Thirteen weeks in and I want to talk about hunger — because it keeps coming up and I think it’s worth saying plainly: being a little hungry all the time is not a sign the diet is failing. It’s a sign it’s working.
There’s a phrase in the entertainment world — “leave them wanting more.” Don’t give the audience everything. Give them enough to satisfy, then stop. The idea is they’ll come back for the next episode, the next movie, the next show. I’ve been thinking about how that applies to eating. Every meal on this plan, I finish it and I could eat more. That feeling used to bother me. Now I’ve come to accept it as the signal that I’ve had the right amount. Satisfied, not stuffed. That’s the goal.
Week 13 had some solid cooking moments. The baked ziti came out well — whole wheat pasta, turkey sausage, lightened up on the mozzarella but still hit the flavors you want from a baked pasta dish. The steak and mushoom pizzadillas were better than before as I added a different seasoning than previous attempts. But the real star of the week was the beef kebabs for Father’s Day — seasoned, grilled, loaded onto skewers with vegetables. A celebration meal that fit right into the plan without feeling like a compromise. That’s exactly what this diet is supposed to feel like.
A quick sidetrack worth mentioning: I recently sharpened my Cutco knives — knives I’ve had for 30 years, bought back when I was a Vector Marketing salesman — and they are now sharper than anything else in my kitchen. Sometimes the best knife is the one you already own, just taken care of.
On the drink side, let’s talk about something simple that doesn’t get enough credit: the soda tax. My parents and brother almost always have a soda with their meal at restaurants, not even diet. This hurts in two ways. (1) You are consuming more calories and (2) more money is leaving your wallet. Now I’m not going to get on my high horse about the calories issue because that’s not why I don’t buy the sodas at a restaurant. No, it’s simply because I’m cheap. I don’t want to spend extra money on a soda when a perfect no calorie, free option is given to you at any American restaurant: water. I switched from sprite and ginger ale to diet versions during my last successful weight loss run, but this time around water has become the real go-to. Every dollar you’re not spending on soda — diet or otherwise — stays in your pocket. It’s the easiest swap on the plan and the one with the best return.
Coming up next week: steak fajitas (the kids don’t like peppers and onions so this one only happens when they’re not around), ginger scallion chicken bowl, salmon, the red simmered wings again, and a cumin lamb dish that happy healthy wife loves to make. Oh — and since next Saturday is the 4th of July, tri-tip is happening. No Claude modifications on the three-layer gelatin dessert though. Some things are sacred.
