Diet and Deprivation

Like any diet, the 100-mile diet has moments of temptation.

A typical weekend day for my husband John is spent taking the kids out for bagels, and then to the supermarket for the weekly shop. The first time he did this was our second full day on the diet -- and he struggled to sit and watch the kids dine on bagels, cream cheese, and lemonade. Hunger primed, walking the aisles of the grocery store, its shelves full of food forbidden to us this month, only compounded his feelings of deprivation and restlessness.

This past weekend, he was better equipped to repeat the errand. He took leftover slices of homemade, 100-mile diet pizza to the bagel restaurant.

The homemade pizza was yet another solution to the rituals of our family life. Friday night is pizza night around here and we always order from the same tiny pizzeria. We often share the meal with friends. Before starting the diet, John and I had talked about whether we make pizza night an exception. Pizza is truly a favorite of my husband's, not to mention an excuse to indulge and a ready Saturday lunch of leftovers.

I don't remember resolving it one way or another, so I was impressed when John didn't want to order out. He felt, as I remember feeling last year, that if he made this exception, he'd be tempted to give in to others. I think that's the beauty of limiting the diet to a month (or a week or any set period of time). It makes it easier to be fairly strict and really create new habits.

Homemade pizza was pretty easy. I use a focaccia recipe from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw and topped one round with leftover homemade tomato sauce and grated local cheese, the other with sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves.