Monday, September 17, 2012

Why "My Dessert Pocket?"

My eating rule is simple. I stop eating whenever I'm full and I think I've had enough food. This rule applies to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I stop eating when my stomach tells me I'm full of savory foods, salty foods, sour foods, or bitter foods. I usually reach this limit about half way through my meals.

When I was little, my parents encouraged me to only eat until I was full. "There's no point in stuffing yourself," I often heard. I didn't eat much, but I didn't feel like I had to. I didn't want to give myself a stomach ache, so I filled my small tummy with nutritious foods and then gave the rest to my dad to finish.

My rule is sensible and healthy and always effective. Except when it comes to dessert. I can't get enough sweet, ever. To explain this phenomenon, I've invented a dessert pocket. To be honest, the dessert pocket isn't real. It's a pure figment of imagination that helps me indulge a habit of eating sweets even when I'm not hungry for them. For instance, say one night I'm about to burst with all the food I ate at dinner. I've had a piece of chicken and some rice and it was lovely, but now I feel my tummy expanding and I'm full. Still, I feel cookies and cake and ice cream calling my name, so I whip out my dessert pocket. With the new room I've created with my pocket, I can probably fit a cookie or two, half a slice of cake, or a small scoop of ice cream in my mouth.

Even after I'm full of other foods, I still appreciate a bite of sweetness to complete a meal. I keep my "dessert pocket" around so I can always indulge in little pleasures. 

I decided to make this blog "My Dessert Pocket" because reading, writing, traveling, and food are like sweet desserts that I can always appreciate. No matter how much I've already had to eat, I can always find room in my dessert pocket for a little more. 

2 comments:

  1. I love it. Not only is it a cute idea and philosophy, but I totally do the same thing. There is just something about dessert that magically makes my stomach expand just to accept a little more. I like how you walked us through a meal with you to then bring us to dessert where you then explain your point.

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  2. This. is. so. true.

    I was at Food Dance about a week ago with a few friends, including Maya Edery and her mom. We indulged in the cheese fondue (who know melon and cheese went so well together?), bread, until our main dishes came. While I split my adult macaroni & cheese for some spinach and steak to the friend next to me, Mrs. Edery began biting into her salad. A few moments later she noticed a "raisin" move. She never identified the little bugger, but she waved over our waiter when he passed by. Mrs. Edery said it was no big deal, that it was a reality to face when all your food is locally grown and organic, and our waiter was very kind.

    In fact, by the time the rest of our plates were carried out, the kind waiter brought out a chocolate cake with a sparkler firing off.

    I had no room.

    I forced myself to eat a small piece.

    I was in pain.

    My desert pocket will be the death of me.

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