February 1, 2000 --- 9:59 PM EST

Today I spent with Holly. We went shopping around and while I never found a hooded jacket, I did get a new gym bag. So that's a plus. She got some good deals herself. I think we went all over town!

We had lunch at the Olive Garden near the mall and while I had the Capellini Pomodoro with no cheese and a salad, Holly and the waitress were at it for quite a long while. Holly is doing Atkins. Apparently so is the waitress. So they were going all over the menu trying to come up with something that would work out. It was mind boggling to me -- no pasta, no breaded meats, certain vegetables not allowed. So many rules.

She also opted for a salad, so we shared the bowl but had everything on the side so we could pick and choose -- cheese on the side, croutons on the side, dressing on the side, olives on the side, practically everything in separate little dishes. In a way, it was funny having our own mini salad bar on the table!

She ended up having some shrimp thing with broccoli with no pasta, and meatballs on the side as her entree.

I don't know. I really don't get into the why's behind eating with people when I am eating with them. I figure they eat what they eat and I eat what I eat and that is that. It's no secret that I think Atkins is too way out there, Holly knows that. I am sure she thinks veganism is way out there and not for her lifestyle as well.

Can two polar opposite people (eating wise) share a lunch and not make each other nuts? We did fine. We talked about shopping and families and all sorts of other things, so it's not like food was a big topic, more like a slight topic among many others.

I asked her sort of carefully what her goals were with this diet thing. That seemed pretty neutral. She says she wants to lose weight and get to a good weight for her height, and then slowly start adding back in foods until she finds some kind of balance. I just nodded and I listened to her tell me about how much she misses bread.

"I've only been doing this a week and a half and it's stunning how fast all that water weight goes. My mom is doing some blood type diet. And low-fat is too... too much pasta, and potatoes and rice," Holly mused out loud. "I think I need to be paying more attention to exercise though. I know it's terrible but I am too lazy, and I am not exercising at all."

Holly debates joining my Bally's for a trial period of a month to see how she likes it. I'm not pressuring her, but if she wants to that would be cool. So then I told her what the gym scene has been like for me -- it's ok, but it can get pretty monotonous doing it solo.

Every time the waitress came back she would tell us how much she misses bread, cake, pasta, potatoes, etc.

I don't know how to react, or what to think, or really what to say, or if I'm even supposed to be reacting at all. The best I can do is be polite and keep my thoughts to myself. I've never been around people who are low-carbing before. I'm just used to plain non-vegetarians. Not low-carbing non-vegetarians.

~Astrophe

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