December 3, 2008 | Chickens in the Road

Archive for December 3rd, 2008

Dec
3

There is one question that I get over and over, asked in different words, but always the same question. Yesterday, it got asked twice.

I have to ask — what’s your secret? Is it the milking of Clover that burns the calories? Looking at these recipes, one would think you’d be about 300 pounds, yet you’re very fit. Do share.

Suzanne,
I seriously want to know how you stay so fit eating all these scrumpsous looking dishes. Is it really the farm work? Do you do it for the kids? Can you actually practice portion control? Most of your yummy looking recipes have such dangerous ingredients for the likes of me. I wish I could try all your recipes but quite frankly I do a search on Cookinglight.com to see if I can find any equivalent recipes to those showcased on your site.
Sad, sad, me.

First, I want to say thank you for actually thinking I’m fit. I don’t think I’m very fit. I used to walk four miles a day (back when I lived at the old farmhouse) but I’ve never gotten into the habit of doing that here. I can’t figure out how to squeeze that hour into my day that I used to spend walking at the old farmhouse. I’m too busy with the farm. But I want to–I miss the walking and the good feeling it gave me, so one of my goals is to get back to that.

I’ve posted this picture before, but there are only a handful of pictures that have been taken of me in the past year. I am always the one with the camera.

This picture was taken last December. I still wear these same jeans and in fact that same t-shirt. The only difference is that Clover has eaten a hole in it now. I still wear those same boots, too, by the way. Obviously, I buy new clothes about as often people take pictures of me.

I’m just your average chick. I’ve had three kids, and I look like I’ve had three kids. I breastfed each one for over a year each and I look like that, too. I don’t mind. In fact, I like it–I’m a mother and I’m proud of that. I think I look better than I’ve ever looked, and that’s not a conceit thing–I’m no Paris Hilton, LOL. I’m just satisfied with myself. I’m 44 years old and I like how I look. I don’t really care what anyone else thinks about how I look. I hardly ever wear makeup or get out of jeans and t-shirts/sweatshirts. And, most importantly, I don’t have a scale.

I just checked my driver’s license and it says I weigh 130 pounds. I’m pretty sure that is a DMV lie. I haven’t had a scale in years, so clearly I made that up. I bet I weigh ten pounds more than that. Or not. I have no idea. And I don’t care. I wear size 11 jeans, I know that. So, I’m no skinny size 0. I eat food that I like. I like bread and pie and cookies and candy!!!! Life is short. Eat more pie. I eat when I feel like it, which means sometimes I skip meals and sometimes I graze lightly all day. I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit and healthy stuff in between pie and cookies. If I have pie around, I eat one piece a day. Not that I’m really counting, just that I don’t feel the need for more than that. I have three children, two of whom are six-foot-tall teenage boys, so food doesn’t exactly sit around here. Sometimes I’m lucky just to get some. I should probably just pay homage to my parents, whose genes I inherited, because most likely I have good metabolism and can take no credit for it.

But–I also want to point out that with my recipes you can substitute lower fat ingredients. Use margerine when I say butter. Use skim milk or low-fat milk when I say milk. Use low-fat or fat-free sour cream when I say sour cream. Etc. These substitutions will not effect the outcome in almost any recipe. I also want to say that I love bread and I don’t buy into this no-carb stuff. Bread is good. It’s what you put on bread that makes it fattening. Bread by itself is no evil. Bread is a wonderful thing. Life is short. Eat more bread.

I am no diet guru, so I won’t address that, but I do think attitude about food and weight and self-image is really important. However you look, whatever you weigh, you are beautiful. Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and your attitude toward food is important. Food is a delight, a gift, a song. I love food. I also love my body and love how I look, and I think, in most cases, it’s more valuable to focus on feeling good about yourself and your self-image than to focus on food. Feeling good about yourself naturally translates to a good relationship with food. Again, I’m no diet guru, so this is a very simplistic and naturalistic perspective, intended not to solve the world’s weight loss questions but only and specifically to answer the question–how do *I* stay fit.

And so this is the long way around to the answer of–I don’t try to stay fit, I just try to feel good about myself. That works pretty good for me. And, I hope this opens up some good discussion. How do you feel about your body image? Before you answer that question, here’s your starting point–you are beautiful.

Deal with it. :smile: