Dieting

Weight loss: It’s an elusive endeavor.

A friend of mine recently lost over thirty pounds and now I hate him. I asked for his secret, hoping to God that exercise or any sort of general movement wasn't involved.

Here’s the thing. He started out by maintaining a diet that was comprised of 75% fruits and vegetables and walking an hour every day. The weight dropped off and then he had enough energy to exercise at the gym.

I like fruits and vegetables! A lot.

Now that the weather is a balmy 35 degrees, I wouldn’t mind walking around a bit. I’ve got all of downtown Chicago out my doorstep and, from what people tell me, it’s a pretty neat city.

Lately, I’ve been drinking a quart or more of my “green smoothie” every day. It’s comprised of an avocado, frozen mango, pomegranate juice, fresh parsley and spinach – all blended together. It really does taste great and I just sip on it all day at work.

Next to my workplace is a nice little grocery store where I can buy fresh fruits and veggies to nibble on all day (as opposed to hitting Panda Express for lunch.) Right now, I’ve procured baby carrots, celery stalks, a pint of fresh blueberries, bananas, apples and unsalted cashews. That’s certainly better than having a couple boxes of Girl Scout cookies in my desk drawer. (Those Scouts are insidious little sylphs.)

I’ve been taking vitamins now as well; one multi-vitamin, a B-complex, and a fish oil pill.

If a start exercising after eating this healthy, I’m going to live forever. That is, if I don’t get struck by a Chinese food delivery truck while walking outdoors.