I love thinking about food, and reading about food, and planning food. I could spend hours poring over recipe books and my newest love, food blogs. Sometimes just reading new recipes is almost as good as trying the food itself. I have never understood the people who are so busy with life that they will make an offhand comment something like: "I was so busy I just forgot to eat lunch today". WHAT???!!! How is it possible to FORGET to eat? I realize that there are some out there, like my father-in-law, that eat to live. For example, this is a man who, when down in Mexico working in a remote village and living for a few weeks by himself, will open up cold cans of food and eat them, and be content. But that is just not me. I am a person who lives to eat.
But then there's the other side of the coin. Eating too much food, especially good food, can lead to weight gain and health problems, like high blood pressure and diabetes. I came to realize many years ago that to stay at a healthy weight, I have to put in time and effort. I have to sweat and work hard. I have to (and here's the hardest part for me) watch what I eat. Meaning, I have to limit how much I eat, and what I eat, so that I don't gain weight. I seem to always be battling to lose the last 5-10 pounds. And I hardly dare enter into the cellulite conversation - let's say I have not come anywhere even close to accepting what the backs of my thighs look like and being comfortable with it. I cringe every time I turn and look at them in the mirror. I consider myself an active, healthy, fit woman, but this is one part of my body that hasn't changed much. And I'm not sure what to do about it.
Have any of you seen this comparison of 2 very different women on the internet? It sure got me thinking! it's from the blog "Diary of a Domestic Goddess".(http://diaryofadomesticgoddess.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/re-gillian-mckeith-vs-nigella-lawson/)
She is a TV “health guru” advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and ill health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets colonic irrigation and supplements, also making statements that yeast is harmful, that the colour of food is nutritionally significant, and about the utility of lingual and faecal examination.
This woman is 50.
She is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and deserts [sic].
Only you can decide which woman you want to be!
Okay, so obviously Nigella Lawson looks beautiful, and healthy and happy. While the other woman, more so like a prune. Of course we all want to be the happy, healthy looking woman! But what about what's under the surface? What's Nigella's blood pressure, cholesterol numbers, and blood sugar numbers? What do her arteries look like, after eating so much butter and desserts?
So this is my dilemma, as a food lover. How do I enjoy food, discover new foods, enjoy life and all that it has to offer, without obsessing over calories, fat grams, and weight gain, while also staying healthy? At this point in life, there is certainly some vanity on my part with regard to how I look, say in my jeans, or a bathing suit. But as I get older, it's also becoming more and more about health too. About warding off high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
Since a family vacation to Hawaii in November and then the holidays in December, I've been trying to lose the weight I gained during that time. It just hasn't happened. I've resorted to using a free online food tracking website, where I keep track of what I eat (everything I eat) to count calories and stay within an allotted number of calories per day. And it's working. I'm starting to lose the weight. And it allows me to eat whatever foods I want, as long as I'm keeping track of how much, so I know how many calories I've consumed, and how many I have left for the day. It's a bit cumbersome, and time consuming, and annoying, but so far it's working. I'm just not sure how long I'll be able to keep it up. Maybe I won't have to. Maybe I'll learn portion control, and learn what it looks like to eat an appropriate number of calories for my height and activity level. But I have a feeling that might not be the case, that this might be something I try to balance my whole life - my love of food, and my desire to be fit and healthy and look my best.
So tell me - how do you balance enjoying food with staying healthy and fit? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
