I learned about the pyramid of quality in film school. Between Good, Fast and Cheap, you can only have two. Your movie can be good and fast, but it won’t be cheap. Cheap and good, but it won’t be fast. Fast and cheap, not good.
I’ve noticed a similar pyramid regarding my efforts to eat healthfully and locally. Between healthy, local and convenient, I can’t do all three.
After I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I consciously tried to eat locally. My problem is, if I buy too much produce at once, I can’t eat it all. Sometimes, I become extremely averse to it, as was the case when I came home with some mushrooms and kale from my local food co-op and was unable to eat one bite of it. I did not prepare a single meal with it. Wound up throwing it away a few weeks later.
As much as I want to buy all my fruits and veggies from my local farmers, I’ve been seduced by the convenience of Trader Joe’s. I know in my head that I don’t need my veggies to be pre-sliced and wrapped in plastic, but my heart… I find it so much less overwhelming to buy a plastic container labeled “Asian stir-fry vegetables,” or “Asparagus sautee.” Granted, their bag of chopped kale isn’t particularly superior in price or preparatory ease to the kale I buy at the co-op, but the stuff stays crisper in the bag if I buy it and don’t wind up eating it for a week. (The local kale wilts.)
So, if I want to set myself up for success, which is one of my Skinny Rules, I have to do the non-eco-friendly thing, and shop at Trader Joe’s. (They also have prepackaged servings of mixed nuts, which prevent me from eating an entire bag of trail mix.) I balance it out by eating lunch most days at the co-op, and buying most of my apples there.
How are the Skinny Rules going, you ask? Well, I still think they should be easy to follow and result in tremendous weight loss. In theory. But I’ve been breaking an awful lot of them.
Look, the holidays are a tough time to eat right, and all I can think about are cookies! I want to eat All the Cookies. Basically, I’m doing my best for now, and will do better starting Jan.1. Promise. I’ll make a resolution or something.
Kari Neumeyer 
This time of year, I just try to maintain my weight and worry about weight loss after it’s all over. We have five family Christmases that we have to go to, and nobody at any of them is concerned with healthy cooking. It all tastes good, but it’s not good for you, so I try to stick to just getting one plate and a small portion of dessert. I don’t always succeed in this, but tomorrow is always another day! lol
I thought I had a pretty good strategy to only eat cookies that were really, really wonderful. No sense wasting calories on ones that are so-so. But I can’t help it, I think about cookies all the time!
I am having the same problem wih a new diet called Nutribullet. I make too much but if I ever get it right it will be wonderfull.
I know just how you feel – I want every single cookie. Until I eat too many, then I want to lie down. This is good advice though – I like the Skinny Rules!