The Diet, day 9

I'm almost half-way through with the first phase of my diet. I've lost 8.8 pounds. Yesterday wasn't good, everything I ate tasted horrible. Even the pear tasted odd and I couldn't finish it. Today, on the other hand, went really well.

I'm trying to eat as much local foods as possible. I'm getting a lot of greens from my CSA farmer as that's what's growing right now in this part of the country. Greens. Radishes. Asparagus. Green Onions. That's about it for fresh veggies. There are a few places that grow hot-house vegetables, but they don't have the same earthy, natural flavor that rain-fed veggies have (IMHO). So, twice a day I get 4 oz of vegetables. Have you ever weighed 4 oz of greens? It's a LOT of greens--a BIG Salad.

Fruits in this area consist of berries (ALL berries) and stone fruits. There are apples, of course, and a random pear tree here and there, but those ripen much later in the year. I like berries, but plain and raw hasn't been my favorite way of eating them. Raw, plain blueberries always taste weird to me, tart and bitter, strawberries the same. But I realized that I haven't ever had "real" strawberries; those picked fresh that are less than an inch in diameter (normal sized). So, I bought some from the farmer's market. Picked and eaten on the same day... they were sweet, juicy, a touch of tartness and bright red all the way through! Delicious. It's only fresh strawberries for me from now on. $2 for a pint of those gems is a deal that can't be beaten!