Day 4

I cannot believe that I have now spent 3 days on this diet!

What can I tell you about it?

Well I have learned
a. That when you are hungry you will begin to feel that you could eat things which, normally, you wouldn't. By way of a small, but telling, example: Yesterday I finished teaching Capstone. I had promised to buy the students pizza to celebrate their success. Of course, I couldn't eat the pizza and sat their with my soup and rice watching them eat. There was some cheese left on the bottom of the box after the pizza had been cut. I SO WANTED that cheese; fortunately my daughter declared herself staving and ate it, saving me!!!! I did eat a small crust of one of her slices on the basis that it could count as unleaven bread - it was delicious...

b. Talking about watching people eat pizza I think that, and cooking for my family, is a huge challenge. I cook them meals and then sit down with my rice and weeds. Last night, waiting for the pizzas to be cooked was almost unbearable. So I have learned what it is like to be on the outside looking in. I know how terrible it must be to be hungry and watch everyone around you eating. Turning on the TV is another challenge - wall to wall food programmes and advertisments!

c. Also, I have learned that my stomach can make interesting noises. On Tuesday I was working, surrounded by my faithful 3 springer spaniels, when some growling started. I immediately told them off only to find that it was my stomach, I have never heard it perform like that before!

d. Now, I know what it is like to go to bed hungry and wake up hungry - horrible. Also, yesterday, I started having a headache which I just cannot shift.

so... my journey is teaching me many things and I am sure I will be stronger for it. When I see the footage of the floods in Pakistan my resolve is strengthened.


They have nothing.

I know this will end and I have fat reserves - although I have lost 2lbs in 3 days.

If you feel motivated to donate or just become more aware here are the links:

http://www.freetheslaves.com/
http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/
http://sites.google.com/site/pegasuschildrenstrust

and two organisations helping the victims of human trafficking in Central Texas:
alliesctx.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/allies-makes-the-news and http://www.ctcaht,org/

DAY 1

Good Morning

I thought I would leave it until Day 2 to tell you about my whole day, yesterday and give a sneak preview of today!

First, back to Sunday. Even in the shiny new, but relatively small, Dripping Springs HEB there is a bewildering array of different types of rice. I had gone for basmati, which I always use when cooking Indian food, but ended up also buying Himalayan brown rice. I had wild rice at home but of course that isn't authentic at all, it isn't a rice and comes from USA! A study of the Internet reveals that there are many rice varieties grown in this part of India and so I will go to Central Market and see what else I can find (www.rice-trade.com)

Also, I decided I would do a deal with my eggs (organic eggs sell for $4 a half dozen at dripping springs farmer market) so that I could buy a garlic, 7tablespoons of oil, 2 tablespoons of white breadcrumbs, a little cilantro and a cucumber. With some of the oil and garlic and all the breadcrumbs I made a lot of gazpacho using the tomatoes, peppers and onions from my garden. Yes, I know this is not authentic but I am sure that they have a similar type of summer soup.

So - DAY ONE -

I honestly couldn't face the thought of rice for breakfast. So I skipped breakfast!

Lunch - cold soup and warm mixed rice - not at all bad

Supper - I fried garlic in a very small amount of oil in a non-stick pan. Then I heated the rice and added an egg which I scrambled to give it an egg fried rice feel. Yes, borrowed from another culture but you try thinking of things to do!!!!!! I sprinkled it with a little fresh cilantro (coriander for UK readers).

What did I drink - tea of course, no milk, and water

DAY TWO - well it is nearly 9am and I still can't face the thought of rice for breakfast. However, my stomach is growling - I have NEVER heard it do that before! So I think I must go and force a little down. I have a headache but I think that is just the dietary change. I didn't expect to be hungry this quickly, not a good sign for the future.

HOWEVER, I saw the TV news about the people dispossessed by the floods in Pakistan and realised that at least I had food; so I am not complaining.

Check in tomorrow....

And remember please, this is not about me, consider donating and please make other friends, family and acquaintances aware of the problems.

Snake and Water

Thank you to those of you who have come forward with suggestions to stop the snake. I had hoped to surround the chicken pen with crushed mothballs last night. But I teach Capstone until 9.35pm so by the time I got home it was dark.

ALSO, my husband hadn't got home until after dusk and went to get the eggs only to find the snake in the nest box with "two eggs close to the head end"!

So will get to work with the moth balls once s/he has left.

This diet is beginning to feel more realistic because our water softener has decided to give up the ghost. :(

This means that everything will be covered in limescale before you can say the word.

SO...today I will have to buy water to cook with until the plumber can come. Admittedly it is not the same as having to walk to the well and bring it back in buckets but it serves as a timely reminder of how much we take for granted.

Until tomorrow

A Sudden Realization!

This morning I was sitting at the breakfast table eating the obligatory shredded wheat and fruit when it suddenly dawned on me that the 9th August (start date) is only 5 days away!

I have so many meetings in the second week of the diet that I am beginning to worry about how bad I will feel. Especially at the School of Humanities faculty meeting, which is at 'Cannelloni Joe's'. For those of you who don't know this is an 'all you can eat' Italian restaurant! Perhaps risotto will fit the bill, albeit too extravagantly.

Anyway...a little news:

On behalf of the Consortium for Street Children, and by the great kindness of the faculty and staff of St Edward's University, I will be attending the United Nations meeting in New York 20-22nd September 2010. I will be reporting back at a meeting at St Edward's University in Fleck Hall, Rm 315 at 7pm on 5th October 2010. I hope as many of you as can will all attend.

Have Dal for lunch and aubergine stew for supper and 2 3hr classes to teach so; until tomorrow

Donate Now :

Free the Slaves : http://www.freetheslaves.net/

Consortium for Street Children : http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/

Please also look at the great work being done by the Pegasus Children’s Trust in South Africa : http://sites.google.com/site/pegasuschildrenstrust/Home

Remember if you wish to: Donate!

If you would like to support me, please, simply go to one of the following websites and DONATE.

Free the Slaves : http://www.freetheslaves.net/

Consortium for Street Children : http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/

Please also look at the great work being done by the Pegasus Children’s Trust in South Africa : http://sites.google.com/site/pegasuschildrenstrust/Home

Gains and Losses

So that I do not shock my old body too much I have started cutting back on the food I eat. To do this and stay healthy I chose to go on the ‘Slimmers World’ diet.

I started on Saturday, 24^th July, so I am now 8 days down that road.

The idea behind the diet is that you eat either as much as you want of protein, fruit and vegetables with enough carbohydrates and dairy to keep you healthy or as much as you want of carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables with enough protein and dairy to keep you healthy. You choose the bulk protein or carbohydrate for the day and stick to it.

Thus, my diet has looked like this:

Breakfast : Shredded Wheat, milk from an allowance, fruit.

Lunch : couscous with peppers, tomatoes, onion, basil, rocket and 28grams of meat

Dinner : Heinz Baked Beans in tomato sauce – an English thing, but could have been pinto beans.

Or :

Breakfast: Oatmeal, milk from allowance and fruit

Lunch : Steak and 28grams of baked potato

Dinner : sliced ham or other meat

The idea is that you never get hungry because you can eat as much as you want of certain foods but I can tell you...

a. I was very hungry for the first 5 days

b. I had a terrible headache, which I just couldn’t shift, for about a week, better now though!

c. Now, I don’t want to eat lots – ‘oh couscous again’ doesn’t have the same appeal as ‘what fun thing can I eat for dinner’!

d. I have peculiar cravings – custard with raisins, fried onions and Yorkshire Pudding with golden syrup to name a few!

I have lost 5lbs.

So its working in cutting my appetite...

How does the garden grow?

An Indian farmer in debt bondage would have about an acre on which to grow crops for sale and food for his family. Our vegetable garden has 6 beds which are, averaging them, 12ft long by 2ft wide. They are under the care of my husband, I grow flowers, principally roses, so my part of the garden is useless for these purposes.

Of course, my long-suffering husband didn’t know he needed to grow enough vegetables to keep me healthy during the diet, and, anyway, there is not much which grows in the heat of the Texas summer. So my audit of the garden is:

Bell Peppers, lots of them

Tomatoes, lots of them

Okra (which I hate) lots

Basil

Rocket – very old and woody

Some small lettuce plants hiding under the okra for shade.

Onions

Carrots

1 cabbage

I don’t think I will be making a lot of money from the sale of these!

Chickens:

To add insult to injury, our chickens have decided it is too hot to lay more than 2 eggs between them a day. They normally lay 1 each so I am hoping for a return to cooler weather.

What is more disturbing is that we have a rat snake. We have been tolerating him/her because s/he steals just a few eggs whilst, we am told, keeping other snakes out of the area. He is a bit freaky to find in the nesting box when collecting eggs so Walter, my husband, has to collect eggs after dark!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I am now getting protective of my eggs so if anyone knows a way to keep out that snake please let me know!

More soon...