The "What Would Granny Do?" Diet

65MD and I had a wonderful week.  We had a nice balance of work and rest.  We worked inside the house and outside of the house.  It was a gorgeous week.  The floor won't be finished for a while yet.  That's OK because we have a nice lettuce patch going and a few refreshed flower beds.  And both of my nieces came for a few hours on Friday.  It was great.

All week, we had our 'big' meal in the middle of the day much like my grandparents.  All week, as I prepared meals that included meat and vegetables, I was reminded of my grandmother.  I would often think as I planned the meals "What would Granny do?" and then I'd do it.  We ate good meals midday and I found myself only wanting something very small for the evening meal.  It really was nostalgic for me.  And to top it off, I was losing weight, without feeling deprived at all.

Then today (Saturday) happened.  We agreed that today would be a No Work day.  We could do things around the house if we wanted but we would have no Must Do items.  We'd watch TV, read, nap or whatever as we felt like it.  The weather really cooled off on us, so we I didn't care much about spending time outside.

When we got up, I almost suggested going to McDonald's for breakfast biscuits but didn't.  While that was a victory, I wound up eating Tagalogs for breakfast, which was not a victory.  Late morning, 65MD thought it would be a mighty fine idea to go to Burger King for hot dogs for lunch.  My immediate reaction was GROSS.  I mean, who knows what is in those things.  When I expressed that, 65MD looked more sad than my 3 year old niece when I told her to color on the paper and not the wall.  So, I back pedaled and said that I'd go to BK with him but not get a hot dog.  I got chicken, which I'm not sure was any better.

While we were there two apparent regular customers got into a very heated verbal altercation.  One had a billy club and I got quite frightened and insisted that we leave in a hurry.  65MD in an attempt to calm me said he hadn't seen a good fight in a long time.  Later he admitted that he was concerned as well and was ready to leave.

Anyway, I decided that BK was my 'big' meal in that it was high calorie and I'd back off at supper.  As supper time approached, 65MD suggested that we go to Shoney's for country fried steak.  I asked why since we'd already been out once today and he said because he didn't want either of us to worry about meal prep or cleaning since it was our relaxing day.  I went.  I did not get the country fried steak though.   

Saturday night is Southern Favorites night on the food bar at Shoney's.  I took a gander and saw some good looking vegetables, along with some baked fish over rice and broiled chicken.  I opted for that.  I filled my plate with the veggies/sides (mac & cheese).  I got a piece of fried chicken because, well, crust and some of the fish.  The fish was stone cold.  I couldn't eat it.  The veggies tasted like the can they came in and the mac & cheese was not my Granny's!  Other than the fried chicken, I ate hardly anything else.  I am counting this as a victory for a few reasons.

One, my taste is changing and I just can't eat that highly processed stuff.  And two, I didn't force myself to eat it.  It was hard because we were paying for it even if I didn't eat it.  I went back to the bar to see if there was anything else I could eat.  I realized I wasn't hungry so I didn't get anything more.  I stopped.

I do not expect the scales to be down again in the morning.  In fact, I would not be surprised to see a big bounce.  That's OK.  If it goes up, I think I will have confirmed my Granny Diet.  She hardly ever ate out.  I think there was one little diner in town and it probably served scratch made food.

I could really get used to the lifestyle we had this week.  65MD has to go back to work on Monday. The semester has about 6 more weeks.  He isn't teaching this summer.  So, we're hoping that he can structure his Dean work to allow him more time at home.  Maybe we'll  have some sort of hybrid this summer.

I really think I'm on to something here.