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What a great post! I empathize with you, too, as someone who'd been overweight her entire life. I really went out of control when I started cooking school and am finally getting it under control (for the most part, most of the time, anyway). Your weekly posts and meditations on this issue are encouraging, and I continue to wish you well as I battle the bulge alonside you!

Food critics, like porn stars, experience pleasure for the benefit of an absent audience and do so in quantities likely to eventually put their health and even enjoyment in jeopardy. I certainly appreciate the benefits and sacrifices of the former, but I remain dubious about the latter.

I think that one of the major problems that comes up here, not just among chefs or critics, but for all Americans is that we think we know about nutrition and what is healthy, but the truth is we have no idea. Look at the label of a low fat Blueberry yogurt (yes, even the organic kind) in your grocery store and you will notice that one serving of that has about twice the amount of pure sugar than a bowl of ice cream. Diet food is perhaps the most unhealthy food out there. Also, many people feel that in order to compensate for indulging on a big meal such as pizza or eating a dessert at lunch, that they should skip meals later in the day. Well, that is the worst thing you can do. The body will think it is being deprived and start storing fat.

I LOVE food and appreciate it for the pleasure it can bring and how it can bring people together, but I find it very hard to strike a true balance unless you train your palate to like (not LOVE), but be satisfied, with the healthiest of food. And, with the way American live, they do not have time to enjoy meals, so if you are going to scarf down something at your desk, it might as well be the most healthy option that exists (and not the heathiest option that is in your local subway). I eat almost obsessively healthy 85-90% of the time. This means a lunch that might be a salad with greens, a ton of raw vegetables, plain grilled salmon and a table spoon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I meause everything, and by now can eyeball and know the calories and macros I am eating. It means not adding the little sweeteners to foods and it means not eating ANYTHING processed. It also means knowing how to time your food according to exercise, whiich means that you have to learn to exercise appropriately. Yes, cardio is great for you, but doing hours upon hours a week of steady state cardio is catabolic. People need to educate themselves about exercise and anaerobic vs. aerobic and when to eat carbs and what kind according to when you exercise. Weightlifting is an esssential part of losing weight, staying in shape or gaining muscle. If I had the choice between only lifting weights or only doing cardio, weights would win out every time, and I am by no means a bodybuilder.

But, as obsessive as I may seem, i do enjoy food. I have learned to cook food that is unbelievably healthy and delicious, but that every ingredient is the height of nutritious. And, it means that when I do indulge, I appreciate it that much more. And, many of the things that I once truly loved because they tasted good, I have come to hate b/c I now realize what it was doing to my body, my health and my overall mood. If I am eating a meal alone at my apartment, I do not find it enjoyable to indugle. I leave the indulging to when I am with friends and celebrating and truly enjoying what I am eating and the people I am eating it with.

The people that describe themselves as those that have lost 30 lbs, then put it back on, those are the people that do not educate themselves about nutrition and exercise. Just having portion control is not nearly enough. Yes, if you ate just 2000 calories a day of pizza, you would probably lose weight, but the key is you would lose weight, not body fat. Losing weight is not just about losing weight, it is about becoming a more healthy person and feeling better everyday. I am not trying to preach, but this is what I have learned and the lack of education in this society about such a large issue is horrible.

Ed, I applaude you for losing weight, especially given the temptation that is around you 24 hours a day and I certainly don't mean to belittle any attempts you are making to become healthier. But, I think everyone who battles with their weight or just how they feel, even if they seem to be at a healthy weight, needs to educate themselves.

This is just my 2 cents and sorry if I rambled. This is a topic that frustrates me to my deepest core.

You can't know how happy I am to see this post and how happy I was to read the NYT article. As an overweight food/wine writer, I have searched the internet high and low for pieces such as this from others in the industry, that have some sort of found wisdom to offer. I'm often obstinate and if I read in a diet cookbook that I'm supposed to use no-fat butter substitute in my faux hollandaise sauce I toss the book out the window...the purist in me can't get there. And so I guess what they say is right....portion control. Thanks again.

Call me Presbyterian or presbyopic, but I don't see "glutton" and "gourmet" as synonymous, nor "fat" and "foodie". My use of "fat and happy" as a screen moniker has always been figurative (ahem), not causal.

I will just say Thank You again, for spotlighting a problem that many of us have or have had, and doing so in a sane rational and entertaining way! I'm sure everyone agrees, we are all proud of you! Not just for your sucesses but for the atempts that keep us all trying!

I was waiting for you to pop up in that story as I read it this morning. As a food writer and restaurant reviewer who struggles with my weight, I was completely drawn in by the piece. One thing I thought was missing is the idea that the foods you eat don't make you fat--overeating makes you fat. And it is a million times easier to overeat when food is your life, your work and your passion. As a someone who eats for a living, I've gotten pretty good and pushing things away. (Well, most of the time.) I also keep Anton Ego's memorable line from Ratatouille in mind: "I don't like food, I love it. If I don't love it, I don't swallow." It's a useful mantra!