Seems like more and more in my life I’m obsessed with what I eat.

Part of it stems from the fact that I’m getting older and can no longer eat whatever and not have it rear it’s fatty head somewhere on my body.

Another part is probably due to the fact that I now have four people to feed and should show some responsibility and good sense in that endeavor.

Finally and most wonderfully, I’m lucky in life. I have normal kids. I don’t worry about the bills. I don’t have to work. I’m happily married. It frees up a lot of time to obsess about food.

For years I have calorie counted. Initially it works. You do learn to eat less and find foods that are more filling per calorie. But you still always feel a little hungry. Most nights you sit at home after dinner willing yourself not to raid the cupboards. And it can never seem to get those last 5 pounds off. Those really annoying ones. The ones that make everyone at the gym ask me if I’m pregnant. I guess I just don’t have the will power to be as strict as I need to be to look perfect.

It’s dieting’s dirty little secret – if you want to lose weight, you will feel hungry.

For some time now I’ve been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. In fact I’ve been cooking out of vegan cookbooks. If you get the right author (I’m in love with Isa Chandra Moskowitz and have recently started using Lindsay Nixon) there are lots of flavorful ways to eat without meat and cheese. Veganism tempted me, but again, I’m too much of a foodie to restrict myself all the time.

Recently my sister sent my husband The China Study. It was in response to his high cholesterol. I read it first. I stopped eating meats and cheeses. Not completely, just around 95% of the time as the book suggests. I feel amazing. It’s made me very happy to know I’m doing something great for my body. And there is another way besides calorie counting. At first I was scared it would be hard to cook different meals for me on top of the ones I cook for the family. But I’ve learned to incorporate my main meals as a side for everyone else. You still need veggies on your plate, right? And eating out has sometimes limited me to the ‘sides’ section of the menu but there is always a way to find something good to no matter where you are.

I’m not sure how long it will last, since everyone knows I’m very suggestible. In fact as soon as I called my sister and told her she changed my life (not to mention BM’s), she said, “Are you eating fish? You need to read The Omnivores Dilemma next.”

Here we go again…

Ever since we’ve had kids we have seriously lost touch with the new and hip places to eat out. Chicago is such a foodie city that you could eat at a new place every day and still not see all it has to offer.

We tend to go back to the same places, kid friendly places within walking distance where we know the food is good. But this weekend we branched out and tried two new places, DMK Burger Bar and Jam ‘n Honey.

We had heard about DMK from a few other people and decided to give it a go. It’s got quite a late night vibe to it, with a large open space in the middle. The kids spent most of the time we were there running up and down this large open space dancing to club-like tunes. At one point the staff (a group of young, good looking student types) were all dancing along with them. For this alone I was sold on the place. Unfortunately I don’t think the food matched my newfound healthy eating habits. (My new eating habits are a whole ‘nother blog, coming soon.)

My husband is quite the burger connoisseur so his review holds a lot of weight. He ordered the Number 1. Aged Chedder, Smoked Bacon, Charred Balsamic Red Onions, Rufus Teague’s BBQ Sauce. It was okay. A bit too BBQ saucy. But he loved the beer menu. My Veggie and Grain burger without cheese, aka Number 12 was delish. The other stuff we ordered, Truffle Fries, Mac and Cheese (one of four types), were all extremely rich. After we got home everyone was dying of thirst, a sure sign there was way too much salt.

This morning we hit Jam ‘n Honey. When we first got there the staff looked very confused and the waitress took quite a long time to come greet us. I was started to remember why we stuck to all our usual restaurants. However, after the initial confusion, we were very pleased with the food and service. Both kids absolutely loved the huge jar of Nutella on the table. After breakfast we went to the park. On our way back home, around 11:30am, here was the scene in front of Jam ‘n Honey…

A 'Jammed' Jam n' Honey

Kind of makes me want to open up a brunch place. You know, with all my spare time. We are obviously dying for more in the area.