I don't know if I really have food fetishes, but I do admit to a large number of exclusions in my current diet. When you compare what I used to consume ten years ago with what I consume now, "radical" is the best word to describe the change.
As a fully mature adult, I basically ate anything. Oh there were a few exclusions--for example, avocados and sardines. I know those green veggies are supposed to be healthy but nothing on God's earth will convince me that shoving that greasy mess down my throat will make me heart attack resistant. I can't stand the color, the texture and the consistency of avocados so if I find one that had the audacity to appear in something I ordered, I just throw it out. Well, not literally. I don't believe in tossing food on the floor like a baby in a highchair, but napkins will do for relocating the avocado. Or else there's always my husband, who'll eat anything except mayonnaise.
What else did I not eat a few years back? Not much else, but you can also put me down for rejecting gamy meats like venison and buffalo. I also wasn't that fond of fish, but it wasn't like I was revolted by it (except if you threw a whole fish on my plate and I had to stare at its eyes to filet it.)
Nowadays, however, I've a long list of exceptions. Generally speaking it correlates with my energy level. By the time I finish feeding the pets and cooking their next meal, I'm like sick of being the kitchen nanny. And lately I'm not that hungry around lunch time (breakfast is easy--just coffee and a biscotti). So I'm more than satisfied with a piece of cheese, any leftovers from dinner. Or let's unveil the sweets: a juicy piece of cherry pie; a large chocolate cookie; maybe a nibble of coconut cream pie.. More than likely I favor desserts over anything with a high degree of nutritional power. I used to eat yogurt, but now if I think about dipping my spoon into a fruit at the bottom Greek yogurt, I get bored and even more appetite challenged.
Dinners are somewhat easier since we usually grab a bite at one of the million restaurants five miles or less from our house. I may again not be too hungry but I'll choose something normal--perhaps not incredibly healthful, but also something that doesn't reek of sugar. I have, however, modified that habit from time to time. A few evenings ago I had a mini Southwest salad at Red Robin and combined that with a vanilla shake. (Something's gone awry with Red Robin's ice cream mixer because that shake was so watery I practically could slurp up the whole thing without needing a spoon.)
You'd think with all this picky eating that I would have lost weight, but no. I'm still probably about 10 pounds overweight. I guess all that sugar in candy, ice cream and bakery products has joined forces. Like any smart enemy, it has conspired to teach me a lesson: that eating fewer protein products and veggies is not a good chess move. As far as I know, sweets aren't the mainstay of any so-called healthy diet. Do you think Marie Osmond would do a weight commercial for a company that promised you could lose buckets of weight just by scarfing up Hershey bars, cupcakes and Ben & Jerry's? No way. She'd toss her shoulder-length mass of black hair over her shoulder and sign on with a more traditional weight loss plan.
Eating is not the glorious event it used to be, but it's still up there in the Best Ten Tenets of Living.
As a fully mature adult, I basically ate anything. Oh there were a few exclusions--for example, avocados and sardines. I know those green veggies are supposed to be healthy but nothing on God's earth will convince me that shoving that greasy mess down my throat will make me heart attack resistant. I can't stand the color, the texture and the consistency of avocados so if I find one that had the audacity to appear in something I ordered, I just throw it out. Well, not literally. I don't believe in tossing food on the floor like a baby in a highchair, but napkins will do for relocating the avocado. Or else there's always my husband, who'll eat anything except mayonnaise.
What else did I not eat a few years back? Not much else, but you can also put me down for rejecting gamy meats like venison and buffalo. I also wasn't that fond of fish, but it wasn't like I was revolted by it (except if you threw a whole fish on my plate and I had to stare at its eyes to filet it.)
Nowadays, however, I've a long list of exceptions. Generally speaking it correlates with my energy level. By the time I finish feeding the pets and cooking their next meal, I'm like sick of being the kitchen nanny. And lately I'm not that hungry around lunch time (breakfast is easy--just coffee and a biscotti). So I'm more than satisfied with a piece of cheese, any leftovers from dinner. Or let's unveil the sweets: a juicy piece of cherry pie; a large chocolate cookie; maybe a nibble of coconut cream pie.. More than likely I favor desserts over anything with a high degree of nutritional power. I used to eat yogurt, but now if I think about dipping my spoon into a fruit at the bottom Greek yogurt, I get bored and even more appetite challenged.
Dinners are somewhat easier since we usually grab a bite at one of the million restaurants five miles or less from our house. I may again not be too hungry but I'll choose something normal--perhaps not incredibly healthful, but also something that doesn't reek of sugar. I have, however, modified that habit from time to time. A few evenings ago I had a mini Southwest salad at Red Robin and combined that with a vanilla shake. (Something's gone awry with Red Robin's ice cream mixer because that shake was so watery I practically could slurp up the whole thing without needing a spoon.)
You'd think with all this picky eating that I would have lost weight, but no. I'm still probably about 10 pounds overweight. I guess all that sugar in candy, ice cream and bakery products has joined forces. Like any smart enemy, it has conspired to teach me a lesson: that eating fewer protein products and veggies is not a good chess move. As far as I know, sweets aren't the mainstay of any so-called healthy diet. Do you think Marie Osmond would do a weight commercial for a company that promised you could lose buckets of weight just by scarfing up Hershey bars, cupcakes and Ben & Jerry's? No way. She'd toss her shoulder-length mass of black hair over her shoulder and sign on with a more traditional weight loss plan.
Eating is not the glorious event it used to be, but it's still up there in the Best Ten Tenets of Living.
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