New year, my new “diet”

January 4, 2010

How can you not love the simplicity of the rules in Michael Pollan’s new book Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual? Rule No. 1: “Eat food”. That means cutting out overly processed foods, like that package of crackers with bright orange “cheese” spread I currently have in my handbag as an emergency snack… (Find more examples of Pollan’s rules here).

I didn’t buy the crackers btw; they were in a holiday basket I received and the frugal chick that I am, I just hate wasting food! I am willing, however, to ditch them in order to strive to eat according to Pollan’s Food Rules in 2010. 

My insanely fit bestie, on the other hand, is on an uber-strict diet created by her personal trainer. The goal of the diet is to analyze how particular carbs and fats stimulate certain hormones for her specific biological makeup — all of this to determine how to precisely modify her diet so that she can carve out her already fit, triathlon physique even further. A typical lunch for her?

3 oz. of cooked meat

1 cup green veggies

1 tsp olive oil

1 tall glass of water with 1 tsp glutamine supplement and 2 digestive enzymes

Can you say bland? And that’s without even considering that the 3 oz of meat and the cup of green veggies also make up part of her mid-morning snack and her dinner! She’s been so craving sugar and texture (“Anything cakey or crunchy,” she says) that she’s been cheating on the diet big-time and recently asked (OK, it was more like sharply demanded with a manic glint in her eye) her husband to fork over some candy he’d “helpfully” hidden away.

To me, the diet is completely unsustainable (my tastebuds are  bored to death just writing about it)  and it’s making her feel just terribly guilty about “cheating” but I can’t help but think that a plan this extreme only sets one up for failure.

I’d much rather maintain my sanity by following Pollan’s sensible rules even if it means maintaining my soft-ish belly and tush — or at least that’s what I’ll try to remind myself whenever I catch a glimpse of her rockhard abs.

Filed under: Diet,Healthy Swellness

Tags: books