It’s always a challenge for any home cook when there are people in the house observing more than one dietary eating pattern. For example, everyone is a carnivore except one vegetarian (or worse, vegan – no butter or cheese) or vice versa. But what about when one person is following a weight loss reduction plan (like Weight Watchers) and no one else is? Still, it’s a challenge.

I did the WW thing (twice) for a year and I lost weight. It is the ONLY sustainable plan that really works if you stick to it. My problem is that I can’t stick to it. I love to cook and I found that my creative cooking was stifled because everything had to be lowered in fat and I am not a fan of “fake” substitutions (i.e. soy cheese, soyriso, fat free products, margarine, etc.) and choosing the real deal is too many “points”. I want the real deal. I want to use butter with reckless abandon and bathe in cream. I want crispy fried chicken and I want to wrap everything in bacon or pancetta. And let’s face facts people, how many salads is one person supposed to be able to consume in their lifetime? I think I have hit my quota. The things I enjoy eating that actually SATISFY me and fill me up “cost” too much on that program. And let’s not even talk about cocktails and beer… Still, I stuck to it, as did John, and we both lost a LOT of weight, nearly 100 lbs between us.

The other option is to work out like a fiend to burn off the foods you eat. I really admire people who convince themselves they like to work out. Good for them! I have only found three exercises that I actually enjoy: swimming laps, dancing and yoga and each presents a different set of problems logistically (Moment of Truth – I just read that sentence and it looked like “…swimming, lap dancing and yoga”).

So here we are three years later having put back on 2/3 of the weight we lost – both of us. What to do? Well, I decided to be happy at my size, for now. I am not on camera, I am not an over 40 model and I can maintain this weight and eat what I like. John however, is unhappy and has decided that “counting points” is the best option for him. So now, I am cooking our only daily meal together as if I am on the plan with him. “No biggie”, you say. “It will be good for you too”, you say. “Just think how healthy you are going to be”, you say. But what about Valentine’s Day?!

Each year on Valentine’s Day I go all out. I stretch my culinary boundaries and make something I have never made before that we don’t order when dining out. Last year it was Lobster Thermidor (the sauce alone in that dish is an entire day’s caloric intake). Attempting to cook lavishly on a calorie budget has me stymied this year, but I am working on it. One thing I have found I LIKE as a sub is almond milk instead of cream in SOME recipes like THIS creamed spinach recipe. I didn’t even notice it was lower in fat and calories because it tasted so good!

Now I am reading cookbooks again, searching the web and looking at some of the Pinterest pages of my friends who love to cook. I am sure I will come up with something healthy that tastes great and satisfies both of us. All bets are off when it comes to dessert though. Just a warning.