Return from the Caribbean: About Food
Nov. 26th, 2007 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebBefore leaving on the cruise, I came up with several strategies for dealing with infinite food. This entry is about how that went.
* "Try things that have fruits and vegetables in them, in case they turn out to be yummy" - I did this, and almost everything was either kind of yummy or sort of edible but at least small. I really didn't mind eating this stuff because it was different every day, but I realized that if I were cooking the way I normally cook, I would end up with a week's worth of whatever dish, and I wouldn't really look forward to that at all.
Also, normally I just cook and eat one thing at meals, so I have to eat enough to fill me up. But if the produce is in small side dishes, maybe that's better. Most days at sea I had meals with a small bowl of soup, a few pieces of fruit or a small salad, a normal main dish with maybe a bit of vegetable as a garnish, and then a small dessert, usually with a small scoop of ice cream next to it. Many weeks I don't find time to cook a main dish, let alone side dishes, but maybe I should look more closely into this strategy.
* "During those meals with several courses, do not feel like I have to order something at every course" - Ha! I mostly did order something for every course and mostly I ate it all too. I tried very hard not to order more than I could eat, and mostly I succeeded. I never still felt hungry and like I had to supplement my meal elsewhere afterwards, though. Once I ordered just a side (baked potato) instead of a main dish, and it was very confusing to people. It was definitely enough food, though.
* "Eat something with protein and something with fiber before allowing myself dessert" - That mostly happened automatically. We did more sit-down meals than buffets. On the other hand, we also did a dessert buffet for lunch once and I had nothing but tea and dessert at afternoon tea three days.
* "When two things look equally good, pick the healthier-seeming one" - I did this a couple of times; both times I like what I chose just fine (such as vegetarian enchiladas instead of a burger and fries).
I discovered that I enjoy eating just a bran/carrot muffin with milk (and with fruit) for breakfast. Not that I did it many times. That's kind of healthy, though, and something I should think about copying for real life, using a good recipe, of course.
And now for the test of how well this turned out: This morning I weighed myself and came in a half a pound lighter than the morning I left. At first I was inclined to do a victory dance, but then when I tried to explain to myself how this happened, the reasons I come up with were all pathetic. Um, I refrained from eating until I was completely stuffed at every single meal? My pedometer measured just as many steps as usual? Cream is a diet food? My best explanation is that I should have drunk more water before weighing myself. Still, any weight change was small enough to be disguised by general weight fluctuations, so that's good.
* "Try things that have fruits and vegetables in them, in case they turn out to be yummy" - I did this, and almost everything was either kind of yummy or sort of edible but at least small. I really didn't mind eating this stuff because it was different every day, but I realized that if I were cooking the way I normally cook, I would end up with a week's worth of whatever dish, and I wouldn't really look forward to that at all.
Also, normally I just cook and eat one thing at meals, so I have to eat enough to fill me up. But if the produce is in small side dishes, maybe that's better. Most days at sea I had meals with a small bowl of soup, a few pieces of fruit or a small salad, a normal main dish with maybe a bit of vegetable as a garnish, and then a small dessert, usually with a small scoop of ice cream next to it. Many weeks I don't find time to cook a main dish, let alone side dishes, but maybe I should look more closely into this strategy.
* "During those meals with several courses, do not feel like I have to order something at every course" - Ha! I mostly did order something for every course and mostly I ate it all too. I tried very hard not to order more than I could eat, and mostly I succeeded. I never still felt hungry and like I had to supplement my meal elsewhere afterwards, though. Once I ordered just a side (baked potato) instead of a main dish, and it was very confusing to people. It was definitely enough food, though.
* "Eat something with protein and something with fiber before allowing myself dessert" - That mostly happened automatically. We did more sit-down meals than buffets. On the other hand, we also did a dessert buffet for lunch once and I had nothing but tea and dessert at afternoon tea three days.
* "When two things look equally good, pick the healthier-seeming one" - I did this a couple of times; both times I like what I chose just fine (such as vegetarian enchiladas instead of a burger and fries).
I discovered that I enjoy eating just a bran/carrot muffin with milk (and with fruit) for breakfast. Not that I did it many times. That's kind of healthy, though, and something I should think about copying for real life, using a good recipe, of course.
And now for the test of how well this turned out: This morning I weighed myself and came in a half a pound lighter than the morning I left. At first I was inclined to do a victory dance, but then when I tried to explain to myself how this happened, the reasons I come up with were all pathetic. Um, I refrained from eating until I was completely stuffed at every single meal? My pedometer measured just as many steps as usual? Cream is a diet food? My best explanation is that I should have drunk more water before weighing myself. Still, any weight change was small enough to be disguised by general weight fluctuations, so that's good.