My genetic base is full of contradictions. The Italian and the Dutch fusing together to create a blonde-headed, green-eyed, emotive, food lover! I have often referred to myself as “Spaghetti and Cheese” to describe the combination of my Dutch and Italian heritage.

Growing up, when “exotic” food was not accepted in WASP-ish circles, I would denounce any association with pizza, spaghetti bolognaise or lasagne. In the small town I grew up in, it was just way too uncool in the ’70’s to be admitting to anything other than meat, three vege and a yorkshire pudding. In fact, I would beg my father not to cook anything Italian and certainly not to cook it if anyone outside the immediate family was to eat in our home. At that point in time I was a skinny little waif, who was just trying to fit in. Most of my friends had never seen a pizza. It was not until the ’80’s, when Pizza Hut emerged, that suddenly my father was “hip and happening”. Now the world has become obsessed with food, certainly Australia has, if MasterChef viewing is anything to go by. Food seems to have become the new way to fit in, the more diverse the better.

I must have been the only person in Melbourne, who had not watched a single episode of Master Chef. Television and I are not big buddies. But last night, I thought, I should see what the fuss was about (perhaps a tad late, it being the final episode). I have to say, I fell in love with Adam, the Japanese lawyer from Tokyo, who decided he would try his hand at being a “MasterChef”. What I loved about him in the short 60 minutes I saw him, was that he integrated his head, his heart and his skills into what he was doing, but he did it with utter humility. He is the perfect combination of when you bring your passion, skills and intellect to something you can’t go wrong. And when you leave your ego out of it, you have to emerge as he did, authentic and a winner.

It made me think about how we need to take that energy to everything we do, in order to be successful, whether it is our jobs, our relationships, our projects, our goals, whatever we are holding dear at the time. I was starting to feel a bit wobbly about my “No Diet” diet. But after watching Adam, I made healthy meals that had a twist of flavour, without a twist of fat and I managed to throw in some exercise with a manic labrador and a fantastic instructor at the gym (separately!). It was the glow of Adam’s win that inspired me to keep going on. I will continue to try, even when my Italian genes cheer me on with “Mange, Mange, Mange” and my Dutch genes look on disapprovingly, but get their cheeks pinched by the Italian ones and ignored! Adam, I am taking intellect and heart and skill and I will continue to try to make good meals that satisfy my hunger, but don’t indulge my emotions. One day at a time…

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Tanya No Dieting