Writer’s Diet Plan, Part 2
My son probably has the best eating habits of us all. He doesn’t have a sweet tooth, so that makes it easier for him for than my daughter and me. He isn’t tempted like we are. He rarely eats bread or carbs unless they’re “healthy carbs”, never has soft drinks. He uses no salt, butter or margarine, less processed and red meat than turkey, chicken and fish. He eats nuts, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And he mostly cooks for himself when he’s at home (rather than traveling), even takes his own lunches to work. Sometimes his girlfriend cooks, and she’s a vegetarian. Apparently beer is considered an acceptable food. All these kids are “gym rats”. They’ve incorporated hard exercise into their routines so it’s a part of their lives. They feel better when they work out. And boy, do they all look great.
My son probably has the best eating habits of us all. He doesn’t have a sweet tooth, so that makes it easier for him for than my daughter and me. He isn’t tempted like we are. He rarely eats bread or carbs unless they’re “healthy carbs”, never has soft drinks. He uses no salt, butter or margarine, less processed and red meat than turkey, chicken and fish. He eats nuts, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And he mostly cooks for himself when he’s at home (rather than traveling), even takes his own lunches to work. Sometimes his girlfriend cooks, and she’s a vegetarian. Apparently beer is considered an acceptable food. All these kids are “gym rats”. They’ve incorporated hard exercise into their routines so it’s a part of their lives. They feel better when they work out. And boy, do they all look great.
I stopped consuming soft drinks (on a regular basis) a long time ago. I might have one a week at our local movie theater —or if I go to our local Mexican restaurant that has the best Dr. Pepper in the world. I’ve never eaten much pasta, potatoes, rice, or bread. Possible lactose intolerance has kept me away from dairy products for the last year. So that lets out ice cream —except Breyer’s Lactose Free Vanilla, and only once in a while. I felt like sweets and chocolate were my last remaining vices, so I was holding onto them for dear life. Maybe I was having too much of a good thing. Perhaps I should have simply cut down. But more drastic measures will be necessary to lose weight rather than simply maintain.(My son says I just need to exercise regularly. I whine that we have an active lifestyle, but he reminds me —one of his favorite arguments —“If ranch work kept people in great shape, there wouldn’t be any fat farmers”. Point taken). I’ve been off sweets now for about four days. So far so good. Mind over matter. Other platitudes. I’m trying to convince myself I don’t miss it or want it. I’m exercising my willpower to the best of my ability.
My father went cold turkey on cigarettes after 30 years of smoking. He quit before I was born. People now understand the strong addictive qualities of nicotine. Dad lived another fifty-eight years after that. When people asked him the secret of his healthy, independent, long life, he’d always claim it was the fact that he had quit smoking. If he could do that, surely I can give up chocolate. By the way, Dad always claimed that the best diet was taking both your hands, grabbing the edge of the table, and pushing yourself away. My father was a wise man. He was also thin, even though he had dessert after both lunch and dinner his entire life. Go fig.
Zack thinks he’s figured out the perfect diet. The only problem is that it doesn’t work for anyone but Zack. He rises early and usually has a banana and chocolate milk, maybe a few waffles if he’s really hungry. He might watch an old movie or the TV news for a while. It’s still very early when he walks around and works outside. Many things continue to be a great effort for him, so he probably expends many more calories than the rest of us, just doing normal things. And I believe he’s blessed with a metabolism that’s always in high gear. He has a sensible lunch but often consumes mostly protein. I must remind him to eat vegetables (which he actually does like), and other than the breakfast banana, he thinks fruit is poison and avoids it like a plague. He rarely overeats.
Zack drinks soft drinks or sweet tea (with REAL sugar), always has dessert, and I’m not talking one little cookie. This man can put down a coupla handfuls of frozen M&M’s without a thought—or several small, helpless candy bars, homemade cookies or brownies. He often snacks on a soft drink with dessert at various times during the day. He very rarely eats after 5 PM (unless it’s one of these sugar-filled snacks . And with all these relatively bad habits, he stays even or loses weight. he claims it’s the calories he expends during the day. And of course he teases me constantly about “his diet”. If I were on Zack’s plan, I’d weigh 400 pounds.
Here I am trying my level best to eat healthily, all the while living with thin Mr. Sweet Tooth, baking for him, buying his candy, ENABLING HIM, watching him eat all the things I Iove (which I’m denying myself). It’s beyond exasperating and is just another example of the fact that life is quite simply not fair.
Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She’s an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life. Check out Genie’s blog at http://rusticramblings.wordpress.com/
