Thursday, March 5, 2009

Food Wars

This is exactly how I felt leaving work yesterday. We had one of our famous "food days" at work, which means cram your face with everything you can get your hands on, as fast as you can, then just keep eating the rest of the afternoon. I planned to eat lightly at "food day", and then eat my healthy, vegetarian Morrocan Chickpea Soup I had put in the refrigerator. But, like usualy, I lost all restraint when I saw the spread in the newsroom.
I ate a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, cheese and crackers, little chicken meatballs, greasy chips, macaroni salad, and 5 or 6 cookies, brownies and oreos. I rank diet soda. At the end of my gorge-fest, I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach, or suddenly pregnant. My belly felt like a volleyball, pushing against my ever so constricting jeans. I know I should have worn sweatpants for "food day," and should have taken the afternoon off for a junk induced coma.
I've noticed recently that I just can't handle junk food. My body repels it like poison, and makes me really regret listening to my tastebuds. I tend to eat really healthy foods most days, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, and healthy protein. I love to cook, and take careful time preparing lunches almost every day. I don't put much salt in my food. My body is addicted, and eating anything salty or fatty wreaks havoc on my system.
Running on the treadmill after eating all this junk felt like torture last night. I did it for 25 minutes, and my legs felt like lead, or trees growing out of the exercise machine. I had a hard time getting breath, since my belly was so bloated.
I hope I've learned my lesson. This happens every time I eat junk food, or even eat out in a restaurant. The problem is, I just can't resist what's in front of me. That's why I'm happy "food day" is a very, very rare occasion.

7 comments:

andrea said...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I've very careful of what I eat so when I do happen to go to a restaurant, my tummy hates me for it.

Good job at the running at least!

Lisa said...

I find my stomach gets upset when I eat trans fats, overly processed food, and anything with NON organic ingredients. I just can't take it anymore! (that being said, I need to drink a Fresca right now!)

Dan-Eric Slocum said...

Good ol' food days. I miss 'em.

Contact Travis said...

I just have no will power...and I paid for it all day yesterday thanks to food day (which I still love!!)

dog grrrrl said...

It's true the older I get, the less I can eat, the fatter I am. I had a dinner party on Saturday and everyone exclaimed over the size of my (chicken) breasts but mostly ate them all. I couldn't eat it all and was the fattest in the room.

So my advice is to enjoy it while you can :)

Colleen said...

Oh I miss those days! We ate like kings and queens there. You all still do... I don't. We still get a fair amount of food at KXLY, but nothing close to food day.

Anonymous said...

Junk food.....so seductive, with its delightful greasy mouth feel, but yeah, unless you're accustomed to it, you do pay, gastrointestinally. What is Food Day? Does work provide this food, or is it a potluck? Maybe you could suggest more healthy fare?