To me, food is not just sustenance or a means to an end.  It isn’t even nourishment. Food is event and should never be wasted, thoughtless or taken for granted. Just like my friend Prosecco, food is part of many of the milestones in one’s life.  I remember the taste of that first Dunkin Donuts coffee after I delivered Amelia. The combination of the smell of the Mediterranean and fried calamari will always be in my memories.

That being said, at 20 hours into this abyss of an alcohol free, low carb diet, I will share with you some observations:

• cottage cheese with sweet grape tomatoes are NO substitution for an oatmeal raisin cookie.  Not now, not ever.
• my resting pulse rate went from a 72 to a 99.  My body is in fight or flight mode….flight to an Italian deli!
• no butter? If God didn’t want us to have butter, he would not have made a cow.
• raw mushrooms are disgusting and belong on pizza or Chicken Marsala.
• I never thought the highlight of my day would be the nutritionist emailing me that I can add nuts to my morning yogurt. Score!

I am all in and up for the task but it isn’t going to be easy. Even Izzy feels my pain. I was putting some fresh mozzarella in her bowl and stopped briefly to inhale the scent of that lovely cheese.  Her look was so human, so empathetic. yet so judgmental.

“Put down the bag and step away from the cheese.”  Thanks Izzy, you are a girl’s best friend.