March 22, 2017

• Looking at Diets

  I've lost a lot of weight. I didn't however go on a diet per se. I simply counted my calories (and I still so) and allowed myself to eat what ever I wanted as long as I stopped when I hit my limit. If I wanted a Milky Way bar (270 calories) I could have it. I never felt deprived nor did I crave "forbidden" foods. I went on the diet at the prompting of my physician in an effort to drop weight and more importantly reduce my cholesterol. I cut out cheese and eggs. I have added them back in moderation. But to the point of this post - I work with a bunch of women who off and on go on extreme diets.

  I've seen them try the Paleo Diet where they couldn't eat processed food, refined sugars, dairy, beans, and grains. Instead they were limited to grass-fed meats, fish/seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, nuts, and seeds. The way they drooled and snarled when a box of doughnuts appeared was truly frightening. Then there was the South Beach Diet. Oy. The first couple of weeks don't allow many carbohydrates so they restrict breads, fruits and many vegetables - at least the good ones. You can have all the eggplant, leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini you want to eat along with your cheese, lean beef, and white meat chicken! I thought the Paleo Diet made them "hangry" but I was wrong. The South Beach Diet made them crazy. Then a couple of them went on the whole 30 diet plan. This was ridiculous. They explained it to me as NO dairy, sugar, grains, legumes, alcohol, smoking, soy or food additives. They became like women possessed. They managed to hold on for about 12 days before they broke down and had a coke and some M&Ms. It was a relief for the rest of us when they went back to eating Weight Watchers frozen entrees.

  We about died when one of the girls tried the Cabbage Soup Diet. It was kind of involved but allowed for the consumption of massive amounts of cabbage soup and limited amounts of certain fruits and vegetables. She did lose weight but I think it was mostly from the evacuation of her entire digestive system. We all lost weight too, especially if we ventured near the bathroom on our way to the break room! The current diet is called the Rainbow Diet. It seems to be a very extreme diet and is only meant as a short term kind of thing. I'm pretty sure this is their way of distracting themselves from the chaos at work. Perhaps it is an effort to regain some control over their lives. The diet rules state that you can only eat foods that are of the color of the day. It is based on the colors of the rainbow (ROY G BIV): red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. However they combine blue/indigo/violet into one and add white and black. The diet also restricts the quantity of the food. I don't know their motivations but it is certainly a distraction to the rest of us as they nibble on 2 strawberries and 5 raspberries and drink a tiny cup of pomegranate juice. I'm guessing they might make it to yellow or possibly green. When will the madness end?!!?

  I kind of cheated on this Winter Scavenger Hunt 2017. I had written this post and then went back and tried to figure out a way to work in a prompt... so here is prompt #27 - Discuss a distraction.

  • 6:07 am
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