The Food Police Fesses Up: My Snacking Confession

It seems like every time I put virtual pen to paper for this blog, it’s about food…snacking, to be precise. At the office. When we’re not all about the shoes, we’re all about the snacks. And I might as well out myself before someone else on our editorial team does it in their own blog post. (Note to team: Blogging about the boss is not conducive to long-term employment. Nor is confessing you could care less about shoes. For more on that, read Katrina Caspelich’s entry in Editors’ Picks: The Fall Fashion We’re Convinced We Can’t Live Without.)

So, here’s my full confession: I have the eating habits of a 3-year old. Alright, a poorly supervised 3-year old whose parents have never read Jane Brody’s personal health column in the New York Times. My own mother, however, is the de facto chairman of the “They Say” School of Medicine—“they” being the aforementioned paper of record—and she is only too happy to call, clip articles, or stop by with the latest decree from on high about what is about to kill me, maim me, or just make me plain-old sick. There was the pleading call to give up sushi—accompanied by an all-too-graphic account of what parasites were microscopically lurking in my hamachi roll. I’m ashamed to say it worked for a few years . . . thankfully, it wore off—I love sushi. There was the clip “nonchalantly” positioned front-and-center on my kitchen counter, headline circled in red: Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions. It’s still my beverage of choice. And then, the call about Diet Coke—cease and desist. Sorry, it’s my last vice, and I’m going down fighting.

Maybe the food-police instinct is inherited? My children think I’m mean because I do not consider Lucky Charms a viable breakfast option. I have faced down numerous grocery-aisle tantrums explaining that fruit rollups are the nutritional BFFs of gummy worms. And no, Veggie Sticks are NOT just like steamed broccoli.

But it’s do as I say, not as I do, right? As long as I’m confessing, I might as well make it good. A few fun facts about me and snacking: When I was little, I used to eat sugar packets, paper and all. Diet Coke and supermarket-size Hershey Bars with Almonds got me through finals at Penn. And when my ex-husband and I were dating, he called me at work and asked what I was crunching in his ear. Doritoes. Is that your lunch? No, I also have a Baby Ruth. (If you show my children this blog post, we’re not friends anymore!)

At PageDaily, I have found my partners in snacking crime, my sweet-tooth soul mates. And I’m sure you can see this one coming a mile away—we don’t always wait for afternoon snack. Sometimes it’s pita chips by 11:00 a.m., chocolate while we wait for lunch to be delivered, or brownies as breakfast food—I bake. And thanks to Daniela, or perhaps I should say no thanks, we are always stocked with Dove chocolate. She started buying bags of their dark chocolate squares, individually foil-wrapped gems with a quote printed inside—the fun of a fortune cookie, but it’s chocolate. How perfect is that?! We share (read: compete) to see whose quote is the most fun, best suited to them, or just plain ridiculous. So, go grab a bag, and post your favorite wrapper message on our Facebook wall. —Nancy Rotenier

Our Favorite Dove Chocolate Quotes

Shoe shopping is therapy!—Nancy Rotenier

Love many, trust few, and always paddle your own canoe. – Lindsay Leff

In life’s winter, find your invincible summer. – Daniela Apeloig

Dance like no one is watching. – Olivia Hayes

You are SO worth it! – Lindsay Hahn

Give yourself a hug today. – Dania Slochowski

Take the pleasure. Skip the guilt. – Kate Bryan

Sing out loud! Who cares what you sound like? –Kimberly Hedmark