Food Rules

In retrospect, a multitude of various forces were compelling me toward this blog (or more appropriately, the shift in lifestyle this blog is attempting to narrate).  Primarily, it was a slow build-up, growing increasingly weary of my abhorrent fitness.  Sure, there were times where I was more acutely aware of this: splitting the crotch of my favorite khakis while on a leisurely bike ride, for instance.  Another driving force for the blog was the desire to embarrass myself, add accountability, and at least have some fun with this mess (see previous sentence).

Another factor influencing my recent decision making has been the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan.  The full title is Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. If you recognize Michael Pollan’s name, he wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.  I haven’t read those books, although I’ve read parts of In Defense of Food.

In fact, Food Rules is an extension, or rather a distillation, of the longer much more in-depth In Defense of Food. Pollan takes much of the science and research he had already completed for previous books, and extracts 64 aphoristic rules.  The beauty of the book is in its elegant simplicity, typified by its thesis (a thesis it shares with In Defense of Food)…  Pollan argues that all of our incredibly complicated nutritional science can/should be boiled down into 7 instructive words:

Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.

Again, beautifully simplistic.  As far as a “diet”… this is pretty much what I’m trying to do.  I might not be militant about it (yesterday’s chef boyardee debacle would be a prime example), but I’m doing a pretty good job so far.  I’m eating real food (recognizable ingredients, most of them fresh, etc), careful with portions (probably my biggest problem), and mostly plants… I’ve been loading up the veggies and salads.  Maybe not quite as much as my friends Rob & Lindsey… but like I said in my first post… baby steps.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend the book.  For more detail, I’d check out In Defense of Food, but for quick advice like “Avoid foods you see advertised on television” or “Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk” with brief yet insightful explanations… go for it.  When I mention my “Food Rules”, these are the rules I am referencing.

Pretty simple, really.

Rest day today, another 5k tomorrow.  Distance: 0

Had a bowl of gross healthy cereal for breakfast and left-over delicious chicken & rice with lots of veggies for lunch (photo below)… thanks to Jeff and/or Beth Purdom for the extra home-made salsa to top it off.  (had that meal for dinner as well, incidentally)… Food: B- (Love that chicken meal, but the repeat and the cereal hurt the enjoyment… good healthy day though).

Magic Number: 238.6 lbs