Over the summer months I have found eating out a chore. I never thought I would say this as I love my food, but it really has been tough. The main reason for this is people on diets.
What used to be an enjoyable experience has turned into a bit of a nightmare. Enjoyable, sociable evenings that should be spent talking about men, shoes, work and whether it’s wrong to fancy any of McFly (for the record I have a soft spot for Dougie) are spent weighing up the pros and cons of drinking vodka instead of wine with dinner and whether to have dessert.
Just reading this explains exactly why I am never going to be a size six and do you know what I don’t care. If I am out for dinner then dinner is what I want. I don’t want to pay somebody £15 for some lettuce leaves that I could throw together at home for a fraction of the price. The whole joy of eating out apart from the company is having something you might not normally have and being indulgent, oh and the fact that you don’t have to wash up.
The joy is taken from this when whilst in the restaurant the people you are dining with stop conversation to asses the menu with their weight watchers points’ tracker in hand or to count slimming world sins, where’s the fun in that?
Now I am not anti-dieting, most of us could do with losing a couple of pounds and normally I eat very balanced diets and am an avid calorie counter. I say balanced diet the other day myself and my colleague ate about four cakes each (to be fair they were only small), I balanced this out by only having a slice of toast and a glass of wine for dinner, see balanced.
To compensate for some of my female friends craziness (as admittedly some of them are still firmly with me on this) I have found the only way round it is to eat out more with my male friends. Men eat properly, they eat what they want and don’t look horrified when I order a massive pizza and a pint (erm another reason I will never be a size six).
I am hoping that once winter arrives this fad will die down and people will return to their usual decadent selves, otherwise it will be a return of the summer of 2003 or was it 2004? When I stopped going for dinner with any of my friends doing the Atkins Diet. The reason I stopped was because it was all they talked about and also nothing can compare with the torture of trying to negotiate an Italian restaurant with somebody who has decided that carbohydrates (an essential food group I might add) are akin to the devil.
So, as much as much as summer is my favourite season of the year when it comes to dining out I say roll on winter. Only the die hard dieters seem to be fanatical in winter. Come October I will hopefully have my none point counting, pizza eating, lager drinking friends back.
Thursday 19 August 2010
Monday 9 August 2010
Guilty Pleasures
Guilty pleasures. We all have them. Whether it’s something we do for fun, comfort or because we’re a bit sad, we all have things that make us feel a little happy inside, a bit naughty or just habits we can’t break and nor do we want to. With this in mind and in a bid to make everybody feel a bit better about their guilty pleasures I have decided to reveal my top 10 personal guilty pleasures (in no particular order).
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches
I think this goes back to spending time in America when I was a kid, and been introduced to peanut butter and jelly (their word) sandwiches. I don’t eat them often but when I do it’s like having a little bit of heaven in my mouth. It’s the sweetness and the saltiness combined, there is nothing like it when you fancy a sweet treat. I urge everybody to have a go
Getting into bed really early
Sometimes there is nothing better than getting into bed really, really early. I mean literally getting in from work and getting into bed with a dvd and just staying there until the next morning. Bed at 8pm isn’t very rock n roll but sometimes it’s what’s needed.
Having a fag when I have a drink
This one is nothing to be proud of, but it is probably my most guilty pleasure. Many years ago I gave up smoking, but even now sometimes when I have a drink I enjoy smoking. There I said it, I sometimes enjoy smoking. It’s not every time I have a drink (thank God as drinking sometimes features highly in my week), but when I am with other smokers I love it. I am not sure why, I know it is bad for my health, I know it smells and I know I am not an addict so the only thing that I can put my enjoyment down to is that it’s wrong and sometimes it just feels really good to be bad.
Fish fingers for dinner
When I have had a bad day, salad just won’t cut it, the only meal that will do is fish fingers. I bloody love fish fingers. One hundred per cent comfort food. Argument with a bloke? Fish fingers. Got a cold? Fish fingers. Bad day at work? Fish fingers. I swear they make me feel better every time.
Dancing round the living room in my underwear
Not sure why I am confessing to this one, but sometimes I enjoy nothing better than turning the music up and dancing round my flat in my underwear. Maybe it’s a freedom thing, I’m not sure all I do know is nothing beats dancing in your pants like a loon. Which leads me on nicely to number 6.
Baccara-I Can boogie
I love, love, love this song. I know it’s cheesy, I know I shouldn’t but when she sings “yes sir I can boogie, but I need a certain song….” I’m away, dancing my little heart out. Again I am not sure where this pleasure came from as I wasn’t even born in 1977 when this beauty was released, but it is one of many of my guilty pleasure songs and if you are anywhere in the vicinity when this comes on beware the dance floor won’t know what’s hit it.
Dragons Den repeats (repeatedly)
I am a little obsessed with Dragon’s Den. I’m not sure whether it’s Duncan’s smug face, Deborah’s withering looks or the way Peter can destroy somebody’s confidence in one sentence, but I can’t stop watching it. My addiction is so bad that I even watch repeats of it. I have seen the one with Levi Roots about five times (I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not). Maybe this pleasure comes from the fact that deep down one day I would like to appear in front of the Dragon’s and in my mind Theo has already made me an offer.
Wearing my stepdads jumper when I am sad
My stepdad died 10 years ago and I still have one of his jumpers. Whenever I feel down I put the jumper on. For some reason it always makes me feel better. I don’t know whether it’s just because it’s his or whether in my mind it’s like having a hug off him. It may be a bit sad or some might think it’s weird but combine the jumper with some fish fingers and you’ve found the ultimate way to cheer me up.
White bread
To some people this is probably nothing, but I am a convert to wholemeal bread. Wholemeal and granary all the way, but when I want comfort food it’s got to be white bread, smothered in butter. I can eat it with chips, with crisps, with jam, or just on it’s own. The only problem with white bread is, if it’s in the house I can probably demolish the whole loaf in two days.
Sniffing pillows
Now I don’t mean I just generally sniff pillows or that you need to start hiding your bed linen when I come round your house, but I am guilty of pillow sniffing. It only happens on that rare occasion that I have a boyfriend. If my bloke has stayed the night I love nothing better than the next night getting into bed and been able to smell him on the pillow, I think it’s the smell of aftershave or the memories (let’s not go there), but whatever it is I am out and proud as a pillow sniffer.
So there you go I have outted myself as a bit of a freak, the only thing that makes me feel better is the fact that although I know some of you are sitting there going “what she sniffs pillows?” or “Oh dear smoking is bad” I also know that everyone of you that is doing that probably has a list of guilty pleasures of your own, but are you brave enough to confess to them.
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches
I think this goes back to spending time in America when I was a kid, and been introduced to peanut butter and jelly (their word) sandwiches. I don’t eat them often but when I do it’s like having a little bit of heaven in my mouth. It’s the sweetness and the saltiness combined, there is nothing like it when you fancy a sweet treat. I urge everybody to have a go
Getting into bed really early
Sometimes there is nothing better than getting into bed really, really early. I mean literally getting in from work and getting into bed with a dvd and just staying there until the next morning. Bed at 8pm isn’t very rock n roll but sometimes it’s what’s needed.
Having a fag when I have a drink
This one is nothing to be proud of, but it is probably my most guilty pleasure. Many years ago I gave up smoking, but even now sometimes when I have a drink I enjoy smoking. There I said it, I sometimes enjoy smoking. It’s not every time I have a drink (thank God as drinking sometimes features highly in my week), but when I am with other smokers I love it. I am not sure why, I know it is bad for my health, I know it smells and I know I am not an addict so the only thing that I can put my enjoyment down to is that it’s wrong and sometimes it just feels really good to be bad.
Fish fingers for dinner
When I have had a bad day, salad just won’t cut it, the only meal that will do is fish fingers. I bloody love fish fingers. One hundred per cent comfort food. Argument with a bloke? Fish fingers. Got a cold? Fish fingers. Bad day at work? Fish fingers. I swear they make me feel better every time.
Dancing round the living room in my underwear
Not sure why I am confessing to this one, but sometimes I enjoy nothing better than turning the music up and dancing round my flat in my underwear. Maybe it’s a freedom thing, I’m not sure all I do know is nothing beats dancing in your pants like a loon. Which leads me on nicely to number 6.
Baccara-I Can boogie
I love, love, love this song. I know it’s cheesy, I know I shouldn’t but when she sings “yes sir I can boogie, but I need a certain song….” I’m away, dancing my little heart out. Again I am not sure where this pleasure came from as I wasn’t even born in 1977 when this beauty was released, but it is one of many of my guilty pleasure songs and if you are anywhere in the vicinity when this comes on beware the dance floor won’t know what’s hit it.
Dragons Den repeats (repeatedly)
I am a little obsessed with Dragon’s Den. I’m not sure whether it’s Duncan’s smug face, Deborah’s withering looks or the way Peter can destroy somebody’s confidence in one sentence, but I can’t stop watching it. My addiction is so bad that I even watch repeats of it. I have seen the one with Levi Roots about five times (I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not). Maybe this pleasure comes from the fact that deep down one day I would like to appear in front of the Dragon’s and in my mind Theo has already made me an offer.
Wearing my stepdads jumper when I am sad
My stepdad died 10 years ago and I still have one of his jumpers. Whenever I feel down I put the jumper on. For some reason it always makes me feel better. I don’t know whether it’s just because it’s his or whether in my mind it’s like having a hug off him. It may be a bit sad or some might think it’s weird but combine the jumper with some fish fingers and you’ve found the ultimate way to cheer me up.
White bread
To some people this is probably nothing, but I am a convert to wholemeal bread. Wholemeal and granary all the way, but when I want comfort food it’s got to be white bread, smothered in butter. I can eat it with chips, with crisps, with jam, or just on it’s own. The only problem with white bread is, if it’s in the house I can probably demolish the whole loaf in two days.
Sniffing pillows
Now I don’t mean I just generally sniff pillows or that you need to start hiding your bed linen when I come round your house, but I am guilty of pillow sniffing. It only happens on that rare occasion that I have a boyfriend. If my bloke has stayed the night I love nothing better than the next night getting into bed and been able to smell him on the pillow, I think it’s the smell of aftershave or the memories (let’s not go there), but whatever it is I am out and proud as a pillow sniffer.
So there you go I have outted myself as a bit of a freak, the only thing that makes me feel better is the fact that although I know some of you are sitting there going “what she sniffs pillows?” or “Oh dear smoking is bad” I also know that everyone of you that is doing that probably has a list of guilty pleasures of your own, but are you brave enough to confess to them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
