• I drink water almost exclusively. With the exception of a few samples, I can drink no soda (I’ve been a lifelong Coke user–I seriously miss it). Most juices are out as well, and I don’t drink coffee, tea or alcohol.
• I don’t eat many deserts. Chocolate is out. I’ve occasionally had some homemade pie with Canadian fruit, and my wife made an excellent galette with blackberries and peaches from the freezer, but they’re the exception to the rule.
• Junk food and fast food are non-starters.
• I rarely ‘grab something on the go’ when I’m out of the house. That means I’ve been eaten far fewer muffins, bagels and other baked goods you’d usually find at your local coffee shop.
• I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, fish, chicken and pasta (made from Canadian wheat durum).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m downright apathetic about food, so this process has just been a time-consuming bother more than a trial. I have missed the stimulating effect of Coke and the occasional sugary snack. I didn’t realize how much I depended on those to get me through some wintery afternoons.

I didn’t plan for this to happen, but I’ve lost seven pounds. Or, if you prefer, 3.2 kilograms. I think the big difference is that I’m pretty much drinking only water. If you add up the calories from a can of Coke a day, plus the occasional juice and hot chocolate, you get to a couple thousand calories a week pretty quickly. Over a few months, that makes a difference.

I’ve been using an app to track my weight all year. This is what the last few months looks like:

Maybe I’ll start a new Canadian dieting craze? “Act now, and get your Canada Diet Program for three monthly installments of $29.99! The pounds will melt away like a spring thaw in Winnipeg!”

On a lighter note, it’s time for another contest. The good people at Saul Good Gift Company have donated a gourmet gift basket to the cause. It contains all sorts of tasty local stuff–pecan fruit crisps from Vancouver, chocolate bark from Ladysmith, season fruit preserves from Langley and so forth.

What do you have to do to enter this contest? Simply ‘like’ the 1Y1C Facebook page. Have you already liked it? No problem, you’re already entered in the contest.

Not on Facebook? Good for you. Just leave a comment below and we’ll add your name to the mix.

I’ll pick a winner in early October and Saul will send you the goodies.

Because I know you’re wondering, the recipes were for hamburger soup, pork chops, Shake ‘N’ Bake chicken, spaghetti, pizza and the much-hated sole. His seventh meal was flank steak, reserved for special occasions.

I went off to university, and cooked for myself for the next few years.

So, for some critical formative years, I ate in a kind of culinary desert.

The result? As an adult, I’m ambivalent, if not downright anhedonic about food. There are foods I moderately prefer to other foods, but, beyond health concerns, I’m not somebody who really cares about what I eat.

I used to not eat red meat for ethical reasons. Now I don’t do it because it simplifies my eating decisions. When my wife is away, I’m happy eating the same food for two or three meals in a row. When faced with a restaurant menu, I scan it until I find something that appeals, and I stop there. I also don’t drink alcohol, coffee or tea.

I’m not critical of people who find great joy or comfort in preparing and eating food. Well, I do think a subsection of foodies has a misbegotten sense of moral righteousness around their eating habits, but they’re the exception.

But now I have to constantly think about food. I have to rigorously contemplate my every buying and eating decision. And you know what? It sucks.

With this in mind, will I miss anything over the next four months? I do drink Coke quite often, so that’s a non-starter. And who doesn’t like chocolate? I’ll also miss the convenience of grabbing some sushi (or nearly anything, for that matter) for lunch.

The Rules

If I eat it at home, it has to be sourced in Canada. That’s everything, from cooking oil to sugar to any processed food. I’ve been hosting some informative discussions on the One Year, One Canadian Facebook page which has helped me discover promising sources of Canadian bread, sugar and flour.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time at farmer’s markets, asking irritating questions about Colin the chicken. I’ll also spend some time this fall going right to the source to get food. I went snorkeling with a friend to catch the red rock crabs you see in the photo.

I don’t plan to eat out that much, but when I do, I’m going to require that the main ingredients be sourced in Canada.

If you had to eat all-Canadian for a year, what would you miss most?