Here’s another dichotomy. Some people eat to live while
others live to eat. Again, I’m in the second camp on that one also. In fact,
that’s much of what this whole weight maintenance journey has been about for me,
trying in vain to become an “eat to live” person. As opposed to what I have
been for most of my life, which is someone who reacted with extreme shock and
dismay at the discovery that all of the ice cream was gone. It’s just so darn hard
for me to see food as nothing more than fuel. Regarding food as simply nutrition
seems a lot like living in a world that has been scrubbed of all color until
all that’s left are muted shades of gray. Gray food is not appetizing at all.
But then, now that I think of it, maybe that’s the point.
Another twosome: you do know that some people are cooks and others
aren’t, don’t you? In other words, there are those who get goosebumps at the
thought of buying a new paring knife. Just as there are those who’d rather all
the messiness was kept behind the kitchen door, a perfectly delicious meal magically
appearing before them. Actually, I am both of those people at different times.
When I’m tired, at the end of a work day perhaps, I want my dinner and I don’t want
to know about all that slicing and dicing nonsense. But sometimes, on a weekend
or a day off, I can really get into cooking. I’m not a baker at heart and I don’t
care much for elaborate recipes. What really excites me is when I have a bunch
of leftovers that I find a way to make into a particularly tasty dish. That’s
how my husband’s favorite chicken sausage and zucchini soup was born.
There’s another thing about cooking. When I cook, the
experience of eating is better. It’s not merely the obvious, that when I prepare
a dish, I can control what’s in it – think home-made stir-fry versus Chinese
takeout. It’s something else, something intangible. I feel more connected to
the food. The food is more satisfying. It’s not just something to be consumed,
but something worth spending time with, something to celebrate. I don’t think there
are too many calories in the celebration part of food.
Which brings me back to my original point that a calorie is
not a calorie. And food is more than food. I’m a pretty logical person and the muddle
of all this drives me crazy sometimes. But perhaps I protest too much. For
while good nutrition is clearly necessary for survival, a meal savored, in all
of its meaning and mystery and paradox, is crucial to any life worth living.
This spoke to me om so many levels!
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing about cooking. The satisfaction of cooking and creating something great out of leftovers. Just tonight I walked by the Chinese takeout in the grocery store, decided it all looked too fried, and came home and made a bowl of "fried rice "out of leftovers and some precooked brown rice. So yummy and satisfying on multiple levels
LOVE your last sentence.
I used to love Chinese takeout, but it is so full of stuff that's not good for you. Just one of many things I rarely eat anymore. I'm glad this resonated with you.
DeleteWe are birds of a feather....I agree with just about everything you put in your post.
ReplyDeleteThis is what's so great about blogging, finding other people who "get it"!
DeleteI think a calorie is not a calorie if one is insulin resistant or the like.
ReplyDeleteAnd a calorie is a calorie if one just has a few pounds to lose.
Sometimes a calorie is not a calorie and the person just isn't there yet. Sometimes it depends on which end of the scale the person is currently located.
You make a really good point. I think there has to be something very different going on with someone who keeps losing and regaining the same 10 pounds and someone who keeps losing and regaining the same 100 pounds. I just can't believe that the biology of those two people could be the same.
Delete