We all love food, but who would dedicate their life to it? Could food be a kind of therapy? The answer to these questions could be yes, as for some people food can be a way of finding unconditional love and acceptance. Food doesn't reject us. Food allows us to tap into memories of feeling good or feeling good enough, and these memories may equate food with personal accomplishment and success. Many people are “emotional eaters,” or people who gain some kind of emotional satisfaction from eating food, no matter what shape or size their bodies may be. Overweight people are sometimes associated with emotional eating, but skinny people can be emotional eaters too. Emotions do not need body fat to be expressed. Amr Helmi, 23, founder of the Sexy Food Facebook page, has become an intriguing figure on Facebook for many months now due to his success in attracting thousands of fans to the idea of sharing their experiences of Egypt's restaurants under the slogan “we live to eat, not eat to live.” He explains what made him launch the site by saying that “I was on a diet and lost 11 kgs in only 22 days. On the 23rd day, I collapsed. It was then that I decided to enjoy eating by eating a lot and eating everywhere.” Amr did not discover the other, food-fond side of his personality until he launched his page. “I consider myself to be ‘food passionate' and not gluttonous. The difference is that I am interested in all the details of food – recipes, taste, colour, smell, even images. Gluttons, on the other hand, are only interested in eating, but I am interested in more than that. I also don't eat too much – unless the food is really tasty!” All this was not the only reason Amr started to record his restaurant visits. He considers eating to be fun and something that can help to take us away from everyday worries. He also lives alone, and he had become bored with regular places. “To me, it was an opportunity to use my experiences of restaurants, telling other people what I had found out about a place that I may have discovered quite by chance. I write about the quality, taste, service and prices of the food and whether it is affordable or not. I give excellent reviews to some restaurants and terrible ones to others. Most importantly, I try to convey exactly what I saw. I don't receive any payment. I am completely independent,” he says. Such reviews are not the only purpose of the Sexy Food site, since it also carries material relating to Amr's dining, including photographs and analysis of his feelings towards food. The page has activities to keep fans interested, including by sharing their opinions about restaurants and recipes, new dish ideas and photographs of places they have visited. There are also special sections. These include a section entitled “hand me the insulin” devoted to sweet lovers, “midnight eating” for insomniacs who want something to eat, “when men cook,” where men recount their stories in the kitchen, and “forgotten dishes,” which presents traditional Egyptian dishes that people may no longer want to cook, even if they are still delicious. There are also sections for Egyptians working abroad who can send in the names and details of the restaurants they eat at to the site. The “indulge yourself at home” section encourages people to cook for themselves with whatever ingredients and materials they have to hand. “Search inside” lets people express which dishes they love the most. The main section is called “happening right now,” which is devoted to describing Amr's visits and what he's eating at the moment. “My goal is to add a little fun to our eating moments,” he adds. “I've often considered travel, going to see stuff like museums and markets and fancy plazas and things, as just the space between meals. Ultimately, a trip's defined by the food you eat and where you eat it. It doesn't matter what your social class is: don't fake it, try everything, everywhere. What's the problem in eating oriental beans from a street cart? There's no end of sensory surprises in store if you travel with an open mind and ready taste buds. From delicate appetisers to belly-busting feasts, why not let a world map be your menu on your next trip,” he asks. “What makes me disappointed are the stereotypes some people have about restaurants in Egypt, thinking they mean poor quality at high prices. In fact, experience has shown that Egypt has tons of amazing places and marvellous dishes. I receive messages from people who are angry at me because I go to two or more places daily. Other people are annoyed by the pictures I upload on the site, saying that I am sabotaging their diets!” Even if you consider yourself normal when it comes to your relationship with food, the latter may be more complicated than you realise. In fact, it might be the most complex relationship in your life, explaining why a poll of more than 6,000 readers of the US magazine Women's Health found that nearly 30 per cent of them had felt stressed about the food they had to eat every single day.
