WIAW – Then…And Now

 

I have an interesting twist for this week’s What I Ate Wednesday fun.

The other day, my friend went through his email archives and came across a survey I once completed long ago.

When I say long ago, I mean September 22, 2000.

I was fresh out of college, working my first job in the promotions industry, 22 years old and one month away from being engaged.

I thought it would be fun to check out some of the highlights from the survey to see how my tastes have changed (or remained the same) over the past fourteen years….

1. Coffee or Coffee Ice Cream?

My reply in September 2000: Neither.

Um, excuse me? Do I know this former self? Neither?

I will never like coffee ice cream but hello, do I not live on coffee as if it is filtered through my faucets?

Looking back, I started drinking coffee shortly after completing this survey and once my son was born, caffeine was my mandatory addiction. In fact, just last week I was saying how I need to start limiting my cups of coffee.

I picked up this Yogi Ginger tea at Trader Joe’s a few days ago and while it isn’t coffee, it is quite satisfying.

2. Favorite foods?

September 2000: Chocolate, m&m’s, frozen yogurt, Italian food, Oreo’s and chocolate fudge frosting.

Hmm. I have clearly always had my sweet tooth but where the heck is the peanut butter?

Yesterday’s  pre-run cinnamon raisin Ezekiel toast with mashed banana, peanut butter and jelly. Totally hit the spot.

3. Favorite fast food restaurant?

September 2000: Does Yogurt and Such count?

Fact: I had the phone number to every Yogurt and Such location on Long Island programmed into my bulky cell phone just so I could call ahead to hear which store had which flavor so that I did not arrive to a disappointing selection.

Frozen yogurt has always been my thing and my younger self would have truly enjoyed Red Mango just as much as my current self does on a regular basis.

Saturday afternoon’s parfait layered with yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, pumpkin flax granola and dark chocolate chips.

However, looking at my beautiful parfait, I am realizing that my 22 year-old self probably would have skipped the fruit since I was extremely picky and did not eat berries. I didn’t care about quality of the foods I consumed back then, my focus was solely on calories.

4. Favorite restaurants? September 2000: Mother Kelly’s and The Cheesecake Factory. Clearly still two of my favorites but where is the sushi?

Oh, right, I didn’t touch fish back then nor would I consider a vegetable roll because I refused to eat seaweed, certainly didn’t eat a variety of vegetables and wouldn’t go anywhere near avocado.

5. Favorite Ice Cream flavor?

September 2000: I really like chocolate chip but I rarely order it. My favorite ice cream is the megamix from Carvel which is soft serve (fat-free) ice cream loaded with crunchies all blended together.

There aren’t many Carvel locations left anymore which is just fine with me so long as I can still find a Cold Stone Creamery.

Cold Stone didn’t come to New York until about 2003 and my love for the creamery is still going strong.

Let’s interrupt the food portion of this survey for another important question:

6. Favorite store to max out your credit card?

September 2000: Saks Fifth Avenue.

Some things will never change. However, now that I am older and wiser, I am not so quick to max out the credit card.

I just take pictures of my favorite shoes with my phone (never would have dreamed I would have a camera in my cell phone back in the year 2000) and continue to think about them an awful lot while trying to justify where, how and why one needs black and white polka dot high heels all trimmed in pink with hearts as the support.

Um hello, how adorable are these heels? I saw them yesterday in Saks.

7. Favorite Salad Dressing?

September 2000: I don’t use salad dressing.

I still don’t use salad dressing all that often but the difference between me then and now is that I skipped dressing back then because it was a waste of calories rather than replacing it with healthy flavors such as avocado or hummus.

Dinner the other night – vegetable stir-fry with sweet potato wedges, quinoa and loads of avocado.

8. What do you do most often when you are bored?

September 2000: Eat m&m’s. I cannot recall the last m&m that melted in my mouth. I loved those little chocolate candies back then but truthfully, I ate them in place of real food. I skimped on meals, filled up on frozen yogurt and when I got hungry (or bored it seems), I ate m&m’s straight from the one-pound bag.

We have talked about this before; if you don’t fuel your body correctly, the cravings for junk are stronger than ever and hard to resist. Nowadays, true chocolate cravings are few and far between for me. I prefer to eat food versus candy yet regularly enjoy my favorite desserts which may be what keeps the everything in moderation at a happy balance in my life.

And my favorite question from the September 2000 survey:

9. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

September 2000: Married, some kids perhaps, not working, eating frozen yogurt and going to the gym.

I was pretty accurate…for a bit.

You may notice that I mention the gym but don’t mention running. I worked out a good five days a week back then but running wasn’t my thing.

How could it be? I didn’t fuel properly at all so it really isn’t any wonder to me now to look back and see why I couldn’t hold a pace or run more than a mile at a time.

I didn’t have the right energy (did I mention this was the time period where I was dealing with amenorrhea?), I didn’t eat right to give my body what it needed to build muscle and endurance. 35 minutes on the elliptical and the occasional walk/run outdoors was the best I could do on a diet of fat-free frozen yogurt, boring salads and m&m’s.

So. Here we are. Fourteen years later. Fourteen years older. Divorced, a ten year-old son, still loving my frozen yogurt, running a good 40 miles a week, living on coffee, sushi, peanut butter and regular visits to The Cheesecake Factory, Cold Stone Creamery with window shops at Saks Fifth Avenue in between.

I think I turned out just fine.

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What is one food you eat now that you never ate fourteen years ago?

What is one food that you have loved your entire life?

How old were you when you decided you liked avocado?

Favorite store to max out your credit card?