For the Love of Food

One often hears the phrase "There are ___ kinds of people in the world." The world is then divided in twos and threes by various methods. One that I have heard is that pretty much everyone's attitude toward food can be defined in two ways: Eat to live, or live to eat.

Those who eat to live are the ones responsible for imagining a future where all of our nutrients can be ingested in the form of pills. Those who live to eat can think of no torture more terrible.

I fall firmly into the second camp.

I LOVE food. I love good, rich food. I love sweets. I like fruit, but I just tolerate most vegetables unless they are very fresh or exceptionally prepared.

Why am I talking about this? Because I am obsessed with food. As I mentioned in a past entry, I am really tempted by chocolate and have been known to eat straight sugar. I'm obsessed for a different reason these days. I am trying to be more careful for my health, but I also have a goal to get down to my pre-Abel weight by his first birthday. I was on track until our crazy July, and now I am having to get pretty serious to get back. I'm writing this now so I can talk about food instead of eating it. I am hungry, but I have eaten all my allotted calories till this time of day.

I have found a fantastic website called livestrong.com. This site has a huge database of almost every food you can buy. It tracks your calories, other nutrition, and exercise. It's fascinating! I have learned a lot by doing this. I have learned that aside from junk food, my calorie intake isn't too far off from what it should be. I have also learned that snacking on vegetables is much more filling calorie for calorie than sugary or salty junk food. Also, the more I exercise, the more I can eat! And yes, I did already know some of this, but it makes a difference to see it all in black and white.