There is something about a good cup of coffee and a little pastry....

Geeze, no wonder you fell over on the way to work a couple of weeks ago. White flour, trans fats, and coffee are not exactly super nutrition to start the day on.

Protein? Whole grains? Fruit? Better yet, all three?

A bowl of Wheaties or Cheerios or Wheat Chex with skim milk and a banana sliced on top would give you WAY more nutrition for just about the same amount of time and calories as a croissant. It'd take maybe ten minutes to make and eat. A scrambled egg with half a whole-wheat English muffin and a glass of orange juice might take slightly longer, but not real long. Yogurt with whole wheat toast and OJ? Oatmeal with walnuts and raisins? There are a whole lot of quick and easy things you can eat for breakfast that would give you protein, whole grains, and fruit.

I know the nutrition police are boring, but I'm selfish. I like you a whole lot, and I want you to be around (and healthy enough to do stuff with) for a long time. Protein, whole grains, and fruit? Please? Try it for a week and see how you feel?

Dear nutrition police,

When I wake up by myself, I often (not always, but about half the time) have a bowl of cereal (with REAL milk, dammit), a banana, a couple of hard-boiled eggs out of the large cache I keep in my refrigerator (since scrambled eggs don’t fit back in the carton very well), or some combination of those. I didn’t mention that in my post because I liked the parallelism of comparing the stuff plumtreeblossom and I had this morning at home with the exact same (except not as good) stuff I often (but not always) have on my way to work. (And then I got distracted because sometimes for variety I go the long way around and go to the little Italian caffè I mentioned, and messed up the parallelism.)

For future reference, I’m happy to be encouraged to exercise, I’m happy to be encouraged to eat food that’s healthy for me (if it’s also yummy) by having it dangled physically in front of me, I’m happy to be informed in a relaxed and non-prescriptive way of the consequences of what I eat, I’m happy to be told I’m fat (although given my stamina for walking and climbing I’m not so worried about that), and once in a great while, in person, I’m happy to be asked “Are you really sure you want to order that?” but in general I’m not happy being told not to enjoy the foods I enjoy, particularly when they symbolize the leisure to prepare food and share it with somebody I really care about. I’m not mad (really and truly! You are one of the people whose advice and concern I appreciate most), but I’m sad that something I threw out into the world as an expression of joy feels tarnished.

PS — Make sure you look at this comment on the web, not just in email, so you can see the userpic. :-)

I'm sorry, hon; I didn't mean to tarnish your joy. I apologize.

I'm happy that you enjoy croissants from time to time. Really and truly. I eat lots of stuff that's bad for me (way too much, actually, so I wouldn't have been pointing fingers about THAT), but only after I've already had some real food. Your post made it sound as if you have croissants -- and ONLY croissants EVERY day for breakfast, and that made me worry about you.

Sorry again, dear. I know that my concern for people sometimes inappropriately manifests itself as intrusive meddling; it's the pattern I learned at my mother's knee. I've been trying to conquer this tendency for a long time now, and I actually AM a lot better, believe it or not. Feel free to verbally kick me whenever I do it in your direction.

I can't tell what the userpic is. It looks like a dead leaf wrapped around a skinned and detached pinky finger, but I venture to doubt that's what it really is. :-)

Your post made it sound as if you have croissants -- and ONLY croissants EVERY day for breakfast, and that made me worry about you.

Actually, croissants are a rare treat for me. (Cereal or fruit or yogurt or eggs are much more typical, but I confess that a muffin is probably tied with them, mostly because I can grab a muffin at the T station and eat it on the train.)

I can't tell what the userpic is. It looks like a dead leaf wrapped around a skinned and detached pinky finger, but I venture to doubt that's what it really is. :-)

Exactly right! Well, almost. It’s Spam musubi, a very common dish in Hawai‘i (which not coincidentally has a serious obesity problem). Spam musubi is a slice of fried spam on a bed of rice wrapped with nori. The joy you feel when you bite into one is only equalled by the joy you feel when you see the look on the face of a sushi lover you’ve just explained it to. :-)