Stuck in a Rut

All fall and all winter, I had an intense, perpetual craving for fats. Good fats, bad fats, I was all over it. And it seemed that a meal (or snack) wasn't satisfying without a heaping dose of fat.

Eating in the dining hall, this was a blessing in disguise. The green beans they serve are generally shiny with oil. Sauces are generally laden with fats and buttered bread is sometimes the only thing that looks appetizing (especially when it's basil butter.) Did I mention that ice cream is available three meals a day?

As a result, I weaned myself off of sugar. Manufacturers tend to compensate for the lack of fat with an increase in sugar (e.g. froyo vs. ice cream), so by eating more fat, I ended up eating less sugar. Even my sugar intake from fruit was somewhat limited (mostly due to a lack of acceptable fruit).

Then, a few weeks ago, summer fruits and vegetables began to arrive--blueberries with lunch, vegetables other than cauliflower, and a glimmer of hope for tomatoes. It was glorious.

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Kind of.



Because with summer fruit and veggies came summer weather, which in New Jersey means sweltering temperatures and oppressive humidity. (Coming from a NorCal girl, that means 75-80 degrees and not really all that humid.) Suddenly, my perpetual fat craving disappeared.

This week's weather so far. Yikes.

Unfortunately, all of those glorious fruits were loaded with sugar, and all of those delicious vegetables were still glistening with dining hall oil. And still, neither of them really has enough flavor to satisfy my taste buds.

So here I am, stuck in a rut. I'm craving nothing but clean, fresh, crisp green vegetables, but I'm severely lacking in options.

Instead, I've been eating a lot of plain yogurt, sometimes with a handful of cereal or granola thrown in. I've also been eating a lot of very lightly dressed salads and a lot of bread.

Still, none of the foods I've been eating have really been satisfying. It's very frustrating to eat 2500-3000 calories a day of uninspired food! I'm sure there are so many great calories I could be eating, if only I could figure out what they were.

Have you been stuck in a rut? How did you get out of it? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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