No this isn’t a bare-all relationship blog. At least not about my relationship with Josh. No, this about the other love in my life: FOOD. And oh my, am I an addict.
I don’t really hate that I love food. It’s actually a passion of mine (yes, eating can be considered a passion, and not just of the fat and lonely!) I love to cook, I love reading recipe books, I appreciate good food and I have a (very) healthy appetite. The thing I do hate is how much I’ve been craving ‘bad’ food since I’ve been in the States.
‘Bad’ food, by which I mean something that is deep-fried, very salty, contain little to no nutrients and most often smothered in cheese, is addictive. It must be. I genuinely can’t remember craving crap food when I lived in England. The last time I had a burger or chips (fries to my American audience!) was probably in November after a night out. Sober Alice + fast food is very uncommon. It’s not a snobbery thing, I love KFC and McDonalds as much as anyone. I just don’t need it, I don’t crave it, and therefore rarely had it. I like cooking so convenience food is not as appealing as something I can prepare at home myself, with all the tasty ingredients I chose at the shop.
Or so I thought.
I can count on two hands (maybe with a few toes to count on too) how many times I have cooked since I’ve been out here. Eating out, even just grabbing a takeaway on your way home, is a way of life here. Dallas has the most restaurants per capita than any other US city, with a large number of these restaurants being Mexican. And here was my downfall. I love Mexican food, and it is soooo bad for you! (The stuff I like is anyway) Tortilla chips and salsa; chicken chimichangas (deep fried burritos); enchiladas covered in sour cream sauce – it’s dangerous! Even one of their most famous dishes just sounds unhealthy from its name – refried beans, because frying once just wasn’t enough.
I made the mistake of sampling some of the lunch menus of restaurants close to where I work, most being Mexican. Now every single day all I want for lunch is something that comes wrapped in a tortilla, and preferably has a generous dollop of guacamole on top. I crave unhealthy food, I want to melt cheese on everything, or put down my fork and use chips as my spoon.
Every Tuesday night, I go for hot wings and fried pickles (literally slices of gherkin, covered in batter and deep fried) – delicious but so so bad for you. I eat out about five times a week, and let me tell you, I have not once chosen the salad option on the lunch menu. I have even started putting sugar in my coffee for God’s sake!
I can understand why there is a weight problem in America. Portion sizes in restaurants are huge as a way to make customers feel they are getting value for money. And a lot of the time, it tastes so good that you keep eating way past the point of necessity, hence the massive daily calorie intake consumed nationwide!
One saving grace is that my apartment building has a gym for residents. Looks like I’m going to have to become a regular!
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