots in a can of soup just won't cut it for me anymore. The freshness of something so simple heightened my senses and brought me right back into the world of cooking that I momentarily stepped out of. Tonight I'm sure people will be snacking on chips and dip for the BCS Championship, but I'll be sipping on my milk and chowing down on a homemade meal that is already making me drool.