THE LIGHTER CEASER |
MAC MAHARANI |
VEGGIE-GASM |
WINTER WARMTH |
BEANIFICIAL |
- It's no big secret that a conscious effort towards eating "healthy" consistently not only requires dedication, but can also be rather time consuming and cumbersome more often than not.
I'm also not a big fan of propounding the benefits and the need of "clean eating" and all that jazz. Mostly because I'm the last person who finds it easy to apply it to self.
I admit that I have set goals, not once, from "losing X kg" to "no chocolate and cheese", from "at least 30 minutes of moderate workout every day" to "okay, 15 min of treadmill on weekends" and from "no carbs, only protein" to the bare minimum of "only one binge meal a week".
Only to fail miserably each time, give myself grief, fall into this deep pit of guilt and self pity, crawl out to end up feeling disgusted and disappointed, all targeted towards my own self.
With the long long years of constant battles with my weight, my body, my sweet tooth, my hormones and my heart (or mind, whichever you prefer), I have only been able to come to the conclusion that I'm not going to get any healthier if I keep going on in these unending cycles of motivation and mourning with no idea of how to keep one alive and how to kill the other.
I also realised that food, in all its glorious calorie laden devilishness, gives me pleasure. Masochistic maybe? But whatever. My mental health is a part of being healthy and if I'm happy with what, how much and who I am, that's all that matters. You may say I'm only being defensive and evasive, and I may agree. But I also may not.
Given all of this, it does come as a surprise when I want to make myself a salad, just because. No gyaan or ulterior motive to eat healthy or balance a binge - because I frankly don't know how to do that.
But there are days when I crave something juicy, crunchy and colourful.
And because I love spending time in the kitchen, I have perfected some salads that I love the most. Some for the lazy days when I want it right here right now. And the others when I have the good sense and time to plan and prepare.
The best part is that these are dishes that are oh so yummy. It's just a little conspiracy on the part of the universe that people also call them healthy. 😂😋
It's funny how people find it difficult to digest that I don't feel unhealthy while ordering a pizza, but are absolutely nonchalant when I say I don't feel healthy when I eat a salad.
I think the entire concept of comfort food is a sham. It's just a method of carb junkies like me (and proudly so) to have what they want while being equipped with a ready explanation to the why. Why else are all "comfort foods" carb and cheese laden, and all salads and smoothies are "clean foods". Have you ever had a bite of fresh Swiss cheese? Or warm chocolate fondue? Or besan laddoo made by Ma? There is nothing cleaner than that! And sometimes, the warmth of bitter green tea is like being hugged by your favorite person.
The point of the entire rant is, that I feel the same pleasure in crunching those chunks of cucumber as I do in having that cheese melt in my mouth. It's all about the timing. Of what I'm feeling. And what I want. Food is for fun, pleasure and comfort. And it's unfair to burst that bubble with the prick of calories.