Hee.

I wish I could find a way to make vegetables non-disgusting.

Join a CSA. I barely eat any veggies during the winter because the ones I get from Jorge during CSA season taste SO MUCH BETTER. Like actual food instead of something that's been sitting in a container ship being sprayed with ethylene for 2 weeks.

but why, if I offer to research and get back to her wouldn't she allow me to do that?

Because she's my annoying professor? Who, to update, called back twice more, with the second call to make sure I took down a message by hand for another librarian that she'd left on his voicemail, but she wasn't sure he'd listen to voicemail.

If she gets thrown off the plane, she's going to sue and make me do the research for her, isn't she.

Also, her sibling is a well-known TV journalist so I just know there would be a big stink.

If you could sum up a healthy eating philosophy in one sentence, something you could be mindful about without obsessing about each mouthful what would it be?

I've been thinking about this since the convo started yesterday, and I really like Michael Pollan's creed (very slightly modified):

Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.

So that means I mostly avoid the processed, artificial stuff and try to eat mostly fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, eggs, and cheese. I don't eat meat, so I try to make sure to get my protein in other ways, but honestly, it's usually not hard. Breakfast is Kashi cereal with unsweetened soy milk; lunch is usually a pb&j sandwich and yogurt with honey (or TJ's curried lentils with yogurt, yum); afternoon snack is an apple; dinner varies but usually involves a decent amount of vegetables. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

I lost about 20 lbs four years ago and have kept it off by making some simple changes. I went fully vegetarian, I started paying more attention to portion control, I stopped eating dessert every night (though I still have it probably 2-3 nights a week), and I now look at ingredients and try to avoid products with sugar added. (My peanut butter does not need sugar!) I also get a good amount of sleep most nights -- we're usually in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11. I could probably lose a little more with more regular exercise, and more importantly, it would help me feel better. But overall, I'm pretty happy with my body and my state of health these days.

Dr. Seuss does Star Wars

This is my fave [link] of Jabba and whatever his pet is called. Note the trap door.

eta: The Han Solo dialog on this is excellent: [link]

Do you guys really like the taste of diet soda? Because I don't know why it has Slurmlike addictive qualities.

I like Diet Dr. Pepper. Other diet sodas (and regular Pepsi) taste so bad to me that I'd rather drink water or unsweetened tea.

Lean protein and whole grains and snack on fruit?

This is me. That and portion control. I do like dessert, so I make a processed food exception for Jello dream mousse and have one of those most nights. Satisfies my sweet tooth and only 60 calories.

When I first started eating this way I DID have to think about food a lot, but once I settled in, I really don't. Even better, I don't have to worry about high blood pressure and feeling sluggish. I'd rather go through a month or two of feeling hungry sometimes and retraining my palate in exchange for not suffering from all the ills of the heart disease my dad had.

David, one sentence? Can't do worse than Michael Pollan:

Eat food; not too much; mostly plants.

For me, that means using a smaller bowl to dish things out; steel-cut oatmeal; whole grains; more salads; lots of roasted vegetables in the winter. I just discovered how great parsnips and turnips are, roasted with olive oil in a 425F oven. NOM.

I used to eat a lot of pasta, and use those box-rice/noodle mixes, like Rice-a-roni and so forth. Now I can't imagine it. I still cheat and end up eating cheese & crackers for dinner sometimes, but I buy expensive cheese so I don't eat it too fast, and I try to vary my diet.

I still don't get enough vegetables, though. Hard to keep them from rotting when you live alone.

Yeah, it's rare that I don't end up throwing away the last little bit of bagged or boxed salads, or the last banana. Tomatoes, corn, and broccoli seem to last long enough for me to finish them.

I wish I could find a way to make vegetables non-disgusting. Without the addition of cheese, that is.

I prefer most vegetables uncooked. I think at least in part because the Midwest way of cooking most vegetables is to cook beyond the point where they've lost all texture.