A Year of Freshly Cooked Food

THE BEGINNING
December 26, 2009

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2009 was all about getting back to being healthy.

In the run-up to 2009 (and probably a few years before that), I admit I was remiss and abandoned the strict regimen which marked my lifestyle for a decade and got too indulgent. I thought I had saved enough "good health" to entitle me to "undo" it - first, only by a bit; soon enough by a whole lot.

I soon learned Mother Nature cannot be fooled, and rightly enough, I did get quite sickly. Add to that the stresses I was undergoing at the time - a second relocation to another country in less than 3 years, a new round of adjustment, the challenge of learning a new language just to make myself understood for the simplest of tasks such as asking a taxi driver to get me from Point A to Point B, a miscarriage, forging a new career path, wrapping up my Master's, my postgrad diploma and a trade research project.

As I slowly nursed myself back to health this year, I began to observe how dependent I've been to the modern convenience of fast food chains. Sure, given a reasonable amount of free time, I still took to my kitchen to bake, roast and cook. I made salads. I dug into my cook books and relived the joy of discovering wonderful new meals between their pages.

The health benefits of these home made treats were however undone by the frequency by which we ordered that late night meal from McD or KFC. My husband and I work till quite late and by the time we triumph through Jakarta's unforgiving traffic jams, it usually would be around 930pm (or later). And at 930pm, even the most dedicated of cooks would probably have only enough energy to lift the phone and call the delivery hot line of the chain which delivers the fastest.

And I suppose this is the reason why these fast food chains flourish and sprout in weed-like fashion. They capitalise on the weariness of modern life - the same weariness that saps you of the energy to make a decent meal for yourself.

But not any more.

As the last quarter of 2009 began, I decided to start getting back into that strict regimen which saw me at my healthiest. Fish and poultry. Veggies. Salads. Sparing dishes of red meat. When I felt the urge to reach for the fast food hotline, I would make the conscious effort to call one of the many freshly cooked outlets in Jakarta and ordered an item which I knew would be cooked from scratch.

I never realised how difficult nor how dependent I had become until I started 'correcting' what had now become almost a knee jerk reaction.

Hence, these two resolutions for 2010

For 2010, I have decided to take on the challenge of avoiding fast food chain foods altogether, 'fast food chain' being defined as the likes of McD, KFC, Wendy's and which also includes Pizza Hut, Domino's pizza. Not a bite, no matter how difficult the situation may be.

I will also revive my almost anal fixation to take in fresh food and veggies on a daily basis, and fruits other than the usual apple and orange. Soursop would be a good start and bananas. And drink caffeine-free drinks like ginger tea.

Phew.

I'll only stick to two for 2010, because I know myself. The first resolution is difficult enough but just sticking to Resolution #1 would be incomplete without Resolution #2 complementing it.

Let's see how far this goes.

Here's to 2010!

PS: Being the fair person that I am, these resolutions only apply to me and not the Geek. Seeing how he's off to Manila for 4 weeks, it would be an injustice for him not to sample that most delectable of Filipino fast food indulgences: Jollibee Chickenjoy.

PPS: And no, I will not use these few remaining days of 2009 to indulge in these now-taboo edible delights. Lord, help me!