I read somewhere that that Trudeau guy is actually a real-life convicted con-man and after getting out of jail began writing and selling his con books which are now under investigation by US attorney for false and misleading information.Anonymous wrote:Capt. Midnight, (Oh Captain, My Captain...)
You know, I've bought every diet book known to man. Most of them are "reasonable". One or two have been schlock and have been dumped (That Trudeau "Natural Cures" guy needs to be shot). I've read Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Atkins, South Beach, Dr. Mercola.... I'm drawing a blank. I know there's more on that shelf.
I find myself numbed by having to read endless medical theories until I can weed out the "What do you want me to eat, and when?" and when I get there, alot of times it's completely unreasonable.
I am NOT going to get up every morning and fix an entirely exotic and different breakfast every single day. I can't afford the money, time, or energy for that.
I am NOT going to come home at lunch and stir fry baby scallops in saffron oil. Ditto the above reasons.
I can eat NORMAL food, simply prepared. I'm not a cook. If I was, I probably wouldn't live on fast food and frozen meals.
The cost of meals prepared and delivered is prohibitive.
Right now I'm living on grilled skinless chicken breasts (Marinated in lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and Montreal Chicken Seasoning) (My own invention - amazingly good) and brown basmati rice. And the occasional grilled corn on the cob when I have the energy. Unfortunately I BUY salad fixings and they die in the fridge.... sigh... I don't know why I can't be bothered to FIX the salad...
I'm in favor of dieting in theory. In reality, it needs to be made much simpler and easier.
Your story about your coworker is very heartening to me.
Feel free to PM me some links to "Babette". Or post them here.
Cheers,
Babette
I think I know what you mean about cooking. About five or six years ago I too lived on fast food until I read the book “Fast Food Nation” which finally convinced me to learn to cook my own food.
I watched the Food Network channel almost religiously for about a year, got myself some high quality cookware (PM me if you really want to know what basic cookware to start out with), and became a really good cook (might be a major reason why my wife keeps me around). I learned a lot of the basics watching Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” show … a technical but fun and easy to understand approach. http://www.altonbrown.com
Buying and cooking your own food is the simplest way to manage the quality and quantity of what you eat. For maximum efficiency, I do grocery shopping twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays), and I do most of my cooking on the weekend then freeze leftovers for lunch during the week. So having a good set of freezer-to-microwave containers is also important. It may be a significant investment up front but once you get in the groove of cooking for yourself, you will be eating healthier, higher quality, better tasting food at a lower cost than the unhealthy fast food.
Most every diet book has some unique gimmick for marketing purposes and over the past couple of years I have read a lot of books about healthy nutrition/diets and the basic common threads in all of the good ones are:
1) eat whole (unprocessed or refined), natural (organic if possible), fresh (the more locally grown the better) food;
2) eat frequent but smaller portioned meals;
3) and move the body … find some physical activity that is fun and do it every day (yes, this may include sex as long as it is done for 30 minutes or more every day).
Remember that a diet is only temporary unless you change your lifestyle and learning to cook your own diet food is a change in lifestyle.
(Note: Pasta was a simple carb until recently...the addition of whole grains and protein, among other things, has made it able to be eaten by me without a consequence. Of course, that is IF the high-protein and fiber type is consumed.)
