Weekend!

There are many things that I had forgotten about low-carb dieting but the most annoying one was the whole “you have to go to the grocery store every other day” thing. When you’re not on a diet of any sort, just go to the store on Saturday and pick up stuff for a week. Throw half of it in the freezer, a quarter in the pantry, the rest in the fridge and you’re good.

Feeling peckish? Throw a pizza in the oven! Make some nachos! Hey, just grab a bag of Goldfish and go to town. Mmmm. And you’re feeling warm and full and good. (Hey, throw the other half of the pizza into a Ziploc and you’ve got breakfast tomorrow!)

On the South Beach or Atkins diet, you can’t do that. Snacks change significantly. I have a big tub of mixed nuts on my desk at work. I eat a handful from time to time and my mouth is constantly looking for the raisins and m&ms. Beef jerky. String cheese. Perhaps some mixed nuts and some beef jerky with some string cheese.

But you still feel peckish.

On the diet, I have to go to the store every other day. I need fresh lettuce. I want to pick up some fresh meats, be they steak or chicken or pork chops. I ran out of yogurt. I need *SOMETHING*. Before the diet, it could probably wait. Now? I’m not going to eat dinner or breakfast or lunch tomorrow if I don’t stop by the store.

I had forgotten that you need all kinds of herbs and dry rubs and spices and whatnot. If you’re having a(nother) chicken breast, you’ll want Mrs. Dash on it. Maybe some more Mrs. Dash. Maybe cut a few lines of Mrs. Dash and snort it.

I had forgotten what it does to the digestive tract. Perhaps the less said about that, the better.

I am getting back into the groove of cooking every evening and enjoying something that I’ve made myself, over the course of an hour, rather than something that I pulled out of the freezer and threw in the microwave or the stove.

I very much miss the “you’re full” signal that carbs helped send my brain. I very much miss the joys of caffeinated (diet) sodas. I very much miss ice cream (a couple of scoops of plain yogurt with berries sprinkled on top is just barely close enough to ice cream to make you miss it that much more). I very much miss pastas, rolls, potatoes, and tortillas.

But, I suppose, I am reconciled somewhat to the idea of transitioning back to “chubby” from “fat”.

First scheduled cheat day? Easter Sunday. March 27th. I’m counting the days already. This weekend, though, will be dedicated to whipping up something in the crock pot that uses cauliflower rather than spuds.

So… what’s on your docket?

(Photo is “Footrace finish line, 1925” from the Seattle Municipal Archives, used under a creative commons license)