Working on being unapologetic, by Deb Katie

I love food.

I mean, I love it. I love shopping for it, looking at it, reading about it, watching shows about it… everything short of actually cooking it.

But naturally, what I love the most is eating it.

Living in a larger city and being married to a person who loves food as much as I do, I find a lot of opportunities to indulge. Anything that can be even vaguely described as a special occasion is usually celebrated with a ridiculously caloric feast–the day I got an agent, the day an editor liked my book, the day an editor bought my book–and of course, an artery-clogging series of celebrations to accompany the actual release.

Every couple of years, I start behaving and eating well for a while, and I know in my head that it really works–if you go three days without lollipops (yeah, I know, I’m four), or cookies, or whatever happens to be the sugar monkey on your back at that moment, you really do stop craving it.

But where’s the fun in that?

Every day is a battle between me and what’s in my refrigerator/pantry/the impulse aisle at the grocery store. It’s not really fair, actually–I eat when I’m bored and I eat when I’m stressed. I eat when I’m happy AND sad. I took the Dr. Phil test a few years ago and learned that the only emotion that didn’t prompt me to eat was anger, and then that put the idea in my head, so I’m pretty sure I have every emotion covered now.

It’s hard, especially in a city like LA, where everyone is tan and toned and wears tiny clothes. But I long ago came to peace with the idea that I don’t have to be the skinniest (or prettiest… or smartest…) girl in the room to enjoy myself.

I could give you a long, complicated story about how my family put a lot of emphasis on eating and the husb and I initially dealt with the stress of moving to Los Angeles by going out to dinner (escaping the ‘hood for those precious 60 minutes)… but I won’t. I mean, it’s not like I’d change either of those things, even if I could.

At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s out of hand, or something that deserves even half as much thought as I’ve already given it. Food can be amazing. It can comfort, entertain, inspire, and express. It can bring families closer together. It can celebrate, connect, and provide those little moments of sublime happiness.

G.K. Chesterton said, “We should thank God for beer and burgundy by not drinking too much of them.”

I think that could easily apply to the culinary realm.

My name is Katie.

And I love food.

~ Katie

PS – Hearty congratulations to the winner of my launch week contest, BETH O!

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12 Replies to “Working on being unapologetic, by Deb Katie”

  1. Katie,
    Enjoy your food! We’re put on the planet to eat! Just in moderation. I think people need to learn to eat without guilt, and when they do that, they just naturally eat a whole lot better. That’s my two cents, anyway.

  2. Katie, you’re my soul sister! I was nodding along and laughing out loud with all of this, especially as I sit here next to some wadded-up Hershey’s kiss wrappers next to my keyboard.

    I think “working on being unapologetic” is my goal for my thirties, in general. And anyway, who am I apologizing to? Dr. Phil isn’t in my kitchen, last I looked. Dr. Oz doesn’t know what kind of oatmeal I eat. (Mini-wheats this morning, actually. The frosted ones.)

  3. Mmm… I love food, too. Your post made me hungry! I have to go look in the fridge and see what I can throw together for lunch now.

    Kris–I have to say that my thirties have been way better then my twenties. It’s so liberating to allow yourself to be who you are and not strive for some kind of mythical perfection. So perhaps we should have a dinner party to celebrate growing another year older and wiser?

  4. Tiffany, it’s true–it’s amazing how much less I think about food (as far as eating it) when I’m not obsessing over it (as in “how much I’m eating”). It’s the days I’m determined to be “good” that I completely lose it and the dark side wins.

    Hershey’s Kisses! Kristina, we are soul sisters. Just this morning, while cleaning up some accumulated “stuff,” I found some leftover Valentine’s candy… and (while I didn’t immediately devour it), I definitely set the chocolate in a safe place for emergency consumption.

    Meredith, darn, reading it again made me hungry, too! And I just ate!

    I’m enjoying my 30s. So far. And I’m always up for a dinner party!

  5. Katie, just wait until you have rugrats. It’s a nonstop candyfest from Halloween through Christmas, Valentine’s and Easter, and then at the Fourth of July parade, they throw candy at you again! And there’s no way my kids eat it all (thank goodness, think of the dentist bills!) but it’s all lying around…unattended…and I work at home…

    Hence the Hershey’s Kiss carnage.

  6. Oh, trust me… my boss has a son, and he (brace yourself) FORGETS about his candy, like, the day after every major holiday. So naturally, that candy finds its way to my office, and then into my gaping maw.

    It doesn’t help that my office installed the “honor bar” candy bowl and it sits directly in my line of sight. In fact, that was quite mean of them. I should point it out. Or just offer to work from home every day. 😉

  7. Wait, what? “Beth O”…is there another Beth O, or should I get excited? Wow! I’m going with excited!! Yay!!

    Ok….mmmm, food. I have a pretty, shall we say, excessive relationship with food borne out of the same things you mentioned, except I like to cook it too. It’s exacerbated by the fact that my husband loves to shop, cook, eat just as much as I do. And I eat for pretty much every emotion, every event and out of boredom.

    I’m about 2/3 of the way through Little Giant of Aberdeen County and confess that I felt a bit of (guilty) relief based on a conversation Truly has with Robert Morgan that reassured me I wasn’t heading down the same path (trying not to be a spoiler here, but you’ve probably all read it).

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