At 05:00 PM 9/22/96 -0400, Meredith wrote:
>... Anyways, I still don't like cold food!  ... I also drink water
>at room temperature.  When people ask if I want ice cubes and I say "no",
>I get a really weird look ...

Me, too.  I always ask for my water without ice and the server always seems
surprised.  Cold water has always seemed too much of a shock to my system.
I don't drink much with meals any more since I am eating a lot more high
water content food (and tap water tastes funky), but I like to have a little
to rinse my mouth.  I don't refrigerate fruit unless it is ripe and I am not
ready to eat it yet.  Vegetables depend on where I found them - if they were
in a cooler, I put them in the refrigerator; if they were in the open, I but
them in the bins.  But I do like to let cold food warm up before I eat it.

>Since the beginning of the summer, I've lost a fair amount of weight
>...  The strange thing is only a few people have said anything.  ...

I found this, too.  I lost 11 pounds in one week (117 to 106 at 5'3") when I
fasted, and no one said a word.  In three months, I lost 3 more pounds, but
have been building up my muscles with exercise, so I was surprised that my
weight had decreased further.  Only two people in all of this time said
"have you lost weight?"  Perhaps the fact that I usually wear my clothing
loose hid a lot of the change.

>Why do people get defensive and then pry when they don't really care?

They care -- they just want an easier answer.  So many people are out there
hyping "magic bullets" (temporary diet changes, drugs, supplements,
machines, etc.) that promise results without a permanent change in
lifestyle, and people want to believe that they will work.  They would
rather keep eating cheesecake or whatever and do something to counteract it.
As a matter of fact, I would like that, too, but I know better now.
Fortunately, when I do sample some of the things I have given up (cake, soft
drinks, cookies, etc.), they don't taste good anymore.

patric