In December of 2023 I was working on an app that analyzed photos of food. So I began taking photos of every dish, this stretched into January of 2024. But in mid-January I began working on a completely different project. Nevertheless, I kept taking the photos, all the way through today. We’re almost at the end of 2024, and as the old year comes to a close I decided to take a look, and share with you, some of these breakfasts.

I must say, I’m somewhat happy that I decided to do this. It’s a weird documentary of my diet, which I must say could surely use a bit of work, but overall I think is pretty healthy.

There were a lot of eggs. Which is strange, because I never really enjoyed eggs until recently. As a kid I hated eggs, except maybe for a deviled egg once in a while. Only in my early 30s, in my last year in New York City did I really start having eggs on my mind. I think my body needed them. I was working at two restaurants, and I think my body was just telling me to eat as many eggs as possible. Eggs in New York were expensive, even in 2017. I remember going to Fairway in Red Hook and buying the most organic free range eggs I could get, they came out to be around $12.

Then I ate eggs every once in a while, but really got back into them again in 2023/2024. So that’s the explanation for that.

I’ve also noticed a lot of sausages and processed meats. Doctors sausage (which is actually a healthy processed sausage) was common, so were hot dogs, and various Eastern European smoked, cured, and deli meats. Headcheese was a big hit, and so was bacon. Pate from the local Polish deli in my neighborhood was truly a great find.

I’d say that going into 2024 I’m going to try harder to avoid so much processed meat.

But there was also a lot of healthy stuff. Fresh vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers. I ate a lot of cabbage and sauerkraut with my breakfast, as well as kimchi and other kinds of fermented vegetables. I tried to use as little ketchup as possible, opting out for beet horseradish and mustards of various sorts.

Rye bread and butter was very standard for my breakfasts. The rye bread was baked just down the road from my house, and came in big round loafs, still warm when I got back home. The crunch was amazing, and even though eating a lot of bread is frowned on by some in the health community — I think they are wrong.

I also led a pretty healthy lifestyle, going to gym a few times a week and hiking whenever the weather could allow, so overall the breakfasts were pretty helpful in keeping my mind sharp all day.

Overall I have over 300 photographs of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks. I highly recommend everyone to to do the same, even if it looks lame to your friends and family. Going into the the new year, I can see the foods that I consumed and rethink some of my choices. For breakfasts in 2025 I plan to keep eating eggs, but probably try to stay away from so much processed meat. I will keep eating it, but maybe try to focus on more substantive and less processed proteins — beans, chicken, salmon, sardines, etc. I would also like to incorporate more salads and fresh vegetables, as well as kimchi and sauerkraut.