Saturday, January 21, 2006

Ben’s food categorization and justification system

Ben’s been trying to eat better lately and I’ve been trying to use a “eat nothing after dinner” policy to prevent the stupid munching I like to do after Sam’s going to bed. I know it’s stress-related munching and it’s really something I need to avoid. In theory, Ben was going to join me in the endeavor but he got sidetracked.

Ben: Does this mean I can’t have any oranges after dinner?

Me: It means no calories after dinner!

Ben: But oranges are good for you.

Me: It means no calories after dinner!

Ben: But oranges are an “A” food.

Me: “A” food?

And Ben went on to discuss his categories. “A” foods are fruits and veggies. Things you can eat without any guilt. If you ate just “A” foods, then it would be nearly impossible for most people to gain weight. “B” foods are foods that have some downsides but have lots of redeeming features. Meat, egg, fish, dairy, whole grains and for good measure we threw in alcohol because, er, there is research that shows that alcohol in limited quantities is good for you. Maybe chocolate should go there too, right? “C” foods are basically foods that still have a smidgeon of goodness here or there…white breads, home made cookies (ok, that was after lots of discussion since Ben thought they were worse than say, Doritos, but I totally disagreed with that assessment and got him to agree once I got him to believe the Doritos are deep fried before they’re coated with cheesy salty burpy goodness) and, um, I can’t remember what other foods fit into this category. Pizza. Probably most processed frozen meals, some sides. “D” foods are those sweet and salty snacks we all know as junkfood. Mmmm.

“F” foods are those that aren’t really foods. Twinkies.

Ben wanted to put cigars as “A” foods since they’re veggie and I agreed as long as he’d eat them instead of smoke them…


Ben had agreed that after dinner he’d consume nothing but “A” foods. But now I’m being a tattletale because he also had some wine last night. Definitely not an “A” food! Busted. And me? I went to bed hungry…I feel so righteous!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish to make a motion that we strike Pizza from the "C" category, and move it up to the "B" category, with some qualifications, of course

Anne V said...

I'm move pizza into the "A" category if I could justify it....isn't it one of the most perfect foods?

Anonymous said...

Ok, let me get this straight:

Cookies are in the "C" category, and sweet and salty snacks are in the "D" category? LOL!

New research shows that DARK chocolate contains something that is good for you. A guy on the TODAY show last week recommended eating an ounce or so of dark chocolate on a daily basis. Don't believe it? It's probably on their website!

Anne V said...

Cookies are in the C category because I want to eat them. There is no other reason for it.