Hi I‘m Sammy… and I am the Author of Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating. I want to take this chance to share a bit about myself with you and to thank you for checking out the Lets Chow Down web site. I hope you are enjoying yourself so far.

Well… Lets see… I am a 39 years old woman and I love food!!! Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating is actually the result of me wanting to take better care of myself without having to choose between two things I love… My life and my love of food!

I guess I need to give you a brief glimpse of where I was years ago and how I got to this point. While the book, Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating goes into more detail about where I was, what happened and how my choices have lead me to where I am now. I really want to spend more time here sharing about who I am and where I hope to go from here.

Several years ago I found myself smoking three packs of cigarettes a day and weighing about 300 pounds. I knew that if I didn’t want to die I was going to need to quit smoking. And seeing that my weight had crept up on me over four years of retirement, as did the number of cigarettes I smoked daily, I knew I needed to make some changes in my life and how I lived it… IF… I wanted to keep living it!

Now it is a pretty well known fact with people who know me and very obvious in the book Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating… and here on Lets Chow Down… I LOVE FOOD!!! Always have… Always will….

So when I was faced with needing and wanting to quit smoking, I knew I was going to eat more. But I had already gotten quite uncomfortable physically with my size and health. At that moment in my life I decided there were three things that were not an option if I was going to live, let alone live happily.

The two obvious ones here are I made the decision to quit smoking and treat my body better. The third thing is what has lead to the creation of Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating. I refused to sacrifice my love of food just to look and feel differently about myself.

I have worked in the fields of addiction therapies for years, including the treatment of eating disorders. In that time I developed some very strong opinions, ideas, concepts about how we as a society treat and view issues surrounding food, weight and the concept of "healthy". Even more I have developed some very strong opinions, ideas and concepts regarding each person's ability to know and choose what is right for them!

Being a person who loves to cook and eat, I decided that I would use my knowledge in these areas and my cooking skills to save my love of food and my life. The result of which is where I am now ~ Happy in mind, body and spirit… Ah Yeah!!! And still having a love affair with food!!!

Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating is simply me, ‘ Sammy ‘ sharing my love affair of life and food with others. I love the look on peoples faces when they see how much I eat, how much I enjoy my food and see that I am not only happy, but I feel great! Even more I love their reactions when they eat food that I have made them or used my recipes…

Ah Yeah!!! It was my trademark stubbornness and not settling for less than I want and deserve that has lead to all this. Well, that along with a ton of support and encouragement from those around me. Once people started to see how I live, how I eat and how my life was getting better, they wanted to know how I did it. Even people who didn’t care about their weight, how much they ate or quitting smoking wanted to know how I do it.

If anyone I know is around and I am asked how I did it or my favorite "What diet are you on?"… They usually answer for me, "She eats like a pig!" "She eats more now than she ever did and more than most people I know." It is true, I have a big appetite and I love to eat. Actually sometimes I feel like people watch me eat for sport!!!

Ok… So after having to tell people how I do it and sharing recipes over and over and over, along with the endless, "Sammy you have to write a book and share this!" Well… I wrote the book to share this! BUT… The, ‘ THIS ‘ really is the idea, the concept that not only is it okay to love food… but… that you can have a love affair with food and yourself, without sacrificing great taste or your waist.

As I said before, I am stubborn, opinionated and I will now add, sarcastic and funny! All but the latter is agreed upon by those who know me!!! Sometimes I am the only one that thinks I am funny!!! Yet, everyone who knows me, knows that I am all about people living life to the fullest and not allowing anyone or anything to stop us, not even OURSELF!!!

Actually my main focus in life, other than enjoying it… is to help people feel empowered in their lives and where they are going with it. That is the point of and why I wrote Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating. Now it is also the focus of this new place here, www.Lets Chow Down.com the Internet home of Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating.

I have to confess I am SSOOOOO excited about this site, this place, this supportive space, that I hope grows overtime into something none of us could have imagined!!! Don’t get me wrong I want people to come here and order my book, my story, my labor of love. BUT… I want this to be a place for those whom use Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating to come and share how it looks and works in their lives. I am soooooo looking forward to how you all, help me develop this site into a place to empower and support each other.

Chow Down: Concepts on Good Cooking and Good Eating is a book that grew from my experiences, my concepts and my choices and what they mean in my reality. I want Lets Chow Down to be a space that grows out of the experiences, concepts, choices and realities of all of us that Chow Down .

So… Lets Chow Down together, where the future is Ah Yeah, Unlimited!!!