1.17.2008

What I'm Reading

I thought I would dedicate a bit of time today to telling you what I am reading. First, for fun I am reading the book Wicked, which is what the wonderful musical by the same name is based on. It is rather dark, so far, but in a pleasantly wicked so of way. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the entire story unfolds. (One further plus: the book I'm reading has green-edged pages)


The second book I am reading is called French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano.

It is a book that I have been meaning to pick up for quite some time now and finally got around to borrowing it from my local library and may I say I wish I had picked it up sooner. Guiliano has a really nice way of writing that makes it seem more as if you were sitting down with an old friend for a chat. Plus, who doesn't like a "diet" book that tells you that dessert and chocolate are good parts of a healthy diet. Her basic mantra seems to be eat what you like in moderation while taking care to make sure that what you are eating is made up of fresh (non-processed) food and then walk around some. I like this. I have never really tried to do a typical diet because it has always made sense that moderation was the key to long lasting success. Of course, moderation isn't always easy but I am looking forward to trying some of her tips.

Just this morning, in fact, I put one of her tips into play. She suggests eating sitting down sans book, newspaper, or tv. This is a tough one for me because I almost always have a newspaper in front of me when I am eating. This morning, though, I sat down with just my breakfast. Then she suggests eating slowly and putting you spoon down every couple of bites and doing a mini review (in your head of course) of the food in your mouth. This way you are truly savoring the food which is supposed to make eating more of it less necessary. So that is what I did--with my Special K with Strawberries. I was actually rather surprised. I had thought I like the cereal because of the strawberries (which for dehydrated strawberries aren't bad) but I discovered that the flakes themselves are very nice--sweet tasting. Just think how much better it would be if I had fresh fruit instead of dehydrated! And guess what? It worked. My bowl was much more satisfying than it usually is and I didn't feel like grabbing a piece of bread on my way out the door. Mind over food that I just don't need!!!

4 comments:

Natalie said...

K, I just started reading wicked and about 30 pages in took it back to the library. I don't know what my problem is, I just couldn't get into it! And was so disappointed because I have heard that the play is fabulous! Perhaps I am just not as cultured as you are!?! (Well we already know that...)

Courtney said...

Cranat--I would say the first 30 or pages are a little heavy going, but it has gotten much more interesting--maybe give it another go. If not, don't worry. You will still love the musical. I am only 70 pages in, but I haven't hit anything familiar to me from the musical.

N.F. said...

A friend of mine just told me that after reading the book--she has NO desire to see the musical. She said the book is really, REALLY explicit. (Not to deter you from reading it, of course.)

Thanks for the tip about eating, etc. I always eat breakfast when I'm reading blogs or my e-mail. I will do it differently tomorrow. :)

Courtney said...

n.f. I am finding that it is pretty explicit so far--tell your friend not to worry about seeing the musical because it is not explicit or really dark.

I am finding that eating without reading anything is really, really hard. I will be eating and start reaching for something to read and then pull back at the last second as if the newspaper will burn me when I remember that I'm not reading. But I have variously enjoyed my food more or decided that I need to eat better quality because sometimes what I eat is just not worth it.