Obsessive? Moi?
Sometimes I wonder whether I take this planning and home cooking thing too far. It's just something I do now, I pack up my lunch for the next day before I go to bed, I plan my evening meal and make sure I have all the ingredients I need before I get home to start cooking it. I write menus and shopping lists and I hardly eat a thing that isn't homecooked or prepared.
Not to mention the carb thing from yesterday. I'm now thinking about how to make sure I'm suitably carbed up for my Wednesday, Saturday and particularly Sunday long runs. My mind whirs around all day about how to use the fruit and veg I have in the fridge, and what else I could buy to make a new dish with them I've never tried before.
And then we have Saturday. I've pretty much decided to drive down to London now, but obviously, my mind being what it is, the first thing I then started thinking of is "what on earth will I eat?"
London, you may have noticed or guessed, is hardly bereft of places to eat. Even though I'm not going into the centre of London, I'm sure that the chances of me starving in south west London are relatively remote. But I'm not happy with that. I don't want to eat just any old food. While I have nothing against a treat meal out, if I'm spending money on it, and justifying a bit more food than I'd normally eat to myself (easier in view of Sunday's 15 miler), I want it to be at least as good, if not far better, than something I could make for myself and take along with me.
Which rules out motorway service stations, most chain pubs, takeaways, prepared sandwiches from supermarkets and anywhere where food preparation consists of little more than shoving ready made food in the microwave. I don't often eat ready meals at home (not even the posh ones) so I'm not going to pay someone over the odds to have that privilege when I'm out of the house.
So I start thinking, of the food I could prepare to take with me (rice salad? pasta salad? bagel with houmous and veg?), or searching reviews on the internet to find somewhere that will live up to my increasingly exacting standards...
...and I wonder. Am I taking this just a bit too far? Eating something a bit crappy once in a while isn't going to kill me, is it? It's bad enough that I've chosen my transport to make sure I can fit my runs in, but to try to plan for every aspect of the journey, from main meals to snacks to drinks, maybe I should let myself go with the flow sometimes? But the truth is, I don't want to any more. I like being hard to please with food. I no longer see lots of stuff I used to eat as tempting, now I've realised how much better food can be, and quite simply eating it isn't a treat, so why should I do it?
So, when I'm driving down the M1 with half of Tesco's produce section in the car, all cut up and ready to combine into a salad or bagel filling, I'll try not to think of myself as obsessive, just hard to please...
Not to mention the carb thing from yesterday. I'm now thinking about how to make sure I'm suitably carbed up for my Wednesday, Saturday and particularly Sunday long runs. My mind whirs around all day about how to use the fruit and veg I have in the fridge, and what else I could buy to make a new dish with them I've never tried before.
And then we have Saturday. I've pretty much decided to drive down to London now, but obviously, my mind being what it is, the first thing I then started thinking of is "what on earth will I eat?"
London, you may have noticed or guessed, is hardly bereft of places to eat. Even though I'm not going into the centre of London, I'm sure that the chances of me starving in south west London are relatively remote. But I'm not happy with that. I don't want to eat just any old food. While I have nothing against a treat meal out, if I'm spending money on it, and justifying a bit more food than I'd normally eat to myself (easier in view of Sunday's 15 miler), I want it to be at least as good, if not far better, than something I could make for myself and take along with me.
Which rules out motorway service stations, most chain pubs, takeaways, prepared sandwiches from supermarkets and anywhere where food preparation consists of little more than shoving ready made food in the microwave. I don't often eat ready meals at home (not even the posh ones) so I'm not going to pay someone over the odds to have that privilege when I'm out of the house.
So I start thinking, of the food I could prepare to take with me (rice salad? pasta salad? bagel with houmous and veg?), or searching reviews on the internet to find somewhere that will live up to my increasingly exacting standards...
...and I wonder. Am I taking this just a bit too far? Eating something a bit crappy once in a while isn't going to kill me, is it? It's bad enough that I've chosen my transport to make sure I can fit my runs in, but to try to plan for every aspect of the journey, from main meals to snacks to drinks, maybe I should let myself go with the flow sometimes? But the truth is, I don't want to any more. I like being hard to please with food. I no longer see lots of stuff I used to eat as tempting, now I've realised how much better food can be, and quite simply eating it isn't a treat, so why should I do it?
So, when I'm driving down the M1 with half of Tesco's produce section in the car, all cut up and ready to combine into a salad or bagel filling, I'll try not to think of myself as obsessive, just hard to please...
posted by YP at 9:48 PM
3 Comments:
I'm with you - it's not obsessive to not want to eat crap food. I feel like treats and eat out meals have to earn their place in my diet by being better than something I'd make myself. It's one thing to have a craving for junk food and deciding to satisfy that craving, a whole other thing to eat junk because it's the only option.
I don't call that obsessive, I call that organised - and I could use some of that!
I'm actually dreading finally leaving home in the next few weeks, because I'll have to do all of this...
Planning your meals and ensuring exercise is what made you successful in the first place - I don't think it's obsessive to maintain that mindset. Maybe after a year or two you'll be more relaxed, but for now I think you're smart to stay with that attitude.
Post a Comment
<< Home