My weight is fairly steady, dithering around the 70kg mark, apparently on the low side for a guy of my height, and is exactly what it was a decade ago. My body fat is 15 per cent and has been gently falling for the past three or four years. Yes, I go to the gym (only a couple of hours a week), I swim (a sort of half-hearted doggy-paddle) and run a couple of times a week, but no one could exactly accuse me of being a gym-bunny. OK, I watch the carbs a bit, but it didn't stop me tucking into spaghetti with sausage, pancetta and cream last night (delicious, recipe next issue) or toasted focaccia with melted taleggio the day before. In fact I regard my diet as pretty normal, apart from possibly eating more vegetables and drinking rather less alcohol than most. At least, pretty normal for someone with an above average interest in food.
The chances are that if you eat a moderate amount of (mostly) good food, and take a reasonable amount of exercise, of the type where you actually sweat, then you are unlikely to get excessively overweight unless there is some other, over-riding issue. To read some of the stories I have seen recently, it feels as if food, both good and bad, is being seen as what is wrong with our lives rather than what is right with it. Food is being seen as the enemy. I get heartily pissed off at people continually blaming food for all their problems. It's not the buttered crumpets or the cheesecake that's the problem. It's not even the pizza. It's the fact that something, somewhere is out of balance.
How we deal with food, what we use it for, how and when we eat it and the place it takes in our lives is a deeply complex and fascinating subject. There are times when I eat too much or when I eat rather more of certain things than I know is wise, and believe me, I'm the first to reach for the cake tin when I'm troubled. But I really wish everyone would stop blaming food for all their problems. Good food, cooked and eaten thoughtfully, is good for us, a source of both sustenance and untold pleasure. That is something we must never lose sight of. Now visit Lucy Cavendish's wonderfully written story.
