On fait un régime

Every member of the Saratoga Animal Shelter is on un régime because he is either too skinny or she (plural) are too chunky.  Earl, the pot smoker whose general non-interest in food leaves him at a normal weight, ne fait pas de régime.  Earl doesn't give a flying hoot about anything that has to do with food unless Clark is near it.  He will sit in the living room and watch calmly as I feed Randi and Clark cheese or as I used to feed Randi.

Les régimes:

Randi:  

1. Absolutely no pre-washing the dishes.  
2. Absolutely no cheese.  
3. Absolutely no hot-dogs.

Clark:  

Breakfast: one cup of dry dog food soaked in chicken stock, three scrambled eggs, one hot-dog and one slice of American cheese

Lunch:  One hot-dog and one slice of American cheese

Dinner:  Pretty much breakfast except no eggs

I decided to stop feeding Clark the wet food out of the can because there seemed to be a lot of vomiting involved and that got old pretty quick.  He can eat hot-dogs.

Me:  I just finished this book French Kids Eat Everything by Karen le Billon which I would definately recommend if you are curious about how culture shapes food choices.  In any case, I decided that I could use some of the rules she has in there so voici mon régime:

1. No snacking between meals.  Self-explanatory, except today I was starving so I had to eat some almonds and jicama for a snack.  I hope Karen le Billon will forgive me.
2. I must eat at the table without the TV on.  I am very bad about sitting in front of the TV and eating since it's just me.  But no more!  Now I only listen to NPR.  So not only am I going to get slim and trim, I will also be incredibly well informed.  Also, when I go back to work I'm going to eat my breakfast at the table and not at my desk at work.  
3. Make a varied meal plan.  I've never made a meal plan before and thought that this might be an interesting way for me to avoid eating the exact same thing five days in a row as well as avoid getting home and saying geez, what am I going to eat?  How about I heat up some cheese on top of some more cheese!  So last Friday I sat down and planned out what I would eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire week and it has been remarkably easy and interesting.  I'm using it as a way to try out several of the two thousand recipes that I have always wanted to make.  I haven't eat the same thing once in four days and than may not sound that remarkable, but I have been known to eat the exact same thing five or six days in a row.  
4. It's ok to be hungry.  I think this might have been the most revolutionary diet statement I've ever read because we generally try to avoid being hungry; especially when dieting, so I was intrigued that being hungry is not only ok, but expected.

Randi and I have lots of conversations about our régimes while we're sitting on the chunky girl couch, but I keep telling her that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels and she seems to be ok with it...until I try to do the dishes.