175/365 A Happy Relationship with Food

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

I know that I have offered lots of advice about foods you ought to add into your meal and tactics for eating healthfully. On my megabus ride up to Massachusetts, I decided to read Consumed: Why Americans Hate, Love, and Fear Food by Michelle Stacey, a book I found in my sister's book shelf. The book discusses how food trends start, how heavily advertising and marketing are involved, and how we can have a happy relationship with food. This caused me to look at the ways I view food and how I have framed it for you, my readers.

First and foremost, food should be about pleasure and enjoyment. Certainly food provides nutrition and energy for our daily function. However food is more than fuel; it is an icebreaker, a comfort, a pleasure, and a gift. My purpose for writing about foods is to invite you to try things you may not have otherwise. I write recipes so that you can take these foods and make them part of your diet through tasty meals. I offer tips for how to control your eating habits so that you can learn to eat quality, great tasting food and appreciate just a small quantity of it. It is possible for food to be healthy and delicious. You should also let yourself indulge. However, when I say indulge I mean in a very fine dessert; something crafted with expertise, not a mass produced rectangle of sugar and mystery ingredients. Food you eat should be real and enjoyed with delight.

Clearly I enjoyed this book; I recommend it and will most likely drop quotes from it in the future. It's helping me keep in check my own relationship with food.

In health,

Lauren