Promos and Apologies . . . Waxing Poetic on the Food Blog Life

Starting this blog has turned me on to the wonderful world of food blogging! I am apparently not the only one who has decided to document better living through photographing and publically posting their meals. Part of my daily routine has been to check the following blogs to see what these ladies have been munching for the day:

Kath Eats Real Food
http://www.katheats.com/
Kath is going to school to be a registered dietician, and lives the kind of healthy, productive, organized lifestyle that most of us can only dream of! I drool over her meals, and marvel at her ability to eat so well and stay so slim . . . I guess all the bike riding and trips to the gym probably help.

On A Lobster Placemat
http://onalobsterplacemat.blogspot.com/
My girl Rose here reminds me a lot of myself – maybe because she’s a writing student, or maybe because she owns a lobster placemat. Either way, she rocks! I am especially inspired by her amazing oatmeal recipes . . . this lady is an oatmeal artiste!

Eat Like Me
http://www.self.com/health/blogs/eatlikeme
Cristin’s blog is part of Self.com’s Healthy Eating website, which automatically makes me extremely jealous. She’s a local Boston girl who runs her own healthy meal planning business, and eats like a champ.


One of the things I find most inspiring about all three of these nutritionistas is the fact that they eat hearty, fresh meals. They are not afraid of carbs, or loading a bowl full of oats and cereal and nuts. They have made peace with peanut butter. They look at food as fuel for life, with each ingredient serving some sort of delicious, yet practical purpose.

That’s what I want. More than losing 5 invisible pounds that only I can see – I want to be able to appreciate food and eat to live – to treat myself by treating my body well. I went from eating nothing but crap all the time, to depriving myself of everything but lettuce and grilled chicken, to a roller coaster of starving all day and bingeing on “healthy” snacks all night. And my body is confused. This Nutrisystem plan, as whack as it might be, has given me the chance to slow down and listen to what my bod is trying to say. And it is shouting, “Wtf, man?! Why do you hate me?? What have I ever done to you??”

I’m sorry, body. Sorry that I stuffed you full of shit for the first 20 years of my life rather than deal with the things that were making me emotional, confused, and upset. Sorry that I declared war on you – blockading all carbohydrates and berating you for every stem of broccoli or wedge of non-fat cheese you ate to try to fill the void. I’m sorry I’ve been forcing you to workout with very little fuel in the tank – and then get pissed at you when you are tired and achy and don’t feel like doing the extra 20 minutes on the treadmill. I apologize for all those cute outfits I didn’t buy you, because I didn’t want to accept the size on the label. I regret the times that I turned down offers to go out for dinners and drinks with people because I didn’t want to have to face the menu – and the guilt that would come with “cheating”. In short – I have been a Mommie Dearest to you, poor body. I have lulled you into submission, only to beat you with a wire hanger for stupid, pointless things. And yeh – I know its effed up. And I don’t wanna live that way anymore.

So once my next box of Nutisystem food has come and gone, this blog is going to be more about eating to live – trying new recipes, striking a balance between making healthy choices and allowing myself not to dwell on the things I eat and decisions I make. Yeh – I might be kinda crazy. And yeh – maybe I need a little more help than I thought – lol! But reading about how others have worked to change their lifestyles has really inspired me to change my own . . . and if I’m successful, maybe I can help someone else to do the same.