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The first day of Spring is also the Iranian new year, according to my only real Iranian friend, Vafa.

With the exception of raw fruit and vegetables, I will only eat in the company of other people.

I've said this before, but I used the excuse of being in the house alone while Mom was in Arizona to suspend it... and it stayed suspended. But I had lots of guests. I completely would have survived. And the point is that absolute rules I can keep, even if arbitrary, whereas on matters of degree I have no self control. Plus a nearly infinite capacity to eat (without gaining weight; I didn't say life was fair). And a tendency to use food as my only drug– it takes me out of what I need to be doing with eating, digesting in a slight haze, and sleeping.

So I've been overeating in the mornings, and then managing to finally be not interested in eating when other people are. Alan offered me a vegan hummus and tabbouleh sandwich and I didn't take it. Last night I had a can of Trader Joe's vegan chili and a can of Stop & Shop black olives. Sorry to give the details, but this public posting doesn't come a minute too soon.

Giving up online comics with a public pledge around the time of the Chinese (excuse me, Asian Lunar) New Year is working pretty well, but the follow-up note "no more eating alone" was broken after a week, with the weak excuse that I was alone in the house for a weak and might have starved. So now on the first day of spring and the Iranian new year I try again. Veggies and fruits give me the healthy escape route (rather than some form of carbs, oil, and salt, not necessarily in order, as the usual non-meal eating). And maybe I will actually plan meals more often.

So here goes the end-run around my brain for a healthy food intake with a powerful incentive to do more about the social aspects of meals and eating. (I also need to do some sort of nutritional audit for once to see if there's a nutrient that my body knows it needs but can only search for by a general "I want food" message.)

The other part of this is that I'm always working, and the things that don't mix well with work but do with other people should be done with other people.

From now on, food is part of a social existence, as it truly is and ought to be.