Getting to know me and what I eat

Welcome if you're reading this.  I'm not sure if this will have a readership or just be a personal journal for my own reflection, but just in case I wanted to include a little background information.  I have always had a love affair with food.  I come from a real "clean your plate" type of family in the Midwest.  My grandmothers would be offended if you didn't take seconds or thirds at the table. Celebrations always revolve around food.  I'm not a picky eater by any means.  My lunches always get strange looks from my co-workers, and I'm willing to try just about anything once.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.  I take a lot of pride in my "made-from-scratch" meals.

I've been thinking a lot about what I eat lately because of how I've been feeling.  It's not that I've been feeling awful, but I have been sluggish and just "off."  It occurred to me that while I think I have healthy eating habits, I don't always make the best choices.  This realization came as I was devouring an entire sleeve of saltine crackers during my break at work because I had forgotten to eat breakfast. I have no concept of sensible portion sizes, and I enjoy eating until I feel full, sometimes uncomfortably so.   I've been reading a lot about health and the way food affects our bodies.  I teach, so I see the effect 3 large sodas have on a high school student. I'm using this blog as a tool to look at the way food affects me.

I'd like to make big sweeping generalities about how I eat, saying things like "I don't drink soda," or "I don't eat a lot of meat," but the purpose of this project is to examine what I eat and how it makes me feel.  Inevitably, if I say things like that I will review my journal to see that none of this is true.  Using that disclaimer,  here are a few things I think are true about my eating habits (I plan on reviewing these later): I don't eat much in the way of highly processed foods; I cook a lot; I rarely eat fast food; I don't really drink soda; and I don't eat a lot of meat.

My goal is to write down what I'm eating daily.  Sometimes I will post recipes and pictures. I'd like to see how food affects my moods and emotions.  Right now I'm completely stuffed, yet I want to snack.  I don't need to eat anything, but I want the food.

In addition to chronicling my own eating habits, if I get any kind of readership, I would also like to follow someone's eating habits for a week or two and see how that makes me feel.  I may also do things like follow the "cabbage soup diet," the "thrifty meal plan," or other eating plans to see the reality of these plans and the physical and emotional impact of them.

Let me finish by saying that the purpose of this is not weight loss or any other kind of physical narcissistic pursuits; I just want to be healthy and figure out how the items I'm putting into my body affect me.  Saying that, I figure that those reading this might want some statistics.  I'm about 5'7 and weigh 190 lbs, so I'm technically in the obese category, but I've never had any body image issues.  If I follow anyone's eating plan I will record any weight fluctuations.

I think that's enough rambling for tonight.  If anyone if reading this and has any questions about me or what I'm doing, feel free to comment.  I'm off to pack lunch and maybe a snack, so I don't end up eating an entire sleeve of crackers.