Food Porn

It may be the journey of weight loss that leads me to this point. But I am guilty of food fantasies. Yes, I seem to have collected a few food related blogs on my blog roster to the left side here.

I attribute this to the roller coaster ride of a year on Jenny Craig and then the complete repulsion of microwaveable chemical laden food that ensued shortly after that only to be followed by a personal quest to fill an insatiable desire for organic anything.

I have since rooted firmly in a safe place, ten pounds heavier, but still a safe place. I have found a comfortable personal diet that involves more fruit and veggies than I ever thought I would consume. I steer clear of most processed foods and condiments in favor of fresh whole foods prepared simply. I still have a glass of wine or two and I will never give up dark chocolate, I just watch how much I eat of that. Based on recent events, apparently I can no longer drink too much wine anyway for fear of sending the room spinning like Dorothy’s house just before it landed in Oz!

So I have taken up the guilty pleasure of living vicariously through food porn. Don’t be shocked I know there are others out there; I can’t be alone in this. It started innocently enough with Jen Jen at Milk & Cookies. What can I say, she is a wonderful photographer of her creations and she really knows how to give Martha a run for her money. Besides her seasons are opposite of ours as she is in Australia and I love that she is sipping hot chocolate during our blazing summers!

Then at about the same time I found Carol at Paris Breakfasts. I do get really hungry on this blog because Carol has an incurable desire for all things yummy and sweet from France coupled with dark cafe drinks. Her breakfasts and tea times have inspired her to paint the most serene and adorable water color art prints. Living in New York, she visits France frequently. There is so much longing here for Carol to return to Paris that I sometimes want to send her a ticket myself. Oh, we will have to survive on the great photos, watercolors and cute blog posts.

Cathy at Nobel Pig is somewhat of a new and wonderful find; it is a place for food, wine and humor. She is building a wine orchard and chronicles its progress, her family, decadent desserts, insightful wine wisdom and random thoughts on strange plastic surgery procedures, tragic love tales between liquor bottles and general musings. I tell myself I am there for the wine wisdom but I really like the great up close photos of things like grilled marshmallow - chocolate - banana sandwiches. She warns you to get your fat pants out!

I found a new favorite for a rich blend of food and travel when I stumbled upon Laura’s Paris Cooking Notebook. Laura travels Europe taking beautiful pictures of countryside, green markets and local merchants. Sprinkle in a few recipes for fresh wholesome fair and you have a world culinary adventure! Who can resist that type of temptation?

But I would be remiss if I did not mention the more down to earth blog called Almost Fit. I am new to this blog but I like it. In fact it is just what I have been looking for. In this diary a writer chronicles his quest to get fit through whole fresh foods rather than fad diets one day and one issue at a time. This is inspiring for me as it is just where I am now and I can relate.

I hope you enjoy these new additions to the blog roll.

My Chemical Romance

Megan is tired of my Fourth of July post and frankly - so am I. I have just been so busy and now I have been getting ready for my fabulous vacation. But before I head out I thought I would set the stage for my return.

I have come to the realization that I really need to get off the fake food! Don't get me wrong here, I love Jenny Craig but Im gettin a little itchy on these frozen dinners and packaged things. I mean it has been more than a year now.

I began to develop a concern about my fake food addiction not so much with the Jenny Craig food that I was eating – for I needed that to get my diet under control. (I had to start somewhere.) I became concerned with the onset of a particularly strange love affair I nurtured for Cool Whip. I mean to say that I put Cool Whip on everything, Have you ever read the ingredients for Cool Whip? There simply is no food in it. I can not pronounce any of the ingredients and I don’t know of a food group that any of those ingredients could be from. I was compelled to purchase mass quantities of Cool Whip each week at the grocery store. It was when I switched to the large Tub o’ Whip that I really became aware of what I was doing. What is this chemical? What is it doing to me? What are the long term effects of heavy doses of Cool Whip?

I began to pay uncomfortable attention to the other chemicals that I have grown fond of particularly my Coffee Mate Sugar Free French Vanilla Powder. What the hell is that? I am really not sure but every morning I jump out of bed because I am going to get some of that powder in my coffee and it will start my day right! Matt calls the Coffee Mate “cool creamer”. He drinks the regular liquid form of “cool creamer” basically he likes a little coffee with his French Vanilla creamer. A good day is when you have creamer and a bad day is when you are out.

I don’t know about the rest of you but this conspicuous consumption of powders and liquids that are concocted of un-pronounceable ingredients that represent nothing like real food is making me nervous. Coke, Pepsi, Sprite? At least wine has grape juice in it – I can deal with that. Splenda – it has been a little splendid but it is also a little spooky. I think that margarine product called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” is hilarious. Of course we can’t believe its not butter – we have no freaking idea what it is, but as a society we seem to be ok with that.

Now if you are really looking for interesting reading about mystery things to put into your body look no further than the new weight loss aid Alli’s product description and side affects. Sorry, I wont go into that on this blog you will have to check that one out for yourself – absolutely too gross!

I am no health food nut. I like chocolate and wine and bread and all sorts of goodies that we need to eat in moderation only. But I just started wondering about the fake things I have been consuming. I wonder where they come from. I wonder how they are made. I wonder what those things will do to my body over the long term.

So I am going on vacation and I plan to eat real chocolate. I plan to eat incredible cheese. I especially plan to indulge in some magnificent wine and superb bread. When I come back I am embarking on a new diet journey. I need to end this chemical romance. I want to see if I can eat only food that I understand. Just food that makes sense, things I can pronounce and things that don’t appear to be altered too much. I realize this will be tough because even our toothpaste comes from China and has strange and harmful ingredients but I will just start out with my basic food and work my way up from there.

Sometimes I wake up and while drinking my powder infused chemically vanilla flavored coffee I wonder how we got so far from the simple things in life.

Has Anyone Seen A Really Fat Toddler?

Because that seems to be what I lost. I mean I have lost 50 lbs and about 31 inches to date. If you think about it, that is about the size of a short round little kid. I prefer to think that it is some loud child screaming in Wal-Mart. Or perhaps some whinny little one that is crabby all the time. However I imagine it – it is gone. It didn’t go easily but it could return easily if I am not vigilant. I have not reached my goal yet but I am so close. I would like to lose about another 10 to 15 pounds but heck that might take another year and I promised a before and after shot. I was going to put one up sooner but I could not get the last bit of weight off. I have been on a plateau for a few months now and I stay within the same 3 lbs no mater what I eat or do so I will just hang in there and keep building muscle.

This is my before picture – that is me in the white blouse. This was taken almost exactly one year ago. I had a lot of fun with my pal Sylvia that day. We do like our margaritas! But I was uncomfortable and I remember that I was worried about my health.

This is me after a year of working out and eating Jenny Craig food. I have to say that I do have the best counselor at JC that anyone could ever wish for. Judy has nurtured me along in such a supportive way. She is very helpful, professional and just a down right wonderful person. She is an important friend to me. And although some think it is an expensive program – it is cheaper than a heart attack and the aftermath of all of that so I am grateful.

I am happy to be healthy and I am surprised that I actually like working out – I even crave it sometimes. I feel very exposed and self-conscious about posting these pictures but I felt it was important for the little journey that I have been on this year. I embarked on a pathway of self discovery and renewal and this task is part of that.

Next post will feature some of the fun new goodies that we got in at Soul of the Rose – or maybe I’ll just write something silly instead.

Getting to the half-way point...

At the risk of sounding like Bridget Jones:

Pounds Lost – 30! Inches Lost – 10.5!

That is a lot of weight for me to lose and I am very happy that I have made it this far. If I have not been updating this blog it is because I’ve been spending most of my free time trying to get in some exercise. I was walking about 3.5 to 4 miles a day but I have taken to swimming laps with my gal pals and we really like it.

I have had many mornings in my life pondering: "What shall I wear today?" Or more likely, "What fits today!" Now I am finding I have the same problem but this time the clothes are way too big! I have gone down more than 2 sizes and have already given away most of my clothes. It is already time to clean my closet out again!

I have taken to buying a lot of things at Target. I realize that this is not the house of fashion, but I cannot bring myself to spend $60 to $100 on a pair of jeans when I know I will not be in that size next month. Lucky for me it is mostly T-shirts and jeans from Target so I think I can get by like this for a while.

I promise to post a good before and after picture of the real me, but I decided not to dilute the effect with a halfway shot so you will just have to wait. I should reach my goal around the December. Oh, and no, I am not afraid of gaining weight during the holidays. I seem to have found a really nice way to eat for life and I really like the exercise too. I am hoping Santa brings me a beach cruiser bike! I still find ways to work in some of my favorite splurges – just not so much. Nina and I had s'mores over the fire pit last weekend and it was way yummy!