Better than 80/20 - Diet, Pt.1

(Warning: That pledge I made to write shorter posts? Yeah, not happening today. Not happening for the next 2-3 posts, in fact. But once we get past me talking about my food & exercise, I really am going to try to keep things more succinct and reader-friendly. Just don’t hold it against me if that doesn’t occur.)

Well, here we are. The post you may or may not have been waiting for, but here it is nonetheless. Today I’ll give you the rundown on what I’m doing with my diet that I think is helping me feel (and maybe look) better than I did a few months ago, when I posted about feeling like a fraud. To bring you up to speed, last time, I covered my supplements. And assuming at least some of the page hits on that one are legitimate and not all of them are coming from automated search engines in Russia and China (although there is a freakish amount of those), there are a couple of people out there who are curious about what I’m doing these days. Oddly enough, my posts about beef shanks and beef hearts have way more hits, but on the off chance that someone out there finds something new or interesting here, I’ll yammer on for a bit about what I’m eating.

It’s hard for me to imagine that anyone really wants to know what I put down my piehole, but I said I would share, and I don’t want to renege on that. I’m no rock star, but people seem to be fairly curious about what nutrition and health-minded professionals eat. Since I am technically in that latter category, even though my influence is small at the moment, it couldn’t hurt to give you a glimpse into what’s on my plate and in my fridge.

So I’ll talk about my chow for a post or two, then my exercise habits, and then we’ll get back to the blog’s regularly scheduled programming. (For a look at what’s coming up, see this post.)

Better than 80/20 -- Update!

Me, circa 10/2014.

I am not actually this slender.

My housemate took the photo at an 
odd angle, and I look “longer” than I am. 

That being said, not too shabby!

Remember a few months ago, when I announced to the world (or, rather, the teeny tiny portion of it that reads this blog) that I felt like a fraud because my dietary off-roading was becoming the rule, rather than the exception? Well, I’m happy to report that I’m doing much better these days—and more than that—I feel fantastic.

Perhaps it’s in poor taste for me to talk about how good I feel and how well things are going, considering the recent passing of my mother. But if anything, I am now more determined than ever to start enjoying my life, and that wasn’t really a promising proposition until I made some of the changes I’ll talk about in the next few posts. Having more experience than I care to admit with feeling bad about myself, I know that having a positive outlook and feeling like the glass is half full is not as easy as just “faking it ‘til you make it.” When you’re stuck in a gloomy, gray box—self-imposed though it may be—it can be darn near impossible to find the lid and climb out. You can’t fake it. I know. I tried. For years. While you are capable of acknowledging that you have things to be grateful for, and that, in many ways, you have a pretty easy, charmed life, your spirit’s response is, “So what?” It doesn’t matter if the glass is half-full when you’re not even thirsty. Recognizing that you are blessed doesn’t always translate into actually feeling good about anything.

Sometimes we need a little help there. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I only regret that it took me so long to find the combination of things that is working so well right now. Will it continue to work in the long-term? I don’t know. But I’m thrilled with things at the moment, and if a time comes when I’m feeling not-so-thrilled, I’ll reassess and retool.

So what’s going on?

Food for Thought Friday: Individuality

As this guy would say, “Holy cats!” It’s been a looong time since I posted a Food for Thought Friday. (Nine months!) If this reminds you of Fat Tuesday or What I Think Wednesday, and you’re wondering if I have a series in mind for every day of the week, the answer is yes. For now, though, I’ll spare you the dorkfest and just post them as they come to mind. (Never mind that I don’t have the time to post seven days a week. Probably for the best, considering you probably have neither the time nor the desire to read my mindless ramblings on a daily basis  my posts are so helpful and dense with information that a new one every day would be too much for you to process.) Still, the titles are a good outlet for my alliteration skills, and the former creative writing major and not-terrible poet in me is a little sad that they’re atrophying.

Okay. Enough blathering. On with the show…I mean, post!

The Home Stretch!

I think I can, I think I can...

Today marks 29 days without coffee. If you had asked me when I started this 30-day experiment if I honestly thought I could do it, I would have said no. Except for a few weeks of basic training and some other military diversions, I haven’t gone a single day without coffee, let alone 30. Of course, as I mentioned in the last post, I’m not without caffeine, just without coffee*. Baby steps, baby steps. At some point, I’ll probably consider giving up caffeine for a while, but for now, it was enough of a psychological challenge just to give up my beloved brew.

To Boldly Go...

Captain's Log: Stardate 201301.30

This is some seriously uncharted territory.

Ten days have elapsed since I entered the realm I never thought I would enter. Sanity and optimism are growing thin. But my will remains strong. I am boldly going where no New York-born Jew has gone before. I am entering the sector of the universe where…there is no coffee. (What, you thought I was going to say bagels? Nah, gave those up seven years ago.)

Yes, my friends, I am giving up coffee. Not forever. Just for a month.