Dinner Diva – Eat Me… Drink Me…

Alice in Wonderland is making a big entrance in movie theaters across America, reminding us of how far our imagination can get us. A reoccurring theme throughout the movie (and the books) is Alice’s size – either as big as a house or shrinking into the size of a mouse. I know several people who feel just like Alice!

drink_meEven though Alice in Wonderland was written over 100 years ago, the terms “eat me” and “drink me” are just as familiar to us as they were to Alice—we’ve got Madison Avenue to help us with that. So how do we remove ourselves from the lure of “eat me, drink me”?  The answer of course is to make a swap.

One of my biggest temptations that has “eat me” written all over it, is chocolate. I’ve finally made peace with chocolate by befriending dark chocolate, a phytochemically rich super food. So okay, it’s not like the beloved past friend of mine milk chocolate, but at least it doesn’t end up bulking out my thighs or padding my derriere. Dark chocolate is a luscious and reasonable substitute and something I can indulge in modestly from time to time.

A “drink me” that is a vice for a lot of people is sodas. Just giving up 1 soda a day can mean 20 or more pounds less of you by this same time next year. A great stand in for sodas is sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon or lime or both. If you need a little sweet, put a teaspoon of xylitol in there. Xylitol is a good healthy alternative to sugar or sugar substitutes and may even help you keep your teeth healthier too.

The bottom line with “eat me” and “drink me’s” is this: you do have a say-so on what you will and will not indulge in. Making that choice is yours alone to make—just be informed: is the “eat me” or “drink me” in question worth it? Will it improve your health, help you lose weight or bring you inexplicable joy? If the answer is inexplicable joy and it is a nutritional nightmare, do make sure you keep it as a treat and not a part of your regular diet. You know the rules—90% of the time we do it right, the other 10%? Go for the inexplicable joy! 🙂

2 Responses

  1. Great post! I have embraced raw dark chocolate with all natural ingredients and I have it every day and have seen it make a difference in my overall well being. I drink soda occasionally, but now I have an all natural healthy energy drink that is so yummy its like a grape soda or a sparkling grape juice. And instead of all the junk in soda, every ingredient is natural and healthy. I prefer it and it’s quite a bonus that it gives me several hours of sustained energy and focus.

  2. “We’d do something very family-oriented like going out for Chinese food — and I’m not even Chinese,” recalls the executive chef at Diva at the Met. …

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