Since I’m in the midst of a diet (doing very well thank you), I thought this would be a great time to join Helaine at the supermarket. Maybe… possibly… in this carb conscious time, there are new foods for me to eat.
Fat chance!
I am a very lucky man. My wife spoils me like crazy. She does virtually all the shopping for me. It is unusual for me to be in the grocery store with or without her. I am probably qualified to get that surprised look President Bush (41) had at a grocery convention years ago, when he saw scanners for the first time.
At times, while Helaine was going back for something she had forgotten and I stood silently and motionless next to the shopping cart, I felt like a lox. I wanted to pull out my cellphone and pretend I was calling my wife for advice, as so many other men there were doing. Being in a supermarket and not being in motion makes you stand out.
I had read, on the South Beach Diet, that brown rice and certain non-flour pastas might be OK. When I looked at their carbohydrate counts, I knew they weren’t for me. In fact, many of the items I looked at had reasonably low carb counts, but only at the expense of portions sized for a flea.
The Klondike Fudge Bars I have taken a liking to weren’t available. Helaine had stocked up – but we’re hoping this is an anomaly, not the sign that they’re gone.
I realized one more very important thing as I watched Chantee tally up the bill. When you eschew bread, pasta and other carbs and replace them with protein, you’re going to pay a lot more for a bag of groceries.