My apologies for not having written for a long time.
On par with Acme Bakery: Josie Baker’s seed feast levain
Recently, my attitudes toward food have changed. While I still enjoy cooking, I often make the simplest dishes. Gone are the days when I assembled 10+ ingredients for a recipe. I just go for whatever feels right – no more advanced planning for an entire week’s menu.
Another huge change for me is I crave sweets much less than before. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I took a no-holds-barred approach to sweets. There were days I gobbled up an entire cake or a canister of cookies as a meal. My attempts at cutting down on sweets failed repeatedly.
How did these changes happen? The lunches provided at our office, at least partly.
Our lunches tend to be carb-heavy, with a lot of rice, pasta, and pizzas. I am full throughout the day so I don’t feel like cooking anything complex when I get home. I don’t want more carbs such as sugar either. White rice and pasta are not health food, but they should be more nutritious than sugar.
My diet now harks back to my adolescent and college years, when I ate carbs liberally and didn’t have a sugar craving. Since I started working, I deliberately reduced the amount of carbs in my diet to stay fit. I gradually lost weight, but I increasingly clamored for sugar.
Here’s my theory: I craved sugar because I didn’t eat enough carbs. It sounds illogical to cut carbs with more carbs, but my body seems to be telling me this. The effect of a sugar crash (feeling jittery after a sugar-induced “high”) also became more pronounced within my body, which strengthened my will to stay away from sugar.
Of course I still love cakes and pastries. I buy a croissant occasionally and savor their pictures online, but I haven’t binged on sweets for a while.
Instead I reach for something more wholesome and likely to make me feel full. My latest fetishes: chewy bread and crunchy nuts. I am lucky in the Bay Area where quality artisan bread abounds (top of the post is the seed feast levain from home baker Josey Baker). The raw almonds I get from my local farmers’ market are among the best I’ve had. I hope I’m not overeating them and swinging from one extreme to another.
Incredibly fresh and crunchy almonds from Lujan Farms
Like in cooking, I’m happy with fresh and basic food. When the quality is good, it can be incredibly flavorful with little tampering needed.
I feel better too. Funny how your body constantly sends you signals but you don’t pay attention. This time, I make sure I listen.
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