My personal goal to make healthy food that actually tastes good, too.

To usher in the new year, I decided to jump on the resolution bandwagon by joining all those other people who vow to shed a bit of weight.  With a week and a half off work for Thanksgiving, and almost 2 weeks off work over Christmas and New Years, I gained more than my usual share of holiday season weight.  On top of the holidays, I have put on some “happy” weight since getting married in August.  So, I marked my first day back to work in 2010 — January 4th — as my first day back “on program”.

My program?

I’ve been an off-and-on Weight Watchers member for almost a decade, ever since my entire family joined in the fall of 2001 to help my dad drop almost 90 pounds after a massive heart attack.   And I have been a Lifetime member since finally hitting my goal weight in early 2007.  But I back-slide a lot the couple years.  The stress of two lay-offs in 2007 and 2008, then the bliss of rediscovering and marrying my soulmate, a man who loves to cook as much as I do, has provided me plenty of self-justified excuses to veer off program.

No more excuses.  I’ve decided to do what I know works… work the program, and shed that excess weight again.

What makes this time around so much more challenging is, quite simply, food.  When I worked towards my goal weight in 2007, I was pretty much just cooking for one most nights, and I was willing to sacrifice flavor for low points.  I rarely actually enjoyed what I was cooking and eating.  I just picked Weight Watchers recipes, Weight Watchers-branded foods, or other points-friendly frozen foods such as Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice, and I resigned myself to eat them because the results alone were worth it.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Weight Watchers recipes aren’t bad.  I just don’t often find myself actually wanting to eat them.  They tend to be very bland and boring, and just don’t seem too appealing.  And since dating and marrying Jeff, I am just not willing to revert back to food that doesn’t taste really really good, just because it’s a dish that is low in points.

So, this time around, I’ve set a personal goal to not only get back down to my goal weight, but to do so by cooking and eating food that is low in points, yet actually tastes good enough for our family and friends to enjoy as well.  In addition to experimenting with new recipes, I am also determined to find healthier ingredient and preparation substitutions to lower the points value on some of our favorite old standards.  I have no doubt some of my attempts will flat out bomb — some already have — but, through diligent trial and error, I expect to produce some excellent dishes.  And best of all, Jeff is willing to be my guinea pig!

What does this mean for The Taste Place?

You can still expect to find a terrific selection of tasty recipes, tips, and and dining recommendations.  But, suggestions from Jeff or me will often offer the added bonus of being good for your health and waistline as well.  And, since we are so far behind in our food blogging, we do still plan to include many of our old pre-New-Year-standards that aren’t quite as points friendly yet.  Although, you can be sure I will play around with those old recipes and try to come up with healther versions to share too.