Day 4

I think my taste buds are atrophying. Or they're becoming keener. Could both things be happening at the same time? Since this diet takes salt totally out of the mix, everything has been pretty much bland and tasteless. So after I obediently chew through a meal, I'll have something sweet like a grapefruit, or a banana, and it will taste like the best thing ever created on the planet earth.

A somewhat surprising development is that this diet has revived my interest in cooking and meal planning. I used to just eat whatever was in front of me, or what was in the refrigerator. Now I'm perusing through cookbooks again, and wondering what will taste good with what. Tonight I made a great entree, Carmelized Onion Chicken. It was fabulous. The best thing I've had all week. I paired it with a side dish of rice, and as soon as I ate it, I knew the rice was wrong wrong wrong. Potatoes were what it needed. Unfortunately, I had to go to a meeting, but when I came back you can bet I grilled up some potatoes to try with the chicken. And I was right. It's like all the taste pieces are falling into place.

Day 3

I can now add "gobble gobble" to my farm yard repertoire. At this rate, I will be sampling cornish game hens and emu's by the end of the week.

Today had some more cheats: three bars of chocolate, and I sprinkled a pinch of sea salt over my dinner. It really needed it.

The interesting news is that I've already lost some weight. My pants were incredibly roomy around the waist today. Could it be really working?

Cheats

Day 2 was harder. I overboiled the oatmeal this am, making it a congealed mess. All the meat was getting to me, so I didn't eat very much of it, resulting in getting more hungry. Also this evening I got a powerful, powerful craving for chocolate.

So I cheated.

Cheat #1
Drizzled olive oil a bit of olive oil on the veggies and chicken breast to grill

Cheat #2
Ate 1 square of a Hershey's chocolate bar. (Why can't those squares be bigger?!)

Tempations Overcome:
After my work this evening I only ate a banana, even though the taste of chocolate was lingering on. (Man, shouldn't have written about that. Now it's back on my mind.)

Pleasant Surprise:
The new All-Clad grill pan rocks I made the best grilled chicken I have ever had. Sealed in the juices, and it came out very tender. It made me dig up the The Joy of Grilling book that had been moldering on the shelf. I'm going to start experimenting with marinades to try and get some flavor back in my no salt, no olive oil life.

Old MacDonald had a farm

If you are what you eat, I would be sprouting wings, gills and fins. I have never eaten so much meat in my life. Is this the Atkins diet that I'm on? I'm suddenly suspicious. I'm eating little meat-filled meals every two hours. Carbs are not banned for me, however, just the simple, starchy fun carbs. I can still eat complex carbs like oatmeal. This food is so school-marmish.

Also salt, butter and olive oil is banned. I mean, really, I should just put on some sackcloth and ashes and get it over with. What is life without the taste of fat?! Thankfully I am modifying this diet so that I get one free day a week, in which I will participate in all the buttering and oiling that I can stand. The sexy food. All the sexy food is gone from my diet. (And isn't it ironic that the sexy food just makes you look very un-sexy?)

As I was thinking about this process, I'm finding that what I'm doing is really challenging myself to meet a goal. Something that I've done in many other parts of my life, but never physically. I think that's why I am always so fascinated by the Olympics. The idea that someone has complete care and control over their bodies: that they can push it to the limit. That has never been me. I am the person who has perfected the art of blissfully laying on the couch while having the remote, computer and microwaved s'mores arranged in just the right spots, so I can reach them without moving anything more than my arm. Now that my friends, is something to be proud of.