One Day Down...

Yesterday - the first full day of our Engine 2 Diet - was...educational. We were made aware, once again, of the power of words. Let's take a word like, oh, I don't know..."lasagna". Close your eyes and allow your mind to create a picture of that Italian-inspired god of food - ooey, gooey, cheesy-stringy delight that it is...mmmmm. For the next 27 days, that picture is what lasagna used to be. But, if you can't be with the [lasagna] you love, then love the one you're with (apologies to C, S & N...I think that was recorded before Y. If that reference is meaningless to you, ask you parents.)

Using the standard metric of "Quantity Consumed of One's Own Volition" (Q-COOV), we must assign a reasonably high rating to the wide noodle-containing-vegetable-casserole-presumptuously-known-as-lasagna. But, that's dinner and I'm getting ahead of myself. Actually, the whole reason for this diet adventure is that I find that my current body mass forces me to be ahead of, behind and beside myself, all at the same time.

Let's take a look at the culinary events leading up to the...let's just go ahead and call it lasagna for simplicity sake. After a breakfast of pretty good cooked cereal (as described in yesterday's blog), we constructed a vegetable/seeds/rolled oats mass from which we formed patties, dry-fried them and placed them in whole grain buns with mustard, LG's hummus-like bean paste, onions and lettuce. The Q-COOV rating was moderate, though the experience was reasonably pleasant and satisfying in a non-satiated kind of way. We split an apple as a side dish/dessert (woo-hoo!) and slammed some tea. Most of the veggie loaf is in the fridge ready for today's lunch. No, really...I'm looking forward to it.

Successful dieters apparently find ways to keep their minds focused on activities other than eating. They simply make thoughts of food a less time-consuming part of life. I know this is true because I heard it on TV. It was spoken by an unnaturally thin physician and I therefore will assume it to be valid - no doctor would promote his book or product with such a statement if it weren't true. "Eat to live, don't live to eat" he said. Whatever.

To focus our minds properly, LG and I spent time reading, doing crosswords, watching a movie - Temple Grandin (great flick), and even did a quick workout on the elliptical machine. I have no idea what my mind was focused on because I simply turned it off for the afternoon (you women can neither comprehend nor apply this skill.) Around 5:00 I began the very, very, very lengthy process of prepping and dry-sauteing a small wheelbarrow load of vegetables, as directed in the "lasagna" recipe. Those, in combination with spinach, firm tofu, whole grain pasta, cooked sweet potato mush and fat/sugar free marinara sauce were layered into a pan, topped with fresh tomato slices and baked. By the time our "lasagna" was done, we were hungry enough to eat the wheelbarrow.

We both savaged our way through two generous helpings. The first few bites were received in a mindset of "lasagna" (as in ooey, gooey, etc.) After a brief mental rebellion, our psyches seemed to accept the fact that we'd inadvertently misinformed them and went ahead with a mildly dejected acceptance of the misnamed dish. During our meal, I heard myself say something I never imagined would emanate from my mouth, "This really needs more tofu." Who am I?!

"Maybe we should start to think about our new food for what it is instead of what it isn't," opined LG. Then, before I could scream through my mouthful of vegetables, she continued, "This is all very healthy, wholesome food and we both could stand to eat little healthier and lose a few pounds." She glanced at my midsection.

With a brain slowed by the insufficient supply of simple sugars and fats, I couldn't immediately think of a snappy reply to her inane assertion. But I eventually recovered my mental functions, swallowed the growing mouthful of vegetation and quipped creatively, "Fine...whatever."

Yes, yes...I DO know she's right. I DO need to change my relationship with the mass quantities I consume. I WILL change my mental picture of lasagna...I WILL stop lusting for the melted cheese, dripping oil, ooey-gooiness that once was that heady concoction. That's what lasagna used to be...goodbye, my greasy friend...fare thee well. While I cannot now be with thee - whom I love - I will endeavor to love the one I'm [much healthier] with.