D is for Decisions, Dieting and Deviation.

I hate the phrase, "I'm on a diet."
Firstly, it gives the impression that I now have to walk on eggshells around you, and you are obviously letting me know for a reason. Secondly, it's very sad that you have to be on a diet because you couldn't control yourself in the first place, but don't subject me to your insecurities and inconsistencies in your eating habits. Thirdly,  dieting is never a good idea if it's the 3rd one you've tried, or your 10th. Clearly, 3rd time around is no going to be the charm.
Lastly, I'm on a diet.
It's a decision I have to make, not by choice, trust me. I have made the decision to be on a diet. But my goal is not to be consistently swinging back and forth on the weight gained and lost pendulum. Because you see, I suffer from what I like to call the Previously Skinny Syndrome. I know that it is possible for me to be thin again, its just the decision I have to make to do so. I have to actually do something about it. I have a degree in this stuff for goodness sake! Therefore, no deviation from the diet. That's that.
So, what will this so called "diet" consist of?
Not sure, many things really, mostly fruit, vegetables and tofu. But I can certainly tell you what it will NOT include :
Food eaten between the hours of 8 PM and 7 AM. No late night eating, snacking, etc. None. Drinking water and unsweetened decaffeinated tea only.
That's pretty much it.
Since I'm not necessarily an advocate for limiting your choices totally if you are on a "real" diet, I'm going to give myself that one rule, and I'll tell you why. I have lots of self control during the day. I can snack on a handful of cherry tomatoes for hours. Slice up and apple and have a handful of Kashi GoLean, and I am good to go. Eat a small salad and go on all afternoon, unfazed. Feel just fine until it happens, the little voices from my stomach begin to sneak up my esophagus and infiltrate my brain. Stimulating the sleeping giant they lay at rest all day until she is awoken to prowl and scavenge for food post midnight.
It's really disgusting.
There I am standing, helpless in front of the cool air permeating from the refrigerator. It hits my face, cold, welcoming and refreshing. I know that where I am standing can only result in a decision. One, I go back to my bed. Crawl in, close my eyes and fall back asleep, only to dream of the treats I could have snaked on. (Because I was asleep.) Or, two, I reach in, grab what I would normally NEVER eat, and quickly inhale it.
I'm not an ice cream girl. I'm not a chocolate girl. I'm not even a fat girl really, although, after you read this you may think otherwise. But for some reason, late night eating is my current arch enemy. It is like biting my nails, it can't be helped, it's a habit; and now I need to make the decision, to diet, and not deviate from my course. It's really not exactly a diet, but the most logical decision I can make for myself and my wardrobe.
So, Laugh and giggle at me all you want; but if you see me with the jar of jelly in my hand, my finger in the peanut butter tub or espresso spooning nonfat vanilla yogurt into my mouth past bed time, take it away please. I'd do the same for you.
I'm obviously sick.
On another note, D should also be for the devil, because all I can think of, when stumbling in my pj's at 3 AM to the kitchen is, "The devil is making me do this."
And devil, I will control you, even though I know you taste so good.

C is for Calories, Cupcakes and Cancer.

How do all of these relate? Who wants to think of something as innocent as a cupcake, with its nemesis, calories, and then something as horrendous as Cancer, in the same 2 second thought?

It is not a far stretch to link the three.

I'll begin with calories, kcals, or kilocalories. Some think they are just a number on the label, or something to fear and something to watch your intake of. But, brass tacks, it is the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. So thusly, a calorie is energy. Food energy to be exact.

So what is all food made up of? Let's use an example : A harmless cupcake.

Decoratively adorned with creamy white vanilla frosting, and underneath, nestled inside a thin layer of parchment paper, a light fluffy chocolate cake, and it comes in perfectly personalized size. This handheld dessert could very well be the greatest invention and in the same breath our arch enemy. The point is it is made up of every major component of food energy. Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat.

Don't be scared. You knew this would happen eventually. Now, breath deep, and inhale the aroma of freshly baked calories. We need these to survive, to thrive, to conquer and enjoy life. So why are they so wrong? Calories are essential, yes, but if not used correctly and cautiously, can have the same detrimental effects as an atomic bomb to the human body. An average individual can eat thousands upon thousand of calories a day, in fact there are guidelines which outline to do so. The issue is, what kinds of calories are we eating. And more importantly, what are the foods which contain these dirty calories.

So, back to the cupcake.

Once something is baked isn't it our duty to ignore the idea that it could potentially make our favorite pair of jeans a little tighter? Shouldn't we just give ourselves over to the pastry gods and realize that, yes, this cupcake has butter, sugar, eggs, flour and above all things frosting, and it is going to be amazing.  Throw caution to the wind, peel off the paper enveloping the rich decadence that lay in waiting inside, carefully examine the outside edges, turning it in front of you slowly, as if it were the first time you set eyes upon it, questioning where to stop and take that fateful first taste. Pure ecstasy awaits you, sugar crystals dance before you like sparkling snowflakes atop a dark mountain, and then you find it, the perfect bite.

I'm sure you're not thinking about calories right now are you? Neither am I.

My point is, calories as well as cupcakes get a bad rap. Which brings me to Cancer.

A Neoplastic class of diseases plaguing millions upon millions in all corners of the world. No one can really pin point the moment when a malignant cell begins to mutate and cause an uncontrolled growth of similar cells which will then spread, invade, and thusly take over the body via metastasis. Of course there are a variety of pathways which cancer is shown to be caused, and one is by another C word, carcinogens, but we will save that for another time. Cupcakes and calories are obviously not on some kind of cancer causing list, no no no, but they are related to food. Food you eat. Food you put in your body. Food which is what your body runs and revs its engine on, what it is made up of. So, it is not just the first consonant of these three words that intrinsically links them, there is a fourth word that ties it all together, one which I have already mentioned, Cells.

Cells are the building blocks of life. Cells can grow, multiply, divide, replicate DNA, digest sugar into glucose, create by-products for use in the body, synthesize new proteins from amino acids, they can be large like an ostrich egg, or too small to see in a microscope. They make up everything around us and everything that is us. They contain all kinds of organelles with funny names like Golgi Apparatus and Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum.

But I digress.

A Cell, a calorie, a cupcake and cancer all have a connection. That connection is us. You. Without the cell there would be absolutely no humans. Without humans, there would be have never been the invention of the wonderful cupcake. Without cupcakes, cakes, baking in general, there may not be as much stress about the idea of calories. And, this may be a stretch, but, without the stress over the amount of calories in the cupcake which we have baked and frosted so neatly, there may not be cancer.

So how do these all relate? It's not so hard to connect the dots, and really, I'm sure I could strategize all kinds of ways to connect more, but for now, I'll take the safe route out of this one and go bake up a batch of the famous Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting; I can hear my cells just aching for them.

B is for Breakfast

Who doesn't like Breakfast?
Honestly, its the quintessential feel good meal.  Synonymous with the way your favorite movie makes you feel or a hug from someone you love; pure comfort. You can usually smell breakfast before you even see it. It's what I like to call a true 5 senses meal. It wakes you up with the smell from the kitchen wafting in from under a closed door, tempting you with its menage of aromas. But, it's the sounds that get you out of bed. The percolating coffee pot, a toaster popping up warm English muffins to be spread with sweet jams and the cracking of dozens of eggs for your favorite omelet, all sounds of undulated pleasure about to ensue. Even the noise of cold cereal pouring into a ceramic glass bowl gives me the chills.
What is interesting, and for others frustrating about myself, is I often forgo the aforementioned indulgence of many delectable breakfast items. I see them, beckoning to be eaten, like a child teased with an out of reach cookie jar. Bacon? No thanks. Home style potatoes and Eggs over easy? Nah, not for me. Waffles piled with whipped cream and strawberries. Pass. Not even a Pop Tart?  
But why?
It's an on going struggle that I hope to one day break free of the bonds from and unleash the veracious appetite which I often times combat in the morning. "Just eat a stack of Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes" I say to myself, "Have 3 slices of whole grain, well done, extra crispy toast covered in strawberry jelly and poached eggs smothered in Hollandaise."
But no, I shake my head, not me.
And yet, I  still have dreams about the taste of thick pieces of my mom's French Toast with just a touch of cinnamon, which she would then generously dust with powered sugar, and then, still warm from being cooked on the stove with butter, devilishly drizzle with rich amber syrup. Always accompanied by a glass of orange juice. All for me.
We all have our breakfast favorites : toasted everything bagel with cream cheese, warming bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, cheese danish when on the run, and of course, mother of all breakfast treats, the doughnut. I envy those whom enjoy these special items daily. I stare at you from behind my fourth very large cup of coffee, nearly black, and imagine how they must taste. All the best textures and flavors, swimming around together, tantalizingly terrific. Sweet, salty, tangy, warm, soft, crunchy. Basically, everything good food is supposed to be.
So here it is, late in my day, near dinner time, and all I can think about is breakfast. The meal that, without a doubt, is the one I skip the most, and miss, period. It is the meal that nearly all experts on dieting have agreed upon should not be overlooked.
So heres' to you breakfast. May we be together soon, drenched in a sea of maple syrup and melted butter a top a pile of fluffy pancakes.

A is for Apple

As I embark on another weekend of summer, listless and stir crazy, I have found myself wondering, how many apples have I eaten in my lifetime? I know it's a silly, rather unconventional question, but honestly I'm utterly fascinated by it. 
Apples are inherently one of earths greatest foods, are they not?
They are crisp, sweet. tart occasionally, juicy at times, pithy at others, red, yellow, green, dark dark orange in spots and come with their own nutritious skin. 
Without an apple, you may not keep the doctor away. 
With an apple, you have a perfectly packaged snack, which can fit into an average sized lunch box, travel backpack, small zip-lock bag if sliced properly and all and all a delicious way to curb a hunger twinge.
Their nutritional benefits are markedly high. Packing a whopping 47 calories in an average apple and supplies nearly 30% of your total daily needs for fiber. Not to mention its cancer fighting properties within the gorgeous colored skin, which actually contains the majority of the phytonutrient content of the glorious orb. 
Fuji, Honey Crisp, Gala, Macintosh, Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious are ones we know best. But how about the heirloom alternatives : Terry Winter, Vandevere, Medaille d'Or or a Blue Pearmain.
With so many varieties, colors, flavors, textures and cooking applications, one can only assume they would be the doctors choice prescription. 
So as I look back on my plus or minus 8,875 days here on earth, I've got to wonder, has it been my apple a day habit that keeps the doctor away?