I mentioned food boredom in yesterday’s posting, but what I didn’t mention – and haven’t talked about as of yet – was how I spent my summer and fall regarding diet. I didn’t post much, but I was busy experimenting with the notion of eating simpler, more raw foods – nothing wacky, like the raw liver recommended by the Weston Price Foundation, but more raw vegetables. It was about this time I wrote about food as a utility, and thought I might be able to change my relationship to food to a simpler one – healthier, closer to nature.
What I realized is that it’s too late for me – I am a product of a world that has fed me engineered food – engineered to be more enticing than mankind has ever known – and I am never going to be free of this.
I tried for a while, but there was always a backlash. I couldn’t do it for extended periods. It was a good experiment – I did learn that I can ‘go native’ if I have to without feeling deprived, but I also realized that Atkins, and their emphasis on both wholesome low carb meals – and their line of manufactured crap food like shakes and candy bars – actually got it right.
When you gotta have some crap food – make it Atkins crap food. I doubt that you’ll ever see that tagline on one of their products, but it’s true, and actually complementary to their line of products – which I’ve concluded I need when I’m itching for junk.
I think I would not have binged on candy two nights in a row if I had some Atkins bars handy. Even if I had eaten more than one, I wouldn’t have put on the amount of weight I did.
Today, to fight the food boredom, I went out and bought london broil. I think the rest of the Italian stew will get tossed, and so too the salmon chowder. Both deserve another chance – with refinements to their recipes – but I needed something new. I think part of my problem is I cook on the weekends, usually, and try to eat the same thing for a few days. I’ve got to come up with a better system.
I decided to prepare the london broil in the crock pot. I never had one of these as a kid, and I’ve probably used the one I have maybe 20 times, so most things are still an experiment. I’ve created some things that were really bad – there’s some science, or at least craftsmanship to prepping something for an unattend cruise in a pot for 8 hours, and I an still getting the hang of it.
I chopped up peppers, 2 hot peppers, 2 stalks of celery, on small summer squash, fresh mushrooms, and onion, and 4 cloves of garlic. I mixed these up and put 1/2 on the bottom of the pot.
I browned both london broils, and placed the fist one on my layer of veggies, then put a second layer of veggies, and put the second london broil in. It just fit in my large oval pot. I then added a cup of water with a tablespoon of ‘Better than Bullion’ – a black tar that reconstitutes in boiling water to beef broth.
I set the pot for about 6 hours on high.
When done, the meat was very tender – it fell apart much in the way my Mom’s beef stew came out. I put a little on some low carb bread with butter, and it was heaven.
The soup was also good – a cup was very filling.
I more or less picked on this – as meat on low carb bread with butter – and as a meat soup – for most of the day. The evening was a hot dog on half a slice of bread with cheese.
Then, to ruin the day, I had some of the nice italian bread, and a few cookies leftover from Halloween.
Weight? 208.8 – up 0.8 for the day. Not much, but then again, just how rapidly can a human body accumulate weight?
Down 5.2 lbs. from the beginning. I can take some solace in that, but not much.
In the survey from the other day, I asked the question: What single one personality trait do you think has helped you maintain your weight loss?
The answers:
- perseverence
- OCD tendencies
- obsession
- conscientious… trying to stay healthy for my family
- bah… not having time to eat?
- Obstinate
- determed
- the fear of dying of complications of diabeties as some family members have
- Intelligence
- determination
- Perfectionism
- Determination, keep on keep’n on
- can’t stand sugar
- Fear. Deathly afraid of getting diabetes
- The fact that my favorite foods are meats, poultry, fish, salads and green veggies. I’ve never been too excited about sweets and breads
- persistency
- The need that my husband and I have to track things. Accountability is probably key for us
- pride
- Fear of dying early
Do you see a pattern here?
Low Carb Confidential 
I have been fighting food boredom lately also. I think it comes from two things. I dont have much money at the moment so I am not been adventurous in what I make or eat. So all of a sudden I crave more interesting junky foods. Secondly, I have been a little down the last few days and so I am wanting some good old carbs to binge on to cheer myself up.
Hi Dr Dan,
I’m with you on both counts. Halloween in the US is a bear to deal with when there are pounds of the candy strewn about the house by the kids.
Then there’s the economy in the US, and all the signs around be that say – ‘now’s not the time to to start experimenting with all sorts of new foods’. Make me want to use up what I have first
Like the candy.
As to your mood, here in the US, the mood can be characterized by a picture of a person holding their face – that image of stress mixed with despair. I see a lot of that, in stores, on the street.
I don’t think things will get better any time soon, but I do think we’ll get better at handling it.
Hang in there – taking some kilos off will help improve the mood long-term – the carbs won’t.
Some of those reasons are kind of scary!