Day 42: The Love Of Food

Update: 231.0 lbs, 27.2 lbs so far, 10.8 left to reach goal.

I was teaching about love in the mid-high class a couple years ago, when I asked the question, "how do we use the word love...what are some things we love?" One of my favorite kids Kent said, "I love General Tsao's Chicken." He got a good laugh, but I know what he means...there are a good lot of foods I have a deep, deep fondness for as well....dare I say, even a true love for. I realized this even more this morning as I listened to Paula Dean cooking some artery clogging crock pot mac and cheese thinking 'if I was a tiny, tiny person, I'd just dive into that crock pot, and swim around a while.'

I love pizza. There are no two ways about it -- I could eat it several nights a week and not get tired of it. I could take leftovers for lunch and even have a slice or two for breakfast. In Salem, Paddingtons just rules for pizza. Not their customer service mind you...my friends are getting tired of hearing me tell the story of when the manager wanted to charge me for the mistake her teenage worker made in placing my order, but I digress. I can overlook the shotty service because there is nothing on earth like a Paddingtons Humdinger; all the meaty goodness, olives, mushrooms, cheese, on a crispy thin crust, topped off with a shot of taco sauce. It's pretty much perfection on a platter. I've determined that if I hit my goal by my birthday, I may just be sitting down to one as a celebration.

But not just pizza, I really enjoy eating most food, and it shows. I love how warm cookies and cold milk make you feel. A big helping of hot lasagna when the meat, cheese and noodles have all reached a trinity of goodness is amazing. A smoked brisket cures all pains, especially when spruced up with some Sweet Baby Rays, and an Original vegetarian omelette with that sharp swiss cheese is only outdone by a plate of FortyNiner ultra thin pancakes. All these foods and more, I love.

I love the preparation, I love the plating, I love the partaking. I love the social aspect of enjoying really good food together as well. And it was this love of food that I worried about as I began the calorie cutback. Would I enjoy eating a bunch of low calorie food, or would I just be miserable all the time, wishing I had my old eating habits back? Would I watch others eating whatever they wanted and think 'that used to be me...oh the good days?' Well, I can tell you, at first the reality was that I did not enjoy food for a while, and some low cal or low carb options I picked up just flat out stunk. (Again I say, don't go for the low carb, low cal tortillas...they should call them El Stinkos.)

However, now I can say, I'm back to enjoying most of the things we eat. I've really learned to savor the food we make, especially when there is less of it to enjoy. Instead of shovelling in food by the forkful, I'm enjoying each bite, when we're not in a rush to get somewhere. Someone said to try to make each meal a 20 minute event, since you don't often realize you're full until 20 minutes later. How many times have we said, "oh man, I ate way too much," because we were hammering the meal and got through the first course before the 5 minute mark?

I've also enjoyed putting together meals that will get the biggest bang for the buck calorically, while being flavorful and satisfying. And when the occasion comes that we're going to go out (the Mrs. wants to hit Burgerville tonight in fact,) then I plan accordingly in the morning, and get to enjoy some of those things that I really used to love before, while still hitting the target calorie zone.

So yes, I still love food, I'm just learning to love less of it at each meal, and to love those healthier items I didn't always incorporate before, and to not be tempted by the caloric mistresses of my yesteryears quite as much!

Hasta!

PS - it's beautiful out today in the old Pacific NW, get out and move! And look for some fun pictures on Monday's post!