James Brown’s “Sex Machine” has a word in it that happens to be my husband’s favorite “lyric” of all time – “TASTE”. Seven weeks of dieting and 9 pounds lighter, I’m noticing a few things about TASTE – as in the sensitivity of my taste buds has come alive. A sweet potato is sweet – sans the butter and the brown sugar, a carrot tastes like a carrot and it’s delicious. I purchased cottage cheese this week for some variety and was surprised at its saltiness. Actually I’m surprised by the saltiness of most everything that has any processing. I realize this new awareness of what things taste like is not merely the result of attempting to limit my intake to 1500 calories a day. Technically, I can eat anything I want as long as I account for it. However I discovered quickly if I want to go to bed without hunger pains, those 1500 calories need to be well selected – meaning food that’s bulkier, healthier, with less prepackaged, little to no fast food, or fried food, etc. So not only has my intake decreased but the kinds of food I’m eating have changed. I’m enjoying the taste of food more than I have in a very long time.

From The Philosopher’s Diet , “You will know that you are making progress when you find that a raw carrot tastes very sweet. Peas have a lot of natural sugar in them, have you noticed yet? After a while you will tend towards salads (plain vinegar and oil, please) simply because you need to stuff your gut, and salads have a lot of bulk.  Vegetables. Whole grains. You are counting calories so carefully that you begin to think twice before you blow a lot of them on a small piece of meat.”  Well I’m still eating meat, yes even red meat, but not as much as before.  Don’t tell my rancher Dad.

Feeding Cattle

Something was funny. I can assure you, it wasn’t the weight on our backs.

Wind River Range, Wyoming

The St. Lawrance Basin Trail-head