Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Back To Basics


I've been so blessed with wonderful food outings in the past month; however, it's time to swing back into the other spectrum -- simplify -- try to get back into balance. I've worked really hard at figuring out what exactly is my tummy's deal. I have a better idea, now -- but I've been in a deprived state of mind about things, and have been sort of eating the wrong things in an attempt to make myself 'feel better' (and, in doing so, have often actually made myself feel worse).

Since Monday's bacchanalia of overindulgence, I've been feeling kind of mixed up about things, food-wise. Strange how one dinner can push you over the edge. So, after much thought, I've decided to do a couple weeks of simple, whole-food eating. I'd call it a detox, but I don't plan on being very strict (well, not very strict as opposed to, say, drinking only lemon water for a month). It'll be a detox of sorts (I guess), but I'll actually eat plenty of food: fruits, veggies, some grains (obviously not wheat), lots of water, some assorted other things. I just really have this urge to kind of simplify, start fresh, get some new habits. I've been meaning forever to eat more fruits and vegetables, more regularly -- and I love vegetables -- so maybe this will help form some new habits.

So for the next week and a half, I'm going to be moving toward this detox-not-a-detox diet. I don't drink much caffeine, but I'll just quit it completely. Start getting in the habit of buying fresh fruit and vegetables every day or so. Dig out those vegan cookbooks and find some recipes. Etc. And then next Friday, start in earnest, for two weeks -- and see how it goes. I'm actually excited. I love experiments like this.

I decided to practice, tonight. Here is what I had for dinner:
  • Fresh boiled corn (light sprinkling of salt)
  • Sauteed red pepper, broccoli, and garlic
  • Sauteed spinach over pan-fried polenta
  • Canned peaches (in water and juice, not syrup) and Nancy's low-fat plain yogurt

Um, hello?! Yum!! The spinach over the polenta (I just used the kind from the tube you can get at the store) was especially wonderful - the spinach was silky and played off the heartier polenta. I'd recommend it anytime, not just not-detox time. And peaches over yogurt was a snack I used to eat all the time when I was a kid.

So, in adddition to May being I Love My Job Month, it's also going to be Whole, Unprocessed Foods Month. Without being too strict with either one, of course. There's no need to be a food (or positive-thinking) Nazi.

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