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Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 25: The Land of Too Much Plenty (And So Much Sharing)

Posted by Ed Levine, July 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM

Here's my dilemma. I have two completely conflicting impulses. I want to taste every delicious thing in this world, and I also want to keep control of my weight so that I can live to see my son grow old and our future grandchildren grow up. Can I succeed in doing both? Sometimes, when I'm feeling good and in control, I think the answer is yes. At other times, when there is so much food coming into Serious Eats world headquarters and when I feel the need to food-explore every morning, diet success seems like an impossible dream. This past week was an impossible dream week, and from a dieting-living perspective, it might have been saved by the other serious eaters.

The following items were delivered to the office this week:

• Amazing pork from Martins BBQ in Nashville, Tennessee
• Fourteen kinds of ice cream from Ice Cream Alchemy in Boulder, Colorado, ranging from the divine (yuzu grapefruit sorbet, lemon chocolate chip) to the ridiculous (lox and bagels and cream cheese, and bacon and date ice cream)
• Seven kinds of ice cream from Ciao Bella, including a great Key lime graham cracker flavor

On top of that I brought in the following:

• Really goood chocolate pudding with whipped cream and chocolate shavings
• Fifteen sandwiches from the sandwich shop I am going to review next week
• A dozen kinds of chocolate chip cookies for a mondo chocolate chip cookie post we're working on
• Cheddar biscuits stuffed with ham and cheddar
• A bunch of killer sandwiches from around New York, including a roast beef with fried onions on a soft roll that may be sandwich hall of fame material

There's a lot of other stuff I tasted this week, but I think you get the point. Temptation awaits me at every turn, whether I seek it out or not. I try to just taste things, but it ain't easy. What may in fact be my salvation is my gang of fellow serious eaters, who are young, hungry, and fit, and who seem to innately know how to eat in moderation. I'm trying to let them do the bulk of the eating. Maybe if I had learned how to share better growing up in a house with four growing boys I wouldn't be struggling quite so much with my weight.

The Weigh-In

Anyway, I'm hoping to stay even when I step on the scale this morning, and if I'm lucky I might even lose a pound. I was even when I stepped on the scale yesterday. So maybe I'll be OK. Here goes. Down a pound. Down with gluttony. Up with sharing.

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