Okay, admittedly, I already know what I should and shouldn’t be eating, but it’s hard to cook for one. And I’m not really a big fan of veggies. And it’s just easier to eat out. And ... Enough excuses! If I’m going to be successful, I have to change what and how I eat. I barely know my way around a kitchen (who knew there were other settings on the stove besides High and Off?) let alone how to plan meals. And I abhor grocery shopping. But I’m a big proponent of the adage “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Rather than drive to the grocery store and wander aimlessly up and down the aisles with a dazed look, I figured the best way to approach this would be with list in hand derived from a weekly meal agenda. My cleaning and purging proved yet again to uncover exactly what would help me accomplish this.
I don’t really remember the particulars of how I came to possess the American Diabetes Association’s Month of Meals publications. (Their copyrights date back to 1989 ... which likely means I’ve been hopping on and off diet bandwagons for far too long.) I vaguely recall my Mom being diagnosed with borderline diabetes and combating it with exchange lists; I somehow ended up with five of the cookbooks. Mark used them for a while and actually lost substantial amounts of weight. Then they got shoved to the back of the cupboard and forgotten. Until now.
Although these books contain recipes, their main focus is to take the guesswork out of menu planning. Each contains 28 complete menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks, and the pages are split into thirds for easy interchanging. No matter what you choose, the exchanges and nutrients are correct for the entire day. The menus can be adjusted to fit any calorie level, and all are designed to provide a balanced, healthy diet. For me this takes much of the mystery out of food preparation.
As I sat down to cull through the books and outline a menu for the coming week, I ate a frozen pizza and slugged down a Pepsi. Snowcaps were on standby, as were the remaining Christmas cookies I didn’t inhale yesterday. Call it my last hurrah.
It was then off to the grocery store, where I spent not only a substantial amount of time, but substantial amounts of money as well. Wow … is it expensive to eat healthy! But I must admit, after ridding the fridge and pantry of all things plaguing my girlish figure over the past several years and stocking them instead with fresh fruits, veggies, fish, poultry, and whole grain products, they sure LOOKED prettier. Let’s hope it does that to me as well!
I fear that McDonald’s may go out of business without my patronage, but my days of existing on French fries and Big Macs must come to pass. This healthy eating plan also ties into my “try something different” resolution. What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll eat better, (hopefully) lose weight, and maybe—just maybe—learn how to make something other than toast and restaurant reservations. There may be hope for me yet!
1 comment:
My cheesie weenies will never look as pretty as the photo on the cover of the books.
Post a Comment