Day Two

I learned two valuable lessons last night:

1. Don't plan meals that require genuine cooking for a swelteringly hot day, and

2. It is in fact possible to go to sleep while feeling hungry.

I was taught to loathe cooking at a young age, when any cooking or food preparation I did was invariably done in exile in the kitchen while other family members were relaxing and watching tv. Nor did I get much teaching on how to cook, and I certainly was not encouraged to exercise my creativity in my meat-potatoes-one veg family.

I am not casting blame on my parents; they did the best they could. But to this day I have a low tolerance for food preparation and for making dishes that require attention. The thing that has made my diet plan tolerable (more on that in a minute) is the exercise of creativity. What do I have, what fresh items do I need to use up, how can I juggle my portions to make sure I have something like protein or fat at every meal so I don't starve in between?

My diet plan is actually very simple and - bonus! - free: it's the Canada Food Guide (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php). My nutritionist in Calgary recommended it, with one modification; rather than 7 - 8 grains a day, I should eat only 5 for weight loss. She also said I can, for example, save both meat servings for one meal so I can eat a small steak for dinner.

The advice in the Canada Food Guide seems both sound and sustainable, but - well, let me put it this way. I have had times when I craved protein so badly I had to get out of bed and make myself a steak. The only time I have ever craved vegetables was when I was on the Atkins diet, which told me that if a carnivore like me was craving vegetables, this was obviously a bad food plan, and I dropped it at once. And have you ever noticed how many supplements they recommend?!

It will do me no harm to enhance my fruit and vegetable intake, for sure. As for carbs, well, I enjoy them, but I feel they find their true purpose in life when used as a vehicle for conveying fat and protein into my mouth. Cutting back to 5 portions of grains isn't that hard. But 2 portions of meat the size of a deck of cards? And trimming all visible fat to make sure the meat is as dry as possible? They have got to be kidding me. Isn't there some kind of carnivore escape clause?!

Some diets allow you indulgences, like so many points to use each week on one "bad" item like a doughnut, or one day out of ten when you are allowed to relax the rules. I will stick to the CFG for now, but I may have to build in some sort of "gotta have it" clause once I have settled in to this new way of eating and can see what cravings I am still having. The point of making a lifestyle change rather than going on some fad diet is that the change is sustainable. Don't make me go out on the African veldt and start bringing down wildebeest with my bare flippin' hands just to prove I need more protein.

Well, on with Day Two. Here is my meal plan for the day:
Breakfast: 2 slices bread, 1 portion cheddar, 1 tbsp margarine, 1 tsp whole grain mustard (a sandwich, of course - the mustard gives it some zip)
Snack: 1/2 avocado that I didn't eat yesterday
Lunch: Leftovers - 1 portion pork, 3.5 servings broccoli/cauliflower mix, 1 portion brown rice
Snack: 1/2 avocado (the fat keeps me going - something like an apple actually makes me hungrier as it gives me a sugar crash)
Dinner: another sandwich - 2 slices bread, 1 portion ham, 1 portion cheddar, 1 tbsp mayo, 1 tsp mustard, 1 cup salad greens, 1 tomato, 1 serving cucumber. Hey, at least I don't have to cook it!