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Thought I'd start doing this again, as much for my sake as for yours. As I mentioned, I'm cutting waaaay back on carbs again, now that I've turned in my manuscript. So here's what I ate yesterday. You'll notice the conspicuous absence of vegetables. I promise you this won't be permanent; I just finished recipe development and frankly I'm tired of cooking!

Breakfast:

Cheese omelet

Lunch:

Pork chop, pan fried with a little barbecue rub on it.

Snack:

Another pork chop!
1 sugar free Hershey's Dark Miniature
1 sugar free Reese's cup

Dinner:
Chuck steak

Beverages:

I've been asked again, so I'll repeat it again:

I am NOT an advocate of a low glycemic index diet -- that is, a diet that simply replaces the usual carbs in the diet with low glycemic index carbs.

I DO advocate a low glycemic LOAD diet -- a diet which not only improves the quality of the carbohydrates in the diet, but drastically reduces their quantity.

Remember: Glycemic load = glycemic index x grams of carbohydrate eaten. There is no way this equation will work out if the diet is still based on carbohydrate foods!

It just recently struck me that I have now been low carb for over a quarter of my life. 27% of my life, actually. So much for "That diet is good for quick weight loss, but nobody can eat that way long-term."

Made any New Year's Resolutions? Let's talk about them. What were your resolutions last New Year? Did you keep them? If so, how'd they work out? If not, what knocked you off track, and are you starting over this year, or resolving something new?

Come tomorrow, millions of Americans will change their eating habits. And sure as winter weather is dreary, most of them will revert to their old ways by Groundhog Day.

Most people would rather die than change the way they eat. They do it every day. More people die of the cumulative effects of bad nutrition than anything else. Worse, they spend years and years feeling lousy first. Why?

I just had mac-and-cheese for lunch, and it took a big five minutes to make. I drained and rinsed a package of tofu shirataki noodles and dumped 'em in a sauce pan. Turned the burner to low and started warming them. Then I pulled the packet of powdered cheese out of a box of generic mac-and-cheese mix, and added it and 1/4 cup half-and-half to the shirataki. Let the whole thing cook another couple of minutes to heat through and thicken up, then dumped it in a bowl and ate it.

This year for Christmas treats I've been roasting and seasoning shelled pumpkin seeds, aka pepitas. These are available in bulk at health food stores and Latin markets. They're delicious, they're a little unusual, they're less expensive than nuts, they're very nutritious, and while nut allergies are common, I've yet to hear of someone with a pumpkin seed allergy. Here's what I've been doing with them:

Salt 'n' Cinnamon Pepitas

4 egg whites
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon salt -- scant tablespoon
1/3 cup splenda
8 cups shelled pumpkin seeds

Years ago, I read a really stupid "study" that claimed to demonstrate that running caused women's breasts to shrink. Why? Because the folks doing this ridiculous piece of "research" had looked at a group of serious female runners, and discovered that most of them wore a B-cup or smaller bra.

As a girl who was the first in her fifth grade class to wear a bra, who was a C-cup by freshman year, and is wearing a D as she writes this, I found this the most enchantingly bass-ackwards piece of reasoning I had ever run across. Um, folks? Girls built like me don't run.

Ho-hum. Another day, another study "proving" the dangers of a low carb diet. This new one comes out of Tufts University, and claims to show that a low carb diet impairs memory, while a low calorie diet does not.

Uh-huh. Let's dolly in for a closer look.

First of all, this was a very small study -- just 19 women, ranging in age from 22 to 55. They were allowed to choose either a low carb diet or a low calorie "balanced" diet. They split, with 9 women choosing low carb and 10 choosing low calorie.

Or maybe lunch. Whatever. I'm fighting a hideous cold, so I didn't get around to cooking till noon. And anyway, I'm working on baking recipes for another book with Rob Thompson (a book on a low-starch diet for diabetics,) so I have waaaay more low carb baked goods in the house than I usually do. So I had a piece of not-very-good low carb cornbread with my tea first thing; I have to try the cornbread again today.

Anyway, when I finally got around to cooking an actual meal, I did one of my favorite things: I made up an omelet out of stuff that was kicking around in the fridge.

When one is operating at a disadvantage –– say, a total lack of first-hand experience –– it’’s best to admit it up front. So here it is: Not being Jewish, I’’m at something of a loss writing about Hanukkah cookery. But since when have I ever let a little thing like that stop me? I certainly can cook, and as both a librarian’’s daughter and a librarian’’s wife, I know a bit about research, too. So I’’ll forge ahead, do my best, and try not to go too far out on a limb.

If it's December, it must be time for me to republish my UnPotato Latke recipe! The original calls for Ketatoes, no longer available. But Dixie Diners Instant Mashers, a similar product available from Carb Smart, Netrition, and other low carb etailers, will work just the same. The Atkins bake mix can be swapped out for rice protein powder.

My pal Barbo Gold told me, when I first came up with these, that they were good enough to make me a Latke Maven. Which ain't bad for a girl as goyish as me.

UnPotato Latkes

1 cup shredded cauliflower
1 cup shredded turnip

Remember the holidays of your childhood? Mom would festoon the house with evergreen roping and ornaments, lights would twinkle from each tree, the air would be filled with the scent of baking, and every party table would be groaning with lovingly-concocted canapes and other tempting treats?

Makes you want to go bury your head under a pillow, doesn’t it?

Been to a few parties recently? Likely to go to a few more? Holiday parties are notorious diet-busters. All sorts of carb-y food, the weight of "tradition," people handing you excuses to Indulge ("Aw, c'mon! It's Christmas! Live a little!"), plus the disinhibition that comes along with a little "holiday cheer," and it all ends up to waking up the next day with a carb hangover and three or four pounds of water weight around your waist.

So let's talk parties.

Gang, I've had a request from a reader for good low carb forums. I don't hang out at any, so I really can't recommend one. So I turn to the collective wisdom of my readership. Where are the good low carb forums? Fora? Someplace intelligent, reasonably thoughtful, as flame-free and spam-free as possible?