Goofus and Gallant - Approaching Food

Many years ago I got braces to correct the gap between my front teeth.  It wasn't a large gap, but it was decided that there shouldn't be a gap and it was necessary to fix it.  I had the full set of braces including "head gear" that I had to sleep in every night for two years.  MANY children were running around with a wire wrapped around their face connected to a neck brace during my pre-teen years. (Photo is NOT me, only an example.  I took NO photos with braces)

It was at the dentist that I first began reading about "Goofus and Gallant" in the Highlights magazines.



Goofus was always negative, rude, pushy, and selfish.  Gallant was perfect.. always.

So this morning I started thinking about my food choices over the weekend.  I had several challenges:  a road trip to Dallas, an outing at the movies, and dinner with family.  Except for the very salty beef jerky at the movies, I did pretty good.  In spite of my best efforts, my hands were VERY puffy this morning.

WHICH led me to thinking about choices when eating.  I see a buffet table.  What do I see first?  Do I see what I CANNOT have instead of looking at what I CAN have?  Do I see the negative foods first, or do I see the positive choices?  Think about that.



HOW DO YOU APPROACH AN EVENT THAT INVOLVES FOOD CHOICES?
As a Goofus? or as Gallant?



Here are your choices:

GOOFUS	GALLANT
Look at all that food I cannot have! This is going to be too hard!	There is so much food, it will be easy to find what I can have!
Because I have been so good, one bite won’t hurt me this time.	Because I have been so good, I’m not taking one bite of anything that will derail me.
They insisted that I eat it so I had to.	I politely declined and quickly changed the subject.
Oh well, I just had to eat what was available.	I knew there might be a problem, so I planned in advance and had some snacks with me.
I’m on vacation so I’ll start back when I get home.	I’m on vacation and want to enjoy every minute not feeling bloated and sick, so I’ll make good choices.
Tomorrow	Today
I think about food all the time.	I have strategies in case my mind tries to obsess about food, like going for a walk.
I don’t know what was in it, but I didn’t want to appear rude and ask.	I politely asked what was in it, explaining that I have some food intolerances.

Beefing Up

 

My Cow.

I bought a "side of beef".  Not just any beef, but grass-fed beef with a name.  Why grass-fed?  Because I eat more beef than any other meat and grain-fed is NOT good for anyone.

Why a "name"?  I HAVE NO IDEA.  The rancher wanted to discuss the cow with me.  I did NOT want to know the name and I did NOT want to see a photo.



So ... what an adventure.  One I will likely not EVER repeat.  12 hour trip, sorting steaks on the fly to early pick-ups, coming up short because I forgot there was "tax" on it.  It was just WAY too complicated for my household.  Other members of said household are NOT happy with me about it.  But that is stuff for a different blog. lol.

This is what 1/2 a cow looks like:

That is approximately 257 pounds o' beef.  5 coolers and 4 bags.  (The bags were a total of 100 lbs worth of meat for an early pick up).  It was supposed to be 323 pounds, but at this writing 95 pounds are missing.  We are investigating what happened -- "Where's the Beef?"

As a hard-core city girl, and proud of that, I prefer for my food to arrive in a made-made container, please.

OR better yet ... on a plate:

ON a different NOTE:

Here is the link to the LOW CARB ROAST by Tom Naughton.  This was the entertainment at the pre-cruise dinner.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaZRP-S-kA8&feature=g-all-esi