Weird Foods

Weird Food

My kids are at a great age now.  They are interested in experimenting with new and unusual foods.  Until now, I thought it was just that they had open minds and were interested in expanding their palates.  Then the REAL truth came out.  It is the GROSS OUT factor. 
Now don’t get me wrong.  I completely appreciate the “gross out factor”.  One of my favorite songs to teach scouts and other kids is, “Great green gobs of Greasy grimy gophers guts...” and so on.  OR think of the song:

 “Did you ever think when a hearse went by, that you might be the next to die?  They wrap you up in a long white sheet, and lower you down for about 6 feet.  And all goes well for about a week, and then the coffin begins to leak.” 

After that, depending on what part of the country you’re from, the song varies tremendously in the gross things that happen to the body.   Let’s face it, kids love to gross each other out. 

What I’ve discovered is that the kids like to try new and interesting foods so they can one up their friends on the “gross out “ scale. 

Now, never one to miss an opportunity, I’ve discovered the usefulness of this.  When I want the kids to try new foods, I point out how they’ll be able to bring it up at school and disgust their friends.  It almost always works to get them to try what ever food it is. 

Gross foods vary from culture to culture though.  When I was growing up, octopus and squid were gross, brains were super gross, as were turtle soup and snails. 
NOW squid and octopus are normal fare for my kids.  I have to really up the ante to get them to be grossed out.  Fish eye balls, Jelly fish tentacles, beef heart,Crickets on a stick,   etc. 

Sometimes it’s the simple foods that families ate growing up that gross other people out. 
Consider banana and mayonnaise sandwiches on Wonder Bread.  That was one of my Mother’s “go-to” sandwiches when we were out of cold cuts growing up.  You would slather an amazing amount of mayo (not the other stuff) onto Wonder bread.  You then sliced bananas longitudinally, and piled them onto the sandwich.  YUM. 
We also ate bananas and milk for breakfast when we would run out of cereal. 

What odd foods did you have growing up? 

BTW, I passed my Boards Exam!!! whoohooo!

I

Momentum and Shame

Momentum:


mo·men·tum/mōˈmentəm/

Noun:
The quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity.
The impetus gained by a moving object.

shame/SHām/
Noun:
A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.
Verb:
(of a person, action, or situation) Make (someone) feel ashamed: "I shamed him into giving some away".
Synonyms:
noun.  disgrace - dishonour - dishonor - ignominy - opprobrium
verb.  disgrace - abash - dishonour - dishonor



I am losing it.  No, I’m not losing my mind, although with Christmas coming up lightning fast and not one iota of shopping done, I should be.  No, I am losing momentum. 
I am having a hard time sticking to my resolve. 
I’ve established my routines of making a menu, shopping to it, and actually preparing the foods.

I am trying really hard to make sure I put all my food and drink into the Weight Watchers points calculator.  That is often a problem.  That is where I’m losing momentum. 

I’m also starting to have difficulty because this is the time of year where patients, specialists, lab representative, physical therapy companies, all drop by with goodies.  Yummy, over the top homemade cookies, shortbread, donuts, chocolates.  I do really well until someone TELLS me there are cookies in the back.  There were chocolate shortbread cookies today.  How in the world could I pass THAT up?  So, I didn’t.  I had one. 

In the past, I would have had 3 or 4. 

I don’t like Dunkin Donuts, thank God.  There were some in the kitchen today, too.  They have this weird artificial taste and some type of fat in it that coats your mouth leaving it feeling sticky/slimy. 

In order to combat this inertia, I’ve been telling more and more of my patients about the blog.  I am trying to ensure my resolve by increasing the number of people who can give me a hard time about failure.  I’m trying to shame myself into success.  Not sure if this is the best approach, but it seems to be working so far!

  Most of the conversations start with, “Hey Doc!  I like your new hair cut!”  Then I launch into the REASON for the haircut, my struggle, and the blog, and I invite them to follow along and cheer or jeer me on!  I tell them that I HAVE to succeed at this because then I’ll be giving them an excuse to fail, if I do.  BUT, if I succeed at this, then I’ve given them hope that they too can do it, and I can give THEM a hard time.  It’s kind of group therapy. 

So far, it’s been a success.  This lack of momentum thing is a temporary bump, I think.  Shame is a powerful motivator and I’m shaming myself into success every time I see my resolve weakening.  I think to myself, “THINK of this TEACHABLE MOMENT!  If YOU fail, you’ve failed your patients too!”  Then, I walk away from the temptation or  I  eat fewer of the tempting yummies. 

Keep me on the straight and narrow guys!  Help me keep up my momentum!
Help me avoid the SHAME!!!

Splurging. OR It's Not a Life Sentence

Splurging
I really thought I blew it. 
I was not the paradigm of virtue these last 7 days. 
There is something so tempting about going off the rails on Thanksgiving!  I had the most delicious time being alone for 3 days too!  I could eat anything I wanted and not worry about feeding any one else.  I actually had a milkshake for dinner one night!  (a small McDonalds chocolate shake is about a zillion points, BTW). 

I had TWO Thanksgivings.  One at my partners house on Thanksgiving Day (man is she a good cook!) and the second at my house on Sunday. 

I really tried to be good within reason.  I did splurge on a pumpkin pie and homemade whipped cream, but we decided to just make a turkey, dressing, and green beans on Sunday.  No other soft and squishy, high caloric foods like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole.  I made green beans almondine with fresh green beans, and I used lower fat sausage for my dressing this year.  We left the table full but not needing to unbutton.  I had 4 oz of white wine and stopped at that. 

Unfortunately, I also gave in to other temptations.  Chocolate.  I stopped at 2 small Ghiradelli squares though.  I was utterly convinced I was done in and avoided the scale for several days. 

I decided to get back on the straight and narrow two days ago.  I figured that this is a life style change, not a life sentence, so occasionally I could splurge, as long as I only did it occasionally.  So, here I am. 

I got on the scale today and held my breath.... 191.7.  WHEW!!!

SO, I got back into my routine and made a menu for next week, which I’ll shop to.  I’ll prepare most of the food over the weekend between kid activities and housework. 

To my patients who are following along...You don’t have to be a saint.  This isn’t a prison sentence.  Eating well actually tastes good most of the time.  I felt satisfied on both Thanksgivings without feeling overstuffed!  Christmas may be a challenge but I’ll try to be reasonable and stop when I’m full, taste the goodies and not gorge. 

Menu for next week: 
Spaghetti with broccoli sauce
roasted brussel sprouts with maple balsamic drizzle
Slow Roasted Pork in Mole Sauce
Chicken with Broccoli Rabe and White Beans
Maybe a chili or sloppy joe with bulgar wheat or ground turkey.  

Remember, it's not a form of suffering to eat well.  Unless you're this guy: