Goodbye Julia

[sarahmichigan]

Julia Child died earlier this week just a few days shy of her 92nd birthday. She was a big gal (more than 6 feet tall, and not skinny) and she ate butter and cream through out her whole life, shunning "health food" even when it was in vogue.

To remember her, slate.com had a link to a "diary" she'd kept for a week for them back in 2000, and she seems like such a sensible lady. She did her "morning exercises" every day, even when she was on the road. And this is what she had to say about diet:

"I am a founding member of the American Institute of Wine & Food, and our dictum is: small helpings, no seconds, a variety of foods, no snacking, and have a good time. I try to live by that."

Obviously, the philosophy did great things for her.

Comments

[aiela.livejournal.com]

There's a guy online somewhere (I can't find the link) who is expousing a "Triple No S" diet, where it's no snacks, no sweets, no seconds. He says that when you start you might want to start out with a big, big plate and pile it on, but basically the goal is to eventually teach yourself portion control, and to no snack so that you're only eating three times a day, when you're *hungry*. And only one plateful of food.

I think it's a pretty common sense plan.

[aiela.livejournal.com]

(Oh, and you get one "off" day a week.)

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Other people do better by "grazing" and eating 6 or 7 small meals every day. But you ruin it if you eat too much at any one sitting. I think sensible eating patterns have to be worked out on an individual basis.

I'm not anti-snacking if by snacking you mean feeding yourself small bits of good food (nuts, yogurt, carrot sticks) in between meals if you're REALLY hungry, but snacking on low-nutrient junk food as a habit or to dispel boredom can be problematic.