New Diet

I'm starting a new diet today! Two events led up to this. One was a health education video that we watched at my internship, telling people how to lose weight by cutting out sugar and sweeteners and trans-fat. The other event was shopping for pants. Since I tend to eat more during the winter months, I pack on the pounds and my tightest pair of jeans don't fit anymore. In addition to that, I had to retire another pair of pants because it was getting holes I could not mend and stains I could get out. And so I decided to go buy two new pairs of pants to make up for the lost ones. (Don't worry, I still kept my tight jeans; I just have to wait until I lose weight to wear them). As I was trying on new pants, however, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realized that my thighs were just GINORMOUS. I'm not one to pay that much attention to my thighs, but this was unavoidable--they were as big as country hams! They jiggled and shook, like a big bowl of fat, gelatinous lard. It was terrible. That's when I decided to take what I knew about health and dieting and apply it to my life. I was really going to do it this time. I was going to lose the fat. I allowed myself one last splurge day where I ate pizza and ice cream and chocolate. The next day, all of it was out the window. I threw away the rest of the ice cream (Sorry, Matt!), cleared out all my old food, and set aside some new space in the fridge and pantry. This morning, after I did my homework, I looked up healthy ways to eat and I made a list of new diet foods. I have lots of fruits and vegetables on there and lots of whole wheat stuff. There's nuts and berries, lentils and legumes. But no chocolate. No pizza. Actually, no junk food at all. I cut out sweets and sugar. I cut out candy and carbs. I even cut out certain drinks like alcohol (which I wasn't fond of, anyway) and sugary fruit juice. This is a new routine for me and I'm going to eat healthy so I can be healthy. I want to look good and feel good. The only thing I really hated cutting out was dairy products. I love cheese and milk and butter. Dairy products are the one reason I would have a hard time being a vegan. But hey, if it's suppose to help me then I'll do it. Plus, cutting out dairy products is supposed to control inflammation so maybe it'll help with my acne and skin. The websites I looked up also suggested finding a substitute for dairy and so I tried out almond milk. I was hesitant at first, wondering if I should buy a whole carton of milk if it turns out I don't like it, but I'm glad I did! I LOVE almond milk. It has just a slightly sweet flavor and a nutty aftertaste. Appropriate for milk made from almonds. With everything else on my list, I left the grocery store feeling like one of those health nuts. My shopping buggy was full of Total cereal and oatmeal and frozen berries. It was like I was on the South Beach diet or something. Or becoming a vegan. Well, except for the honey I bought.

I also talked to Matt about my new diet, prefacing it with, "Now, before you start in with your..." But he was supportive of it. I told him the reasons why I was doing it, and instead of nay-saying or shooting me down, he was actually supportive of it. He worried that I didn't eat enough and he didn't want me to give up dairy products entirely. "There's something about giving up dairy products that can make you lactose-intolerant, and, if it does make you slightly lactose-intolerant, then I don't want you to give up milk forever." I told him that I already allowed myself a little pat of butter a week, and so now I can have a glass of milk, too.
"Oh, I can butter my toast today!" he said in mock voice.
I laughed. "You make me sound so...Charles Dickens," I told him.
Well, I'm sure Charles Dickens never ate like this, but I suspect he never had thighs the size of country hams, either...