Foodie update

It was an interesting day. We went to the Chocolate Expo in Secaucus today - sort of like a visit to Mecca for chocoholics like me. We went two years ago, and it was nirvana. Back then I ate my way through dozens of vendors offering free samples of everything. There were chocolate fountains, chocolate covered chocolate, chocolate covered bacon, chocolate covered pickles, honey, fudge, peanut butters, cheeses, fruits, nuts, tea, sauces - some chocolate, some not, but all delicious.

My plan this year was to buy some nice, high quality chocolate and splurge on some chocolate covered bacon. So off we went.

I was overwhelmed by the crowds as usual, and yet also sadly underwhelmed. Having been on the keto eating plan for about ten days now, I had NO DESIRE to eat everything that was handed to me. Samples of cake, biscotti and sugar-covered nuts actually turned me off. I did eat a chocolate marshmallow and a delicious bite of a Nutella crepe my son bought. I could have dived into that crepe and not come up for air for a week. It was heaven - but I stopped myself after one bite and handed it back. I may have wanted the crepe, but I didn't want to feel like I used to feel, so I stopped.

I tried samples of cheese, chocolate covered bacon [it was way overpriced so I didn't buy any] and some kind of nut roll which was like eating sawdust and required getting a bottle of water ASAP.

My ultimate purchases consisted of a roll of raw, organic sea-salt infused dark chocolate pieces and five bags of pumpkin seeds.

We then decided to forego the usually obligatory big restaurant lunch and came home and made lunch. Mine is above - spinach/kale salad, cucumber, olives, button mushrooms and some glorious slices of Parmesan Regiano cheese. I added some of those pumpkin seeds, some kale and basil from the garden and had the leftover banger sliders from Friday. One thing I've found is I have more patience to prepare food because I'm  not starving. One of the chief reasons I relied on restaurant and fast food so much was because so often I was just too tired and too hungry to cook. I wanted the food to be ready immediately and not have to expend energy to create it, and when you're not starving it's a lot easier to take the time to prepare something.

I'm truly amazed at finally being able to gain some control over my relationship with food. It's been a struggle for 30 years all because of the diet and medical industry lies.