The Chronic Malcontent
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Food Fight
Often anymore, when I go into any food service facility, I peer at the menu with a jaundiced eye. The phrase that rolls around in my head is 'the restaurants are trying to kill us!!'
So last Thursday I went out to dinner with some friends. True, I am more conscious about this now that I am on a doctor supervised eating plan. But still, I examined the menu finding this platter, that meal deal, this special. What I ended up eating was a stuffed taco, with steak and chihuahua cheese. It was VERY good. I was quite satisfied. Also had a diet cola with it. The others I ate with all had platters and meal deals.
Here is the thing. No one at that table is thin. Some are in better shape than me, but no one is thin.
So, I had my one taco, ate it as slowly as I could, and still was done quite before everyone else. i did have some chips and salsa, but it was quite evident, I was done. And it felt very, very weird. I didn't have the rice, beans, etc., mostly because they had ordered an appetizer platter and I had a couple small taquitos off of that before my stuffed taco.
I surprised myself by not having Flan, which is God's gift to egg custard. But, it was odd - I had enough.
Rare, for me. I find that thankfully, that is happening more and more. Of course yesterday at a City picnic, I ate TOTALLY WRONG. Today I am not much better. But, less sugar today may help the situation.
The restaurants where with every entree you get soup, and/or salad, a basket of bread, an entree the size of Montana, with sides of potato or other veggies, and a dessert is what is standard in a lot of restaurants. Salads are HUGE. NO ONE needs that much salad.
The soup and salad alone from the above dinner would be enough for anyone. It really would. But we are so used to seeing it on menus we accept it as the normal thing to do. Then when you break out of that mold, and try to make their menu fit into a plan, it can work, but it feels odd, it looks odd, and doesn't seem to compute. Unless you really keep a handle on it.
Whether it is appropriate or not to make this VERY personal, maybe I should post this here...
When you have this much weight to lose, any accountability can help. And I can't say I have been totally faithful, either. Some sugar free things are totally too much fat - and vice versa. Sugar and fat free things are rare, but they're out there. So, that's what I am bringing into the house. I figure, it HAS to make a difference from what I was bringing in before.
Also have been trying to eat more veggies, that's where my plan really falls down. But I surprised myself last week by constructing a very tasty veggie bowl for myself, (am NOT saying the SAL__ word - it's such a turnoff I can't even think about it). So, I will have to do that again, since it was soo good.
The other thing I have to start buying is low fat cheese. This is going to be a difficult thing. Being the cheese hound that I am, I LOVE CHEESE. Good for my calcium requirements. Not so good for the OTHER requirements!
Of course. restaurants do not serve low fat cheese, sugar free ice cream bars - so again, this is what I have to put in my home larder so I don't do as MUCH damage. This is war, and I need all the arsenal I can get.
When I get unsure of my servings, I try to look at my hand. It is the best portable reference anyone has. If a serving of meat, or nuts, wouild fit in or is the size of the palm of my hand, then that is the right size. It makes a kind of universal sense. Our hands, designed to measure out our food. What a concept. Maybe it's just a mental trick I play with myself, but I use so many of those anyway, one more won't matter.
Good luck, everyone, and wish me luck too! ¶ 2:35 PM 0 Comments
So last Thursday I went out to dinner with some friends. True, I am more conscious about this now that I am on a doctor supervised eating plan. But still, I examined the menu finding this platter, that meal deal, this special. What I ended up eating was a stuffed taco, with steak and chihuahua cheese. It was VERY good. I was quite satisfied. Also had a diet cola with it. The others I ate with all had platters and meal deals.
Here is the thing. No one at that table is thin. Some are in better shape than me, but no one is thin.
So, I had my one taco, ate it as slowly as I could, and still was done quite before everyone else. i did have some chips and salsa, but it was quite evident, I was done. And it felt very, very weird. I didn't have the rice, beans, etc., mostly because they had ordered an appetizer platter and I had a couple small taquitos off of that before my stuffed taco.
I surprised myself by not having Flan, which is God's gift to egg custard. But, it was odd - I had enough.
Rare, for me. I find that thankfully, that is happening more and more. Of course yesterday at a City picnic, I ate TOTALLY WRONG. Today I am not much better. But, less sugar today may help the situation.
The restaurants where with every entree you get soup, and/or salad, a basket of bread, an entree the size of Montana, with sides of potato or other veggies, and a dessert is what is standard in a lot of restaurants. Salads are HUGE. NO ONE needs that much salad.
The soup and salad alone from the above dinner would be enough for anyone. It really would. But we are so used to seeing it on menus we accept it as the normal thing to do. Then when you break out of that mold, and try to make their menu fit into a plan, it can work, but it feels odd, it looks odd, and doesn't seem to compute. Unless you really keep a handle on it.
Whether it is appropriate or not to make this VERY personal, maybe I should post this here...
When you have this much weight to lose, any accountability can help. And I can't say I have been totally faithful, either. Some sugar free things are totally too much fat - and vice versa. Sugar and fat free things are rare, but they're out there. So, that's what I am bringing into the house. I figure, it HAS to make a difference from what I was bringing in before.
Also have been trying to eat more veggies, that's where my plan really falls down. But I surprised myself last week by constructing a very tasty veggie bowl for myself, (am NOT saying the SAL__ word - it's such a turnoff I can't even think about it). So, I will have to do that again, since it was soo good.
The other thing I have to start buying is low fat cheese. This is going to be a difficult thing. Being the cheese hound that I am, I LOVE CHEESE. Good for my calcium requirements. Not so good for the OTHER requirements!
Of course. restaurants do not serve low fat cheese, sugar free ice cream bars - so again, this is what I have to put in my home larder so I don't do as MUCH damage. This is war, and I need all the arsenal I can get.
When I get unsure of my servings, I try to look at my hand. It is the best portable reference anyone has. If a serving of meat, or nuts, wouild fit in or is the size of the palm of my hand, then that is the right size. It makes a kind of universal sense. Our hands, designed to measure out our food. What a concept. Maybe it's just a mental trick I play with myself, but I use so many of those anyway, one more won't matter.
Good luck, everyone, and wish me luck too! ¶ 2:35 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Saturday, August 13, 2005
War.
Bush set his sights on Iran this week, the news story told me. Good lord. I guess our National Guard troops will never get home until Bush is out of office.
Used to be if you were in the National Guard, it would be rare that you would be out of the country on assignment. Now, it's the norm. Between the National Guard and Reserves, this is a very different war.
I wanted to know, what's the difference between the two, and found this:
http://www.ngb.army.mil/faq/#reserves
https://www.virtualarmory.com/promotions/RAC/index.asp
This page has a link to the 45 reasons to join the National Guard. Looks like a very nice place to be. It looks very different when you hear about people's sons, daughters, wives, husbands, dads, moms, being hurt or killed in Baghdad or Afghanistan. Or anywhere else we are, either (we just handed over control of Kosovo on July 31, 2005 - very informative site...).
I guess I just don't want our people hurt over there any more. I guess that makes me a liberal or something. But I don't know if it means that any more. Some may think I am a bad person, or unpatriotic. I don't think I am either, I just don't want more people maimed and killed. Not our people. Not their people.
I do love my country. I never served in the military - which was a mistake I made a long time ago. I really considered it. I never went forward due to some reasons that stopped me from doing other things, too - my parents. I never wanted them to worry like that.
People who are in our Armed Forces don't want to make their families worry like that either. But they are called to this very high service for all the rest of us. That call is often very strong. I respect their decisions to serve. I just want them to come home safe. That is the problem. Many won't and haven't.
Are they fighting for my freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan? No. Not really. Are they fighting for a better world? That's the tough question. Will it be better in 5 years, in 10 years, because we went over there? Because friends and family went so far away for this President? And for his father?
There are families who serve, and families who serve. Some serve in suits as bureaucrats. Some serve as soldiers in uniform. I will alway support the latter.
Here is one way to support them - or rather, there are several ways to support them. from being a pen pal, to sending care packages:
http://adoptaplatoon.org/new/howtosupport.html
Will I send money to a political candidate in the next few years? Unlikely. Will I do one of these things? Yes. I just did:
¶ 7:42 PM 0 Comments
Used to be if you were in the National Guard, it would be rare that you would be out of the country on assignment. Now, it's the norm. Between the National Guard and Reserves, this is a very different war.
I wanted to know, what's the difference between the two, and found this:
http://www.ngb.army.mil/faq/#reserves
How is the National Guard different from the Reserves?I visited this link from their site:
Although the National Guard is a part of this nation's reserve forces, there are a few differences between the Army or Air Force Reserve and the Guard. The National Guard is by far the oldest component of any of the uniformed services. It traces its roots to the colonial militia, and claims a "birthday" of 1636. By comparison, the U.S. Army was founded in 1775 (its first units all came out of the colonial militia) and the U.S. Air Force was created in 1947. More importantly, the National Guard maintains a unique "dual status" - both State and Federal - that no other service or component has. This dual status is rooted in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which states that "Congress shall have the power ... To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress."
The National Guard serves both the state and nation in times of need, and soldiers and airmen in the Guard swear an oath to protect and defend not just the Constitution of the United States, but also of the State in which they serve. In peacetime, the Guard is commanded by the governors of the respective States and Territories (the District of Columbia National Guard is commanded directly by the President). We assist civil leaders during natural disasters, state emergencies and civil unrest. Civil laws, particularly the Posse Comitatus act of 1878, limit the use of Federal troops (to include Federal Reserve components like the Army Reserve and the Air Force Reserve) to enforce the law. The National Guard, when acting in its capacity as State troops, does not fall under these restrictions and thus can augment civil authorities in maintaining law and order.
https://www.virtualarmory.com/promotions/RAC/index.asp
This page has a link to the 45 reasons to join the National Guard. Looks like a very nice place to be. It looks very different when you hear about people's sons, daughters, wives, husbands, dads, moms, being hurt or killed in Baghdad or Afghanistan. Or anywhere else we are, either (we just handed over control of Kosovo on July 31, 2005 - very informative site...).
I guess I just don't want our people hurt over there any more. I guess that makes me a liberal or something. But I don't know if it means that any more. Some may think I am a bad person, or unpatriotic. I don't think I am either, I just don't want more people maimed and killed. Not our people. Not their people.
I do love my country. I never served in the military - which was a mistake I made a long time ago. I really considered it. I never went forward due to some reasons that stopped me from doing other things, too - my parents. I never wanted them to worry like that.
People who are in our Armed Forces don't want to make their families worry like that either. But they are called to this very high service for all the rest of us. That call is often very strong. I respect their decisions to serve. I just want them to come home safe. That is the problem. Many won't and haven't.
Are they fighting for my freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan? No. Not really. Are they fighting for a better world? That's the tough question. Will it be better in 5 years, in 10 years, because we went over there? Because friends and family went so far away for this President? And for his father?
There are families who serve, and families who serve. Some serve in suits as bureaucrats. Some serve as soldiers in uniform. I will alway support the latter.
Here is one way to support them - or rather, there are several ways to support them. from being a pen pal, to sending care packages:
http://adoptaplatoon.org/new/howtosupport.html
Will I send money to a political candidate in the next few years? Unlikely. Will I do one of these things? Yes. I just did:
You can too!Can't wait? Email a soldier:
The Stars and Stripes , the military newspaper, is allowing the public to email deployed soldiers via its Messages of Support forum. Limit your message of support or greeting to 50 words or less and send it to messages@estripes.com
¶ 7:42 PM 0 Comments
The Chronic Malcontent. A Blog.
This is an odd odd planet. I have been here for over 50 years, and it never ceases to amaze me. There is much beauty, much good in this world.
There is also plenty to complain about. That's where I come in.
I find myself in an opportune position. Also I find myself in the situation of the child in the fairy tale "The Emporers New Clothes". I find myself constantly saying, "But he has no clothes on!"
So if I find myself in that position all the time, well, why not BE The Chronic Malcontent.
And so. It started years ago when I had this webzine, The Chronic Malcontent. It fell into disuse, neglected by its own creator. There is nothing sadder than a creation neglected by it's own creator.
But how to rectify the situation?
Blogging. That's how.
So. Amidst a world of chaos, war, famine, disease, destruction, murder, mayhem - we shall sally forth.
Poor Sally.
¶ 12:11 PM 3 Comments
There is also plenty to complain about. That's where I come in.
I find myself in an opportune position. Also I find myself in the situation of the child in the fairy tale "The Emporers New Clothes". I find myself constantly saying, "But he has no clothes on!"
So if I find myself in that position all the time, well, why not BE The Chronic Malcontent.
And so. It started years ago when I had this webzine, The Chronic Malcontent. It fell into disuse, neglected by its own creator. There is nothing sadder than a creation neglected by it's own creator.
But how to rectify the situation?
Blogging. That's how.
So. Amidst a world of chaos, war, famine, disease, destruction, murder, mayhem - we shall sally forth.
Poor Sally.
¶ 12:11 PM 3 Comments
