This is Dave.  Dave co-owns The Red Bicycle in Germantown, which is a coffee and crepe shop.  Dave is a foodie. We’ve been dating for 7 months  – which if you know me, you know that’s a miracle.  When i met this guy it was BAD, and I mean BAD.  By “it” I mean what he ate…  He would frequent McDonald’s, order pizza after pizza and go to Costco and get a life size tub of cheese puffs and just destroy it.  I remember talking to my mom on the phone telling her about him and saying – “He’s so great, but I dunno, Mom – he eats REALLY badly…”  🙂  Not that I am the poster child for healthy eating…  I mean, I have been known to put some sweets to shame, and out eat grown men, but for the most part and especially since my soul searching and newly found happiness – I definitely care more about what I put in my body.  

Dave is one of those people that we all HATE.  He’s tall and skinny and he can eat and eat and eat and eat and not gain a pound.  Even though we all secretly hate him for his amazing metabolism – you can’t hate him for long because he’s one of the nicest guys in the whole world! 

After it looked like he was going to stick with me for awhile, I was like – we have to have “the talk.”  I wasn’t scared.  I just came out and said – HOW can you eat all of that CRAP?  Don’t you feel terrible?  Even though you’re tall and skinny your heart is going to stop one day in retaliation to all this nonsense you’re putting into your body!!  He actually listened.  I said – look, let me make you some healthy things and if you don’t like them, you don’t have to eat them.  You can order a pizza.  Again, he listened.  And little did he know he was about to step into a very important roll in my life -my guinea pig.   

The first healthy meal I made for him that I knew would win his heart over was spaghetti squash with ground turkey and red sauce.  I held my breath as he took the first couple of bites…  annnnnd….  wait for it…………….  he loved it!!!!!  After that I started trying out new recipes – some things that tasted similar to his fav things such as “pasta”, “fries” and healthy pizza. (I haven’t attempted cheese puffs yet), and I think he really started feeling a change.  From there we decided to make a wager – he’s a betting man…  That we’d both give up something for a month and if either of us cheated – we’d owe the other one $20.  I gave up sweets, and he gave up pizza and “bad food.”  Needless to say at the end of the month he owed me $40 and I owed him nada!  It was a great thing to have someone to stay accountable to and a fun little challenge.  

We both still indulge every so often.  I definitely don’t believe in completely cutting something out forever.  It’s truly about balance.  I think Dave has started realizing that more and more too… He came home with me over Christmas and we stuffed ourselves to the point of needing to put our stretchy Lulu’s on stat. We felt miserable.  I said – our bodies are just like cars… we run better on GOOD fuel.  

I never entered this relationship wanting to change Dave at all, but he says that I’ve been of a good influence, which makes me happy.  I think we both a got a pretty good deal – he gets to try yummy, healthy food that I make every single week, and I get free coffee.  He loves to try my healthy creations (minus tomatoes and shrooms), and I think has really felt a difference in how he feels.  YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT is a very true statement.   I think my guinea pig would now agree.  🙂