Salad Days: Going Green, Staying Mean

Finally. For the longest time, the idea of blogging about food has been fermenting at the back of my mind. Chronic wishy-washiness comes to the fore when I try weighing the pros and cons of the deal. My favorite excuse is that I would be undermining my own penny-pinching efforts, as I would be somewhat "forced" to eat out more often at places slightly better than your friendly, neighborhood Kenny Rogers (ain't much of a McDonald's junkie). Now not to diss the great Kenny R, coz he sure knows tasty comfort food-in-a-flash. (Even though his roast chicken gives off that GMO vibe, like you're biting into cloned meat or what-have-you, which is not actually all that comforting...) But some days when feel like you've had one roast chicken too many, you know you gotta have variety. And some days, you just gotta have quality variety.

By quality, I mean healthy. As in salads and greens. Olive oil-based entrees and roast white meat. Soy lattes and sugar-free desserts. Friends know how I can live on tuna au naturel for a whole straight week and not feel like I'm starting to grow fish scales. I get a kick out of eating things that I know won't lead me to a premature bypass. Even though I like digging into rich, hearty treats (lordy, I miss Cyma!), I get a little lightheaded from images of clogged arteries swirling in my head, the special effects punctuated with every bite. (Okay, well, maybe not EVERY bite.. usually just the first one.) Plus, I know I don't look like it, but I admit vanity plays a teeny role in my preferences. Gotta love this society that's being held up by pillars of double standards.

But really, I like what I like mostly because I like my body to function the way it's supposed to when it counts. I like sports. I like being able to move with as little baggage as possible. I like being able to go trekking for hours on end without stopping every 10 seconds or so for a breather, or slipping on jagged rocks and breaking a rib or two in the process. I like not looking like a wuss during training, especially at times when I feel like I'm being one.

So that's my story. Now what about this health food series thing? Well, the dealbreaker is, I have to motivate myself to eat healthy more consistently. Enough with the excuses, enough with the sissiness. Sure, grabbing healthy eats means dishing out more bread. But if you want something, you do what you gotta do to make it happen. If you gotta spend, you might as well spend wisely and with flair. Quality is the shiznit, whereas extravagance is for the uninspired.

And most of all, spend in finger-lickin' good taste. Coz really, if it's so good, who cares about anything?