Eat food. Don't join a cult.

I am not the "cult joining" type of person.  I only joined the neighborhood association for the pot-luck lunch they hold once a year.  Cults are way too close to being "stylish" although the style may be bizarre.  I am not stylish.

I say this because I have been reading about Michael Pollan, and I pretty much like what I've read except the part about him having a "cult-like following." 

Pollan says: Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.

I can go with that.  I can almost go with the thing about not eating food your grandmother wouldn't recognize, except that my grandmothers and great grandmothers ate mostly potatoes, rudabagas, and Twinkies.  I eat much more interesting foods than they did. 

I do try to avoid food with an ingredient list that is: a) over an inch long and b) mostly in Latin or Greek.  Unless it's a complicated Greek recipe.  But you get the point.

I keep in mind Annie's observation: men are like raindrops and women are like snowflakes.  It seems to me that any diet that involves cult-like following of rules, meal plans, or no-no lists is not going to work for the snowflakes.  I'm not sure it works for the raindrops.  (For the raindrops: give up bread or beer, whichever you like more.  Don't ask me why, but it works for men.)

Right now, I am working not to stress as tax season begins.  I am eating pretty well, which I hope will help me feel better.  I am thinking about exercising.  I am going to a yoga class tomorrow.  Really. 

But I continue to have a disfunctional relationship with food.  I still get upset and eat a bag of cheetoes even though I know it will make me sick.  I still eat too much, too many Little Debbies, too few plants.  But I'm working on it.

It's in the stars

My horoscope for today said that my physical and mental health were intertwined. It suggested I improve my eating and moving habits, while at the same time reducing stress at work. Then it suggested that I not try to do it all at once. And I thought...

OK.

So if I need to simultaneously improve my diet, my exercise, and my stress level without doing too much, what do I do?

I always do big things. I always plan a complete menu for a year before I start a d-word. I make charts and diagrams before I exercise. I don't know about reducing stress... I've never done that.

Sooooo... small steps. Today I will NOT go to Hardee's for an omelet biscuit and smothered country potatoes. In fact, yogurt and that dried fruit muesli I made might be good. For lunch, I'll probably get a decadent salad... yummy with lots of colors. I'll think about packing lunches later.

small steps... today I will walk around the yard once (unless I get really ticked and need to take another round.) I will order the pedometer recommended by my friend Margaret.

small steps... today I will not let things piss me off because I can't control them. Things will work out. I will enroll in the City Yoga class for next Thursday for me, Katy and maybe Ellen. Then Katy & I will buy cute yoga clothes and a mat for her. (My mat has been sitting in the closet for about six months, when I bought cute clothes, some Pilate equipment and a CD.)

small steps.