I miss going out

I still go out pretty frequently, so I don't miss actually going--I miss how it used to be. I could eat and drink anything and feel fine, even healthy. I didn't over-analyze it or feel too guilty. There were lots of restaurants I loved to go to, and it was fun to choose which one I would eat at.

Now, to go out to dinner, we spend a bunch of money on food that isn't healthy--it's loaded with oil and salt and probably plenty of cheese (we are vegetarian and sometimes go for cheese-involved dishes). The portions are big so we always over-eat. The food tastes good but doesn't give you a good feeling after eating it. There is no way to eat vegetarian and avoid the foods I am trying to now cut out: deep-fried food, cheese, bread, and pasta. I know, laughable to even try! When we try to choose where to go, it's just a question of which is the "least bad" for us and still has enough atmosphere to be enjoyable.

On top of that, the food is not organic. The strict standards we have for household food disappear when we go to restaurants, so we will consume genetically-modified food and food sprayed with chemicals. In the case of dairy, we are purchasing cheese from tortured, drug-injected cows--products we would never buy at the store. I used to not bother with that because eating out doesn't happen every day. Yet I still work at a restaurant, I end up eating there or bringing food home a couple of times a week in addition to a once a week or so dinner out together. It does add up.

If there was just a restaurant that actually prepared food like what we eat at home! (That was affordable.) I can't stop going out. I'm a libra! I love to go cozy up in a candle-lit restaurant where I can sit and be waited on. I like sitting next to my husband with no television or laptop nearby where we will just talk. Sometimes I even get fancy and wear something besides my sweatpants!

I don't think it will be long before someone capitalizes on our interest in healthy, organic food at a nice restaurant--for cheap! I can't go to a $30/plate dinner every week. I mean a regular restaurant with a happy hour menu and all of that with something besides french fries on it.

And one last thing: Coffee shops. Can we please get something to eat besides bread and sugar products in the morning? These so-called breakfast foods of scones, chocolate croissants, bagels, and banana breads are nothing more than desserts wrapped in breakfast food vocabulary. I allow myself the coffee indulgence already, do you have to push my discipline by putting that pastry case in front of me every morning??

Late Night at a Friend's...

Last night my husband and I went to our friends' house for our typical late-night dinner party. We ate an absolute ton of cooked food--rice, chapati (Indian bread, look like tortillas but wheat flour), dal, garbanzo curry, and a third curry I was not familiar with. There was wine and whisky floating around. Then truffles for dessert. I somehow ended up with a torturous case of the hiccups by the end of the night. I rode home in the car bent over, trying to be upside down, hold my breath, whatever.

Of course, we didn't get to bed until 2:00AM. And slept late. And woke up thoroughly groggy with that fuzzy head. Every time, I ask myself the same question: why? I know this is not good for me.

These are the days I say, "I'm going raw." No more heavy food. No more sugary desserts. No more bread!!!

Then I look in the fridge and see a carton and a half of eggs, a whole package of tortillas (to be treated as chapati), a new package of gardenburgers. How will I explain to my husband I won't eat any of it? He is so beyond-supportive of my nutritional schizophrenia. But I hate to yo-yo with him... "Honey? Can I make curry tonight? Will you eat it?" I've been hinting at him I want to go raw again (we did a month together of 100% raw and, actually, loved it--just got inconvenient in social situations so we set it aside to be decided upon later). I haven't heard any major objections. He likes us to eat the same things together, so I know if I do it, he will, by default, be part of it. Last time we did it, he lost 7 pounds and his skin got really clear. He got tons of compliments on his appearance....so I think he might be happy to experience some of that again!

I just want all those benefits back: never feeling heavy, tired, groggy. total mental clarity, a razor-sharp mind. never bloated. 7 hours of sleep a night and feeling like a million bucks every morning. energy for exercise, work, cleaning, everything. lost a couple of pounds. knowing you never put anything bad into your body that will hurt it or drag it down. better-looking skin. a lighter footprint on the planet and knowing you aren't giving one dollar to those nasty food corporations.

I might try to experiment with a compromise where everything eaten at home is 100% raw, but for socializing, some exceptions can be made. Or holidays with family. Anything with other, non-raw people, basically. Which we probably only do about twice a month. Won't get in the way of the goal...

*sigh* I'll keep you posted.