The casual reader/circler is also probably aware that I'm a little under weight and have been trying to gradually and modestly alter my eating habits to adjust for this. It's an interesting look from the other end of the American eating issues. Technically, I suppose I could just do "the opposite" of every eating advice column I've ever read, but I am not sure that's really where I want to go and I'm pretty sure my body wouldn't be too happy with me on that regard.
The last food binge hold out that I have has been cereal. It's some kind of deep-seeded childhood eidos of safety/excitement/magic/lord-knows rekindled in a heaping bowl of cereal casserole. I don't eat particularly junky cereal (they've been off heroin for years, I swear). I mostly eat Kashi Go Lean - which is relatively low in sugar, made from a number of whole grains, high fiber, decently high in protein, and painfully dull in many regards. It does, however, satisfy my novelty bug, by having little "twigs" and "squares" and .. yeah the multiple different wholeish grains come in different shapes and textures! When that's not around, it's usually something like shredded wheat. Well, that's the base. I sometimes add some cheerios, maybe a sprinkle of granola, some kind of cereal with "clusters" in the title, and maybe some raisins. In the fullest throes of PMS, I'll admit to having added M&M's. In a world of shrinking dietary indulgences, cereal was my last resort. And I still can put it away - at the end of a long day, if I haven't eaten enough, I can eat two or three very full bowls of cereal (which may double my caloric intake in that day, if I'm really piling it on) in a row.
But I've noticed, as with many past indulgences, my body is increasingly sensitive and grumpy about the endeavor. Naturally, when I've gone on full tilt three plus bowls of cereal binges, it does have an effect: for about a day afterwards my body feels a little wonky and a little bloated and achy. More recently, though, I have had occasion to try my cereal in the mornings and notice that I feel loggy and kind of weird afterwards. I realized that compared to my average morning breakfast, the cereal and milk combo is relatively lower in protein and higher in sugars - even without too much added sugar from the cereal. Binge-worthy food is pretty much dwindling down to heads of lettuce at this rate. Mmmmm, crunchy! Whole fat milk helps a bit, but it's still noticeable.
While waving goodbye - perhaps - to my final hold out of mindless eating, I am exploring my fattier side in my quest to plump up to fighting-fertility-friendly-and/or-doctor-get-off-my-back-y weight. The good fat anyways. For whatever reason, I have always been completely comfortable with the fats in nuts, seeds, nut butters, etc. (and actually do already have a diet that has a fair representation of fat from these), but physically wonky about oils, butter, and cheese. When I see butter flop into the pan, my gut sinks in anticipation. It takes so little of that dietary lubricant to make me churn. I also have to admit - for whatever reason - that the taste of butter on food is reminiscent to my palate's imagination of the taste of snot on food. It's an unfortunate association, but there we go. Yet, while butter is my nemesis and cheese is hardly my thing, I'm occasionally prone to very strong cravings for certain dairy products - mostly milk, cream (ice- or otherwise), and oh most definitely yogurt. When I'm really active or have been living on a shoestring budget enough to be underfed, it kicks in like mad.
As an early twenty-something, I spent time bumming (more literally than not) around the medinas of Morocco. As a vegetarian who spent most of her budget on the ticket, I was not eating a whole lot and the one thing that hit the spot turned out to be the jus d'avocat - basically cream blended with avocado (and no doubt a decent heap of sugar, but it didn't taste very sweet at the time).
In the last month, I've switched my yogurt and milk to full fat servings. It took a little bit of adjustment, since I grew up on skimmed milk and thick milk still strikes me as something awry at first sip. But I have to say after a month, I've really grown to appreciate the extra body and flavor in these products.
Also - try to find any food popular with women in a full fat version! I swear, there is one place where I've found full fat greek yogurt (Trader Joe's to the rescue!). It's quite challenging to find single servings of whole milk to suit random snack urges. I've also noticed that when you order a plain decaff latte, the barrista may look at you funny and ask if you're really ok with regular milk. I'm starting to wonder if whole milk can really be categorized as "regular" considering.
As part of my new dietary questing sourced straight from Moroccan memories, I've also taken to adding mashed avocado as a spread on the toast with my eggs when I have it. I've had a lengthy fascination with guacamole. It just doesn't taste like my mouth expects food to taste! When I've bemoaned my lack of enchantment with the fruit, people assume my issues are with the texture, but it truly is the taste. Perhaps because the taste is quite clearly fatty and my tastes have evolved away from fatty. And guacamole has always been a bit salty and kind of weird to me. Of course there was the heavenly jus d'avocat and avocado rolls are pretty darned delicious, so I've held out hope for it. And I'm starting to come around. It makes a great spread. I don't like it in guacamole, mostly because people add too much salt and other things I don't care for much, but it does take spice extremely well and complements a variety of textures.
Anyways, it may or may not be working, but I seem to be headed back up a pound or two in the past month Nothing drastic and I'm happy to take it slowly, but finding it more fun to be working variations into my diet and discovering new foods:
Like Yam Cake. This is my Dad's favorite recipe and his best friends made it for his birthday to be consumed last night. I can attest that it was decadent, and the idea of it sends me into twitterpatted fits. I can also attest that my body is not fully equipped to handle the sheer POW of sweet and creamy condensed into this cake. I had part of a fairly small piece and I was in full sugar-high for a good half hour afterwards. Again, it's amazing how the body evolves to process the food that you eat. That said, it was beeeeeaaautiful, wasn't it? I kind of want to just bury my face in in. Maybe give it a good thoroughly affectionate motorboard. I'm sure my Dad wouldn't mind if I did this to his cake!
The last food binge hold out that I have has been cereal. It's some kind of deep-seeded childhood eidos of safety/excitement/magic/lord-knows rekindled in a heaping bowl of cereal casserole. I don't eat particularly junky cereal (they've been off heroin for years, I swear). I mostly eat Kashi Go Lean - which is relatively low in sugar, made from a number of whole grains, high fiber, decently high in protein, and painfully dull in many regards. It does, however, satisfy my novelty bug, by having little "twigs" and "squares" and .. yeah the multiple different wholeish grains come in different shapes and textures! When that's not around, it's usually something like shredded wheat. Well, that's the base. I sometimes add some cheerios, maybe a sprinkle of granola, some kind of cereal with "clusters" in the title, and maybe some raisins. In the fullest throes of PMS, I'll admit to having added M&M's. In a world of shrinking dietary indulgences, cereal was my last resort. And I still can put it away - at the end of a long day, if I haven't eaten enough, I can eat two or three very full bowls of cereal (which may double my caloric intake in that day, if I'm really piling it on) in a row.
 |
| I call these Hormoney-O's |
But I've noticed, as with many past indulgences, my body is increasingly sensitive and grumpy about the endeavor. Naturally, when I've gone on full tilt three plus bowls of cereal binges, it does have an effect: for about a day afterwards my body feels a little wonky and a little bloated and achy. More recently, though, I have had occasion to try my cereal in the mornings and notice that I feel loggy and kind of weird afterwards. I realized that compared to my average morning breakfast, the cereal and milk combo is relatively lower in protein and higher in sugars - even without too much added sugar from the cereal. Binge-worthy food is pretty much dwindling down to heads of lettuce at this rate. Mmmmm, crunchy! Whole fat milk helps a bit, but it's still noticeable.
While waving goodbye - perhaps - to my final hold out of mindless eating, I am exploring my fattier side in my quest to plump up to fighting-fertility-friendly-and/or-doctor-get-off-my-back-y weight. The good fat anyways. For whatever reason, I have always been completely comfortable with the fats in nuts, seeds, nut butters, etc. (and actually do already have a diet that has a fair representation of fat from these), but physically wonky about oils, butter, and cheese. When I see butter flop into the pan, my gut sinks in anticipation. It takes so little of that dietary lubricant to make me churn. I also have to admit - for whatever reason - that the taste of butter on food is reminiscent to my palate's imagination of the taste of snot on food. It's an unfortunate association, but there we go. Yet, while butter is my nemesis and cheese is hardly my thing, I'm occasionally prone to very strong cravings for certain dairy products - mostly milk, cream (ice- or otherwise), and oh most definitely yogurt. When I'm really active or have been living on a shoestring budget enough to be underfed, it kicks in like mad.
As an early twenty-something, I spent time bumming (more literally than not) around the medinas of Morocco. As a vegetarian who spent most of her budget on the ticket, I was not eating a whole lot and the one thing that hit the spot turned out to be the jus d'avocat - basically cream blended with avocado (and no doubt a decent heap of sugar, but it didn't taste very sweet at the time).
In the last month, I've switched my yogurt and milk to full fat servings. It took a little bit of adjustment, since I grew up on skimmed milk and thick milk still strikes me as something awry at first sip. But I have to say after a month, I've really grown to appreciate the extra body and flavor in these products.
Also - try to find any food popular with women in a full fat version! I swear, there is one place where I've found full fat greek yogurt (Trader Joe's to the rescue!). It's quite challenging to find single servings of whole milk to suit random snack urges. I've also noticed that when you order a plain decaff latte, the barrista may look at you funny and ask if you're really ok with regular milk. I'm starting to wonder if whole milk can really be categorized as "regular" considering.
As part of my new dietary questing sourced straight from Moroccan memories, I've also taken to adding mashed avocado as a spread on the toast with my eggs when I have it. I've had a lengthy fascination with guacamole. It just doesn't taste like my mouth expects food to taste! When I've bemoaned my lack of enchantment with the fruit, people assume my issues are with the texture, but it truly is the taste. Perhaps because the taste is quite clearly fatty and my tastes have evolved away from fatty. And guacamole has always been a bit salty and kind of weird to me. Of course there was the heavenly jus d'avocat and avocado rolls are pretty darned delicious, so I've held out hope for it. And I'm starting to come around. It makes a great spread. I don't like it in guacamole, mostly because people add too much salt and other things I don't care for much, but it does take spice extremely well and complements a variety of textures.
Anyways, it may or may not be working, but I seem to be headed back up a pound or two in the past month Nothing drastic and I'm happy to take it slowly, but finding it more fun to be working variations into my diet and discovering new foods:
Like Yam Cake. This is my Dad's favorite recipe and his best friends made it for his birthday to be consumed last night. I can attest that it was decadent, and the idea of it sends me into twitterpatted fits. I can also attest that my body is not fully equipped to handle the sheer POW of sweet and creamy condensed into this cake. I had part of a fairly small piece and I was in full sugar-high for a good half hour afterwards. Again, it's amazing how the body evolves to process the food that you eat. That said, it was beeeeeaaautiful, wasn't it? I kind of want to just bury my face in in. Maybe give it a good thoroughly affectionate motorboard. I'm sure my Dad wouldn't mind if I did this to his cake!
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