Don't go to the grocery store hungry

DUH. We all know that. And yet we still go to the store with our well-planned list and a growly stomach. We buy everything on the list and a couple of Snickers bars for the ride home, plus who knows what else that might taste good if you haven't eaten in a week.



This noon, I went to the store to get something for lunch. I wanted veggies. I wanted something easy that I can microwave and eat. I wanted something that won't make me want a nap. And look: chicken tenders from the deli department, a "steamer" bag of rice with brocolli and carrot dust, AND a bag of dark chocolate & almond candy bars & a Snickers bar for the ride back to work. I suppose it could have been worse.



In other news... a while ago Annie asked me to write about my experiences with Eating the Angel Way so she can pull snippets for her book. I am working on it, trying to be brief, concise, and specific, and god forbid, organized.



What I have been thinking about is:

• how the eating a rainbow a day resonated with me. It is simple and elegant. And I do love colors. My mom often color coordinated meals. Even now I tend to serve orange and dark green veggies with curry. Maybe I need to be a little more daring.


• how after years of spiral dieting, I don't even say the word any more. I don't mean to criticize anyone else dieting, but when I hear the word I get hungry. And not hungry for tomatoes and cheese on wheat bread, but for a pint of Ben & Jerry's Karmel Sutra ice cream.


• how in the years of spiral dieting I lost weight but gained back twice as much. I started out as a "plump" girl and now I'm a fat old woman. I don't even think I was really plump. I had breasts at a fairly young age for back then, & so I was rounder than the skinny girls. What an idiot! Oh well, that's the past.


• how hard it is to find blue food. I keep finding more: blueberries, raddichio, purple cabbage, purple plums, eggplant...


• how I worried in the beginning that I was just checking off the rainbow without "getting" the angel way of eating. For one thing, I often eat a rainbow plus a chili cheese dog and fries. And I hear the demons whispering that anything called a "ho-ho" has to be good. But I think I am hearing something else more and more. My own angels, my heart, my sense of self. Something is leading me toward better choices for myself and not so I'll wow them at my 35th high school reunion. And something is helping me to forgive myself for the Snickers and the chili cheese dog.

For more about Eating the Angel Way from the person who listened to the angels and from her scientifically grounded research assistant, check out Eating...the angel way.