About.com not

About.com rejected my application. The topic I wanted has disappeared from the list, so I'll chalk it up to: "Someone with better qualifications must have applied." I will continue to watch the site for an area of interest and apply again if I can. I am disappointed though.

Diet: knowing is only the beginning of doing

There is a great divide between knowing what we need to do and doing it. This is particularly true of diet and exercise, as pointed out by Jane Black of the New York Times in Changing habits, not just diets (thanks to Sue on FB for pointing this out).

I have gained weight despite improvements in my diet. When I complained to a dietitian last year about hunger pangs, she pointed out that I wasn't eating enough protein. Adding nuts to a snack of fruit solved my problem of feeling ravenous on the way home from work, which often led to devouring multiple chocolate bars.

Since Danny moved here last year, our grocery bills have decreased to about the same as what I used to spend on myself. The reason? I plan meals for the week before grocery shopping. I used to buy more fruits and vegetables because they looked great and I knew they were healthy, but some always went to waste in the back of the refrigerator because I hadn't thought about how to use them. Occasionally even meat would meet the same fate. But planning is easier, because cooking for two is much more fun than for one.

Besides this we rely much more on local food sources, and hardly ever use prepared food. No more long lists of ingredients to worry about; I know everything that goes in. A solid, well-balanced dinner has almost eliminated my tendency to binge late in the evening. The benefits of meal planning is a lesson I will never forget.

Despite various improvements, I'm as heavy as ever. This is hardly surprising since I have changed from manual (and sometimes heavy physical) work to spending most days writing at a computer. The solution of course is the E word, as in daily. That's another whole challenge. I know in my head how much better it would feel, I just don't have much positive personal experience to back up that knowledge. My genetic disposition to accumulate cholesterol means I cannot afford to continue ignoring this.