Food and Me

Hello!  Let's talk about food.

I love food.  It's a huge source of happiness and satisfaction for me, and it's how I like to spend time with people: cooking and eating.  It's also something I didn't know much about until after college.  I used to eat things solely because they were delicious.  Now I eat things that are good for me and delicious.

I've been fascinated recently about the origins of our food.  It started a couple years ago when I read a book called My Year of Meats.  It's technically fiction, but I am inclined to believe that the portion about cattle farming is pretty accurate to real life.  It really got me thinking about the quality of food I want to be putting in my body.  Well worth a read.

Then Andrew and I watched Food, Inc., a documentary as well as a book, on one of our stay-in date nights.  I still get chills about it and am extremely wary of ground meat and fast food joints.

Fast forward through more research and enlightenment, and I am more into being selective about the ingredients in my food than ever before, more into portion control and monitoring (hey - I know better than anyone it can get away from you!) and generally being more mindful.

It's a long time in coming, but better late than never!  Recently I lost about 18 pounds, and while most people who know me would say it's because I'm running so much -and yes, that's part of it- the real reason I was able to shed the weight was my new consciousness of food.  I don't diet - I'm not grudgingly eating salads every night or trying to get by on nothing but raw vegetables.  Instead, I'm just paying more attention, and it's paying off.  You bet your sweet ass I'm going to Brave Horse Tavern for a pretzel whenever I feel like it!  When I tell people this, they want to know what I eat on a regular basis.  So, I took a picture and now I'm going to tell you about it.

I love bread.  I'm not cutting it out.  I'm also not cutting out cheese.  In fact, I eat bread and cheese nearly every day.  Establishing a sustainable way of eating is more important than cutting out things just for the sake of losing weight.  If suddenly avoiding beer or cheese is the way you plan to lose ten pounds (and don't get me wrong - you will! easily, too!), well, get ready to gain it all back later when you're not feeling so gung-ho about the diet. Take it from a lady who knows.

A fantastic no-fuss dinner for me might be this:

• homemade whole wheat pita, which I throw on my George Forman to warm up
• an ounce of soft goat cheese
• five or so cherry tomatoes cut in half
• a zucchini sauteed in a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled  with a little salt and pepper

It's filling, fresh, and delicious, but not heavy.  For you carnivores out there who might say you wouldn't feel like you're getting enough protein without meat , is twelve grams enough?  That's right. Might not seem like it, but meat isn't your only source of protein.  Meat is delicious, but it's not essential and I don't feel the need to make sure it makes its way into every meal.  I am not saying meat makes a person fat - I'm just saying that paying attention to the ingredients you choose opens up a lot more culinary possibilities in getting the nutrients you need rather than relying on meat as your protein crutch.  And no, you're not going to be hungry later in the evening after you eat this dinner because you just had 12 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.  You're set.