Everyone makes mistakes.
After a weeklong vacation/birthday celebration in which I ate out for about 25 meals straight, I decided to do a little detox. I wanted to give Whole30 — a dumb diet not unlike going paleo, in which you only eat “whole” foods like meats, eggs, fruits and veggies and cut out sugar, carbs and dairy — a try.
This is where I throw my husband under the bus and point out that my original plan was to do Whole30 solely for dinners. It seems like an ambitious but doable way to cut out some bad stuff, and to up our veggie and lean protein intake. But my husband convinced me that if we were gonna do it, we should do it all the way.
We did, for the last week, and I’ve never been more miserable.
I had thought, hopefully, improbably, that improving my diet would make me feel empowered and sexy, like this:
Instead, I clawed my way from hour to hour, looking a lot like this:
I am not an unhealthy person. I’ve been a distance runner since age 12 and work out compulsively. But I also eat a lot of junk, because the constant workouts allow that and because junk is delicious. But cutting everything out whole hog (whole hogs, for what it’s worth, would be Whole30-compliant) was always a dumb idea.
I’m giving up the diet and would like to share the two lessons I’ve learned.
1) Hold on tight to carbs and cheese and never let them go. Embrace them until your dying breath.
2) Applesauce is underrated. It’s no bag of Cheetos, but it’s not bad.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to eat fried cheese at the fair.
What VOSD Learned This Week
Yes, the state is starting to ease some drought restrictions. Yes, researchers discovered a ton of water under the ground in the Central Valley recently. But the Colorado River – which California, Nevada and Arizona all depend on – is running dry. Officials from all three are meeting to hash out doomsday preparations.
San Diego’s not involved in the talks, though. There’s an official reason why. But people involved say San Diego officials’ “negativity” isn’t helping.
♦♦♦
The November ballot is bananas, y’all.
Imagine you’re a voter, standing there minding your voter business, and you get hit with this bananas ballot like …
In the Sacramento Report, we talked to an adult performer who lives in Hillcrest who is speaking out against a ballot measure that would require condoms in porn, and do a rundown of the many new measures that qualified for the ballot this week.
On the podcast, Scott and Andy talk more about the bananas ballot and some of the local measures San Diego voters will also face.
♦♦♦
It’s not just a downtown San Diego problem: Homelessness is surging in Oceanside, which now has the No. 2 biggest homeless population in the county (though Oceanside officials dispute some of the counting).
In case you’re wondering why police or others can’t just force homeless folks into shelters that have space for them, Lisa Halverstadt explains. Law enforcement can’t make people go somewhere they don’t want to go (that pesky Constitution strikes again!), but they do have other tools.
♦♦♦
It’s baaaaaaaaaaack. The contentious Plaza de Panama plan to remake Balboa Park’s Central Mesa has been mostly resurrected. It is the official master plan of the park and last year, a court blessed it after initial losses. It was unclear if politicians would move to implement it. Mayor Kevin Faulconer did. Lisa Halverstadt broke down some of the biggest outstanding questions.
♦♦♦
Our Tijuana-based freelancers captured some captivating photos and stories from migrants who are in Tijuana shelters from all over the world, waiting to find out if they’ll be allowed asylum in the United States.
What I’m Reading
• When a man does it, it’s called investigative journalism. When Suki Kim went undercover in North Korea and spent six months documenting life there, her book was relegated to “memoir” status – and things got worse from there. (New Republic)
• On taking ownership of your space. (Lenny)
• Lawmakers and banks created a student-loan system that’s enriched a few and left millions in debt. (Reveal)
• It wasn’t young people who got hoodwinked by the Brexit vote. (MTV)
• This entire election has played out like an elaborate work of fiction, so it makes sense that this fictionalized essay about Donald Trump from one of my favorite authors reads like the truth. That same author did a real-life sitdown with the Financial Times this week. (New York Times)
• Christiane Amanpour’s excellent critique of media coverage leading up to the Brexit vote can be applied in a much broader context: By bending over backward to project neutrality, journalists sometimes do readers a massive disservice. (CNN)
Line of the Week
“When she was offered the job coaching the men at Tennessee, she said, ‘Why is that considered a step up?’” – From an essay on the legacy of coaching legend Pat Summitt.