Food as Fuel: 1.25.07

I've often thought about starting a separate blog to record all of my thoughts about dieting, eating healthy, and things like that--I even checked to see if foodasfuel.blogspot was taken (it was)--but figured I could record them here just as well.

I've been making progress. And I remember that I've made this type of progress before. In the summer and fall of 2003 I weighed a lot less than where I am now. But how I got there was different. I got there by limiting my total caloric intake, by any means neccessary. Which meant that I could still eat pizza for dinner, as long as I had a super low-fat breakfast and dinner.

And that works. It's the total calorie count that matters. But I didn't change my eating habits. I still wanted fattening foods, I still liked to eat before I went to bed, I didn't really want to control my portion sizes, I wasn't eating any fruit...so when I reached my goal what happened? I didn't have any healthy habits to stick to. I felt like I could eat what I want since my "diet" was over.

And the weight didn't come back immediately, but it did come back. Now it's 2007 and I had to start over. But now I've got the habits to stick to. I'm eating lots of fruit, and lean meat. I have protein for breakfast, and a fruit or salad at every meal to fill me up. And I don't snack.

Most nights for dinner I eat some form of chicken, never fried, but with different flavors. Barbecue, General Tso sauce, chipotle and lime sauce. And I have a decently large portion, but it's lean and that's it. It's not like pasta where I make half the box and eat everything I make.

I was thinking if I'd be able to eat pasta again, once I've met my goals. But even if I measured out a healthy portion, I don't know if it would fill me up and satisfy me like the lean meat does.

Two days ago, there was catering left overs in a conference room. Sandwiches and desserts. In 2006, I would have had a sandwich, a brownie, and maybe a cookie as I was leaving. But I didn't have anything. And at the time it felt like I was giving something up. But then today, looking back on the event, what would that food have done for me? It would have tasted good, but that taste would be long gone by now.

That's probably the biggest realization that I had to come to. That as much as I love food.
Food is fleeting. Flavor is fleeting. Even the moment after you've swallowed your food, you're no longer enjoying it. And that's why I view food as fuel.