Going green

I recently started a new diet, which one of my sisters is on. I needed a dietary change because my eating habits were REALLY bad. Too much junk food, too much sugar, too much fast food and, especially, too much soda. I was REALLY not eating very healthy and I guess that is why I was so tired and cranky a lot. And gaining weight!

Ever since I started this diet, which is the Michael Thurmond diet, I have had more energy and been able to focus better.

My old diet had hardly any veggies and fruits, and I was hardly ever drinking enough water.

With the new diet, I'm drinking A LOT of water, eating fruits and not eating so much junk food. (It will be a while before I can totally kick the junk food habit!) But I'm also eating a lot more veggies now, especially greens.

In fact, the main veggie to eat for this diet is anything green. Green beans, lettuce, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peas, celery, etc.

I have enjoyed this new abundance of green veggies in my diet. I know green veggies are especially good for you because they fight cancer. But it has been good for me on a personal level because I am now trying veggies I would not have otherwise tasted. I'm mad about sugar snap peas. I also get to learn new ways of prepping and cooking these foods.

The other night, I boiled Brussels sprouts to serve with dinner. And tonight, for the first time ever, I cooked fresh spinach.

Unfortunately, the spinach did not turn out very well. I sauteed them thanks to a recipe from eHow and the smell of cooking garlic and onions in the kitchen soon had Jennifer plugging up her nose. (That garlicky smell is still in my kitchen! It does not smell bad, but I know it irritates her. I was reminded of a scene from the movie Candleshoe, when the character Bobby says "garlic keeps ghosts away" and Jodie Foster's character says, "Garlic will keep everybody away." When I was a kid, my dad would cut up fresh cloves of garlic and down a bunch of them with a glass of water. He often coaxed me into doing the same thing, and one time it was actually a good thing he did, because it saved me from getting sick from food poisoning! My sister had not been so lucky.)

Still, we ate some of the spinach. I wasn't happy with how it turned out and debated trying another way of cooking fresh spinach that I found on the Internet. Later, I texted my sister to see if she had a good way of cooking it. She said, "Steam it."

Tomorrow I am making a broccoli salad to go with lunch (still need to type up the recipe to send to my sister!) and we've also got cabbage and peas in the refrigerator.

Even though I've had a few setbacks with this diet (hard to shake off the cravings for chocolate! And I'm not happy about the fact that the only meats I can eat are poultry and fish), I am going to keep it up whenever and however possible. Even if I am not successfully sticking to the dietary guidelines at the very beginning, I'll keep at it! It does not make me "starve" myself, it does not force any dairy products (which is good since I can't digest dairy very well anyway) and it does not forbid grains. In essence, I do like the foods I am allowed to eat, and I really think this particular diet is much better for me than the old one. I know this way of eating is healthier and it will be worth it in the long run if I just stick with it despite these setbacks at the start.