December 22, 2004 - 9:52 a.m.
Well, I and two Scandinavian Swains (that'd be a team name alright!) tried our hand at Pete's Candy Store trivia night last week, calling ourselves "Ants...The Prophecy!" People, we totally tanked. We tied for 8th place. But we're not too ashamed because the questions were things we wouldn't want to know anyway. The guy doing the questions was this guy who's there every week who was always my nemesis, and now I hate him more than ever. I can't even describe these questions. "Name one of the two ferrets in 'Beastmaster.'" Please. I won't even dignify that with an answer.
Down to the "real news." I am still on my diet! Ding ding ding! It's now Day 11. I have not had a drink in 11 days. It's pretty hard. What with it being "the holidays" and all. I managed to not drink even though I was in a bar 4 times, at a card party, at someone's house for dinner, and at my office party. I try not to get too drunk at office parties anyway, because I fear becoming inappropriate. I'm inappropriate enough the rest of the year. However, it was startling to discover that even when sober, yet in a festive atmosphere, I basically act the same as if I were drunk. A little more inhibited, perhaps, but to quote a witness, "just as irascible." I would go so far as to call myself "obstreperous." I'm not sure what I feel about it. I guess it points toward me having an "essential core" to my personality.
True to my prediction, I am hungry a lot of the time, and I would really like to eat toast. However, I am surviving. I haven't stayed to the prescribed meal plan since about Day 1, but I'm eating the right things. I did the grocery shopping as if I were going to stick to the recipes, so now I only have that stuff on hand to eat anyway. But I don't think he intends that you follow the plan literally, one clue being that you make 12 of these little quiche muffins and eat 2 on day one for breakfast, and then don't eat them again until day 8. Eh?
I think one problem I have is that I don't eat like a normal American in the first place, which I'm sure grew out of being a vegetarian for 10 years. I don't go for frozen spinach, turkey roll-ups, chicken caesar salad, etc. I would rather eat homemade dal with kale and tomatoes. Or korean tofu stew. Stuff like that. For this reason I think I would be happier on the Dean Ornish diet. My ex roommate had his book and I would make things from it and think they were super. They're all fiber and no fat at all. You can eat boatloads of food because you can barely digest it anyway. The south beach diet guy says Ornish has a good diet but that most people can't stand to stick with it. I think I could, but it lacks that magical transformative element that makes South Beach so irresistible. "Say goodbye to carb cravings! Forever! Lose belly fat first! Transform your sad, insulin spiked blood into healthy, life-giving nectar!" Who can say no to that?
And now...my results so far! I may have lost 2 pounds. The weight fluctuates a lot and plus, does the scale even work? I might be the same weight. My paunch seems to loom as massively as before, but I had recently gotten some so-called "love handles" toward the back, which actually seem to be gone now! Well wow!
