The "C" Word

Sunday was not a relaxing day. I spent a good portion of the day ensconced in the kitchen engaging in the "c" word. That's right, I cooked.

There is almost no chore I hate more than cooking. I'd rather do laundry, vacuum, mop, change Tycho the Giant Rabbit's litter, and wash the dishes than cook. Cooking stresses me. There's measuring things and timing them, and if I fuck up, then I wasted untold dollars worth of food and still have nothing to eat. I know that many people enjoy cooking and find it relaxing and fun, but II think they are insane, especially if they share all that good food with me when I've done nothing but watch them toil and slave. When it comes to preparing food for myself, I am very happy with toasting an multi-grain English muffin and smearing some non-salmonella organic peanut butter (made at my local grocery store) on it. Yum. I even cook eggs for myself without hating it too much. That's my limit.

I found myself sweating it up in the kitchen on Sunday because I decided to try the South Beach Diet. In November 2006, I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and told to control my carbs to prevent diabetes. Since my dad and bubbe have type 2 diabetes, and I would prefer to avoid the disease for as long as possible, I followed a strict diet for a month, then fell off the wagon and ate poorly for two years or so. This led not only to me looking like I shoplift turkeys in my work pants, but also probably to a worsened prediabetic stage, if that makes any sense.

Overall, South Beach seems fairly easy to follow and is a good way to control carbs. I thought I would try some of the recipes, and of course I forgot that I didn't have some of the ingredients (like shredded cheese), so I spent 30 minutes chopping pieces of string cheese into cheese shreds so that my crustless veggie quiche cups would come out. Then I made balsamic vinaigrette, but the need for a jar led me to open a jar of salsa in the fridge that had bubbly mold. Finally, I sauteed some chicken in olive oil, added onions, garlic, and chicken broth, and worried that the chicken was not cooked enough.

Tonight, mahi mahi with garlic made in the broiler. I think that any weight loss from this diet will be from all the work I am doing to fucking make something to eat. Jesus, I don't know how people do this all the time for their families!