Digesting the Fit-Fat Experience

My Family and I.

Ignorance Exposed:  I have food domains.  Times, places, feelings, and activities that are married, dating, or at least having a DTR with food.   And not just one or two domains, they are legion, and all have long relationships going way back to those early days when I actually considered Taco Bell to be "food", thought of peanut butter as a substance that I could live on exclusively, and drank more whole milk than your average quarter-ton bovine, and wrote run on sentences that made marathons look like the hundred yard dash.

Laziness Unveiled:  A lot of my eating habits are rooted in laziness.  Cooking real food is hard, it takes time, planning, and makes a huge mess, none of which I like.  And these factors more than any other have conspired together to trace me a meal-path through candy land, or at least carbohydrate land.  Carbs are easy, they have a long shelf life, often require little to no cooking and therefore make very little mess.  And since college, fast, easy and not messy have been my eating mantra, instead of healthy, natural, and hearty.

In my Doggie Bag:  What I am taking home from this meal of discovery is a longing for peace.  Inside a single day I am used to having what could be referred to as "mood swings".  Sometimes, in the morning I am plotting the creation of 100% Green, Trans-Atlantic shipping companies utilizing sail boats and solar power, but that same day in the afternoon I am having trouble whipping up the gumption to take a nap.  I always attributed these manic phases to caffeine but there's no way I'm dropping coffee...(perhaps another issue to explore), but during my fit-fat experiment these emotional rogue waves evened out.  I was more even-keel, I was not too excited or too discouraged, and never ravenous or over filled.  Generally, I was content, I had energy but knew what to do with it. 

Ke Garnu? (what to do?): So although I have certainly caved, I am planning to return to fight another month... perhaps in February of 2013.  So stay tuned, though I am currently pushing back my plate... I am certainly going for seconds.  

And for all you 'Bamas out there... Roll Tide.

Day 11-16...Confessions

chicken doing dishes

I spent some time in a village in Sikkim (a bit father north).  Sikkim is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  It's like Kalimpong but everything is more extreme: the hills are higher, valleys deeper, and during monsoon season there are more landslides than people.  The friends I took with me were all into the kind of diet I am attempting, and several of them had done the Whole 30 a few times, that was encouraging.  But... We were deep in Rice and Lentil territory and so here's where the confession comes in.

from this rock we saw the picture below

I broke it.  I broke the Whole 30... perhaps "smash" is a better word.  I will say that I came prepared to continue but living in the village has it's... challenges.  I never knew where my food was, they kept moving it and eating it.  The police lady in charge of granting me permission to stay in the Dentam District handed me grilled corn and in addition to the fact that it looked delicious, for other reasons I simply could not refuse.  Then of course there's chia which is kind of a meal here 1/3 of which is sugar.  I would love to paint my self as a victim of heartless carb-cannon pirates, but in the end, I choose to stop.

dentam seen from viewpoint shown above

more chiya consumption

I think it was a good call over all since, in order to continue, I would have had to spent the whole day cooking my own special food just for me, and I had many other things to concern myself with, like eight tall, loud, hilarious Alabama Americans (roll tide) living in a Sikkimese village unable to drink the water and in need of toilet paper that I didn't bring, or couldn't find. And so with a little sadness, shame, a deepening belly button, mingled with resolve to begin afresh next year some time, I hereby temporarily declare the answer to this blog's question of whether I will be fit or fat as....   (wait for it)...

drinking Chiya

during a days hike

start 'em young on chiya

our road

fat.

trying our hand at hand grinding corn