today i went to the market with chris. including round-trip subway fare for us both, i spent twenty-five dollars and change. i bought a package of bing cherries, one of kumquats, two of exceptional cherry tomatoes, a bag of green beans, a package of pita bread and a pint or so of hummus. he laughed at me as i scurried around the stalls, squealing over the discovery of cherries and taking pictures of squash.

i somehow managed to fit it all in our little midgetfridge, along with three bottles of water, a few strawberry drinks and a large jug of cranberry juice.

later, i sat down to finish the last set of questionnaires for the nutrition study:

the eating and weight questionnaire.
the food choice questionnaire.
the food preference questionnaire.
and,
the food questionnaire.

i am to answer true or false: "quick success is most important to me during a diet."
i am to answer how often i am "dieting in a conscious effort to control weight."
i am to define my maximum weight gain in one week, and how many pounds i was over my ideal weight at my maximum weight.

they want to know if i eat when i am irritated
depressed or discouraged
angry
anxious, worried or tense
frightened
disappointed
emotionally upset
when someone lets me down
when things go wrong
when something bad is about to happen

they want to know if "before i eat a favorite food my mouth tends to flood with saliva."

over nearly fifty pages and a good three or four hundred questions, they want to know much more than i bother to think about. i've never been on a diet, i don't have an ideal weight. i've no idea how much i've gained or lost in a week, i don't know how many calories i consume, and frankly i don't much care.

i'm also not fond of the fact that they've somehow made me feel guilty for eating most of a package of cherry tomatoes and all those peanuts.

sigh. stupid society.