Dreaming of Food... |
I like food! OK, I put it out there. I like various flavors, textures, smells and
the feeling of having just enjoyed a tasty meal. As a kid, my father jokingly referred to me
as Electrolux, after the vacuum cleaner brand, because, out of my brothers, I
was always the one that would swoop in and polish off whatever food was left on
their plates. As a parent, all of our
children go through a phase in their life where they do not finish what is in
front of them. When you go out to eat,
that can become a costly waste of food.
My parents had Wayne, so there was never food neither left on a plate
nor wasted. Like many peers, I was
taught to eat whatever was put in front of me (except the hated liver). Going to visit my grandparents, my
grandmother would open the “dessert drawer” and throw that carrot in front of
me, “Make all gone, Wayne, and you can pick something from the draw.” My dad grew up learning to polish off a whole
tray of fresh baked cookies. I remember
as an adult, visiting some cousins that exhibited traits of being good eaters,
saying to my parents, then later to Debbie, “Don’t you feed him? He doesn’t look healthy.” I am not sure if this was a family thing, a
cultural thing, or an American thing.
Food was always foisted onto me.
A number of years ago, a new
word was added to the English language – Foodie. This was officially added in the 1980’s. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines Foodie (n) as “a person having an avid interest
in the latest food fads.” Collins
English Dictionary defines the word as, “a person having an enthusiastic
interest in the preparation and consumption of good food.” I am not necessarily interested in food
fads. While I enjoy cooking and eating,
I cannot say that I have an “enthusiastic interest” in these. One of my daughters thought she might be a
Foodie, but I think she stated it best, “I am not a Foodie. I just like to eat!”
“But, Wayne, your goal for the year was to transform your
body. How can you talk about eating like
this?”
Great question! If we look at the “celebrity” chefs, who are
definitely Foodies, take their food expertise seriously and eat / taste as part
of their livelihood / life style, a majority of them are not overweight. “Yeah, but…” no, there are no “yeah, buts” in
this case. Enjoying food does not equal
gluttony. I do not count the calories of
the foods that I eat. I no longer eat
until I feel like I am about to explode.
I limit the types of foods that I eat on a regular basis, saving the
more “unhealthy” options as an occasionally “treat.” What I have found is that by changing my
perspective, my daily meals are to fuel me for the day ahead and have certain
parameters that are repeated, which means that the foods I avoid, over time, I
no longer miss. When the infrequent
meals come that I want to “let myself go,” I find that I enjoy them more. Like anything else, once I set my mind to it,
became diligent (some might accuse me of being anal), and followed through, my
eating habits changed. However, let us
not be fooled…I still like food!
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