Do bitters taste anything like fernet? They sound like they should. I have memories of my parents' bar including bitters but I don't think I ever tasted it (them?).

Trudy, but even then, some people can't do it for 4 weeks. I know what you mean, because I was on modified Atkins for 6 weeks years ago.

It's just a peeve with me. It was the most effective diet (not just weight loss but I felt REALLY good) I've personally been on and if I could manage it pescatarianly I'd still do it.

if I could manage it pescatarianly I'd still do it.

Tim recently got an official evaluation for ADD (diagnosis: yes indeed, he has it), because he just really wanted the medical seal of authenticity on his diagnosis. Anyway, the psychiatrist who did his evaluation talked about non-drug ways to help ADD symptoms. She was very big on dietary changes (hence the goal to get off sugar). But she said that they recommend lots of veggies and meat. Dairy is bad, grains are bad, all starches are bad, and oh lordy is sugar bad.

Well. He's a vegetarian (with exceptions for shrimp and scallops), so "veggies and meat" become 90% veggies. That's really not what I would call balanced. With no dairy (why no dairy? that's so weird), he would get virtually no protein. Plus, he works a really physically demanding job, so I think some damn carbs are called for. Me, I sit in an office chair 8 hours a day and my muscles don't need a lot of fuel, so I could cut back on the starches. But his muscles need some ready fuel. I'm not saying he's an athlete, but his job is physically demanding, and I can't imagine telling an athlete to eat only veggies and meat and oh my god no starches. That would be HELL on them.

was it beth above who said eating frequently helped her? I actually think that I felt better when I did that as well (and part of Atkins to nod to Trudy). It may be that Tim can cut down on sugar, but even things out so he doesn't have 3 large fries and a baked potato in one sitting (exaggeration, but you get my point).

He may not have a lot of latitude with breaks at work though. I don't know.

That's no fun for Tim. Ugh.

One thing from my Atkins days that I can still use is the awareness of what is going on with my blood sugar -- when I stopped bouncing it around so much I really liked that feeling.

So now if I start to feel it drop I'll eat some protein (when I'm good and have nuts on me). Or if I do indulge in something simple-carby I will also eat protein to prevent the hard spike -- cookies with milk exist for a reason!

He may not have a lot of latitude with breaks at work though. I don't know.

He has less latitude than I do with a desk job (sometimes he doesn't eat lunch until 3:30 if an unscheduled customer shows up with a load of scrap), but I think he could keep nuts or something at work to eat.

even things out so he doesn't have 3 large fries and a baked potato in one sitting (exaggeration, but you get my point).

Naw, that's me. (I loves me some potatoes.) His lunches are usually a veggie burger on a bagel (possibly with salsa as a condiment), some cubes of cheddar, baby carrots, and 2 clementines. So fairly well-balanced. But his psychiatrist would have that lunch cut down to...baby carrots. *Maybe* the veggie burger if it wasn't too starchy.

I think people should eat what they want. I'm no one's food police. I think it's probably a good thing if people eat what makes them feel physically good. People can be physically healthy and eat starches. I read it on the internet.

Yeah, Tim can't just eat baby carrots. Meat really does simplify a lot of things portability-wise - you can only eat so many hard boiled eggs.

And I say that as a person who REALLY likes hard boiled eggs.

Andi, good memory! I am home from surgery; all went well. Tired, sore and loopy.

Thanks for well wishes! Must rest now...

Oh loopy! We like a loopy Strix. Stick around and amuse us. Or, you know, get some rest.

Good to hear it went well.

Yeah, I'm glad y'all are having this conversation because it is Thursday (I never could get the hang of Thursdays) and with the SO working all day and me in the house, it tends to be CARBDAYAY! And in fact, I have the ingredients for my favorite carbtastic dish, of which I eat All The Pasta. So.

But I did well so far, in actuality, eggs for breakfast, and pork tofu with no rice for lunch.

I'm like Tim in that I eat a lot of dairy for protein, and I don't really know how to work around that. My trainer would like me to eat less dairy, but seriously, I don't know how. It is the easiest, quickest, least disruptive way I know to chow protein in a hurry, which I'm given to understand is my goal. I'm supposed to match protein for carbs. Both are supposed to be at a certain level, but when I started she said, eat whatever carbs you want, just balance it out with protein. And as I was eating truly massive proportions of carbs, it was just about physically impossible to eat that much protein, so I had to start trimming the carbs back.

Even when I slacked over the past couple of months, I've mostly been able to hang onto those priorities, so it's been pretty good on the whole. And I'm down 25 pounds from when I started, so I'm pretty pleased.

I told MFNlaw the other day I just now got back on the strength training horse. I'm going to need it and cardio hardcore for this summer's camp & tour regimes. So I really need to kick my ass back into high gear.

But yeah. I'll have to think of something else for dinner besides the nommy nom nom garlic yogurt pasta I was planning. And yeah, I should kick the refined sugars too, but suspect murder might be the result.