Sorry boys, this post discusses girl things. Reader, be warned!
I can't speak for other women, but once a month, I get to hankering for high fat, high salt, high sugar food... (I know, for those of you who have followed this post for the last four weeks, you're going to be much too polite to mention that I seem to get those cravings once an hour.) In the past, it has manifested itself in a Taco Bell run (nachos supreme and a combo burrito), or maybe in really, really bad times, an Arby's run (beef and cheddar sandwich with cheesy curly fries, with extra cheese.) Regardless of what horrible food provider I selected, the menu item almost always required beef. It is my personal, self-destructive form of PMS, even though Arby's came off the menu several years ago. I'm sure it is better than many of the psychotic alternatives that others may have to deal with, but even in good food times, the week before my period is filled with poor food choices. So why am I discussing such a personal topic today? I'll leave that to your imagination.
I was just thinking about how our brains and bodies conspire against us when we try to be healthy. I don't know if men have a similar physical compulsion regularly, if so, they have my condolences. Our brains remember how delicious all that bad stuff is (and seriously, after eating real food, the beef and cheddar sandwich - which for a long time held the prize for the single highest calorie count menu item in fast food - tastes like plastic. What are our brains thinking?!) and our bodies (which are still designed for cave man times, even though we can easily get fat, sugar and salt without slaying a saber tooth tiger) crave the foods which will get them through the long winter nights. Then, when the female body is dealing with its monthly shot at pregnancy, all that stuff goes into overdrive. UGH! Its like my rational brain goes into hibernation for a few days and I'm controlled by the reptile brain way down deep in the brain stem. Sort of the flight or eat response. And since my rational brain is asleep, it can't chose to run away. Hmmm. I may be on to something here.
Today was a four meal day. I started with a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I had some of the crunchy, sweet fresh strawberries from Saturday's market on top. That took me to 11:30, when we were early for a noon appointment that was to be followed by a 1:00 pm appointment, so Brian and I stopped at Einstein Bro's bagels and I had a PB&J sandwich on a chocolate chip bagel. By 2:45 we were starving again. We were walking in downtown Portland after stopping at Powell's books and we passed a food truck pod. We found one with a vegan friendly vegetable yakisoba with tofu and we shared an order. It was excellent. Around 6:30, my half order of noodles was quite gone, so we had leftovers from last night's vegetable roast for dinner. Brian and Marty added chicken and brussell sprouts to theirs. For dessert, we had strawberry sauce (see recipe below) on a tiny scoop of coconut milk ice cream. All in all, an OK food day. I'm feeling the need for green leafy vegetables, so I'll be sure to have those tomorrow.
I talked to my friend, (Brian's cousin's husband... Does that make us cousins-in-law squared?) Chris today. He is the one who inspired us to start an 8-week challenge in the first place. He was going to work on a very restrictive program with an awesome community of support, but he found that the program was getting in the way of his progress. So, just like us, he modified the challenge to fit his life and personal goals, and now he is rocking out on his bike and getting in top shape! It was exciting to hear about his progress at the same time as we're progressing through our challenge. Way to go, Chris!
Recipe for strawberry sauce:
4 pints of strawberries: washed, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon of honey
Cook the strawberries in water on a medium heat burner, uncovered until soft and slightly thickened (30-45 minutes, stirring often). Stir in the honey, use more or less to taste. Use a potato masher to smash the strawberries if you like. Turn off the heat and let sit, uncovered until cool. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 6 months. You can make this with frozen strawberries, too, so it is a year-round treat.
See you tomorrow. In the meanwhile, be healthy and happy!
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