On Food

Last night we went to a grand opening of a new store here in town. It is a combination high-end fashion boutique and a high-end cafe/deli. The owner, who is also the chef, went all out in celebrating her grand opening, serving about 15 different kinds of rare cheeses and various pates to die for, and a selection of buttery pastry crusts topped with lobster or shrimp in cream sauce or a homemade duck sausage in mango glaze. Later, they brought out smoked salmon, lamb skewers, oysters with a spicy bread dressing and endive with a frothy cream cheese filling. She had an entire table of tiny desserts that were beautiful and unbelievably tasty, which I managed to resist until she brought out the little ramekins of creme brulee!! At that point, I decided "To hell with it!" and poured myself a glass (well, maybe more than one...)of wine and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Now, let me put this all in context. Over the last weeks of campaigning, my eating habits had gone seriously south. On canvassing days, it was not unusual for me to consume 1-2 donuts, several mini-chocolates (damn Halloween, anyway!)and a couple of bags of greasy potato chips. Lunch was pizza or fried chicken or some other fast food concoction. And to top it all off, I was drinking far too much. I knew it had to stop, but during those weeks I seemed to have absolutely no self-control. Luckily, the day after the election, I re-focused myself and got back on a strict Phase 1 South Beach diet.

I had blamed the exhaustion I was feeling on the stress of the election. But it was remarkable how much better I felt once I started eating healthy food again. My energy went up, my tummy felt better and I started sleeping well again. I realize now that the junk I was eating was most likely contributing to my malaise as much as election-induced stress was; possibly even more.

I deliberately did not weigh myself--I figured "Who needs the additional stress?" but yesterday, I decided to check it out. Happiness! I am a mere 5 lbs away from my pre-summer low weight. This has taken a huge weight (pun absolutely intended) off me; I was really starting to beat myself up for letting my eating get out of control.

So, what does this have to do with the chef and her fabulous grand opening buffet? Well, it helped me to remember that if you are going to eat "badly", it is far better to eat well than to eat junk. I don't regret a bite that I took last night. Food should be a pleasure, something to savor. Last night it was joyful.

Especially the baby creme brulees.