Food waste.

I've come across quite a few blogs/articles on food waste today. I don't think I'm a terrible food waster, but I will admit that I've thrown out more produce from my CSA this season that I would have liked.

In general, I'm very good about eating leftovers for lunch or freezing them when I know I won't be able to eat them fast enough. I freeze bananas, throw older fruit in smoothies and try to plan a menu that makes use of the same ingredients throughout the week (okay, I could be better at this).

Still, I love grocery shopping almost more than eating, so it's tough to pass up a sale, a novelty item or really anything that strikes my fancy on any particular day. I'm trying to curb to grocery shopping habit to only once or twice a week, or at least stay a bit more focused on my list when I'm doing the deed. Did I mention that I love pantry items? You should see my canned/dried bean collection.

Anyway, I added wastedfood.com to my Google Reader this week, so it should help inspire me to watch what I dump into my garbage can.

branching out.

I love this blog, I really do. It saddens me to think that I could neglect it for months on end, just because I'm not eating raw, fasting, or subjecting myself to some sort of dietary tomfoolery. So, I decided to make this blog an all-the-time venture.

Now, it is highly unlikely that I will be posting lists of everything I eat (though, all links to these kinds of blogs are very welcome - they are my favorite!) but I will be weighing in more often with my thoughts on food, grocery shopping, and my ever-growing obsession with bananas.

Not sure where all this will lead to, but it's worth a shot.

For now, I leave you with this.

day 6.

I made pancakes today. It's the weekend and I'm being less strict. They were pretty healthy though: oatmeal, blueberries, flax, cardamom, apple juice and a little bit of whole wheat flour and an egg. Oh, and some maple syrup for sweetness. I put just a tiny bit of almond butter on a couple (< 1T). I snacked on these for breakfast/lunch.

I also had a cup of green tea, which I really enjoyed.

In the late afternoon I had a banana with a little bit of almond butter.

For dinner, I went to a get-together at a friend's house, which pretty much means this experiment is over for now.


In sum:

After a week of no wheat, grain, sugar, and animal products, I felt pretty good. Despite diet and exercise, I lost zero weight. In fact, I may have actually gained a pound; it's hard to say. However, I slept better, I never felt bad after a meal and I think I was less moody and more energetic overall.

I was also really hungry.

Carbs are a pretty important part of my diet and I think that eliminating them would be pretty unrealistic. However, I will strive to eat less of them, and make sure that the carbs I do eat are from unprocessed grains. Basically, I'd like to eat more vegetables and less other crap.

What's sad is that I say this, but I'm a much healthier than average eater.

Welcome to America.

day 4.

--banana with almond butter
--more slaw (same as yesterday)
--edamame
--apple
--senna tea**
--a little bit more almond butter
--raspberries (lots!)
--some pieces of cucumber

and the best no wheat/sugar/healthy dinner:
--a salad of beautiful bleeding heart radishes, beets, carrots, arugula, pistachios and grapefruit segments. I could eat this everyday.

--spaghetti squash (cooked) with raw red bell pepper, a serano pepper, green beans (lightly blanched) and mint tossed with a citrus vinagrette: the zest and juice of lime, grapefruit and orange plus a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper. This was served with some tuna (for protein and sanity).

For the first time all week I wasn't starving within an hour of eating. In fact, I felt good for the remainder of the evening.

Also, I slept amazingly well last night. For the first time in months and months, I went to sleep and didn't wake up until my alarm went off. I am a terrible sleeper, so this is a serious victory. Could it be the fact I haven't had sugar in almost a week? My diligent exercise schedule? I don't know, but I'm not complaining.

Speaking of the gym: 20 minutes of cardio, plus some weight training. An accomplishment considering how sore I was from yesterday's yoga class.



**Laxatives have absolutely ZERO effect on me. Senna tea, glasses of saltwater, even colon cleanse pills. NOTHING. I swear I have a colon made of steel. I really just want to poop out a marble or whatever else I may have swallowed as a child. I'm open to suggestions.

day 5.

I fell (or should I say dived?) off the wagon in a major way. I had a client lunch at Lula Cafe this afternoon and as soon as I walked in the door I had completely forgotten about this semi-detox I've been doing for the last 4 and a half days. Seriously, I plunged right into the menu without ever even looking at the salads. As soon as we ordered appetizers I had come to my senses, but since it was already too late and I went with it. I'm scared to posted what I ate but I'll give you a snapshot:

--peanut noodles with tofu, raw cucumbers, picked onions, and alfalfa sprouts. I ate very little of the actual noodles and stuck to the tofu and veggies
--quesadilla with goat cheese and shitake mushrooms. This was really good. I ate more than I should have but it was worth it.
--eggs benedict with brussel sprouts, potatoes, and who-knows-what-else. I didn't even attempt to damage control at this point.

Okay, okay, I also had a chai. With soy. GUILTY!

I'm back at it as of 1pm.

--half of an orange
--half of a grapefruit
--a large heirloom tomato, with some salt
--1/4 c curried chickpeas, a banana with almond butter, 1/2 - 3/4 c leftover slaw
--a couple of pieces of dried fruit

day 3.

--smoothie with apple juice, mango, banana and blueberries
--senna tea
--an apple
--slaw with cabbage, carrot, apples and mushrooms
--a handful of edamame; an heirloom tomato
--a banana; a small bag of granola (oats, almonds, raisins, cranberries, flax, honey, etc)

I came home from work, school and a meeting and I was starving. I ate:
--an apple
--2T of almond butter
--a few bites of leftover slaw
--a few bites of some leftover curried chickpeas (about 3T)


I made a really good dressing for the slaw last night. Into the blender I put a little bit of the following things:
-apple juice
-rice vinegar
-miso
-sesame oil
-olive oil
-peanut butter
-rooster paste
-ginger
-soy sauce

Yum!

In an amazing exercise of self-restraint, I sat in front of a plate of warm chocolate chip - peanut butter cookies and didn't eat a single one. Fuck.

I also went to a yoga class for the first time since I broke my wrist, a year and a half ago. It was great. I'd like to make a habit of this.