DAY 1

Here goes.

This morning I ate two pieces of 100% whole wheat bread, spread lightly with almond butter, and a glass of skim milk. It was amazingly satisfying. No sugar cravings yet.

I drank one bottle of Metromint water. This is undoubtedly the world's greatest beverage. Love it, love it, love it. Nothing but water and mint. No sugar or chemicals of any kind. PERfect. (If you live here, please, please, go buy it because I Think I am the only person in town who drinks it and I am afraid the store owner will quit stocking it if it doesn't move a little faster.)

For lunch, (And I must say I was quite proud of this one...I was scared of facing a future without Ranch dressing. But do you know how much sugar is in that?) I put about two tablespoons of plain yogurt in a bowl, shook some onion powder and flavored garlic powder (not salt) in it, stirred it up and added grape tomatoes and chopped green peppers. I also shook some of this crunchy salad topping stuff over it for a little extra crunch. The label looked safe, but it really seemed too good to be true. I'd better ask Carol. Anyway, it was great! I also ate some string cheese. Drank water, too. Still full. Still no sugar cravings.

So far, this is too easy.

Tonight, I am going to stir-fry some pork chops, veggies, and Quinoa together. I'll let you know about that.

That's Quinoa. Look it up. And, no, you can't get it here in the home town, either. We found it yesterday in a big grocery store in Stillwater. (Hey! Do Not Make Fun Of Our Dates! It happened to be a very nice grocery store.)

So why did I pick this for my latest obsession?

Because I've known for a long, long time that I don't quite think right about food in general. Because I have squandered my great fortune of good health for far too long, and it's time to make restitution. Because people love me. Because I'm just a little bit of a rebel and it's a wacky and radical thing to do when you live smack-dab in the middle of the Plus-sized Bible Belt. Because nothing else seems to work. Because I gave up diet pop and didn't die. Because my best friend and food mentor is cheering for me. Because my other best friend can't eat much at all these days. Because That Man Who Gets Me Out Of The House On A Regular Basis believes in me. Because my kids need to see me put something real in my mouth, so that maybe they'll think what comes out of my mouth is real, too.

And why am I writing about it?

Simple. This keeps me from boring everyone in person about it.

I'll let you know later how the Quinoa thing works out.