Kabobs & Apple Pie » Food + Fitness

Ladybug Birthday Cake

Azita turned two yesterday. I have a lot to say about that, and I will in a later post. Today, however, my focus has been on birthday cake. Last year I bought a birthday cake from the famed, thanks to Oprah, Cake Love. It was a great birthday cake. Beautiful and delicious. But it missed the thing all birthday cakes, at least those for a loved one, should have — love. This is especially true when the birthday girl is the daughter of someone who fancies herself an above-average baker.

Alas, I don’t have much time to bake anymore, but this year I vowed to plan ahead and make amends. My plan was to make a ladybug cake. Azita loves ladybugs. Who doesn’t, actually? They are cute and pretty and a universally likable member of the Insecta class.

Now if I was going to make something super cute and fancy, I would have used fondant. The problem with fondant, however, is that I’ve never worked with it. And motherhood has imparted on me the wisdom to know my limits. I didn’t have time to practice with fondant, so I stuck with things I have worked with quite a bit — ganache and sanding sugar.

The cake was chocolate. I used this recipe from Bon Appetit. For a filling, I stuck with raspberry. I love raspberry and chocolate together, and I wanted to brighten up the cake a little. To make the filling, I simply used a half pint of raspberries, a little bit of confectioners sugar, a few tablespoons of lemon juice, and a few tablespoons of raspberry jam. I cooked until bubbling and thickened, then mashed through a strainer to get out all the seeds. The result is an intense red, raspberry sauce that I spread on both layers of the cake.

Finally, I made a dark chocolate ganache. Ganache is one of those things that sounds really fancy and complicated, but it’s super easy to make. And let me tell you that if you are not a fan of frosting, it’s probably because you’ve never tried a ganache frosting. I, myself, am not a fan of buttercream, but this frosting is rich and sweet, but also slightly bitter. The bitterness is the necessary ingredient here as it downplays the cloying sweetness I so dislike in a frosted cake. If you’ve never made ganache before, try Martha Stewart’s recipe. You will be a convert.

Once the ganache was made, I put a few dollops on the bottom layer of the cake and spread it out over the raspberry puree. Then I put the top layer on and frosted the cake. Finally, I cut two pieces of parchment paper — one a long thin strip and the other a big rectangle. I placed them on the ganache to leave only two, partial semi-circles of frosting uncovered, and I went to town with some red sanding sugar. Two well-placed yellow M&Ms and 4 chocolate discs later, and I had myself a ladybug.

Ladybug Birthday Cake

So, what do you think? I’m counting this one as a success. Happy Birthday my sweet, little Azita.

2 Comments

zahra, January 8th 2011 | Posted in Food + Fitness

Whose Fault is it Anyway?

Recently I read an article in which the CEO of McDonald’s, Jim Skinner, was quoted saying that McDonald’s was part of the solution to the obesity problem in the United States. The headline was infuriating. How could a company that sells the McRib and milkshakes that exceed 1000 calories per serving claim that they are helping solve the obesity problem in this country?

Then I read the article.

McDonald’s offers a variety of menu items, not just grease-laden meat products, Skinner said. “It’s not my job to get up in the morning and prescribe to people what they eat, but I should give them a choice that makes them feel good about their decision and, more importantly, fits into the appropriate nutritional guidelines for them.”

I hate to say it, but he has a point. While McDonald’s is still a nightmare for a vegetarian like myself, they do have healthier options on their menu. A person can go to McDonald’s now and get a salad or apple slices or yogurt or a smaller sandwich that, while not exactly healthy, won’t necessarily cause any immediate problems unless one overindulges. These things are available. But these things are not what people choose to buy.

I can’t really remember the last time I went to a McDonald’s and saw someone eating a salad with apple slices. Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen this. But, why is it McDonald’s responsibility to make sure Americans don’t eat an excessive amount of calories and saturated fats? It may shock those of you who know me to hear me say this, but I don’t think it is their responsibility.

I’m a big believer in corporate responsibility. It is the duty of any company, just as it is of any person, to contribute something positive to this world. However, I am also a big believer in personal choice. We live in a country where choice is an option. Every morning when I wake up I make hundreds, even thousands, of choices, from what to wear or eat to how to behave toward my family, friends and coworkers or sometimes, who to elect for public office.

I have these options, and in many countries people do not have this basic liberty. Yet, somehow in this country we have come to believe that it is the responsibility of companies to tell us what choices to make. Don’t give us options. Just don’t make any bad things available to us.

The thing is, at least when it comes to food and drink, nothing is strictly bad or good. Pomegranate is good. It tastes good, and it’s so healthy for you. But is it healthy to eat 10 pomegranates in one sitting? Probably not. Conversely, hamburgers hardly fall in the category of healthy eats, but will a person suffer irreparable harm if they eat a hamburger once every couple of months? No way!

I’m a generally healthy eater. I love fruits and vegetables and whole grains and even tofu and tempeh. I really do love the way these things taste, and I often crave them the way others crave a salty kettle chip. Does this mean I never touch any junk food? Absolutely not. I love junk food as much as the next person. There are times when I must have a plate of salty french fries or a cup of creamy, fatty ice cream, and I tend to indulge myself at these times. 95% of every week I live on foods that would make a nutritionist proud, but when only a slice of pie will do, I eat the slice of pie.

And the thing is, I want the option to eat that damn slice of pie. And I don’t want companies to stop serving these options simply because the powers that be think I can’t make the right decisions for myself. Over the centuries Americans, and particularly women, have fought hard to make our own choices. It would be a shame to lose this right because some people make bad choices at the expense of the health of our country. I would argue, for example, that Americans made a bad, bad choice in electing George W. Bush, but I don’t think we should lose our right to vote because of it.

I’m just saying.

So, whose fault is it that we’re fat? Well, it’s our fault. I blame no one but myself when I eat too much. I know who made the decision, and trust me when I say that I would have found a way to make that decision even if the corporate world tried their damnedest to make it impossible. Do I at least know that I made a bad decision and try harder to make a better one next time?

Well, yes, I do. And that, my friends, is the key. Education. Like GI Joe used to say when I was a kid, “knowing is half the battle.” I couldn’t agree more.

2 Comments

zahra, November 17th 2010 | Tags: corporate responsibility, obesity, personal choice, personal responsibility
Posted in Food + Fitness, Politics + Religion

The Food Issue

Like many other children of my generation, I was forced to eat everything on my plate as a child. But, times have changed since the 70s, so I thought this practice was a thing of the past, a remnant of those who grew up in really lean times as my parents did in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Since becoming a parent myself, however, I’ve noticed many mother’s taking the same approach my parents did. I’ve read blog posts and discussion forum posts and heard conversations from other mothers, about getting their kids to clean their plates and punishing them when they don’t do so. It gives me flashbacks to when I was a child.

Parenting my daughter when it comes to food is an important issue to me. Partly because obesity and eating disorders are more and more common these days, and I do believe that weight-related illnesses will be the health crisis of our childrens’ generation. And partly because I think a lot of my eating habits stem from my parents’ stance on finishing the food that was put in front of me, and I know just how hard this can be to overcome .

While I tend to be an uber-healthy eater, there’s no doubt that I have a propensity to overeat. At times I am compelled to eat everything on my plate, even when I’m not hungry, and I know my sister deals with this very same compulsion. It’s hard to maintain a healthy weight and, more importantly, to set a good example for my daughter when I struggle with this daily.

Azita has always been a light eater. I’ve shared before my feelings as I, at one point, found her weight had dropped by 15 percentile points to the very lowest end of the growth chart spectrum. I admit that my first instinct was to force feed her. Today, I’m glad I fought that instinct and kept my worries to myself. Because it really was a phase. I was patient and presented Azita with healthy options. If she didn’t want to eat, I asked one more time then removed the food, saving it for a later time when she was hungry. I never forced the issue. And this is still my policy today.

Recently, Azita went through a particularly long hunger strike. For over a month she did not eat dinner or breakfast. I’m pretty sure she ate very little at daycare also since she had nary a stain on her clothing when she came home every day. Her daycare providers are fastidiously clean, but this was odd even for them. It was hard to be patient and have faith that this would blow over, that she would return to her usual light, but healthy, eating regimen.

After a month of this I did begin to worry, however, and I purchased a book on Amazon that came highly recommended — How to Get Your Child to Eat…But Not Too Much by Ellyn Satter. It seemed like the very act of purchasing a book to help me navigate this situation did the trick, because that very night Azita ate a a hearty dinner of broccoli and black beans. The very next morning, she ate an entire mini bagel with almond butter and honey and a whole orange. This has continued for over a week now.

This weekend, the book finally arrived in the mail. I opened it and eagerly read the first chapter. Imagine my surprise to find out that my approach has been the right one all along. My job as a mother is to present my daughter with healthy choices and to leave up to her whether she will eat and how much. I am not to outwardly express concern or anger or fear, because these expressions are what build in our children a contentious relationship with food.

As any other parent, I want the best for my daughter, but I know many things, including this very issue, are an uphill battle for me. My nature is to second-guess myself when parenting. This week, however, I realized I should have a little more faith in myself every once a while. Because in spite of my background and the difficulties I’ve faced in life, my parenting instincts are not so bad after all.

Eating Healthy, When She's Hungry

2 Comments

zahra, November 1st 2010 | Posted in Food + Fitness, Parenthood + Childhood

Potato Torta Breakfast Scramble (or Kuku Sibzameni Breakfast Scramble)

Growing up, I didn’t really have a lot of experiences with grandparents. Both of my parents lost their fathers in childhood, and my father’s mother died soon after I was born. My sole living grandparent was my mother’s mother, and she lived in Iran. What I do remember are the two times in my life she spent a bit of time in the States — once when I was a toddler and again when I was in middle school. While I didn’t really get to know my grandmother very well, I feel lucky for having even those few short months. Memories of grandparents are one of the universal human experiences, I think, and if I did not even the few that I have I am sure I would feel the loss keenly.

One of the memories many people have of their grandparents, usually grandmothers, are of them in the kitchen. I have quite a few of these. I remember early mornings, at the crack of dawn, my grandmother would awaken and heat up a cup of milk in a copper pot on the stove. She would have this and some barbary bread for breakfast. I remember she made us kuku sibzameni, a sort of potato torta, for dinner whenever she came to visit. At the time I felt like we ate the same thing for dinner every night when she was with us, but today I feel nostalgic for the smells and flavors of this dinner.

This morning I was feeling particularly nostalgic, but it was breakfast time and I wasn’t in the mood to fire up the oven. So I experimented, and came up with a Kuku Sibzameni Breakfast Scramble. Enjoy it with some toasted barbary bread and a cup of hot tea or coffee, and spend a little time remembering your grandmother. I can think of no better breakfast (except maybe noon, panir, gerdu and sabzi).

Off to the Kitchen

The ingredients for this dish are simple and cheap. This is perhaps why my grandmother frequently made this dish. Having always been of humble means, she was the definition of cost-conscious.

Potato, Onion and Carrot

Quite simply, the dish is made up of potatoes, onions, and carrots — ingredients everyone has on hand. When making kuku one would shred these ingredients. Since I was making a breakfast scramble, I diced them very finely. Now I’ll admit I didn’t really measure these ingredients. Being inspired by my grandmother, I cooked like my grandmother. However there are some proportions that make this combination particularly pleasant — 2 parts potato to one part onion and one part carrot. So, something like 2 medium potatoes, half a medium onion and one carrot would work just fine.

Next, put a little oil in a pan on high heat and add the vegetables, stirring as they cook.

Into the Pan

Now for some spices. I’ve kept this simple…

Mediterranean Sea Salt

a little coarse sea salt (about 1/4-1/2 tsp) and a pinch or two of ground cumin.

Ground Cumin

Mmmm. The cumin alone makes this smell lovely and taste even better. Just toss them on the vegetables in the pot and continue cooking everything until they are soft but still have just a little bit of bite to them

Now for the egg. Beat about 4 or 5 eggs (about 2 per person) really well and pour over the vegetables.

Add the Egg

Now stir, stir, stir, scrambling the eggs with the vegetables until they are all very well incorporated and just cooked.

All Done

And there you have it. A simple, quick, easy, homey and delicious breakfast, inspired by my grandmother.

3 Comments

zahra, September 12th 2010 | Tags: breakfast, eggs, grandmothers, home cooking, Persian cooking
Posted in Food + Fitness

Roasted Summer Vegetables

Summers are pretty nasty in the D.C. metro area. The city, which used to include Arlington where I live, was after all built on a swamp. Nice thinking, founding fathers. There are many saving graces, however, and one of them is the plethora of farmers markets. You can find one almost any day of the week in the Summer. We visited our local Farmers Market on Columbia Pike this morning, and it was heaven. We came back with lots of loot.

Our Farmer's Market Loot

What does one do with so much bounty? Well, I take inspiration from one of my favorite Persian dishes, Yatimcheh. Yatimcheh is basically a Persian version of caponata. Think, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions and celery roasted at very high heat with lots of garlic and herbs. This method works very well for lots of vegetables, however, and that’s exactly what I did today.

The vegetables I came home with included:

carrots
onions
a few varieties of sweet peppers
a few varieties of eggplant
a few different varieties of summer squash
tomatoes

Here’s what I did.

First, you want to get the oven nice and hot. Preheat it to 500 degrees F. And get out a nice big pot that can go in the oven. I like to use my giant 6-qt Le Creuset.

One of the loves of my life

Next, wash the veggies really good and chop them. You’re going to want to chop them coarsely. Nice big chunks will take the high heat best, and they will provide you with the best texture.

Vegetables, chopped coarsely

I actually like to chop the vegetables in no particular order. First a squash, then an eggplant, then a tomato and so on, layering them in the pot as I chop them. That just means I don’t really need to mix them up later after they’re in the pot.

You definitely want to make sure the veggies are good and mixed in the pot, so they cook more evenly and the flavors meld together better. Plus, look at how pretty they are…

A rainbow of vegetables

Now that you have the veggies in a pot, you need some herbs and spices. First the herbs. I use fresh bay leaves and thyme. Lots of it. Oh, and of course garlic. Lots of it also. Just peel the cloves and throw them in whole.

Herbs and Garlic

If you dare, use a whole head. You won’t be disappointment. If you plan on eating this for lunch all week, at work, spare your coworkers and stick to about half a small head of garlic. As for the bay leaves and thyme, use as much as you prefer. I prefer lots. About 5-10 bay leaves and several sprigs of thyme. I throw them in whole as well and pick them out after they come out of the oven.

Of course, you also need salt.

I used about 2 tsp of salt for the entire pot, but I love salt. And I have low blood pressure, so I can enjoy it. Use as much as you like. And while we’re talking about preferences, if you prefer pepper (and I do), add some to taste. I put about 2 tsp of black pepper. Like I said, I love pepper.

Now, here’s what you must do. Add some olive oil. For a 6-qt pot filled with veggies, I used 1/3 cup of olive oil.

It really is necessary. Without it, the vegetables simply won’t caramelize the way you want them to. It also adds a depth of flavor that can’t be matched. Trust me on this. If you are fat-phobic as I am, do it anyways. The vegetables are so low calorie and you are using only 1/3 cup of oil for several servings. It will not hurt you, and you’ll love the way it tastes.

Finally, I hope that oven is now a lovely 500 degrees Fahrenheit, because it is time to put your vegetables in the oven.

And 60 minutes later, you get this pot of goodness.

If you aren’t yet convinced that you must do this immediately, I present you with a close-up.

Look at that caramelization. Those colors. Those textures. This makes an excellent side dish. Serve with some rice and maybe a little roasted chicken, or tofurky if you’re a vegetarian like me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some eating to do.

2 Comments

zahra, July 11th 2010 | Tags: cooking, roasted vegetables, side dishes
Posted in Food + Fitness

Red Velvet

Cake that is. Here’s how to enjoy it right.

: Hmmm. Do I like this?

: Not bad. Not bad.

: I need one more taste to make a decision.

: I like it! I like it!

: It’s official. Red velvet cake is #1!

No Comments

zahra, July 8th 2010 | Tags: Red velvet cake
Posted in Food + Fitness, Parenthood + Childhood

Setting a Healthy Example

When Azita was just shy of a year old she had her first major temper tantrum. Believe it or not, it was over a set of hand weights. She didn’t want to go to sleep. She wanted to play with some dumbbells.

Which is how I snapped one of my favorite pics of all time…

Pumping Iron

Since then, her favorite “toy” has become my aerobic step. Many a night I will find her standing on it, stomping her feet and doing a little dance. It’s pretty damn cute, and like most things in my life it gets me thinking.

Let me tell you a little about life as a young fatty. It sucks, as you can probably guess. Aside from the discomfort and embarrassment and all that, you are under the ever-watchful eye of just about any adult you meet. They watch what and how much you eat and how much you move or don’t move. I remember many times being forced into exercise classes I just wasn’t interest in attending, and there were quite a few times when I was forced out of the car on our way home from school or work and told to run alongside down our street so I could get some exercise.

It was humiliating, and I’m honestly not sure why my parents would think that was the solution. They never exercised. I don’t think they even owned sneakers, and they were also overweight. And, does “do as a I say, not as I do” ever really work?

I think not. It is our responsibility as parents to set a good example, and my personal history makes me particularly concerned that I set a good example in the food and fitness arena.

This means that Azita sees me workout for an hour (or sometimes more) 5-7 days a week without fail. Sometimes I workout to a DVD in our living room. Sometimes we go to our condo’s gym. Sometimes I put her in the jog stroller and she comes along for the ride. Regardless of the circumstances, though, she sees that I make time for exercise, and that I truly enjoy it.

In these early years it’s so hard to tell if you are making a difference, but hoping that I am doing so is what gets me up at 5:30am to workout. This morning I got enough encouragement to keep me at it for years to come.

As I reached the home stretch of a particularly hard workout, Azita came running into the living room with a cheerful “Hi!” Then she picked up a 3 pound weight, lay down next to me as I did some abs and proceeded to do her toddler version of my favorite arm exercise — a French press. Every once in a while she’d set the weight down and kick her legs up and down in the air as she attempted to mimic the reverse curls I was doing.

It was freakin’ adorable. Hands down, the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. The ensuing laughter knocked the last bit of sleepiness out of me. The best part was that she was sporting the biggest, toothless smile you can imagine. She was having fun. And that not only gave me the warm and fuzzies, but it also gave me the boost of confidence I need.

I am setting a healthy example for my daughter, and at that moment this morning as we both pumped a little iron on our living room floor, I knew that it will all pay off. Azita’s already given me the downpayment.

2 Comments

zahra, June 7th 2010 | Tags: exercise, fitness, good habits, healthy example
Posted in Food + Fitness, Parenthood + Childhood

Out of the mouths of babes

Eating birthday cake with relish

My favorite part of any day? Watching my16-month old daughter, Azita, eat. It’s a thing of beauty, and I’ve learned more from watching her eat than from all the diet books and magazines and websites I’ve read over the past three decades.

Azita savors her food. She enjoys it with all of her senses. When I place her plate in front of her she first takes it all in with her eyes, maybe even pointing out the names or colors of some of the foods. She picks up her food and feels it between her fingers before she pops it in her mouth. She chews slowly, rolling the food around in her mouth so she can taste every bite. She savors each and every bite of broccoli or beans or strawberries or cream-topped yogurt, learning their flavors.

When I watch her eat it is just so clear how much of the world she is learning and loving and just how much of it I rush past. You see all of us at some point experienced the world the way Azita does. We all stopped to smell those roses we hear so much about, especially when it comes to eating. We all at some time slowed down to really taste and enjoy the food we were eating, and this is something we can and should re-learn from our children.

Recently I was lucky to be invited by Mamapedia to attend a webinar sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board in which renowned food authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough discussed their new book, Real Food Has Curves: How to Get Off Processed Food, Lose Weight, and Love What You Eat. It was an interesting presentation. Truthfully, they won me over to their point of view when they put up a slide with their recipe for chocolate pudding. Any food plan that includes chocolate pudding is a winner in my book.

All 7 steps of their food plan reminded me of the way Azita approaches food. Her favorite foods are the things I make from scratch. The fresher, the more unprocessed, the more flavorful, the better. I still remember the awe I felt on the day she chose some more fresh broccoli sauteed with garlic in a little olive oil over a cheap-o piece of chocolate cake I got for dessert from the grocery store. But it was the third step in their plan that really struck a chord with me: Relish your food.

That’s it. Relish your food. That is what Azita does each and every time she eats something, and I can’t remember the last time I relished anything I ate. How can that be?

We all start off eating slowly and really tasting what we’re eating, and somewhere along the line some of us, me included, end up eating our breakfasts on the way to work, wolfing down our lunches at our desk, and eating our dinner in front of the tv. It didn’t used to be this way. In the days of Father Knows Best, people sat down with their families to eat their meals together. The French are known throughout the world for savoring long meals filled with rich, flavorful foods. Is it a coincidence that the French are also known for their sexy figures and obesity was a rare thing in our grandparents’ day?

I think not. As Weinstein and Scarbrough pointed out, when we slow down to relish our food we are more apt to eat less. We not only more clearly recognize that we are full, but we feel more satisfied. In other words, what we eat is more likely to hit the spot, and we are less likely to end a meal craving more even if we are full. It makes sense. The American phenomenon of the all-you-can-eat buffet is proof of that. People eat and eat and eat until they are sick and still leave the buffet feeling unsatisfied. But a special meal at a four-star restaurant with someone you love, where you slow down and enjoy the conversation and the complex flavors of the food? While it may be a fraction of the portion size of your buffet plate, there is no doubt that you will leave that meal feeling satiated.

Over the years, my mother has given me a lot of advice, and I’ll admit I haven’t listened to much of it. There is one thing she once told me that makes a lot of sense right about now — “Even the smartest person in the world can learn something from anybody, even a baby.” Well, it turns out she’s right, because I’ve learned a lot from watching Azita eat. I’ve learned to slow down at the dinner table and to really savor my food, and it’s nice to see a food plan out there that not only doesn’t deprive you of food but also tackles what I think is the heart of the obesity problem in this country — eating in the fast lane.

2 Comments

zahra, May 25th 2010 | Tags: eating slowly, good food, healthy eating
Posted in Food + Fitness

Weighing In

I’m one of those lucky people who really like to exercise. I love the feeling of moving. The faster, the better. But I sometimes hate taking the time away from Azita since I see so little of her when she’s awake during the week. On the exercise front, this has been one of the biggest roadblocks to getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Some days I come home and just can’t bear to leave Azita for an hour to workout, so I don’t. But from past experience I know that I need to exercise at least 5 hours a week to get the results I want.

So, in my renewed mission to lose weight, I decided to tackle this issue. It was tough, because I’m used to wanting to workout for an hour and half or more per day. I didn’t know how to deal with not wanting to do this other than to just not do it. The warmer and increasingly brighter days have helped some. When I miss my baby too much, I take a break from more rigorous exercise, put Azita in my Mei Tai carrier, and go for a long, brisk walk. The more hills, the better. Getting exercise while spending time with Azita has been an effective strategy for sure.

I’ve also been for the past several months working out at butt crack of dawn thirty, or 5:30am as some of you may know it. It sucks. But it only sucks for the first 10 minutes. Once I’m warmed up, things pick up a bit. It helps me wake up in the morning. When I’m done, it feels great to know that I’m done for the day. I can go for a walk in the evening or just play with Azita and know that I don’t need to find a way to fit in a workout. And the best part is, I get the workout in when Azita is still asleep, so I don’t miss any more of her waking minutes than I need to.

On the eating front, I’ve been maintaining my usual healthy diet. Just less of it. Getting back to recording all of my food intake has been a good exercise for me. At the very least, it renews my focus. And, it’s going pretty well.

How well?

Well, I’ve lost 4 pounds, and I fit into all of my pre-pregnancy clothes as of this past weekend. There’s nothing like going shopping for a new spring wardrobe in an old box of clothes sitting in the corner of your closet. Especially when that box is labeled “pre-pregnancy.”

Now 16 more pounds to go. But, I’d be happy with just 6. Yeah I said it. It’s so very NOT Type A of me. Can you believe it? I’d be happy if I don’t do as well as I want. That’s the sound of Zahra getting zen.

2 Comments

zahra, March 16th 2010 | Tags: diet, exercise, food journal, walking with baby, weight loss
Posted in Food + Fitness

Ignore It and It Will Go Away

I’m still pondering the topic of weight, everyone. Still. I know. You’re thinking, “Wait. When did she ever stop. That’s all she talks about. Blah blah blah.” Whatevs. Just hear me out.

Recently, actually maybe a year ago, someone told me a story about a woman. A woman who had a weight problem. And the person who told me the story said something like this: “She is always dieting and exercising and watching her calories. And she won’t eat anything with sugar or carbs. And she’s still fat. I think this just goes to show you that if you think about your weight all the time, you will only gain weight. If people could just not think about it, everyone would be thin and healthy.”

Now the woman who told me this story is skinny. Naturally skinny. At any dinner I’ve been to with her, she eats twice as much as I do. And she drinks lots of wine and has dessert and appetizers. And her idea of exercising is to go for a walk, and not even a really brisk one or long one at that. And with all that, she was a size 2. When pregnant even.

I’ve covered how much I exercise and restrict my calories. It sucks because I’ve had to do this my whole life. Ok, maybe not the first 5 years, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve been on a diet since I was 5 years old. Still, this is the hand I’ve been dealt, and I make a point of trying to make the best of it. At least having to always eat right and focus on healthy eating and exercise habits means that I will never be shocked when I hit 40 (in only three years, people!) and all of a sudden can’t stay skinny while subsisting on fast food. Or when I realize I’m a size 2 with shockingly high cholesterol. None of that will ever happen to me.

I’m just saying, I’m not complaining.

But, I am annoyed. One year later, I’m still annoyed. Because I hate (and I did mean to use that strong of a word) people who are naturally skinny and who think that those who aren’t just need to do what they do to be like them. Not thinking about food or exercise will not make me lose weight. And neither will going for a 30 minute walk every day. Nor will eating turkey or fish. Or any of the other ideas imparted onto me by those who don’t have this problem. And anyways, who ever said I want to be like these people.

I realize that there are some people who are fat, and they are fat because they have bad habits. But it’s really none of my business how they got fat. Nor is it my place to tell them how to lose the weight. That is between them and their doctor.

It just galls me when people think all fat people are fat because they are lazy and have no self-control. And I swear that if I hear another ludicrous weight loss suggestion from someone wearing size 2 pants, I’m going to kick them in the shins and run away.

And that’s all I have to say about that.