Day 2 of me being on my own. I suck at being on my own.
I got home last evening and proceeded to fall asleep in the middle of the living room floor. I woke up an hour later and had a heck of a time getting the 2 pugs and the cat off me. I literally had to roll over (twice) to get the animals to get off me. It was like they were in a log rolling contest and I was the log.
I then made myself a Hungry Man microwave dinner. yuck. I ate it all, including the brownie. Then I ate an entire bag of Ju-jube candies. after I ate the ju-jube candies I felt like purging - I didn’t - but it reminded me of the very first time I got drunk. I yakked about a pound of blue fish. remember those?
I sat in the recliner looking at the same blogs, over and over again, while watching taped episodes of the World Poker Championships. I can’t remember if I got out of the recliner until I finally layed down on the floor again and the animals assumed me as a pet bed again. I do remember watching the clock and thinking, wow, it’s only 9pm, and then *blink* it’s midnight… wow, I lost a whole evening.
I don’t feel bad or anything, I just think with my accountability gone to Pittsburgh for 6 days, I am kind of an idiot. The last time the home team were on a roadtrip this happened…
I do have a problem though, and I want to put pen to paper here to make myself look at the visual reality of this problem. I love processed foods. Any ideas how to break the habit of tasty, processed, incredibly satisfying junk?
Some of my favourite foods include:
- White spaghetti noodles with cheeze whiz
- Egg and cheese sandwich
- nacho chips with melted cheese, sour cream and salsa
- McDonalds Quarter Pounders
- McDonald McNuggets
- Breakfast sandwiches
- Meatball subs
- pizza
- Hamburgers
- fries
- freid foods
- white rice
- any sauces. I love sauces.
- creams, including the ice variety
- Fish (fried)
- butter
- chocolate milk
- ALL PORK, especially bacon.
- Anything wrapped in bacon. especially bacon
- meat
- Grilled cheese
- Grilled cheese sandwiches
I really dislike the flavour of any whole grain foods. I try, I really do, but the succulent boosum of Mrs Minute Rice calls to me. Oh sweet mother of white rice, why do you tempt me so? I need help with the food issues. I am weak. Some nutritionist or lifestyle food reduction plan company, please take me on as a lost cause longshot. sponsor me!
I am skipping the mountain climb on Sunday in favour of my scheduled 16k training run, as I am starting to feel undertrained. I need to increase the barefoot mileage so I can put together a good effort in the Half on Oct 2nd. I have the 5k race on Monday, so it’ll be interesting to see how I feel after the 10miler the day before (10miles = 16k, fyi, just sayin’)
Also, There was a pretty good response from you (you know who you are) when I posted some of my nicer photos. So here are a couple more. I may make this a regular feature of this here bloggerini. What do you think about that? I have probably 4-5000 good photos I could share over the next 15 years or so…
Re: Food. I gagged a little as I was reading your list of foods you like. In fact, I'll be honest. I nearly spewed the breakfast in progress right then and there. I mean, McDonalds. How can you? Haven't you seen the video of the lady with examples of their food that is xxx years old and hasn't decayed? If microbes can't get nutrition out of it, what makes you think you can?
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm a saint when it comes to food, even now. But as I was making the change to start eating better, every time I ate something I'd be thinking, am I eating this because it's good for me and I like it, or because some evil corporate entity has inserted subliminal programming in my brain to eat it?
In one sense food itself is addictive because we have to have the nutrition. But I am convinced that many processed foods have additives in them that are addictive, and the only reason they're in there is to trigger biological programming to eat more of it. Just like nicotine in tobacco products.
So ask yourself - are you in charge, or do you let Evil Corp Inc make your food choices?
Hahahaha! Laffin' my Flat Irish @$$ off at Keith's assumption that people eat McDonalds food for nutrition! I myself have not had McDonalds in over a decade, I would guess, and I followed the McLibel trial closely and read all sorts of anti-McDonalds sites and most of them made the same mistakes, I would say:
ReplyDeleteThey would try to turn people against Mickey Dee's over issues of the "food"'s lack of nutritional value (people who eat it don't care) or issues of taste (they'd say: "It doesn't even TASTE good!" Um, I don't EAT it anymore ... but ... yes it does. Taste good, that is).
That's the big problem with processed food. It's killing you, but it's easy to make and it tastes really, really good.
Good-for-you-food tastes good, too, when prepared right. But that takes time.
I see you like bacon. Do you also like ladies' breasts? If yes, you'll LOVE this post ...
Um ... your Running dates and times sidebar is getting a "Google Error - request-URl Too Large" notification.
ReplyDeleteMy, what a Big Request-URl you have, NeilZ! Are you part Kanadian Moose?
Perhaps I was mistaken. I KNOW McDonalds doesn't taste good, and assumed people were eating it in the mistaken belief they were getting nutrition. I, myself, haven't had McDonalds food in more than 30 years.
ReplyDeleteI would also suggest that good for you food need not take much time to prepare, provided you know what you're doing in a kitchen. And my wife does.
PS, the additives are what fool people into thinking it's the food that tastes good. The additives are covering up the taste of the food, such as it is.
About the food Neil...it's all a question of habit. It took me a while, but the more I eat the "nutritious" stuff, the more I'm liking it and the less I enjoy the "good, but not nutritious" stuff :) Don't give up!
ReplyDeleteFor me the best way to avoid processed foods is not to have ANY in my house.
ReplyDeleteMaybe moralizing food works for some people, but I think that's a terrible way to live. Save condemnations for the actual actions of people, not whether food is "processed" or not.
ReplyDeleteI love most of the foods on your list, although I much prefer the Big Mac to the Quarter Pounder. I love McD's all the more if it pisses off that vile, intellectually vacuous "Supersize Me" cretin.
Here's my advice: don't moralize your food. Enjoy what you enjoy. Just learn how to enjoy cooking, too.
Pasta: I actually kind of like the whole wheat pasta, but the noodle isn't the point. Make a sauce. Throw in a bunch of vegetables in a wok or whatever with some olive oil, add balsamic vinegar to make it extra tasty. Mix it with regular spaghetti sauce if you don't feel like dealing with mushing the tomatoes.
Pizza: Again, I like the whole wheat crust, but it's not about the crust. Throw a bunch of veggies on a Boboli or whatever.
Smoothies: Freakin delicious. Get a bag of frozen fruits, whatever you like, blend some with a banana, milk, yogurt, and some milled flax seed.
Easy basic meal: get a rotisserie chicken, rip it apart like a caveman and put it in a tupperware. Make a bunch of rice (brown is best, of course, but you don't need the best. You need good), store that too. Get a can of black beans, store it. Get some frozen veggies. OK, here's the meal: steam the veggies. It's very easy to do, let me know if you want instructions. While the veggies are steaming, microwave the chicken, rice, and beans in a bowl. Add a sauce - doesn't matter what, just not too much. Salsa, hot sauce, soy sauce, whatever you find tasty. Throw in the steamed veggies, mix it up, eat.
Whatever you do, don't stop eating fun foods. You don't want to associate eating healthy foods with punishment. Don't feel guilty for eating processed foods. Save your guilt for when you kick a puppy or punch a grandma.
I suck at the food thing too. Mostly I blame being a busy mom and being in the car a lot running kids to and fro. A great book is "Eat this, not that" check it out. I believe, moderation in all things. If you want a brownie, cut yourself a brownie, put it on a pretty plate and sit down and eat it (with milk of course) but don't snag a bit every time you walk back and forth the brownie pan or before you know it the whole pan will be gone. Check yourself on the mindless eating (like in front of the tv) Are you really hungry or is it just something to do. I myself need to do something while watching the tube so I'll flip through a magazine, half reading half watching or fold laundry....you get the picture. Good luck and if you find a fix all make sure to let me know.
ReplyDeleteBarefootjosh nailed it for me too. Don't stop eating your fun foods!
ReplyDeleteI have an interesting story. I took the personal training Can Fit Pro course in addition to my NAIT studies in personal training. The instructor of the CanFitPro course was great, but she said some stuff that really set me off when it came to nutrition. She used to be a consultant for eating disorders. However, when it came to nutrition, she threw out Canada's food guide (most personal trainers do) and said "DO NOT DRINK MILK!!! IT LEACHES CALCIUM FROM YOUR BONES". She then proceeded to list off all of the foods she does not eat. Students were scribbling like mad to write down which foods they cannot eat anymore. I thought to myself "um, she used to consult people regarding their eating disorders, but she has created a new eating disorder." Later that night, I questioned her motives, especially the milk comment and she said "take a sick cow, give it drugs, make it suffer, feed it a strict diet, and milk it. You get sick milk." I don't know how that leaches calcium off your bones, but what I learned is that she weighed her own opinion far above proper education regarding nutrition.
I sat next to a distance runner in the course and we talked about this for a bit. She said not to mention that she likes milk (a 35min 10km runner can't be wrong).
Foods aren't bad. We seem to have made this list of what is good and what is not. I know that Denny's Grand Slam and Tim Horton's breakfast sandwiches are "bad", but only if you eat them daily. My advice, take advice like barefootjosh has given, make easy meals, and don't eliminate "bad" foods. If I couldn't eat ice cream, I would probably die. Literally, no more me. The more I eliminate the bad foods, the more I want them. So my solution? Take them in moderation, and plan my meals. Eat when I'm hungry, and throw out any fad diets or weird diet plans that has you calculating calories. Those diets are for severe cases of malnutrition (both over and undernutrition, by the way).
I do sympathize with you though. I know how foods and what to eat can consume a day and take over. Just keep looking ahead though, and don't punish yourself or beat yourself up over days like today. Maybe plan to make a nice "Welcome-Home-Oh-Gosh-I-Need-You-Never-Leave-Me-Again" meal for your wife when she returns. It could be the start of something big for you and your family.
Wow, there is a lot of info in these comments. Thanks everyone for your input.
ReplyDeleteWHOA! I'm feeling a little comment envy with these massive posts. Yeah, I have no advice on food. I eat like crap.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are amazing. Ah-ma-zing. How much do you fiddle with the colors in post to get them to stand out like you do?
Re pictures - they're awesome. Especially the bears. I'd love to see a bear in the wild (in a non-life-threatening sort of way) someday.
ReplyDeleteI used to love white rice, but I slowly made the change to brown rice, eating every once in awhile and trying different brands till I found one I liked. I make stuffed grapevine leaves with rice, and the traditional Greek recipe calls for white, but I've subbed in brown and they were outstanding. For a really lovely tasty light brown rice, try the brown basmati at Superstore, it comes in a shiny burgundy and yellow bag, it's about 5kg of rice or so, but it's the lightest tastiest brown rice I've tried, and believe me I've tried them ALL.
ReplyDeleteFor some of your chicken leftovers, fry up some onions and mushrooms, add Pataks curry paste (heaping tbsp) and a half a can of coconut milk. Add the cut up leftover chicken and a couple tbsp of tomato sauce and simmer for a few mins, till it smells freakin amazing.......and OMG you will love this served with that brown basmati rice.
Enjoy your 'treats' in moderation...Eat good healthy stuff 80% of the time, and the other 20% reserve for treats...
We are programmed young...very young. Don't feel guilty. Changes take time :)
Watch this sad video of Jamie Oliver showing kids how chicken nuggets are made (bones gristle, and other unmentionables put into a blender with meat scraps) then strained and breaded and deep fried...the kids still chose to eat that shit b/c it looked 'yummy'...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9B7im8aQjo&feature=related