A Dieter's Dream: A Poem

white buttercream sprinkled with non-pariels

freshly baked and iced petit fours

chocolate orange sections in my palms

spinning trays on the table, thick with tarts and pies

hazelnut, lemon meringue, crusts still warm

cup of hot chocolate, with rum, why not?

steaks marbled and seared, buttered potatoes, sour cream

morning’s coffee honeyed and benevolent

freshly kneaded coffeecake, pecan

not just green beans, but Thanksgiving’s green beans,

en casserole, with onions French-fried,

Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey in a banana split

dripping with homemade hot fudge

Eating well is crucial for good health. While eating enough, high-quality, fresh food is essential, eating well does not mean overindulging. Eating well does mean eating regularly (if possible, a small meal every two or three hours) and consuming moderate portions of natural, unprocessed foods from the major food groups, limiting sweets and fats.

Unfortunately, knowing something to be true and taking responsibility for that knowledge are two different things; thus, human beings still struggle to eat sensibly. According to "Weight Control," an article on MedLine Plus: Trusted Health Information for You, a website sponsored by the National Institute of Health, "currently, sixty-six percent of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese" (para. 1). Returning to--and maintaining--healthy eating habits will help us lose this extra weight, yet those who have dieted know just how hard it is. Additionally, too often, dieters regain the weight they have lost--yet, we must continue to try reach and remain at a healthy weight, since carrying a large amount of excess weight clogs the body and taxes the heart. Especially during the holiday season, it's hard for dieters to forgo stuffing themselves, usually with sweets or fatty foods as well.

Knowing this, you might ask why, in good conscience, did I create this Hub about the intoxicating deliciousness of food? Yes, I am to blame, but we each have a breaking point. Reaching mine, I dreamed of the fabulous foods described in "A Dieter's Dream"--and those foods mentioned are only the beginning.

For the record, even though I currently work in a coffee store that also sells tempting, luscious baked goods, and despite the holidays quickly approaching, I am sticking to my current diet as well as possible, with only occasional food dreams. Really I am.

Works Cited

"Weight Control." MedLine Plus: Trusted Health Information for You . U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.

When so many people in the world are starving or undernourished, including some Americans, is overeating not a grave wrong? How can one enjoy food frivolously, even abuse it by overeating, while knowing that others lack sufficient food to be healthy and comfortable? Sadly, in this world, our consciousness is not always altruistic. It's all too easy to forget others' suffering.

Helping at a food bank or shelter, sharing your plenty (when you have it) with friends and family who are less fortunate, and perhaps donating to--or otherwise serving--large organizations working to end hunger are ways to rectify this selfishness. Perhaps this holiday season, homemade food baskets for loved ones might be thoughtful, and welcome, gifts.

If the recipient is dieting, be sure to prepare the basket with fruit, whole grain crackers, low fat soups, salsas, energy bars, herb teas, and other low-fat, healthy foods. A complimentary pass to a gym or a yoga class might be something nice to tuck inside the basket.

Sweet dreams!