Week 3: Borscht (In Praise of Kind Husbands)

• Weight: Another 1/2 k down (so 2 down, 7 to go).
• Energy: Don’t know if this is a blip or a trend, but on a couple of mornings actually woke before the alarm went off. For someone who usually hits Snooze–and/or hurls the clock against the wall–this is major.

The evening after I published last week’s post, I arrived home from work to find that my husband had prepared a huge pot of hot, beautiful, tasty, filling and diet-compliant (well, nearly) soup. Bliss! A month ago I never would have believed that soup —  borscht, yet — could make me so happy. But it did. The adzuki/greens soup was consigned to its most appropriate home: the compost bin. Whew. The days since have been a lot more bearable. Although my hopes re the second consultation didn’t quite materialize–all the requirements stand as originally specified; there was no additional recommendation of a daily dose of chocolate– my schedule has been less crazy. So I’ve been able to prepare enough food that tastes good-enough. This was helped by the tips I got in Comments from ck. Thanks, ck! I’m sure my family & co-workers are grateful. Hunger does not make me a delightful companion.

So I’m muddling on. Mostly compliant — though we did go out for a nice dinner at Kohinoor to celebrate our anniversary. Yes, I know, we must find alternative, non-food-related, ways to mark occasions…Someday. But meanwhile, it was possible to enjoy the evening without guilt. And, in general, I haven’t been hungry or particularly craving sweets.

Another development this week was the arrival of an order from Book Depository. Move over, Julia Child, Moosewood chefs, and Claudia Roden. The new kid on my cookbook shelf is Paul Pitchford, author of Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. We’ll have to wait to see if he remains a permanent tenant there–or if I wind up donating his book, like so many others, to the library. It’s a primary reference for the Flax-y consultant. If nothing else, just holding it to read will burn calories. The paperback version is 700+ pages in large format. I’ve started reading and PP makes his case rather persuasively. But so did Atkins, etc. on first reading. And I was rather surprised to find that, for a book that’s had several re-printings, and that Amazon classifies as “#1 Best Seller in Chinese Medicine”, there are almost no editorial reviews. But at least it has recipes for some of the ingredients I was advised to buy. Like millet. Up till now I’d have assumed that a recipe for millet would read:

1. Open package.
2. Feed to parakeet.

In addition to experimenting with weird new ingredients, I’ve also started bringing lunches from home: Miso soup. Every. Single. Day. A lot less fun than ordering in with the company card, but tolerable. (However, for lunchtime meetings I reserve the right to still go to Ricotta or order from Sushi Rechavia.) Upshot: I can do this. At least for now…