Day 5: Common Sense for Sale

Today's exercise: walking

Breakfast: 1 c. oatmeal with 1/2 c. fresh blueberries and 1/2 c. 2% milk

Mid Morning Snack: 1 apple

Lunch: Another serving of the Chicken Tagine plus steamed green beans (cooking for 1 is a pain and you end up with lots of leftovers, since a lot of what I make Scott doesn't like)

Dinner: Grilled tilapia with yogurt cashew sauce over 1/2 cup couscous, sauteed fresh baby spinach with garlic. And the last Kozy Shack No Sugar Added Bananas Foster Pudding (interesting but I don't think I'll buy it again.

"Common sense is not so common." - Voltaire

Okay, any guys that might be reading this should probably skip this paragraph and move quickly on to the next one... ready? Ladies, do you know what's a good day to give up sugar, chocolate, and all those yummy comfort foods? Any day that you are not PMSing! Jeez, this timing is terrible. When I get cranky and miserable at this time of the month I always used to be comforted by my good friends Ben & Jerry. But alas that avenue is now closed. And I believe poor Scott will bear the brunt of it. But this too shall pass. Urgh.

Right, boys, you can come back now... For my walk this evening I did essentially the same 3 mile loop that I did on Tuesday night with one small difference. Instead of walking straight down Sinatra Drive, I looped around through the new Maxwell Place development and through the park they created on the river there. This new set of luxury condos is being built on the space formerly occupied by the Maxwell House Coffee plant, a Hoboken landmark for many years. Now the developers did not build the park out of the kindness of their hearts, it is part of the deal when the city gives them permission to develop an area. The idea is to have unfettered public access to the whole waterfront. They did a nice on job on what they built, but it's a lot smaller than was promised. Typical Hoboken, developers gloss over their responsibilities while the city officials are busy counting their bribe money (well, Hudson County, New Jersey is the most corrupt county in the country! WhooHoo! We're number 1!).

But I digress... While I was walking, I was thinking about what I've been eating this week and what I was eating before that, and wondering how I ever got so off track. I've done the diet thing a million times over but never really stuck with it. I know what I should be eating. I did the dietitian thing after my diabetes diagnosis. I've even read the books. For a long time I lived with my close friend Catherine. Cath is a medical writer (and one of the smartest people I've ever met). About 10 years she worked on a book called "Thin Tastes Better" with a "diet doctor to the stars" Stephen Gullo. Now, Stephen was not a physician or dietitian, he was a psychologist and in his work he would help people do things like identify their trigger foods (you know, those foods that you just can't eat a little of, like oh, say... ice cream) and teach them to avoid those foods. He also gave them little mantras to recite, like "Thin tastes better." or "Green is lean, white is light." or "It's better to wear Italian than eat Italian." Catchy, right? Even after all these years I remember them.

Okay, I have to interrupt for a moment... funny story time... The other thing I remember about that book was the book release party. It was held at the Waldorf Astoria and hosted by Ernest Borgnine's wife Tovah. There were a few recognizable people there, but not a lot. In deference to the fact that it was a diet book, the food was all light nibbles, and the only alcohol was white wine. After a few glasses of wine, I found myself talking to some random gentleman. I asked what he did and he told me that he was the head of the Meadowlands (a big arena/stadium/race track, it's were the Jets, Giants and Nets play). Anyway, I'd had a bit to drink and not a lot to eat, so of course the first thing that pops out of my mouth is "You've got great parking lots!" He looked at me kind of funny and said, "Uh, thanks?" I blathered on, "No, seriously, I can always find my car and it never takes long to get out of the lot after a concert!" Not my finest conversational moment.

Back at the point... The other thing I took away from that book was, "Wow, that's just all your basic common sense." And he gets paid for that? This whole common sense aspect to eating was driven home a couple months ago when TLC ran a series called "I Can Make You Thin" featuring Paul McKenna. When I saw the ads, I recognized him and I realized that Mr. McKenna is a hypnotist. He used to do entertainment hypnotism shows, I saw him at a theater in Times Square several years ago. But now it seems he's has gotten into to helping people with weight loss. He now has books and videos and CD's and this TLC series all to pimp his "Four Golden Rules of Weight Loss." As I watched that first episode, I could hardly wait for him to give me these 4 rules that would unlock the mystery of weight loss for me. After much fanfare and build up he revealed them:

1. When you are hungry, eat.
2. Eat what you want
3. Eat consciously.
4. When you are full, stop.

Can you say, "D'OH!" I mean seriously. He's making money for that? Okay, I suppose the real moneymaker is number 3, because in general, people don't really think while they eat. His thing is to put your fork down between bites and really chew your food and taste it. Which again is not a new concept, but I guess somebody needed to point it out. So all those times your mother yelled at you for not chewing your food, maybe she wasn't just worried about you choking.

I suppose somebody needed to point all these things out. I know I forgot them. And they are such simple little common sense things. So I feel kind of silly.

I mean, ultimately, I'm sure there are some issues I have with food that I'll have to recognize and deal with. But in the meantime I'll try to remember a little common sense.

By the way, on my walk tonight, Mister Softee was totally dogging me. I passed him at 8th and Park and Tony waved to me and I waved back. Then he moved the truck down to 10th and Park. As I passed again, Tony waved again and I waved back. Then he moved the truck to 12th and Park... three times I was tempted! I felt like Jesus out in the wilderness. And let me tell you this is not the time to be tempting me! (see the first paragraph, except the guys, you really shouldn't look).

That's all for this evening. But before I go, I want to share some of the views from the 14th Street Pier where I walk (these shots were taken when the 3 Cunard Queens were in New York).