COVID convinced me that belts and snaps and zippers were way less wonderful than elastic waist pants. Donated all my constricting clothes and have been blissfully content, 10 pounds heavier and breathing easily, ever since. I prepare "dinner for the pastor" every time I cook. After all, I'm worth it. Happy New Year to you and yours from me and mine.
I really, really, really loved this. THANK YOU. As someone desperate to kick sugar (it consumes me), it was quite calming to read this and know it's possible. What a balanced, sane piece. Thank you xx
I was sharing. I almost make it out the store and then all the candy at the checkout is total sabotage. I can't buy sugar treats and believe I'll just have one.
It IS possible. See my response above! All the best if you choose to do it. I could not do it alone though i tried for decades. Finally joined a 12 step grp.
I've lost 300 lbs in 30 years by stopping dieting. Still not svelte but a lot happier not being so focused on oz and fat calories. I have also done 2 5ks with a walker in 3 years.
I have recently come back from a long holiday visiting my daughter overseas. Their schedule and mine was very incompatible but I was a guest in their home so I felt it was only good manners to fit into their lives not have them fiddle around trying to accommodate me.
The result of this visit is I had a wonderful time but my eating got all screwed up. The negative noises in my head were driving me crazy. I arrived home sick, missed Christmas with family and am very much aware that I gained weight. But I am not going to diet, I am not going to listen to those negative voices in my head but rather will return to my good eating regimen and at a time that my ol body likes. It will adjust I am sure. No sweets because I can't stop myself. So just good home cooking with lots of greens and veg. I love myself more when I can recognize what I need to do rather than give in to those nasty negative thoughts. I will get well and I will feel better as I return to my normal day to day.
Okay,time for me to clean up the kitchen. that's my root cause of food confusion. "So just good home coking with lots of greens and veg." clarity of intention
I’ve been carrying your words with me for years, and this one landed like permission, to stop treating food as a problem to solve and start treating it as care.
I’m working on something called The Hungry Table, rooted in a simple, ancient belief: that a carefully prepared, jointly shared meal can still do what almost nothing else can, restore sanity through real human connection. Humans have healed and remembered who they are around tables for thousands of years.
As I step into this work, my relationship with food isn’t something I’m trying to fix anymore. It’s too exhausting. It’s something I’m learning to harness in service of connection.
Thank you for the years of language, courage, and permission. This one arrived right on time💕
Thank you Alice! The intention is to have this dinner take place at many tables this year. If you are interested in hosting one, and would like some support, feel free to reach out
I SOOO love your sense of humor Anne. Inviting the pastor over to stand up and eat Pringles!! happy New Year and I'm so glad you joined Substack. Blue💙
What a great reminder that not only do diets not work, they are counterproductive. We could switch your raisinette story for my milk duds and you just told my life story! Thank you.
I live where the food comes to you. Well, you go to it, I should say. Having to choose from ten times more food than you need is its own challenge. Even if it's mostly healthy. No Pringles! The only thing I ever make myself in my own oven are madeleines, those buttery French Proustian (word check really wants this to be Prussian!) tea cakes that are so delicious warm out of the oven. They are so worth it. That's what I often ask as I stand in front of the dessert counter: Is it worth it? Or I ask: What would Kim Eagle say? He is my cardiologist extraordinaire. Those two questions help a lot.
And I just discovered a new little trick that even Proust might have enjoyed: instead of grating the lemon rind, using a knife to make tiny slices of rind. The bit of texture turns out to be nice. Did it out of desperation when I lacked a whole lemon, and the kitchen could offer only slices from the bar.
Absolutely! It’s tough when food’s everywhere and it all looks so good, even if it’s mostly healthy. I love your approach, asking if it’s worth it or what Kim Eagle would say. I think we all need a little reminder to pause and ask those questions before giving in to cravings. Madeleines sound amazing though, definitely worth the effort once in a while.
Amen to that and more! Diet culture and the whole "longevity" bullshit is truly meant to drag us through this vortex of bad advice and the comparison of our biological age vs our chronological age! At 66 some days I feel like a 100 and others a spry 40 years young. Anne you truly are my source of "carbonated holiness" . Thank you for your Substack.
Thank you again for this message! I love you, Anne. Come down and visit the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas and I’ll give you my personal tour. Elephant seals love their blubber!
COVID convinced me that belts and snaps and zippers were way less wonderful than elastic waist pants. Donated all my constricting clothes and have been blissfully content, 10 pounds heavier and breathing easily, ever since. I prepare "dinner for the pastor" every time I cook. After all, I'm worth it. Happy New Year to you and yours from me and mine.
I really, really, really loved this. THANK YOU. As someone desperate to kick sugar (it consumes me), it was quite calming to read this and know it's possible. What a balanced, sane piece. Thank you xx
I was sharing. I almost make it out the store and then all the candy at the checkout is total sabotage. I can't buy sugar treats and believe I'll just have one.
It IS possible. See my response above! All the best if you choose to do it. I could not do it alone though i tried for decades. Finally joined a 12 step grp.
It's possible and it does get better!
I've lost 300 lbs in 30 years by stopping dieting. Still not svelte but a lot happier not being so focused on oz and fat calories. I have also done 2 5ks with a walker in 3 years.
Go Anne go
Thank you so very much for this piece.
I have recently come back from a long holiday visiting my daughter overseas. Their schedule and mine was very incompatible but I was a guest in their home so I felt it was only good manners to fit into their lives not have them fiddle around trying to accommodate me.
The result of this visit is I had a wonderful time but my eating got all screwed up. The negative noises in my head were driving me crazy. I arrived home sick, missed Christmas with family and am very much aware that I gained weight. But I am not going to diet, I am not going to listen to those negative voices in my head but rather will return to my good eating regimen and at a time that my ol body likes. It will adjust I am sure. No sweets because I can't stop myself. So just good home cooking with lots of greens and veg. I love myself more when I can recognize what I need to do rather than give in to those nasty negative thoughts. I will get well and I will feel better as I return to my normal day to day.
Wishing you and yours a blessed new year Anne.
Okay,time for me to clean up the kitchen. that's my root cause of food confusion. "So just good home coking with lots of greens and veg." clarity of intention
Anne, this was exactly the reminder I needed.
I’ve been carrying your words with me for years, and this one landed like permission, to stop treating food as a problem to solve and start treating it as care.
I’m working on something called The Hungry Table, rooted in a simple, ancient belief: that a carefully prepared, jointly shared meal can still do what almost nothing else can, restore sanity through real human connection. Humans have healed and remembered who they are around tables for thousands of years.
As I step into this work, my relationship with food isn’t something I’m trying to fix anymore. It’s too exhausting. It’s something I’m learning to harness in service of connection.
Thank you for the years of language, courage, and permission. This one arrived right on time💕
Simply love this! Food nourishes us in so many ways
Thank you Alice! The intention is to have this dinner take place at many tables this year. If you are interested in hosting one, and would like some support, feel free to reach out
Hi Suzy! Im interested in hosting. How do I find out more? Swzutler@gmail.com
Hi Samantha, so happy to connect and include you in the experience! I will email you with more information this evening.
Lying scum diet industry. Finally someone said it. Thank you for this, a reminder to just take care of YOU. Love and blessings to you.
I SOOO love your sense of humor Anne. Inviting the pastor over to stand up and eat Pringles!! happy New Year and I'm so glad you joined Substack. Blue💙
The Pringles line made me laugh out loud too, which rarely happens. So funny.
I had to read it aloud to my husband. Too good!
I can think of few material things more liberating than loose pants.
Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.
An excellent suggestion. And it needs quotation marks around Michael Pollan's name. 😘
Sooo true.
Nice dishes, sitting at the table, chewing versus inhaling.
It reminds me if Geneen Roth's book women Food and God.
Wish I could have gone that route.
What a great reminder that not only do diets not work, they are counterproductive. We could switch your raisinette story for my milk duds and you just told my life story! Thank you.
Anything with chocolate in it.
Seriously
Thank you!!! Self love is an inside job!! Life time work for me!😎
I live where the food comes to you. Well, you go to it, I should say. Having to choose from ten times more food than you need is its own challenge. Even if it's mostly healthy. No Pringles! The only thing I ever make myself in my own oven are madeleines, those buttery French Proustian (word check really wants this to be Prussian!) tea cakes that are so delicious warm out of the oven. They are so worth it. That's what I often ask as I stand in front of the dessert counter: Is it worth it? Or I ask: What would Kim Eagle say? He is my cardiologist extraordinaire. Those two questions help a lot.
And I just discovered a new little trick that even Proust might have enjoyed: instead of grating the lemon rind, using a knife to make tiny slices of rind. The bit of texture turns out to be nice. Did it out of desperation when I lacked a whole lemon, and the kitchen could offer only slices from the bar.
I gain no weight when making them: everyone wants some!
Absolutely! It’s tough when food’s everywhere and it all looks so good, even if it’s mostly healthy. I love your approach, asking if it’s worth it or what Kim Eagle would say. I think we all need a little reminder to pause and ask those questions before giving in to cravings. Madeleines sound amazing though, definitely worth the effort once in a while.
Amen to that and more! Diet culture and the whole "longevity" bullshit is truly meant to drag us through this vortex of bad advice and the comparison of our biological age vs our chronological age! At 66 some days I feel like a 100 and others a spry 40 years young. Anne you truly are my source of "carbonated holiness" . Thank you for your Substack.
As someone who has a long history with and deep love of Pringles, I will never look at a can of them the same way. Thank you.
Thank you again for this message! I love you, Anne. Come down and visit the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas and I’ll give you my personal tour. Elephant seals love their blubber!