I went on a diet.

Diet is one of my four-letter words, one I hate as much as a religious mother hates to hear her children utter one of those other four-letter words.

But for the last week, I've been on a diet.

It was my choice. It's part of a Bootcamp Team Training regimen with Elkhart trainer Lori Harris. She asks participants to give up all grains and dairy for the first two weeks, as well as sugar and alcohol. That leaves fruits, vegetables and lean meats. She recommends eating greens, drinking greens and, in my view, generally imitating bunnies.

I told Harris I'd give her at least a week of the modified food intake plan.

In that first week:

* I went to a cookout and helped grill hamburgers and hot dogs. People brought homemade desserts and about 10 bags of various kinds of chips. I ate the watermelon we took, blueberries, cantaloupe and four or five hamburger patties without buns.

* I ordered pizza and salad for the newsroom staff from Bruno's Pizza in Elkhart. Marisa Cataldo kindly sent along a tart with a lovely pastry crust and jam on top. It was still warm when it arrived. I cut off a hunk and put it in the freezer without taking a bite. I ate salad.

* I went to two restaurants and watched people eat pizza. This wasn't just for fun or torture, but I opted to eat those meals elsewhere to stay within my imposed eating guidelines.

* I paid $5.87 at a local health food store for a 20-ounce smoothie made with blueberries, strawberries, banana and acai, a South American wonderfruit.

* I could hear the chocolate-covered cashew crunch and cinnamon roll from Rise 'n Roll Bakery calling my name from my kitchen counter. "Mar-shall. Mar-shall. We're waiting," they said in a sing-song voice. I didn't relent.

Brian Wansink, the amazing food researcher at Cornell University, says that on average we make 200 food decisions a day. For someone who thinks about food as much as I do, the number may be higher.

Last week, the tough morning workouts lasted an hour. The focus on food was an all-day ordeal as I tried to stave off hunger with bananas, blueberries, almonds, broccoli and pounds of turkey breast. I visited Martin's Super Markets several times to stock up. I spent a lot to eat clean.

Eating clean. That's what it's called. And after the "diet" is over, that's still the goal, though it'll be less stringent.

The reality is that compared to five years ago, my diet has practically been bleached. When I was fat Marshall, I ate anything and everything with a frightening regularity. When I started running and eating better, I dropped 25 pounds. When I first worked out with Harris several years ago, I lost more weight and got stronger.

Over time, I learned to eat better, but I don't believe in diets or that food is only fuel for our bodies.

For me, and for most people, diets don't work. Wansink has proof based on his studies. We don't do well when we try to completely and forever avoid what we crave. We do it for a time, return to habits and gain weight back.

Last week, I dieted for several reasons. I wanted to see if my discipline was strong enough to walk by the sugar, to not reach for a beer no matter how badly I wanted one. And I wanted to see what it's like to have limitations. A growing number of people in this world avoid dairy, wheat or sugar because of allergies, celiac disease or diabetes. They have to do this. I was just choosing to.

I wanted to eat differently to remind myself of better habits.

I eat better when I keep a food journal and write down everything I ingest.

I feel better when I don't eat fake food, such as the stuff that a factory cooked, glued together and put in plastic wrap or a colorfully decorated cardboard box that has almost as much nutritional value as the food inside it's marketing.

Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and other excellent books and articles, urges eaters to adopt a seven-word mantra. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." (His book "In Defense of Food" is a quick read and explains what he means and how to do this while avoiding what he calls "nutritionism.")

Eating is one of two things we have to do to not become worm food, breathing being the other. That we do without thinking. Those hundreds of eating decisions a day sometimes trip us up and we end up heavier and unhealthier than we intended.

Fat and sugar taste good. Most of us eat for pleasure, not just fuel. And trying to deny that often leads to failure. Besides, dieting is expensive. Gaining weight and losing weight cost more money than we want to spend.

So what are we to do?

Add a little math to the mix. Wansink recommends that we think of 100 calories a day. Subtracting that amount from our diet can cause 10 pounds of weight loss a year. In his book, "Mindless Eating," he recommends picking three things to target in your dietary practices to be more aware of what you're eating and stave off that weight we dread.

Harris asked me, the food guy, whether I could eat clean 90 percent of the time. I do pretty well, but that percentage may be high. I could probably eat clean 80 percent of the time. This winter when I slipped, even as I was training for and running two half-marathons, I gained 10 pounds. Eighty percent is a nice target for me and would help get to and maintain a target weight a bit lower than my current one.

That doesn't mean I won't be visiting bakeries and eating dessert. It just means putting it in balance and picking when it happens. It means staying active -- logging miles and workouts -- to burn off the food.

It means paying attention to what I put in my mouth, which I enjoy doing anyway.

I lasted a week. I may not last much longer. But this reminds me that I don't always need to answer when the sugar calls my name.

Quick Bites

* Congratulations to two restaurants that had one-year anniversary parties this past weekend. Kelli Jae's Café, 133 S. Main St., Goshen, had a party Friday night. Culinary Treasures, 204 S. Main St., Middlebury, also had a weekend celebration.

* Ruth Hochstetler of Goshen will be getting an ice cream party from Edy's Grand Ice Cream, which is giving away 1,500 parties of ice cream and supplies for 100 people. The ice cream will be delivered in a couple weeks and Hochstetler will likely be feeding friends.

* Lucchese's, 655 C.R. 17, Elkhart, is having a Back To School Martini Tasting from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday on its patio. Light hors d'oeuvres and the drinks will be served for $15 per person. Reservations: (574) 522-4137.