HealthyPlace.com Dieting, Weight Loss Community

January 28, 2000 --- 10:38 PM EST

"Let's face it: who doesn't admire steely-willed individuals who can subsist on a lifelong diet of lean chicken, steamed vegetables, and fruit? "

~From some article about emotional eating

Here's my question -- with articles reading like these, is it any wonder people are hesitant to try healthier eating and give it time to become a habit? Words like "steely-willed" and "subsist" makes healthy eating sound so... Third World yuck! It makes it sound like some kind of torture. Oh, no! Baked chicken! Oh, no! Vegetables! Oh, no! Non-drive-thru food! Look out for them bananas!

Jeez!

Ok, so it isn't going to be a breeze, and sometimes problems will arise that will take a while to resolve but it isn't like electing to be healthier will kill you. Isn't it supposed to do the opposite? Let you lead a longer and more enjoyable life free of pain and disease?

Yeah, those bananas, man. They can really put a hurtin' on ya!

The Meat Problem

I don't have many problems right now with the body project other than the housewifery end of it in the kitchen. AKA food management AKA the Meat Problem! From the days of our first flat four years ago I've definitely gotten better at this. In the nine months we've lived in this house there has been no fur in the fridge! Food starting to die, yes, but no food gone greenly furry! Threatening to, but not so woolly I could knit a sweater. I think those days are safely past.

[small cheer]

Which reminds me I need to make a tangerine salad tonight before the tangerine's get way out there...

I'm getting over the bug problem. Never buy whole grains and beans and things from Publix, that solved the heart of it, as well as tight, screw top jars.

I still struggle with the meat problem. We got past the cooking of it. He cooks. We are now grappling with managing meat flow through the freezer.

I just defrosted the freezer and pitched like more than $20 worth of meat. Why? because I don't eat it, he never wraps it well, then forgets it, and I encounter freezer burned meats and junk. Ick. The more chopped up it is, the less time in the freezer. Whole chicken lasts longer (8-10 mos) in there than pieces (4-6 mos) which last longer than ground stuff (2-3 months) but then I have an icebox over the fridge, not a huge freezer in the garage, ok? So Paul, we aren't storing anything in there longer than a month, tops. So why can't you keep up?! You buy it!

Gross. Bleah.

So now I am sitting here with the Visual Food Encyclopedia trying to refresh my mind about cuts, proper storage, and tips. Poking at the non-vegetarian cookbooks on my shelf and websites trying to filter out Paul-cookable recipes. Planning his lunches for him.

I'll map it out, but I won't cook it. So therein lies the challenge! Single serving, easy to fix recipes, that aren't boring, and challenge his cooking repertoire but not too much or else he will get discouraged and not want to cook anymore.

It's so difficult to be cooking meats in single servings. Who wants to stew two drumsticks? It's a waste of effort, energy and time. But then you don't want to stew a whole chicken or you will be eating it forever. Er, he will.

And these recipe deductions. From a whole chicken serving eight to a one or two person serving. How do you measure 1/48th teaspoon of oregano? What the hell do I do with the rest of the can of tomato paste?! I feel like I ought to be having him try to cook these single serving portions in my old pattypans on the old tin toy kitchen my sister and I used to have. Eeeenny, teeeny, tiny!

Should I but him a toaster oven? A small grill? Would having a small appliance like that help? It makes no sense to heat up the whole big oven to do just a single person serving. Microwaved meats can only go so far. Some don't even fly that way -- taste weird to him.

So yeah, I am getting better at meal planning, and grocery shopping and me being vegan and him not but I still sometimes get to a point where it's like "Argh! Do not pass GO! Do not collect $200!" and I have to clear out the freezer and start all over.

Oh, and I took the nap, skipped meeting and gym. Yay!

~Astrophe