My relationship with food was formed in the low-fat ′90s , a sad decade for butter and cheese. Our fridge was stocked with fat-free yogurt and cottage cheese, little yellow bottles of fake butter spray, and packages of turkey bacon. In the pantry you’d find any combination of Snackwell’s boxes, a brand that built their reputation on a fat-free Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes made out of…I’m afraid to ask. Stacks of Diet Coke in the closet and weird little shingles of fat free Kraft singles in the cheese drawer. You’d also find fat-free Fruit Roll-ups. “One serving of fruit,” they’d boast on their shiny cylindrical package.
I didn’t know any different. And I wasn’t unique. Families all over the United States were taking out the fat from dinner and replacing it with flavorless chicken cutlets and cholesterol free-oils. Butter-based baked goods were passed up for lab-made sweets.
Luckily, in years since, I’ve learned so much more about food as an eater and a chef. And what I’ve found is that balance is the only answer. Not diet, but balance.
I’ve learned:
- Avoiding the cupcake that you really want and instead trying to curb your craving with celery sticks, your willpower will eventually wane and instead of eating one harmless cupcake, you will eat six and a half.
- Mood has a lot to do with how we eat, and if we’re intentional with meals and snack time, it helps to regulate what we’re eating because we’re hungry and not because we’re mad that the dog just chewed up the new couch.
- The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the better you feel. Full stop.
- Same with water. Drink more of it. Just trust me.
- Health is more about adding things in than cutting things out.
- Real butter is worth every calorie and should not be neglected in any kitchen.
- Some things are worth it not because of their healthful content, but the happiness they bring. And that’s okay.
- Real ingredients are far superior to chemicals concocted in labs made to taste like the ultimate berry. Though I’ve also learned that trying those concoctions serves your curiosity and is not going to kill you.
- Eating a balanced meal can look different to different people.
- Eating, and really tasting is important to enjoyment, and you can’t do that if you’re jamming down a bar on the way to your next meeting.
- Restriction and deprivation lead to bad habits.
But, most of all, I’ve learned that while not always possible, sitting down at a table of chicken nachos with your kids is far superior to picking through the fridge to make yourself something lower in calories.
Eating is a cumulative experience. The company, the connection, the taste, the satisfaction, are all equally important to the actual content.
Whatever you’re eating this January, I hope you’re finding joy and happiness in food and all the love that comes with it.
”But First, Food” columnist Whitney Kling is a recipe developer who lives in southwest Ohio with her four kids and a cat. She is usually in the kitchen creating something totally addictive — and usually writing about it.
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