Having My Cake

Last summer, I posted about my Splenda dependency. At that time and for months before, my friend Jessica had harped on me about the other habits that had hung on from my Weight Watchers days. In my relentless pursuit for foods with few or no calories, I found myself eating copious amounts of chemicals, artificial flavors and unnatural colors.

Giving up Splenda set off a firestorm of healthy eating. Last summer I also read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, and I subscribed to Heidi Swanson's cooking blog. I focused less on counting calories and "Points," and more on eating whole, natural, organically grown food. I gave up eating four-legged animals last fall, and I focused on getting protein from nuts and beans and iron from leafy greens. I gave up as many processed foods as I could and I convinced myself that it's okay to eat real butter and olive oil. I even switched Barley's food from Science Diet to one free of fillers and other artificial ingredients.

The most amazing thing about this shift in nutritional focus is that I haven't gained any of the weight I lost on Weight Watchers. In fact, I think I've lost a pound or two. I'm literally having my cake and eating it, too, even if the version I'm eating now is made from organic whole wheat semolina instead of flour.