fruit first

I've been playing around with my eating lately, running experiments to see how I feel. This is what I've been eating most days, based purely on the answer to the question, "What sounds good right now?", and nothing else. No diet books, no advice from doctors or nutritionists, no research. Just me and my stomach.

fruit: clementines, mangos, grapes, pears, grapefruit, bananas, blueberries, avocado, and whatever is on sale. oh, and also occasionally dried apricots, strawberries, and raisins. I probably eat at least 10-15 servings of fruit every day. Mmm, I'm getting hungry for some right now!

veggies: salad greens, steamed zucchini and orange peppers, tomatos, sweet potatos, acorn squash. three or four servings a day

grains: millet, barley, and oatmeal. sometimes toasted sourdough bread. one or two servings a day.

nuts: soaked raw almonds, but I'm not in the mood for these very often.

meat/dairy: sliced natural or organic turkey. in cold weather, I like chicken soup. eggs, at most once a week, either scrambled or hard boiled. sometimes a bit of raw chedar cheese, but I seem to be losing my taste for it. probably one or two servings a day.

snacks: popcorn!! I am big into popcorn lately. probably at least 6 cups a day. I also like the Barbara's Animal Cookies, chocolate chip flavor, once a week or so. Oh, and the occasional scoop of ice cream or gelato. I love to eat it in a tiny bowl with a tiny spoon. Weird, I know. But satisfying.

other: we go out to eat occasionally, and I still ask myself, "What sounds good right now?" could be a chipotle taco, barbeque pork, or pizza. I'm not putting any limits on myself, and I'm fascinated to find that more often than not, I'd rather have fruit than anything else. For now, anyway. Anything could happen!

Oh, wait, I lost track of my point here. Okay, here it is: Early on in my experiment, I found that a great way to increase the number of servings of fruit per day is to simply to eat a piece before every meal.

This works great for kids. Put out a plate of apple and pear slices and some carrots to nibble on while dinner is being prepared, and you can feel good about snacking.

As an added bonus, a piece of fruit takes the edge off of hunger pangs, so you don't snarf more than you wanted of the meal and feel uncomfortably stuffed when it catches up with you.

One other thing -- I only eat when I am hungry, not when the clock says it's time for lunch or dinner. And I just happen to be hungry right now. So ... ta ta for now!