Dear food: we're breaking up

I am continually obsessed and fascinated with the relationship people have with food. Mostly, because I am obsessed with my own relationship with food. Mostly because I am obsessed with food. I am constantly thinking about what I have eaten, what I am eating and what I will be eating. I mock the quote: "Don't live to eat, eat to live". I do. I love being food/eating centric. It brings me a lot of joy. It challenges me. I broadens me. Food is unique because you need it to survive, and because it can give you so much pleasure.

I am constantly surprised and confused when people go on these radical diets. I am the first person to admit I do not know everything. But, the evidence seems to indicate that yo-yo dieting is bad news all around. It's like, people cut out an entire food group, lose weight, add back the food group and expect to keep it off. I'm no nutritionist but even I know that's not the way it works. It is so seductive to feel that way, though. Even I succumbed to it after initiating a 6-pack food and work-out plan. I vowed to add more meat back into my diet for a time because animal protein is more easily assimilated in the body. I had read about actors needing to create some serious muscle for movies (wolverine) and body builders eating nothing but chicken before the big event. After achieving my desired results,  I would back off meat and simply maintain the body I had so painstakingly cultivated.

Yeah...that's not the way it works.

Dieting and fitness is a lifestyle. It's something you have to do week by week and day by day. There is no grapefruit-cayenne beverage that will melt fat and give you the physique of your dreams. It takes time, it takes effort. Whatever body you want - make sure to eat the food that you will like for a lifetime.

Prosciutto and cantaloupe

Pairing flavors such as bitter cappuccinos and sweet cupcakes are my come-to-jesus moments. Prosciutto (one of the few meats in my diet) is a particular weakness of mine. It really doesn't compare to the thick cuts I was exposed to in Switzerland but it certainly satisfies my cravings. One of my local delis sells cheap "prosciutto ends" that are mostly fat but have just enough meat to bite into. Combining prosciutto and cantaloupe is my new favorite post-work out snack.  Sweet, salty, and juicy!