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They say if you are lucky enough to do something you love for a living, you will never have to work a day in your life.
I am lucky enough to love what I do. My work is food. I cook food, I sell food, I create food, and yes, I eat food. It’s a life that I love and one that brings me great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment, but it has, unfortunately, brought a big waistline with it.
This past summer I received an email from Twins Talent in response to an application I had submitted to compete on the television show “Chopped.” I had sent in the application at least a year prior but my application had slipped through the cracks.
Unfortunately, they were no longer casting “Chopped.” But my contact at Twins Talent told me that they were doing a docudrama about people in the food industry, who, because of their long hours, and constantly being surrounded by their vice, had neglected their health and weight.
She asked, “Peter do you know anyone who fits the bill?”
Like the first time peanut butter was introduced to jelly, I responded, “Look no further I am your guy. Big intense job, big personality, and yes, big waistline.”
So I went off to Manhattan for an audition, which went well. Then there was a home submission tape, which was followed by a call from the producers a few weeks later telling me they had narrowed down who was to be on the show and that they wanted me really bad. I expressed my interest and asked that the contract be sent out along with the release forms that needed to be signed.
A cartridge of ink and a ream of paper later, I had the contract and the release forms in front me. As I read through the forms, the allure of TV fame and my chance to be a star quickly began to fade. Was the temptation to lose the weight and get in shape great enough to sign papers that in a nutshell meant I was owned by the Food Network for the next year?
My amazing wife, Clare, and three great children—Emma, Harry and Juliet—whom I wanted to lose the weight for would have to perhaps be intruded on by cameras. And the light they would see their dad perhaps projected in might possibly have been a not-so-flattering form just for television. After careful consideration, I decided that TV fame would have to wait.
Then, like a brick landing on my head, the realization came to me that I had neglected my weight and health so badly that I had been asked to be a subject on a show named “Fat Chef.” I knew then and there that I had to finally address my weight and health and do something about it.
I have had success at times over the years, dropping some weight by joining Weight Watchers—it was the peer pressure of getting on that scale that made the program work for me. I wondered how could I increase that number of eyes, turn up the heat on myself and use the power of peer pressure to lose the weight and perhaps have some fun doing it?
I thought, “What better way to open myself up to lots of people but to join the social media craze and create a Facebook page about changing my way of eating, getting healthy, gaining an audience that I can let into my struggles, hopefully make laugh on occasion, share recipes and educate and use for my motivation to get in shape.”
As fat people do, I procrastinated a bit. I actually put on weight (Why lose before I get credit for it?) before I finally got the page up and running in early January. Well, so far, so good. Now I’m losing weight, gaining followers, and having fun doing it.
Next time: weight loss goals.
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