Food and the City

If there is one thing that us single girls, especially single girls in the city, obsess about more than men, its food. We obsess whether something is low in fat, low in carbs low in calories. We will order a venti (that's a large) latte with SKIM! milk for breakfast. Then an hour later, give in and get a bagel. Then obsess about how that was a bad choice, and beat ourselves up about it all day long, promising ourselves that we'll run an extra 20 minutes at the gym that day. And at the gym, while sweating on the treadmill, we'll be planning on what we're having for dinner. To make up for the carb overload, maybe we'll have a salad for dinner. In bed that night, we'll go over what we ate all day and promise ourselves to be better tomorrow, and go ahead and plan out what we can eat tomorrow that might be better for us.

Sound familiar? This over-obsessive way of thinking about food is just the way young women are about food. Some more than others (like single women, who love food, in NYC), obviously.

If Carrie Bradshaw knows "good sex" then Cosmo Chef knows "good food." And did CB really know good sex? Or wasn't she just a normal, single city girl (if normal on TV standards comes with a perfectly in-shape body without working out and a designer wardrobe on a columnist's salary) who was trying to find one great love and questioned all of her insecurities about men on her laptop.

I have to be the food blogging version of Carrie Bradshaw and ask: Why is it that women, especially the single women from New York, seem to think about food all day, and men can eat whatever they want without a care in the world? Women obsess over food in the same way women obsess over men. A woman will over analyze all the "bad" things she did on a first date, the same way she will obsess about all the "unhealthy" things she indulged in over the weekend. And on planet Mars, men do not obsess about food the same mysterious way that they do not obsess about relationships. (I know there are some men who definitely think about food and women, but we are talking about the extreme and the typical guy.) You know those guys, who are born in a locker room, grow up to work in a professional kitchen or trading floor (somewhere in NYC) and live in the weight room. These "Manly Men" only eat red meat, don't like vegetables, and would never complain that their latte doesn't "taste non-fat." They would probably be called gay by their other "he-man-woman-haters-club" friend. The same name calling would occur if he attempted to over-analyze why the girl he likes won't respond to his (let's be honest) text messages. (PS, I think I might stop responding to guys who think that text messages are the only form of communication. Grow a pair, dial her number and speak!)

In a lot of ways men are like food. Some are good and some are bad for us. Some men are like a double fudge brownie sundae with extra whipped cream and beautiful red cherry on top, or a double bacon cheeseburger, that when you first see, you have to have. When you translate a sundae/ double cheeseburger into a man you would get: Mr. Sundae Burger. He would definitely be a Manly Man, the kind of guy who looks really good -- the body of a Greek God, a job on Wall Street, a lot of experience in "sweet talking" and a phone that doesn't have a function to returns calls. You go right after it (or him) because that is just what you need at the moment, but you know is not so good for you in the long run. Mr. Sundae Burger may satisfy an initial craving, but afterward you know that it isn't good for you and ends up making you feel bad about yourself. Mr. Sundae Burger is a guilty pleasure that is fun while it lasts but isn't the best choice for a long term investment. And be careful when indulging, you may end up with "heart burn."

Then there are guys who are just like a plain, dry, chicken salad with non-fat dressing. He may seem like a smart choice, but does he really leave you feeling satisfied? Let's face it, Mr. Non-Fat Grilled Chicken is boring and you can't live with this deprived feeling forever.

Some guys, like the greasy, Thai take-out place around the corner, may be in your face and "convenient" but you may not always understand "what's on the menu." Maybe a little too ethnic for my every day taste.

Other guys are like the classic New York Strip steak (I think Big from SaTC is exactly this type). Classy, delicious, pricey, and maybe difficult for women with weak stomachs to digest. But sometimes there's nothing like it to make you feel at home again. At least for me...

Some men, like food, are too spicy, too bland, too salty, too all over the place, too fruity, too fatty, too sweet, too different, too ethnic, too familiar, too much, not enough. But when you meet the right "dish" you know what is good for you -- what makes you feel good. It's something you can imagine having on a daily basis -- the perfect "dish."

In the end, we all need a healthy, well-balanced diet. Like a man, we should be in the kind of relationship with food that makes us feel good and excites us. And as a single girl, there is nothing wrong with indulging once in a while.

Until we find that perfect dish, we'll be dreaming them up and waiting for the day that we take that one perfect bite. And our Mirandas, Samanthas, and Charlottes will be there to listen to our guilty weekend splurge on that late night pizza/ that guy with the good dance moves we should not have seen again. Isn't that what our single girlfriends are for? For talking about our obsessions with food and men. And let's be honest, whining over wine about the date can be far more entertaining than the actual date.

xo, Cosmo Chef