Day One of the Whole Foods Project: A Quick Check-In

Hi ladies! Thanks for all the encouragement on the "reforming the diet" plan. I loved the comments over at www.youlookfab.com and will definitely look into Mark Bittman, Jean. Thank you!

Today was Day One and it started with a trip to Whole Foods. A quarter watermelon, two cantalope, white nectarines, turnips, parsnips, beets, rutabaga, roasting chicken, a loaf of good bread from their bakery sliced for sandwiches, turkey (from an actual turkey breast), and some grilled veggies from the deli (insanely expensive - won't do that again!!). Here was my menu today:

Breakfast - one slice Ezekiel bread, one slice mozzarella, toasted. Coffee and half and half.

Snack - banana

Lunch - grilled veggies over brown rice (you can get delish microwaveable frozen brown rice at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's), individual container of Emmi raspberry yogurt (from Switzerland - divine)

Snack - watermelon

Dinner - salad greens, can of Cento Spanish tuna, canned corn, balsamic vinegar

Everything I ate was scrumptious. The canned tuna from Spain is expensive but tastes incredible. The balsamic was high-quality from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. The yogurt? You have to try Emmi! It comes in grown-up flavors like apricot and pink grapefruit.

Part of my theory is quality over quantity and that is working super well. I'll never forget the tomatoes on the vine, served with a tiny dish of sea salt, that was on the table of a restaurant in Nice, France. That tomato was positively bursting with tomato-ness and that is what I'm seeking in all my foods. And that is why Europeans aren't as heavy as Americans, I am convinced. Their foods are so flavorful that they are immensely satisfying. Plus, they are eaten socially, at a dinner table. You do not walk down the street eating in Europe. Here? We eat everywhere. It's all wrong!!

Of all the meals today, breakfast was only so-so, but avoiding sugar this morning worked for me - the protein kept me from being hungry until 11, which is pretty good, because I get up early.

Luckily, wine is a whole food because I'm about to treat myself to a glass! More about the diet as I progress tomorrow!

Phase II - Renovating the Diet

Week 5 begins, and I'm feeling good about Shop Your Closet, despite my LAMB handbag crisis. It looks like I won't be carrying that bag until January, but that's okay! I hear all of you!

Now I've decided to expand the project to incorporate my diet.

That seems like a disconnect, I know. From pulling back on spending, to decluttering my home, dare I even say crafting, this project has been about simplifying, in many ways. Doing more with less. So I'd like to streamline my diet as well. But I don't want to "diet." I just want to change how I'm eating.

My new rule is nothing from a bag or box. There will be a few exceptions. Bagged baby carrots, for one.



These foods in the photo below? Not sure. What do you think? Probably I need to limit the number of ingredients in the box. In other words, Arnold's Sandwich Thins have loads of ingredients, many unpronounceable, so those should be out. But rice -- it's rice. And Quaker Oats -- it's rolled oats. Those seem okay.



Flavor-Blasted Goldfish, and Mint Milano cookies, with your unbleached enriched wheat flour and thiamin mononitrate ... sigh. Not on the plan. Not even Hot Tamales!



What I can't decide is how long to try this. Should I try it until Jan. 1? Or some shorter period of time? Does anyone have experience with this -- how hard is it to eat only whole foods?

What Do I Do?

Temptation, thy name is Sandy.

Remember the lime green NAS scarf? Angie modelled it on her blog last week, and I commented that I was jealous of her matching LAMB handbag. Sandy, that gem!, emailed me to say that she had that exact handbag to sell. And, she had bought it for half price, from Gilt Groupe. She has two styles in the lime green, and kept the hobo style.

True to Shop Your Closet, I told Sandy I couldn't buy the purse. And you know what Sandy did? She volunteered to send the purse now and be paid on Jan. 1. If that isn't a true friend, I don't know what is.



Note the cute black-and-white striped lining.

Now the question. Am I allowed to use the handbag before Jan. 1? What do you think, yes or no?

Katja Poses a Question

Over at YLF, Katja asked the 17 of us who are doing Shop Your Closet:

"Is (this project) about trying to break a shopping addiction or about confirming that you have a well-rounded wardrobe (or learning that you don't)?"

Wow Katja, you really know how to cut through the clutter :)

My magazine editor assigned me to write a Shop Your Closet challenge in the spirit of ... both. A lot of women are in the habit of shopping. I know I constantly was looking for something, at least for the past two years while I went through YLF's style renewal. So I thought it would be fun to roadtest my wardrobe. See how successful I've been. Style is a hobby for me. I wanted to know if what I built, worked.

But as I've gone along, it's dawned on me that shopping ... well, it's a bit of a plague. I've begun to think that consumerism drains creativity (when you're in a cycle of shop, buy, return ... or just shop, buy) and is generally a burden. So the less is more idea has really taken root with me through SYC.

I write about style, interior design, and travel, so naturally I admire beautiful things ... and places. But more and more I'm drawn to experiences, not things. Too many clothes or too many knick-knacks are just clutter.

How about you? What is your answer to Katja's question?

Eat Pray Love

Last night I went with two girlfriends to an over-the-top movie theater where you have assigned seating in velvet loveseats, valet parking, free popcorn and drinks with your movie. We were the only people in a gigantic theater watching Eat Pray Love.

Javier Bardem was hot. Otherwise, the consensus was that the thing that sold this book was the book cover.

As mothers, we decided that Elizabeth Gilbert was damn lucky she didn't have children with her first husband. There would have been NO eating, praying and loving when getting divorced with kids. Well, there would have been eating - of entire containers of ice cream, alone at night sobbing on the kitchen floor after the kids went to bed. And praying - that the child support check would clear. But loving? We figured it might have been a solid decade before that rolled around.

One of my friends did get choked up in the movie - over the fact that the hotel in Italy where she and her husband stayed was pictured. Otherwise, not a wet eye in the theater. What kind of girls' night movie is that?? Tears, laughter, ridiculously named alcoholic beverages ... those are all basic requirements.

Here's what I wore:

Shop Your Closet: Now and Later Challenge

Over at www.youlookfab.com, the Shop Your Closet-ers are issuing a weekly challenge to all takers. Khris came up with this week's idea, which is to take a piece of clothing and wear it now, for summer, then style the same piece of clothing for fall. Here's my Max Studio dress. It's a fab sleeveless grey knit dress that I've had for a couple of years.

Dress now:



Leather moto vest - Nordstrom; sandals - Clarks Raasas; layered necklace - Kohl's; mustard-colored cross-body bag - Sak.

And for later:



Sweater jacket layered over dress - Max Studio; wide elastic belt; boots - Frye Janes (NAS purchase); eggplant-colored woven hobo - gift from mom. Thanks Mom! :)

Bittersweet

This morning I woke up at 5:20, near my normal time, but thought I had awoken in the middle of the night. Padding outside to get the newspaper, there is the tiniest hint of chill in the air. On the sidewalk, acorn shells and fallen oak leaves speak to the squirrels' frenzied work last night.

Seeing the children, tanned and barefoot, running in the yards until late yesterday, not wanting to come inside, "not yet, mom." Knowing another school year is ahead and how fast it will go, and how soon my handsome big boy will be that much bigger and stronger. Me, interviewing for a full-time job that will keep me away from home more than I want to be. Listening to my dad describe my nephew's success at lacrosse camp, a nephew I get to see only a few times a year.

I love the fall in Chicago. But there is a reason why spring has always been my favorite season.