Yesterday we were in Milwaukee and had some time to kill, so we went into the bookstore Harry W. Schwartz to peruse the bookshelves and find me a new book.  After watching Julia and Julie, I decided to bulk up on some culinary reading.  I used to read cookbooks like they were the latest New York Times Bestseller.  I got away from that after I started college and had to start reading text books.  Then I went through another learning process once I started working at Aramark, so I could be smarter than the chefs I was bossing around.  But, then Brook came into my life and I put down the learning material once again.

Well, I was drawn into the culinary section yet again.  I decided one book just wasn’t enough, so I settled on three.  Now I am going to start reading through Julia Child’s autobiography about her time in Paris called My Life In France.  I also bought, We’ve Always Had Paris…And Provence by Patricia and Walter Wells and finally I bought a cookbook called Clean Food by Terry Walters.

The books about cooking in Paris are obvious…I mean one day, I will go back and figure out a way to take some small courses (one’s that are just for a day or a week) so I can then say that I studied in France.

The other book is to help me get in the mind of properly fueling this body…

I had an epiphany yesterday about why I think most women have a ridiculously hard time losing the last of their baby weight.  I myself have only 13 more pounds to go, but they are so hard to let go of and this is why…

As a new Mommy, life isn’t routine and just when you think it is, the children surprise you.

I always have the intention of going to the gym five days a week…but, usually it ends up being three…this is because during the week Blake shifts his sleep schedule, Brook gets a fever and chores do indeed need to eventually get done.  My life isn’t black and white and my workout intentions reflects that.

I’m the last to eat becuase I feed everyone else first, so I rush through my plate, which makes me overeat…I skip meals because I get involved with the kids or stuff to do around the house…I eat out of stress from lack of sleep…I eat out because it is date night…I just don’t properly fuel my body.

Then, I don’t eat right…aLthough at home we are good.  I don’t buy junk and I purchase mostly fruits, veggies and meats.  I do this in order to “keep out” foods I would eat if they were here, but I don’t want to eat because they work against my goals of health, fitness and body.  At home, I just have a problem with portion control.

When we go out, well…I have no will power.  I love to try different places, different foods and have new and unique experiences…plus, add in the beer or wine I have with that dinner and well…you know the rest.

Anyway, back to the point.  I bought Clean Food in order to start fueling this fire differently.  I want to incorporate the philosophy of eating locally, eating minimally processed food, and eating seasonally.  I want to have new ideas about health and well-being and I want to lose this damn weight!

I know diets for me don’t work for the long term, I know balance is the key…but, knowing and doing are two different things.  Hopefully, this jump starts my “balance”.

I don’t intend to live “clean” 100% of the time.  But, if I can incorporate it into at least 50% of my day to day eating, I think that is a great start.  I’m still going to love Julia Child’s philosophy of, “if you don’t love butter, substitute cream for it!”  But, I will try to love that mindset much less.  Fat is flavor, but it’s only one type of flavor…there are so many more out there to experience, to experiment with.

So, in the coming weeks, I am sure I will write more about this, I will probably share some recipies and tell you what is working and what isn’t.  And hopefully I can fit back into my skinny jeans!

This is all going to start of course after I come back from New York.  One can’t go to the Big Apple and not take one huge glorious bite out of it…that would be so very wrong .