Trying Something New....a Random Book Review (or two)!

This blog has been around a long time, and for months now I've toyed with the idea of getting more serious/organized about updates. I think about things to write about quite often; I sit my butt down to do it not enough. (Kind of like my knitting lately, now that I think about it.)

Anyway, I've mentioned this before, but I'm an audiobook addict. Listening to audiobooks changed my life, or at least my habits - I do more housework, go for longer walks, and generally get more done if I am listening to a good book. I've gone through a lot of audiobooks in the last month or so - they truly saved my sanity through the hours and hours of packing, driving, more packing, more driving, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking....

I didn't rush to read Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain when it was first published, but got around to it as my "move book" - I listened to it while doing the final packing and driving from Asheville to Florida. It got good reviews, and I was mildly curious about her story.

I know as much about eating disorders as the average magazine reading female, but really couldn't grasp what goes on in the head of someone suffering from anorexia. Portia de Rossi describes her own thought processes and obsessive behaviors so honestly, so vividly, it's horrifyingly fascinating. Her description of one particular incident, when she abandoned her beloved little dog on an outdoor patio because she was driven by an overwhelming compulsion to exercise by running up and down several flights of stairs, flight after exhausting flight, driven by guilt and horror because she had chewed too many sticks of gum - wow, the description of that scene haunts me still. It goes on and on, she tries to stop running the stairs, but no, she can't let herself stop, she has to do it over, and over...as I listened to her describing her own behavior I found myself yelling in the car, "Stop it! STOP IT! OH MY GOD YOU REALLY ARE CRAZY!"

She describes her ritualistic eating habits, her extremely limited diet, her exercise obsession, in such a matter-of-fact way, it's somehow far more alarming than if she portrayed herself as a helpless victim of her disorder. In her mind, she was FINE! Everybody else was crazy for worrying about her! It's a horrifying look at obsessive compulsive behavior and what goes on in the head of someone in the grip of a nearly deadly eating disorder, with, of course, a happy ending. So, while I can't say I found the book "entertaining," it definitely was...fascinating. (Said in Mr. Spock voice, with raised eyebrow.) I'm glad she recovered, because boy, she was seriously nuts for a while.

On a somewhat related note (diet), but at the "Super Healthy" end of the spectrum, I listened to Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition while unpacking. Dr. Furman is one of the most well-known advocates of the plant-based diet, and he has a legion of devoted followers. (Read some of the comments on Amazon, and watch fights break out if someone says a disparaging word about the book.) The book is chock full of details and studies and explanations of why his program "will save your life." He tells you this on practically every other page. As for the program, while I might agree with what he says about the benefits of a plant-based diet, he certainly doesn't try to make it seem like fun. I didn't listen to this book and feel "Oh boy, that sounds easy, I can do that!" I felt lectured, and if I wasn't already doing 90% of what he advocates and already know that it's easy, he wouldn't convince me that I could make the change to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. So, if you can't get enough lecturing about how unhealthy you are and flogging with studies and statistics, you might appreciate this approach. I agree with the basics of what he advocates, but there are more fun and approachable books on the subject. (And the publisher should have stopped him from reading the audio version himself. The mispronounced words are cringe-inducing.) So, bleh.

I'm still going strong on my plant based diet and have no desire to backslide into carnivorous eating. I am having fun with what I consider a new lifestyle - trying new recipes, collecting new cookbooks, learning to cook vegetables I'd ignored all my life. I'm not really trying to lose weight, just to eat a super healthy diet. I know I've lost a few pounds since the move because clothes that were snug are not snug anymore, but the scale was in the hall bathroom with the cat for most of the last week so I haven't been weighing myself. I feel great and have lots of energy (most days). Going vegetarian was surprisingly easy - giving up dairy took a little more effort, and I do eat some dairy now and then, but not daily. I don't find it terribly difficult, but OTOH, I am not rabidly strict about it either - if I can't get to the health food store to get the coconut based coffee creamer I love, I'll use half and half and not worry about it. I only drink two cups of coffee a day as it is - not a dietary change for me, I've never been a huge coffee drinker. Coconut based products have been a revelation for me - I used to think "non-dairy" = soy. (The coconut creamer is so much better than the widely available soy creamer, it's like night and day.) Worth hunting it down.

(This rambling blog post was brought to you by the letters "P" for Procrastination, and "A" for Algebra - but I can't put off the real estate math chapter any longer. Back to work.)