Nom nom nom!

Food is essential to our lives. It is a source of our energy and a source of our belly's happiness. There's no doubt that a full belly is a happy belly. By the way, for all food-fanatics, here is a great site for you: http://foodporndaily.com/ Just remember to wipe the drool off your chin every now and then.

Food and I have never had a great relationship. What do I mean by this? First of all, it does not mean that I am anorexic or bulimic. Furthermore, it does not mean that I start yelling at my plate of food and it yells back at me. But it does mean that I have something to confess, something quite shameful and humiliating to confess as a 20-year old "grown-up".

I am a picky eater. I was picky since the day I was born, and am picky even now.

When I was living in Korea as a young child, for almost every meal, my mom prepared a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup for each person, and many delicious side dishes. I remember refusing to eat certain food despite my mom's wishes. If a side-dish had any kind of vegetables, especially mushrooms or tomatoes, I made sure my chopsticks never landed anywhere near the plate. If there were beans mixed in the rice, I would either pick them out individually, or pretend to eat them and spit them back out on a tissue paper. Fish was also a no-no. And the only fruit that I enjoyed were apples.

In the end, out of the seven to ten side dishes my mom served, I would only eat from two or three. How sad is that?

What is even worse was that I loved greasy, instant food. Eating a french fry from my McDonald Happy Meal was the best thing in the world! When my mom called Pelicana (a Korean version of KFC) to order fried chicken to be delivered, I thanked my mom and hugged her tight. Pizza was yummy too, as long as there were no peppers, no onions, no olives, no vegetables, period. And, of course, ramen noodles with egg (no vegetables) were the best!

My parents have tried to fix my terrible eating habits. My dad often commanded with his deep and authoritative voice that I needed to eat everything that my mom made. My mom fed me with her chopsticks and spoon, telling me to at least try it because it tastes good. Unfortunately, they didn't succeed.

Moving to United States did not do any good for my picky-ness either. The Korean food that my mom cooked looked even more gross now that I was surrounded by all the oily food that I want!

My aversion to, essentially, healthy food continued until college.

Starting college meant that I started eating more with my peers. By eating with my friends, I noticed how limited my choices were just because of my picky eating habits. And my plate of food was always less green than my friend's plate of food. It was embarrassing.

That was when I realized that I needed to try to eat from more food groups, to challenge myself to eat new food, and to just eat healthier in general. And funny enough, my taste buds were changing to fit my new goals. Now, when I eat a french fry from McDonald's, I can feel the grease dripping down my throat into my esophagus and clogging my arteries. And guess what, now I eat at McDonald's or other fast food restaurants only once or twice a year, when I have absolutely no choice. I have added onions, peppers, and other salad greens to my list of tasty vegetables. I also like strawberries, watermelon, oranges, clementines, and bananas! And I LOVE SUSHI!!! (Especially salmon ones)

In retrospect, the only reason why I never ate the vegetables, the fruits, or the fish was because they looked weird and I did not want to try them. I guess it's the fear of the unknown? Haha!

I have yet to try more food and discover new delightful tastes, and to completely fix my eating habits. But I am working on it, and by the time that I am a mom, hopefully I will not be picky and my children will not be as well.

Well, I hope your belly is always a happy belly that experiences a lot more variety of food than mine, and that this post didn't gross you out as much as the last one. Keke.

<3,
Margi

P.S. A special thank you to Yukun, for making sure that I have a healthier diet than I did before.