Progress

At the risk of sounding like a participant in an infomercial . . .

The diet seems to be really working well.  I'm averaging more than 2.5 pounds a day at this phase.  (Not that I expect this to continue, but it's nice).   I'm also thinking that by the weekend, I'm going to have to punch another hole in a couple of belts.

Food tip of the day (actually a couple of tips, all related): 
1.  They MEAN it when they say to use eggplant as soon as you get it home.  Sunday afternoon, we bought a beautiful, firm eggplant, but also fresh fish.  We decided to hold the eggplant until Tuesday night and eat the fish first .  . . and the eggplant was already starting to get soft when I peeled and roasted it last night.  
2.  Eggplant can cook faster than the recipe says - the instructions from a Food Network recipe said 30 minutes at 450.  My oven runs hot, so I started at 425.  And 15 minutes in, the eggplant was done (and almost overdone in some places)
3.  Seasoning matters.  Before last night I had never cooked eggplant except by dredging in flour and deep frying (pretty good, but not allowed on the diet).  So last night's got a drizzle of olive oil, a coating of rosemary, minced garlic, fresh cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt.  Even overdone it was wonderful.   Since there were only two of us eating eggplant last night, there's a half an eggplant left.  I was planning to dice and saute it, but I've been requested (ordered?) to do the same thing as last night.

Today could be interesting: the last few days I have eaten alone at my desk, but it's likely today that I'll eat lunch with a former colleague.   Be interesting to see if he comments on my salad -- crab meat mixed with spinach greens, celery, carrots and a homemade dressing (3 parts olive oil, one part balsamic vinegar, black pepper and a little lemon zest).  Last week when we met for lunch I was eating leftover pasta. . .