Small Slice

So, wow.  I was sort of zonked out for a day following all that emotional well-spring action, and now that I've had a chance to let things settle down, I've been trying to decide what to do about all these demons of mine.  I'd love to be able to throw myself into full-speed-ahead demon banishment, but that isn't who I am.  At least, that isn't the speed I need to go for long-term success.  That's my newest theory.  Slow and Steady.  Because apparently, that is what my body has been trying to tell me all along.

So, I'm having breakfast, every morning.  While there are some mornings when I am not hungry, by the time I finish making whatever it is, I'm usually happy to eat.  And it has really made a huge difference in how my mornings go.  I'm energetic, but not hyper (like coffee alone) and I'm not snacking unless (and this is the problem) I'm in the kitchen and doling out snacks to the kids.

I had a day from hell where the kids were all up in my grill, wanting tidbits all day, and I wanted to weep.  And shoot them over the state line with a catapult.  I don't know what happened to my spine, but I was acting like a short order cook, and then it dawned on me that 1) I don't have to and 2) I won't do that anymore.

So, tonight I'm sitting down with the kids, and we're going to come up with five possible breakfasts, five possible lunches, and then I'll worry about dinners.  I'm sick and tired of trying to cook inventive meals when every single member of my family is happy with simple, and familiar meals.  Once the kids and I get it hammered out, I'll share it here.

I was already grumbling and pouting when I picked up a copy of The Sonoma Diet.  I wanted to see if they had good recipes, since I knew that the diet was supposed to be whole grain, veggies, lean protein, fruit.  And, since I live in Sonoma County, CA, I figured that I was at least obligated to give it a look-see, right? 

The diet itself seems like a good option, although I don't like the use of artificial sweeteners and the non-fat dairy.  I understand why those items are options for the diet, but those items don't match up with a natural, unprocessed eating style.  This is nitpicking, and if you are looking for specific rules to follow, and portion-sizes and shopping lists and the whole kit and kaboodle spelled out for you, it is really an understandable, sound option. 

As far as the recipes go, they look great - lots of fresh veggies and herbs, colorful dishes with wonderful sauces and marinades.  The suggested menus sound amazing, too.  But I thought to myself, "Come on.  Like you are really going to make something different for every single meal for weeks on end."

Then I picked up my new copy of Dr. Clower's The French Don't Diet Plan, and flipped randomly to a page and read:

"Aren't standard diet book meal plans hopeless?  They tell you to eat specific foods on specific days and at specific times, with some stunning new creation every day.  The following breakfast meal plan actually came straight out of one popular diet book.  I want you to imagine yourself actually doing this for even one week.

Mon: Peach quick bread, fresh raspberries; Tue: Blueberry muffin with lemon glaze, cantaloupe wedge; Wed: Yogurt layered with granola, fruit and coconut; Thurs: Cereal bar, yogurt topped with blueberries; Fri: Mini-bagel with jam and reduced fat cream cheese, yogurt with sliced peach; Sat: Vegetable frittata wedge, wheat toast, blueberries; Sun: Pancakes with light syrup, sliced strawberries.

And this was just breakfast!  It sounds great in theory, but no one with a life can do it, which makes the point perfectly: overmanaging your schedule and expectations sets you up for one big dietary downfall." (The French Don't Diet Plan, page 241)

So, yeah.  I'm guilty of overthinking, overplanning, overshopping, and overeating when all I really need and want is a few choices.  I have been buying into the whole idea that if my weekly dinners were too similar, I was dieting wrong.  If I didn't touch on multiple ethnicities in my weekly meals, I was going to bore my family (and you guys, too.)  Duh, me.  Settle down.  Pick a handful of favorites, and rotate.  Add a new dish here and there, but stop obsessing on it.

That, and I've been really hung up on breakfast.  Breakfast food should be breakfast food, right?  Like eggs and cereal, and um, eggs and what the heck else is there?  Fruit?  Potatoes? Pancakes?  And eggs? 

So I've decided that I'm not limiting myself to breakfast foods at breakfast time anymore.  If I have leftovers from dinner that sound good, I'm eating that.  If I want to eat a green salad with chicken for breakfast, I will.  And no one is going to report me to anyone if I make fried rice or steamed broccoli or naan and garbanzo bean masala or anything else.

Wooo! Take that, planned diets!  I'm sticking it to The Man.