好英语网老爸，放下意面，回头是岸
THEY sit there, five little pasta shells, nestled in a shallow bath of melted butter and Parmesan: the remains of dinner for my toddler son and daughter. I cannot help myself. I reach over, grab the pink plastic bowl and scoop a bite into my mouth. At that moment, I realize something has gone terribly wrong.
那是五粒小小的贝壳意面，半泡在融化的黄油和帕尔马奶酪酱汁里。它们是儿子和女儿晚餐吃剩下的。我不由自主伸出手，抓过粉红色的塑料碗，舀了一勺放到嘴里。就在那一刻，我意识到犯了大错。
A decade ago, my cholesterol hit two-alarm levels, and several doctors encouraged me to adopt a healthier diet. I purged the salami and hot dogs from the fridge and learned to love egg whites and low-fat cheese. Still, my cholesterol edged up. I redoubled my discipline.
10年前，我的胆固醇指标高到了拉响二级防火警报的程度，好几位医生劝我改善饮食习惯。于是，我把萨拉米香肠和热狗从冰箱里清了出去，学会爱上鸡蛋白和低脂奶酪。可是，我的胆固醇水平还是徘徊在危险边缘。我只好加倍严格地管束自己。
美食作家约翰·多纳霍正在准备盛菜。他的女儿伊希丝不喜欢吃胡椒和洋葱。
But now there are two small people whose tastes skew the dinner and snack menus: buttery cheese and fatty salami, pasta, salty hot dogs, French fries, Goldfish crackers. None are daily staples, but they are hardly strangers.
但现在，两个小人儿的味蕾主宰了晚餐和零食菜单：奶酪、萨拉米香肠、意大利面、咸热狗、炸薯条、小金鱼饼干。我们倒也不是每天都吃这些东西，可它们也绝对不是餐桌上的生面孔。
It’s in the middle of shoving the rest of the pasta shells into my mouth that I realize how far I’ve backslid. I play garbage pail at dinner (proudly, hate to waste that extra bite), and when I’m making a good-night snack for one of my kids, I usually make one more for myself. A few days ago, I considered eating a piece of mozzarella my daughter had dropped. Onto the pavement. At the zoo.
就在把剩下的贝壳意面往嘴里塞的时候，我才意识到，自己退步得多厉害。因为不想浪费剩下的那一口食物，我骄傲地扮演着晚餐桌上的垃圾桶的角色。当我给孩子们准备临睡前的小点心的时候，通常也会给自己来上一份。几天前，我甚至考虑过吃下女儿掉在地上的一块马苏里拉奶酪。那可是掉在动物园里的人行道上的啊。
Sure, a lot of guys can gain weight once they’re married, and then when their wives are pregnant (no woman should drink a milkshake alone). But I discovered there is scant research about what happens to parental diets and weight when children come on the scene, though one nearly decade-old Duke University study found that a father’s risk of obesity rises 4 percent with each child (and a mother’s rises 7 percent).
当然了，大把男人一结婚就开始发胖，妻子怀孕的时候尤甚（永远不要让女人自己一个人喝奶昔嘛）。但我发现，除了一项已经快有10年历史的杜克大学(Duke University)的调查，很少有关于孩子降生后父母饮食和体重变化的研究。该项研究发现，家里每添一个孩子，父亲发胖的危险就会增加4%（母亲增加7%）。
Truls Ostbye, a professor of family medicine at Duke who led the research, said the rise in men’s weight was more surprising; women have hormonal changes. But the study didn’t reach conclusions about the reasons for the phenomenon. He said he could only speculate why fathers gain weight: time for exercise drops, more snacks around the house, less time to prepare food.
负责此项研究的杜克大学家庭医学教授特尔鲁斯·奥斯特比(Truls Ostbye)指出，女性出于激素水平的变化发胖尚情有可原，男性体重的增加可就格外令人惊讶了。该项研究并未就这一现象的原因给出结论。奥斯特比说，他只能凭推测解释为什么当爹之后会发胖：用来锻炼的时间减少了，家里的零食变多了，下厨做饭的时间也缩短了。
“It’s insidious,” he said. Then again, on a positive note, he said that our nutrition challenges could result from sharing more family meals. “There’s something kind of nice,” he said, “eating as a social function.”
“这种情况常常发生在不知不觉之间，”他说。不过，往好的一方面说，营养学上的挑战也可能是源于一家人分享食物会令大家胃口大开。“将吃视为一种社交功能的话，不失为一件好事。”
But there is certainly more going on, I thought. As I hunted for answers, I reached out to dads who blog about food and cooking, and nutrition experts. They offered some suggestions for getting my diet back on track, and shared some theories about why fatherhood can lead to dietary backsliding.
但事情恐怕没这么简单，反正我是这么想的。为了寻找答案，我找到了一些写美食和下厨博客的父亲，还有营养学专家。他们给我提了不少如何将饮食习惯转回正轨的建议，还跟我分享了一些关于当爹导致饮食习惯退步的理论。
“It fits me to a T,” moaned Mike Vrobel, father of three in Copley, Ohio, and the author of DadCooksDinner, a blog chronicling his nightly efforts cooking things like T-bone steak with olive oil, garlic and rosemary marinade; foil-pouch green beans; and footlong hot dogs.
“我个人是有块T骨牛排就行了，”家住俄亥俄州科普利市的迈克·弗罗贝(Mike Vrobel)抱怨说。他是三个孩子的父亲，还是博客“爸爸做晚餐”(DadCooksDinner)的作者。在博客上，他记录下自己每天晚上的下厨成果，比如用橄榄油、大蒜和迷迭香腌渍入味的T骨牛排，箔纸烤青豆，还有一英尺长的大热狗香肠等等。
And he makes carbs, lots and lots of carbs. Not that he likes it that way, but his three children love them, especially his oldest, Ben, 11.
他还做好多碳水化合物，好多好多的碳水化合物。不是因为他喜欢，而是因为三个孩子中意，尤其是11岁的大儿子本(Ben)。
“He’s a very picky eater across a bunch of cultures,” said Mr. Vrobel, 44. “Tortillas with nothing on it, white rice with nothing on it, bread with nothing on it.” Not long after Ben was born, Mr. Vrobel, who is 6 feet 3 inches, dropped to 180 pounds from a high of 260 after rigid power-dieting, portion control, death to carbs.
“他是个非常挑嘴的跨文化食客，”44岁的弗罗贝先生说，“干吃墨西哥玉米饼，什么都不放；米饭，什么都不放；面包，什么都不放。”本出生后没多久，身高6英尺3英寸（约合1.9米）的弗罗贝曾靠着严格遵循“强力减肥法”（Power-Dieting，一种流行的瘦身法，理论是通过高强度运动实现提高新陈代谢和排毒，可以吃肉和蛋白质，但戒除碳水化合物——译注）、控制食量及完全戒掉碳水化合物，体重从最高时的260磅（约合118公斤）降到了180磅（约合81.6公斤）。
Then “my weight started to drift back up,” he said. “I’m now at 225, or 230. Maybe 235.”
然后，“我的体重就开始反弹，”他说，“我现在大约225磅，要么就是230磅。也说不定是235磅。”
When a crime is committed, prosecutors theorize about motive and opportunity. As Mr. Vrobel and I talked, we realized the “opportunity” that had emerged to change our diet: our refrigerators and dinner tables had begun to bend to the palates of our children.
罪案发生后，检察官总是要就作案动机和改邪归正的可能做出推论。正如弗罗贝先生和我都提到的，我们均意识到，是到了浪子回头、改变我们的饮食习惯的时候了：我们的冰箱和餐桌已经不得不屈就于孩子的味蕾。
As to motive, why lick the pasta bowl clean? We agreed that we both felt a desire to not leave uneaten food, to be the garbage pail. Any of us might do it as we clear the table, but I find it an oddly manly feeling, like drinking that last shot to prove something. Maybe it’s something inherited.
至于动机，干嘛要把面条碗舔得干干净净呢？我们都认同，是内心深处不想浪费那些动都没动过一口的食物的念头把我们变成了垃圾桶。清理餐桌的时候，我们每个人都或许会这么做，但在我看来，这却是一种奇怪的大男子主义，就好像喝酒时非要喝干最后一滴以证明点什么似的。或许这是某种天性吧。
“My dad’s favorite move was to say, ‘Are you done with that?’ while he was already spearing it with a fork,” Mr. Vrobel said. “That’s my job, and I do enjoy it. Portion control was so much easier before kids.”
“我老爸最爱一边说着‘你吃完了吗？’，一边已经把叉子伸了过来，”弗罗贝说。“这就是老爸们的份内事，况且我也喜欢这么做。孩子们出生前，控制食量要容易得多了。”
Anthony Fabricatore, 37, the senior director of research for Nutrisystem and a former obesity researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, says that portion control is key. But he confessed that he’s had trouble exercising it since the birth of his sons, now 6 and 2. His cholesterol has been rising to borderline numbers.
37岁的安东尼·法布里卡托雷(Anthony Fabricatore)曾在宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)从事肥胖研究，如今是减肥软件公司Nutrisystem的资深研究主管。他说，控制食量是关键。但他也承认，自打两个儿子——一个六岁一个两岁——出生后，自己在具体实施上也遇到了阻力。他的胆固醇水平已逐渐升至危险临界值。
He finds himself polishing off his son’s whole-milk yogurt before having his own breakfast, and at night digs into the box of ginger snaps. He isn’t sure why he does it.
他发现，吃完自己的那份早餐后，他还会把儿子剩的全脂酸奶刮着吃干净，晚上也要从姜汁饼干盒里抓上几块。他自己都不知道为什么会这么做。
“I’m a psychologist and somewhat of an obesity expert,” he said. “This should be easier for me. It’s not strictly rational. There’s a lot of biology and a lot of emotion.”
“我是心理学家，也算得上是肥胖问题专家，”他说，“控制体重照说应该更容易。但这不完全由理性控制，还涉及到许多生物学和情绪上的因素。”
The same patterns can be true, of course, for moms. But Mr. Fabricatore said that dads would often tell themselves that they could exercise and burn off the extra calories. Apparently, doing knee bends at the zoo to pick up my daughter’s discarded mozzarella doesn’t count.
当然，同样的情况对妈妈们也不例外。但法布里卡托雷指出，爸爸们经常安慰自己可以通过锻炼燃烧掉额外的卡路里。不过显然，在动物园俯身捡起女儿掉落的莫泽雷勒奶酪做不得数。
So what to do? Here are a handful of solutions from father-bloggers and nutrition experts.
那怎么办好呢？下面是一些博客老爸和营养学专家给出的解决方案。
THE LADLE-FREE DINNER TABLE
不把饭菜盛上桌
Want to avoid being the mop-up guy at dinner?
不想当剩饭打扫员？
“Portion the food out on the stove, before you start eating,” Mr. Fabricatore said. “Add a little distance and effort to get a second helping.”
“开始吃饭前，在灶台上就把食物分好，”法布里卡托雷说，“这样想要再来一份的话，你得多走两步路，多费点事。”
And try portioning the food in the fridge, like cutting the block of Cheddar into small containers. That’s the advice of Rena Wing, professor of psychiatric behavior at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University, where she studies weight loss tactics. Her point: when portions are big, our appetites can follow. “Do the prepackaging for yourself,” she said.
还有就是把冰箱里的食物也分成小份，比如将一大块切达干酪切开装在几个小盒子里。这是布朗大学(Brown University)阿尔珀特医学院精神病行为学教授雷娜·温(Rena Wing)的建议。她的研究方向为如何运用策略有效减肥。在她看来，食物份量越大，我们的胃口也就越大。“为了你自己，搞定分包装，”她建议道。
REALITY CHECK FOR RATIONALIZATIONS
别自欺欺人
Professor Wing said people make up all kinds of excuses to keep eating. And she laughed knowingly when I talked about the idea that I, and other dads I talked to, feel as if we don’t want to waste food.
温教授指出，人们爱用各种借口为大吃特吃开脱。当我提到，我和许多采访过的老爸们都不愿意浪费食物时，她会心一笑。
“Your eating food is not helping anyone else who is starving,” she pointed out.
“对于那些正在挨饿的人，你一个人猛吃可起不到任何帮助作用，”她指出。
But, I countered, there’s also a job to be done, in the same way some college guys rise to the challenge of downing the last beer.
我反驳道，这活儿总得有人去做，就像上大学的时候，总得有人站起来把最后的那点啤酒喝光一样。
“Being the big man on campus is one thing, being the garbage pail doesn’t seem quite as positive,” she said, adding that I should do some “cognitive restructuring.” A little humor might help, too. “To the extent that someone is feeling good because they’re still in a college mentality, you could poke fun at it,” she said.
“在校园里扮老大是一回事，在家里当打扫剩饭的垃圾桶可就不怎么对了，”她说。她还补充道，我或许应该接受一下“认知重建”心理治疗。当然，幽默感也有用。“要是有人为仍处于大学时代的心理状态沾沾自喜的时候，你大可一笑了之嘛。”
Is it just me, or is she challenging me to a hot-dog eating contest?
什么意思？她是想跟我来场吃热狗大赛以决定到底谁有理吗？
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
分而治之
John Donohue, 43, who edited “Man With a Pan,” a book about fathers who cook family dinners, offers a way to please children without having to get the waistline of his pants let out: he makes a single meal that everyone can customize.
43岁的约翰·多诺霍(John Donohue)是《男人与锅》(Man With a Pan)一书的编辑。这本书收录了那些在家做晚餐的爸爸的故事。多诺霍给想要取悦孩子但又不想以腰围为代价的爸爸们支了一招：做一道每个人都可以个性定制的菜。
For instance, he might roast a chicken with thyme, red peppers, onion, garlic and red potatoes. Then he divides the meal into different serving plates: chicken on one, potatoes on another and a salad. Mr. Donohue’s two daughters, ages 5 and 7, can choose what they want with their chicken, and he can mix to his own specs.
比如，他会烤一只鸡，用百里香调味，配上彩椒、洋葱、大蒜和红皮土豆。然后他会把这道菜分成几盘：一盘鸡肉，一盘土豆，一盘蔬菜沙拉。他的两个女儿——分别是五岁和七岁——自己选择用什么搭配烤鸡，多诺霍则可按自己口味组合。
“I can have more salad, and they can have more potatoes,” said Mr. Donohue, whose blog is Stay at Stove Dad. He uses the same strategy when making, say, a big salad so the girls can pick the things they like and he can mix all the vegetables together to make something filling. “It keeps the healthy option on the table,” he said.
“我可以多吃点沙拉，她们可以多吃点土豆，”多诺霍在自己的博客“炉旁老爸”(Stay at Stove Dad)上写道。做大份主食沙拉时，他也采取同一策略，由女儿们挑选喜欢吃的主料，他再将所有的蔬菜混合进去，做出一道饱腹感强的大餐。“这样保证了餐桌上总有健康的食物可选。”
LABELS ARE USEFUL, TO A POINT
标签的两面性
Once I became aware how much my children were dictating my diet, I started reading nutrition labels, especially the cholesterol information. It’s a bad idea to obsess about labels, said Adam Drewnowski, director for the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington.
意识到孩子们对我的饮食习惯的支配力后，我开始留心食物营养标签，尤其是有关胆固醇含量的信息。但华盛顿大学(University of Washington)公共卫生营养中心负责人亚当·德雷夫诺夫斯基(Adam Drewnowski)指出，太迷信标签也不对。
Obsessing about a single nutritional measure (cholesterol, salt, sugars or even saturated fats) is losing currency as a way of assessing diet, Dr. Drewnowski said. Better to think in terms of your whole diet, allowing the sprinkle of Parmesan so long as the big picture is healthy.
德雷夫诺夫斯基表示，在评估膳食时过度关注某一营养指标（胆固醇、盐、糖或是饱和脂肪）其实是走上了歧途。全面看待自己的膳食结构更为合理，只要总体上是健康的，偶尔来点帕尔马干酪没什么大不了。
Also, he said, recognize that your children are simultaneously growing and moving all the time. They crave energy-dense foods that you may not need. So don’t try to purge your house of those foods.
此外，他还指出，家长必须意识到孩子们处于成长发育过程中，而且永远动个不停。他们需要那些高能量的食物，但你可能并不需要。所以，也不要把这些食物完全从家里消灭。
Now that some of the fatty foods are going to stay in the house, here’s a look at my options for living with them.
既然一些高脂食物会一直留在家中，下面就是我的一些和它们和平共处的窍门：
One: I become an ascetic, a monk, taking deep cleansing breaths before I open the fridge to free myself of the desire for leftover chicken fingers. Not going to happen.
一：变身苦行僧。打开冰箱前，我总要来几次吐纳呼吸，摆脱那些剩下的炸鸡柳对我的诱惑。但这基本没用。
Two: I indulge my taste buds, my paternal machismo and my aversion to wasting any food slathered in butter, arteries be damned. Good plan, except that will just speed my transition to a balanced diet of anti-cholesterol meds.
二：让味蕾做主！让我的父道尊严、男性气概和对浪费食物的刻骨仇恨来得更猛烈些吧！用黄油将它们统统埋葬，让动脉血管见鬼去吧！这主意不错，除了会加速我成为坚决反对胆固醇的医生们刀俎上鱼肉的过程。
Three: Muster some of the very same discipline I’m trying to teach my children. We don’t let them gorge on television, and they generally go to bed at bedtime.
三：用那些管教孩子们的办法约束我自己。他们不许看太长时间电视，到了睡觉时间就得上床。
I can pick my spots, too. I can scrape some uneaten kid food into the actual garbage pail. And hey there, half-eaten plate of creamy pasta shells, don’t sit there staring at me. I’m the man of the house.
我也大可照此办理。我可以把孩子们吃剩下的食物直接扫进真正的垃圾桶。然后，整个世界清净了，再不会有吃了一半的奶油贝壳意面在那儿盯着我了。我才是真正的一家之主！