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As I am a little late in my post today, you know I’m thinking about dinner.  With the temperatures dropping in the east coast I’m at liberty to cook something that warms the cockles of your heart, or belly anyway.  However, I’m hesitant and can honestly say that in the past few years have not known “winter” or “comfort” food in the same way I have in the past, and it’s not just because of the word diet either.

I was reading at WebMD’s health and diet section about The 9 Most Fattening Foods of Winter and can honestly say that outside of Thanksgiving pie and my mom’s Christmas lasagna (which I missed this year) I haven’t indulged on any of these foods in a big way in a while.  Even my own homemade baked macaroni and cheese…I know, yum, my friends reading this are drooling…I haven’t made it in, well since two children ago, yes more than four years ago.

Maybe that is because dieting Americans are becoming more health conscious.  Maybe it was because I was having children and trying to eat a healthy diet while pregnant.  Now it could be just because I’m a mom to three growing girls and needing to set an example and even hoping that I’m around a long time for them. 

Whatever it was, it is a perfect example that we can change habits.  We can eat differently over time.  My tastes have been a lot simpler, and I do believe that eating less fat makes us more alive.  It was like when I first gave up whole milk years ago.  If I have it now my brain immediately thinks whoa, what is that foreign substance?  Probably the same reaction it had when I introduced it to fat free milk.

Now while WebMD is giving great advice on healthy alternatives or adjusting the recipes to be healthier I just feel like pointing out that perhaps we should stop labeling our food and restricting ourselves based on seasonal dieting trends.  Instead of tricking our bodies out of our old habits, take a chance and embrace some new ones openly. There is an easier way.

My message is to eat easy just eat fresh.  Fruits and vegetables are available year round.  Salads should be eaten daily.  We don’t have to rely on what was done generations ago.  Big trucks bring fresh produce year round to the market place. There should be no such thing as a “winter food”.  See you in the produce isle!