Let's Do Lunch!!!

Well, I’m always ready to do lunch - maybe that’s why I’ve been overweight for years. I’ve been on many diets and always have a problem sticking to the diet after a couple of weeks. No, I don’t need to lose 230 pounds like Roger Troy Wilson did, but maybe his book can help me lose that last 10 pounds! So I picked up a copy of his book, Let’s Do Lunch.

I’ve never heard of a diet quite like Wilson’s but I certainly see how it can work. Eat fruit, fruit and more fruit to take away the urge to satisfy your sweet tooth. I think that could work for me. Then he suggests lunch should be your main meal and contain all your protein for the day. I agree that’s a healthier way to eat. But could I do it? Maybe some days but my schedule just wouldn’t allow me to do it on a daily basis. But Mr. Wilson has an answer for that too. There are ways of “doing lunch” at dinner if that’s necessary for your particular schedule.

It all started with frozen grapes! You laugh but I’ve actually been eating frozen grapes as a snack for years. They’re delicious! But I never thought of them as a means to losing weight. Mr. Wilson created an entire diet that began with a simple plate of frozen grapes.

Other than eating lots of fruit for breakfast and dinner and having your protein at lunch, this is basically a diet that eliminates sugar and flour. Also, he suggests eating corn and beans (with the help of Beano for those who may need it), which will take away the urge to eat the fattening white foods – bread, potatoes, rice and pasta.

Let’s Do Lunch includes many delicious recipes and two weeks’ worth of suggested menus. Mr. Wilson also claims there’s no need to exercise while dieting. This is probably where I disagree with him, but it’s his story that’s a success – not mine. So give it a try – with or without the exercise.

I think I’ll give it a try to see if I can lose those last ten pounds – maybe with some exercise. See you! I’m off to stock up on lots of bananas, grapes, peaches and plums. Yummy!

Let the Great World Spin

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann is a series of short stories that come together in the end. The stories are about individuals living in New York City during the famous tight-walking episode in 1974. Each tale tells what people were doing while a man was doing interesting antics on a tight walk extended between the World Trade Center towers.

The individuals or group of people are from different walks of life – very different. From priest to prostitutes to poor Blacks to high society, each had his or her own story to tell. Their lives, amazingly, all overlap. However, the actual telling of the stories seemed a bit disjointed. This made the book less enjoyable to read as I would have liked.

Each entity is well written but the coincidence of how all touch each other is a bit coerced. Getting beyond that, it is interesting how McCann brings it all together in the end. Again, a bit coerced but doable. Although the tight-walking episode is fact, the rest of the book is fiction.

Let the Great World Spin would make a good book for a book group discussion – a where-were-you-when type of discussion.

William F. Buckley, by Jeremy Lott

Jeremy Lott’s William F. Buckley is a short book about the man’s life, beliefs, and endeavors. Buckley lived through and influenced many of the major events of the 20th Century. Although Buckley is far too conservative for my tastes, I must admit the book is well written. Lott did a good job of showing why Buckley did what he did, supported who he supported, and believed what he believed. It’s an easy book to read and quite interesting. Just not my taste. Based on my personal feelings, I must give it a lower rating but a more conservation person may think it’s a 5-star book.

Although fairly well written, it definitely comes from a biased point of view. I feel nonfiction should always be unbiased. But if you’re a Buckley lover, you’ll enjoy Lott’s William F. Buckley.