My day is really only comprised of three activities. Thinking about food, cooking food.. and eating food. Pretty safe to say that I like food.
Scratch that... I LOVE food. My Facebook status reads “in a relationship with barbequed meat.”
Mind you, I do other things too, like work or drive or what have you. I’m multi-tasky.
I was never a picky eater... I inherited the “love of food” gene from the European side of the family I think. At 9 years old I was cooking things like veal parmagiana, cheese soufflés and Hollandaise sauce. I’d even cook for company.. .and I still love to.
I’m known for my great meals.. cabbage rolls, perogies.... gnocchi and cannelloni made from scratch (I was apparently Italian in a past life...) jams & jellies, French Onion soup, Duck a l’Orange ...... I can cook anything.
And there’s not much I don’t like. Except blood pudding. And I’m not a huge fan of doughnuts.
Food is not just fuel to me. It’s a passion. It’s comfort, good times with friends, family and making people happy.
I’ve passed the love of food onto my children. They love all types of food. I never made them separate meals from what the adults were eating, my theory being that kids in other lands eat the spicy stuff because they are exposed to it early. It’s what you learn.
The downside is I’ve always run the risk of becoming.. uh..substantial. I have no willpower. I cannot diet. PEOPLE: IT HAS THE WORD DIE IN IT.
My sister is an Occupational Therapist who specializes in eating disorders and she says NO ONE should diet. (mind you, she’s had 3 kids, is a size 2 and can run 10K without breaking a sweat. That genetic trait I did NOT inherit). But I agree with her.
I know I’ll never be the thinnest girl in the room unless I’m home alone, but I like to look decent. And I’m okay with not being “skinny”. I’d rather eat.
But I’m a divorced mom of two teens and I’m hopeful that my “romantic life” isn’t quite over yet, so I’d like to look appealing for obvious reasons. Therefore I MAKE myself work out every day.. nothing too strenuous .. a lot of walking and some crunches. I’m no size 2, but I’m a healthy weight. And more importantly, I’m happy with that.
And thankfully, my kids have also learned that the best way to indulge their inherited love of food is to keep active.
Speaking of which, I’d better get to those crunches. And I think there’s some candy calling me....
(Please note that I ate a salad with bbq’d salmon, prune yogurt, 3 glasses of water, 2 chocolates and 3 pieces of red licorice during the writing of this article.) 
Printer-friendly version