...ummm...Greek salad

cravings can be the death of any and all good intentions...
especially when it comes to food...

in the last 7 months or so...
I've had no appetite...[most of the time...]
gone days without eating much at all...
taken to drinking Ensure...
in order to maintain my body chemistry...
essential amino acids & "all that..."

when I did eat...
I wasn't trying to be "healthy"...
I just ate what I wanted to eat...
much smaller portions...generally healthy...

I've been walking...
although lately, my "nerve problems"...
have created some obstacles...
but since I've been more physically active...
I continue to get stronger & more "fit"...
despite the burning nerve spasms ...
that afflict my back & legs frequently...

I'm down to 2 pairs of shorts...and one pair of jeans...
that are still too small to wear...
pants in the size that was WAY too tight...
just last November...
are now, as a friend observed on Sunday, "baggy"...
and happily so...

sooner or later...I'll have to buy some new clothes...
but I'm NOT in any hurry...
when I do "bite the bullet"...
it will only be a few transitional things...
just enough to tide me over...

fortunately...sweatshirts, sweaters and some pants...
are still "OK" when "baggy"...
[ironic, that the "baggy" Hip-Hop look...
never did a thing for me...]

I do have to be careful, though...

Saturday, as I was doing porch clean-up...
I put my garden hand clippers...
in the pocket of my now, really, too big shorts...
[that I couldn't get into last summer...or the summer before...]
and the weight of the clippers almost pulled my shorts off...
I caught them just in time...

just a couple of weeks ago...
I seemed to be regaining the nervous compulsive "munchies"..
but that passed...
and now my "cravings" have taken a Mediterranean turn...

there are a lot of sound psychological connections ...
between "de-cluttering" your life...
[getting rid of all the "stuff" we don't need...
that holds us to our past failures...
that we hide behind...afraid to trust...]

and "de-cluttering" your body...
[losing weight... becoming healthy...
"forgiving & forgetting" your past failures...
and those connected with them...
"loosing" their poisonous grip on your body & soul...
and moving out of the shadow of "unhealthy"...
into the light of trust and vibrant good health...]

I'm reading a great, support book by Peter Walsh...
[my original mentor for decluttering from years ago...
when I watched him on "Clean Sweep"...]
titled,"Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat ?"...

there's nothing "new" to me here...
especially the connection between clutter & fat...
but it's nice to have it all laid out...
as a support system...
["It's All Too Much" is a good general "de-clutter" read too...]

beyond my spiritual journey of the last 7 months...
is the continuation of the "moving out of the shadow"...
that I began 10 years ago...
when I faced the very real possibility ...
of being a cancer victim...

coming to grips with my own mortality ...
put everything into perspective...
all the "stuff"...was just in the way...
my life could be over...and soon...
and I had little to show ...
for all I had been blessed with...
besides big piles of "stuff"....

this realization changed my focus...
and bit by bit... over the last 10 years...
God has been leading me in His direction...
when I've paid attention that is...

sometimes...I think that I'm spiritually, "ADHD"...
I see the path...I start to travel it...
and... BOOM !...
something "bright & shiny" catches my eye...
and I wander off the path...
totally distracted...until He "gets my attention" again...
and we all know HOW He does that...

as I face a "mountain" of stuff...
and the sorting, carrying-out and disposing...
that my "de-cluttering" process requires...
I will need to remember ...the "little things"...

how each journey begins with a single step...
and continues... with each successive, single step...
that I carried it in...
so I can carry it out...

that seeing open space feels much better...
than seeing "well stocked" shelves does...
[even for a packrat...]
how the need to feel free of the stuff that suffocates us...
is more important than the desire to possess...
[especially for a packrat...]

feeling strong and healthy feels good...
loose clothes... feel really good...
[I have annual physicals later this month...
boy... will my doctors be surprised...! ]

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me...

and then... there are those "little rewards"...

like...
when a very supportive friend smiles and says,
"I like seeing you in those baggy pants"...

or when shorts I haven't worn in 12 years...[or more...]
almost button...
[now, I'm glad I kept them...
being a packrat can have it's occasional rewards...]

I have a pair of bell bottom, button fly, Navy surplus jeans...
from 1968...somewhere in the garage...
hummm... maybe someday...

when everything that fit 2 months ago... is really loose...

when I can concoct a reward dinner for myself...
that is this healthy...



Catsinger's Grecian Delight...

chopped Romaine lettuce
chopped sweet red onion
chopped seedless cucumber
sliced grape [or other sweet...] tomatoes
pitted Kalamata olives
Feta cheese [low fat or reg...I use whatever I bought...]
chopped grilled chicken
[I marinate whole chicken breasts
in olive oil, garlic & rosemary...
then grill or bake at 400 in the oven...
I remove the skin and bones before chopping...
this also works with fish...cod...halibut...Mahi Mahi...]

dress with Catsinger's Greek salad dressing
serve with pita or "tortilla bread"
[almost the same... & a lot cheaper...]

possible additions...
marinated artichoke hearts
pepperonchini or other hot stuff
[if you are into that, I'm not...]
bell peppers...
raw veggies of all kinds...
roasted peppers or eggplant...
beans..[kidney, garbanzo, green...]
whatever...

Catsinger's Greek Salad Dressing
[also good as a marinade...]
I make my dressing using a GS "cruit"...
garlic red wine vinegar to "V" line...
a healthy dose of dried oregano...
some garlic powder...
s & p
and fill with ex virgin olive oil to "O" line...
shake... serve...

it gets better as it sits..and I keep "refilling"....
as I use it up...