Enough comic relief from the dieting.You could wear a lot of the previous clothes shown, too, but they might seem a little strange in your usual venues. Here, however, is something all of us could wear. It’s feminine but tailored, and I think it is a classic that you’d never have to throw out or send to the resale shop, where I might buy it. One usually thinks of the beautiful evening dresses Valentino designs, but I think he’s done us well with this outfit. I have a pair of trousers in a very similar cashmere tweed. They’re really easy to work with. Young and thin? Wear it this way. Older or not so thin? Lengthen the hem. Wool tights and a pair of classic heels, and off you go.
I like this enough to copy it. By next autumn I might not need Spanx to wear it.
March 2nd, 2007
It has now been eight full days since I started this blog diet. So, how’s it going, you asked?
(Or even if you didn’t.)
Slowly and with a certain amount of difficulty, I am learning to be without sugars and easy carbohydrates. Last Sunday I was frantic and ate an apple. Many times I am distracted and can’t think well. The Brain Age program reinforces my recognition of that effect. I have been tired and dragging around. There’s not a thing in that list I didn’t expect, but I know it does go away and I will feel better than usual eventually.
This morning my waist is 1-1/2” smaller. That would be partly from the drastic water loss, but also from the beginning of losing internal fats. With restricted carbohydrates, your body does not hold water very well. I drink a lot and still wake up parched, sometimes several times in a night.
Sometime within the next week my metabolism will begin to efficiently turn proteins and fats and complex carbohydrates into the glucose my brain needs to work. I could push that ahead with more exercise, but since I am no juvenile, I am not rushing it.
Two kilos of spinach, one kilo of Swiss chard, a whole butternut squash, three kilos of broccoli, some lettuce and radicchio, a whole cauliflower, and that apple, mean that I am eating well. There have been small servings of chick peas, white beans and cooked whole grain as well. I eat meat, of course, and quite a number of eggs. The shrimp and cabbage dish was just two days ago.
While I am glad I don’t have to stay on this diet forever, I could once I got used to it. The problem is not getting to eat with one’s friends, but I’ll be able to later.
I made this photo series to show how I handle these large vegetable purchases. I don’t live really close to shops, and I wouldn’t shop often when dieting anyway. The less exposure, the less temptation. Fresh raw greens don’t keep for more than a few days, because they lose vitamins to enzymes and they just go off.
When I get them home, I fill an enormous bowl with heavily salted cold water. They all get bathed like this to drive out any residents. Organic vegetables are likely to have tenants, and the fresher they are, the more likely. Those squatters don’t mind water, but they can’t take salty water.
In the case of greens, and especially spinach, I cut the root end off before bathing, because there’s so much dirt caught there.
Once the saltwater bath is over, something like broccoli or cauliflower can just be rinsed. I will then trim, cut up and blanch in boiling, salted water, the broccoli for about 90 seconds time from when the water returns to a boil. It is removed to a strainer and left to cool. The cauliflower will keep better and I usually don’t blanch it.
Greens still need more bathing. Showers don’t work for greens, because the dirt clings in too many nooks and it needs a chance to detach and then, being heavier than water, to sink to the bottom of the bowl. I fill the bowl, put the green in, then with my hands work it as if it were in a washing machine, turn, squeeze, turn, and then lift it out of the water and put it into a metal mesh colander. This get repeated at least three times, or until the last water hasn’t left any dirt in the bottom of the bowl.
At that point I usually feel sorry for people who live in warm places, because they can have spinach all the time, but it never tastes as good as spinach that has been touched with frost. I don’t suffer too much for the Californians while I stuff the clean leaves into a great big pot, lid it and put it onto a burner. It is cooked just until a stem isn’t raw, but still has a crisp texture and is very green. It is drained in the colander again and allowed to cool.
Once all these vulnerable vegetables have been blanched, you can refrigerate them and they will last at least through the week, and probably beyond. The spinach can be formed into balls and wrapped in cling wrap, as can also the Swiss chard, the broccoli can be popped into a bag. You can use them any way you normally use them but they need a little less cooking time.
I’ve made frittata, a pan of spinach reheated in olive oil with hot pepper flakes and garlic, and with an egg poached on top, stir fries, salad with freshly hardboiled eggs, and I’m really looking forward to a spicy curried cauliflower with lashings of Greek yoghurt! A tuna salad made with quantities of onion, celery and red pepper equal to the tuna was tasty on Wasa wafers, which is my diet bread. We only get the one original kind here, but it’s terrific when bread isn’t allowed. I have had it also with cream cheese and smoked salmon, too.
Yes, I miss wine and pasta is what comes to mind when I think delicious and fast. I love tomato juice, but it doesn’t replace blood oranges completely. I haven’t longed for anything like cake or chocolate — hot chocolate made with Splenda and skim milk fixes that – but I do miss fruit. Even with all those greens and with huge vitamin pills, I’m trying to get more calcium. The fatter you are the less likely you are to lose calcium, but I plan to be thin.
Now it is time for those of you doing this with me to tell me how it is going with you.
March 2nd, 2007
