What's Bred In The Bone

So here it is, the new year and I don't have a damn thing to contribute to this blog right now. Then again most folks know I go through dry spells such as these and things gradually pick up again once I get my proper prolixity back in stride (including using such annoying triple-word score nouns like "prolixity"). Not like anyone's reading anyway. But hey, it's good exercise. And nobody watches me when I exercise in the privacy of my own home, right? Because me in my sweat pants falling off my FitBall, while undoubtedly hilarious to observe, is hardly a reason to tune in to The Melissa Show when my life's many fumbles manifests themselves into the written typed word. Plus I seemed to have recently misplaced my camera, so there goes cute photos of my records and toys for awhile.

Actually a lot's going on. Just nothing I think anybody would care to hear about. Significantly, I've changed my diet to where I think I have finally beaten back the mysterious depression phantom that's haunted me for the last two years. Started out no sugar, then no meat. Then no dairy. Then only fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. And now I'm flirting with a primarily raw food diet, which if anything has helped me rediscover the art of taste, and savoring everything that I put in my mouth with a new relish that I can barely ever recall. I've been religiously reading giveittomeraw.com, which a photographer (and former porn star) that I've been recently corresponding with hipped me to in her own quest to improve her health, and although some of it's a bit hippie-dippy for me and the smugness of their lifestyle wears a trifle thin, I'm gaining ideas and knowledge as well as some nifty recipes. And what I've decided as of now that I'm probably not going to go 100%, but if I make raw part of my core diet every day, then I think that would make a world of difference overall. Maybe one cooked vegetarian meal a day, for instance yesterday I had bananas for breakfast, a spinach salad with avocados, leeks, pine nuts and sunflower seeds topped with squeezed lemon and extra virgin olive oil for lunch (Yikes! Fatty salad!) and for dinner an incredible baked spaghetti squash with raw tomatoes, kalamata olives, leeks, and minced raw garlic and oregano. So if I can keep my overt fats to maybe one meal a day (I have a weakness for putting olive oil and avocados on anything if you'd allow me) and stay away from refined sugars and animal fats, then I think for now I'll be okay. Maybe ween myself off those fats in time and keep it leafy green and juicy fruity when I'm ready to go that route. Oh, and get a blender (my dream machine someday!)

This means that when I go to brunch with the gang on Sundays I can indulge a bit. This past Sunday at Hell's Kitchen I had a veggie omelet with roasted potato slices and tiny blueberry muffins, followed by a sliver of almond cake for dessert, and didn't blow my diet at all. I even had a few handfuls of deadly movie theater popcorn from Joe's bag when we went to go see Milk right after brunch. And I lost weight, I felt great, and I had two plain grilled Gardenburgers with heaps of fresh avocado for dinner at home later that night. My indulgence day, and it truly did feel like an indulgence! Without overdoing anything, really. And have I not mentioned enough how terrific I feel right now? How I haven't had the urge to pass out after a meal in the last two years because of my insulin resistance? How the too-tight trousers I bought a few months ago are now so loose I can even slip them on without unbuttoning them? Can I say again how GREAT I feel?

So I spend a lot of my spare time right now trying to concentrate on my health for the time being. This morning I sat on the edge of my bed, in the dim morning light, and and just felt my body breathing. No wheezing. No overpowering urge to cough. I did stretches (for my bad lower back and chronic knee pain) and mixed up some fresh mango, yellow plantain, and pomegranate seeds for breakfast before I went to work. All this juicy fruit every morning has completely eliminated my craving for sugar of any kind (which is kinda good since I'm having a hard time getting used to Stevia for the moment).

Of course I wish I was losing weight a lot faster, like I did on Weight Watchers. But I do believe that slow change is lasting change, and losing weight isn't about changing your diet; it's about changing the way you live. And I hope that I'm doing that. So far so good, anyway.

I promise to try and get some content back up on here shortly, so you won't be subjected to my health food ramblings for the time being. But I want to thank whoever's reading for hanging in there with me during the ups and downs, and laughing with me (and hopefully at me) while I've been a complete dum-dum in the last few years. Until then it's a nice, chilly night. I'm going to go topless around the house while eating a juicy papaya with a spoon. Mmmmmmm...