Diet foilbles

You have to excuse me for being preoccupied with diet issues, since this is my 16th week of a liquid diet. You might think someone in my position might be obsessed with thoughts of food. That would be correct. I have decided to change my eating lifestyle, but I will allow one day a month where I can dine more exquisitely. So why do I think so much of those rare meals? A filet Mignon at Ports O Call with the salad bar ought to be a good meal. But then there is always the call of Lucilles' BBQ and those succulent baby back ribs. Sluurp!

Okay, my mind is working hard, manufacturing decent recipes too. That spinach salad I may have mentioned several posts ago, looms large on my mind. I've heard of a brand of yogurt that my dietitian said made a good substitute for sour cream. Trader Joe's also sells a low fat cheddar cheese that she claims is quite good. Now we have tried that ugly, gag-provoking sludge before, but she swears that this new brand actually tastes like cheddar and works well for her. She also used to hate those low fat substitutes. I'm perusing vegetarian cook books, and finding delicious sounding recipes. I can hardly wait to get started.

In the meantime I am stuck with powdered chemicals and water. This stuff has no fiber, so I am getting intimate with fiber supplements. One week I was using a popular brand (three times a day) only to discover that I was thereby ingesting something like 50 extra calories every day! That was the only week during this diet that I actually gained weight! My solution of abstaining from fiber was not a good one. Constipation can be a very serious matter. I discovered the Cadillac of fiber supplements, without calories, and got back on track of weight loss. But if I don't wash out my mug well enough, when I dump out the water I left it soaking in, out comes something like a big loogie.

I've learned to add sugarless syrups to each shake I drink, and the different flavors with vanilla shakes provides rather delightful variety. Some of them taste like I'm drinking candy. If you think I might be getting addicted to this, guess again. Sweet and tasty as they are, it becomes old very soon. Can you imagine eating Almond Roca or English Toffe for 16 weeks? No, no, it actually can get pukey sweet after that long.

I had no idea our family ate so often in restaurants! When I have to watch my wife and kids and grand kids chomping down on shrimp, steak, fancy potatoes and such while I consistently order a bowl of hot water, they give me a hero's cheer, but that got old the very first time. Now the soup is remarkably savory, and even takes more life when three dashes of Tabasco are applied. But I torture myself by looking at the menu and choosing the meal I will not order.

Yes, yes, there is a psychological side to this crazy diet. But there is also a terminus! Tomorrow I will report on my progress because in just a couple hours I weigh in for my 17th class.