9.20.22

This morning, Ray and I watched a YouTube video of three guys grocery shopping in Moscow. It was very eye-opening to see their carts, mostly containing things like large blocks of cheese, yogurt, meat, vegetables and potatoes. The skinniest among them, a single guy, was gushing over his favorite breakfast foods; what he considered a decadent COTTAGE CHEESE that he was going to mix with cashews and dried cranberries. We also saw scenes of beautiful downtown Moscow. I am definitely glad that I live in the US; but with the shocking sight of nearly zero overweight people in every shot, I had to wonder whether I should be taking some notes! The narrator commented on this, and he said he believes it’s because most people in Moscow don’t go out to eat in restaurants as much as we do here – they mostly cook their food at home. There was definitely a big difference in their grocery carts to mine – theirs were nearly all “whole foods,” compared to even the “healthy” foods I buy that are very processed and packaged.

This shouldn’t come as a huge shock, doctors and scientists have been telling us to eat “whole foods” for ages. There’s something about seeing it so plainly though – the actual shopping that they’re doing, and the actual way that they look.

This morning, there was no cottage cheese for me, but I did have steel-cut oats with a banana and a few dried apricots. Now I should start planning for lunchtime! I know that it’s often the lack of preparation that kills my best intentions – I end up over-hungry and grab something quick and convenient, which is usually the last thing I should be eating.

Then I’m cutting up the ripest Roma tomatoes that we brought in from the garden, so I can give them to the guinea pigs with some apple chunks and baby spinach, and I’m thinking, my God they’re eating better than I am!