The Jean-Paul Sartre Diet

As you might remember I embarked upon a low carb diet several months ago. While it did re-focus consumption of comestibles, sadly it did not help me achieve the pre-wedding goal of 15 less pounds. However, as with any diet, consciousness is key. So I'd like to share a few epiphanies unearthed during the course of Atkinsing.

Foremost, white food such as rice, pasta & bread, while tasty, comforting and an ideal base for tapenades, is useless caloric intake. Not only does it load on the pounds, it offers the body no nutritional value. Now if you're Lance Armstrong you will need pasta for immediate body fuel. If you're not Lance, as I am not, and you sit on your ass for a better portion of 8 hours a day in front of a computer, then your body does not need this immediate fuel. If you're serious about losing weight, especially around the gut area, drop white food off your menu. With the exception of seafood lasagna or Singapore Noodles on the rare occasion.

Many diets proclaim this next one and with good reason: less processed foods are better for you. Think low on the food chain, unlike, say, pate. The simplier the composition, the better the item. Add to this the more complex and fiberous, the better. So here's a list of my power foods: almonds, blueberries, beans (apparently the darker the better), brown rice and other grains such as faro, barley, millet. While you might read this list with disdain I'll remind you that with a complex grain as a base, you can top it with almost anything. Coming from an Indian background, curries comprise of the quickest and easiest recipes. Substituting rice, you can use any of the previous grains as a base for some phenomenally tasty and nutritious meals. So then you say, what recipes? Aha, soon to come is a page with many of my favorite South Indian recipes. So stay tuned.

Unfortunately, dropping sugar from your repertoire will greatly increase you chances of losing weight. If you're like me, chocolate simply can't be replaced by carob or waxy non sugar substitutes. So eat a little Dove bites once in a while to appease the hunger or else you'll end up like these excerpts from my journal:

February 10: Drank a diet Sunkist with salad for lunch. While I appreciated the sweet orangeness, the aspartame became bitter and began to lend a salty quality to the beverage.

March 4: Had a piece of Peppermint Trident for dessert. Still chewing.

March 17: Looked at a Hagan Daz ad for Belgian Chocolate Chocolate really, really long.

Finally and I say this one with great pain, give up alcohol. At least until you reach your desired weight. Cause surely as Big Pharm is the cause of most American maladies, alcohol adds weight to the body. How can it not with the yeast and carbs in beer? Or the sugar in wine. Even no cal, no carb booze such as vodka bypasses the digestive process and races to the front of the digestive line to be processed first. Which means everything else takes a back seat on your back seat. And anyway, everyone needs detoxing now and then.

But let me not leave you on that sad note. Years ago I received probably the funniest cookbook in history, that of French existential philosopher Jean Paul Sartre. So I'd like to share that with you now. Bon Appetite.