To some, it's a dream job---eating delicious meals for free and then writing about them. But _ 

Karen Fernau, a food writer for The Arisona Republic, said when she first started her job -she began to gain weight. "I always looked forward to lunch before this job, then all of a sudden lunch was all day every day. " she says. Nine years later, keeping her weight steady and her health intact is a daily battle. If she knows she will be going to a tasting at a bakery or eating a four-course meal, she usually eats fruits or salads throughout the day. Now she is always keeping track of what's in the food she eats and she says most people don't even look at or consider it. At one tasting task alone, she says, upward of l,000 calories is often added to her day. That's about half of the recommended total calories per day for the average adult. 

But even though she's thought of a special eating method, Fernau says sticking to it is a daily battle. And food editors, writers and critics across the country couldn't agree more. "When I'm at home or not eating for work, it's healthy food to the extreme," says Phil Vettel, who's been a restaurant critic for the Chicago Tribune for 19 years. 

Vettle, who eats dinner at four restaurants each week, says unlike most professions, he has no right to choose. "If I'm going out to eat, I can't choose the healthiest thing on the menu, I have to eat when they're bringing me. " While Vettel exercises when he can, Joe Yonan, a food editor at The Washington Post, has strengthened his exercise habits since he started the job two years ago. Yonan says he realized early on that he was gaining weight and immediately hired a personal trainer to meet with three times a week, on top of his body training three to five times a week. 

Still, it's a struggle that many Americans might envy. After all, it's one thing to get your calories from lobster tails or a delicate chocolate cookie and quite another to get them from sodas and fast-food burgers.
How many calories can one tasting have?
How often does Vettle eat out weekly?
How much does he work out?
Where does Joe Yonan work?
What does he do there?
How long has he been doing that?
Who does he see three times a week?
Why did he hire him?
What else does he do several times a week?
Who does Karen Fernau work for?
For how many years?
What does she feel like is happening day in and day out?
On days she's scheduled to eat out, what does she snack on?
Does she find out the ingredients in those meals?
Does she think most people do the same?
How long has Vettle been a food critic?
To a selection of people, would eating free food and giving a review be a dream job?
Does Fernau struggle to stick to her daily goals?
Who agrees with her wholeheartedly?
From where?
upward of l,000 calories
 At one tasting task alone, she says, upward of l,000 calories is often added to her day.
four times
Vettle, who eats dinner at four restaurants each week, 
when he can
Vettel exercises when he can
The Washington Post
Joe Yonan, a food editor at The Washington Post
He's a food editor
Joe Yonan, a food editor
two years
since he started the job two years ago
a personal trainer
hired a personal trainer to meet with three times a week
he was gaining weight
he was gaining weight
body training
body training three to five times a week
The Arisona Republic
Karen Fernau, a food writer for The Arisona Republic
Nine
"I always looked forward to lunch before this job, then all of a sudden lunch was all day every day. " she says. Nine years later,
lunch
then all of a sudden lunch was all day every day.
fruits or salads
If she knows she will be going to a tasting at a bakery or eating a four-course meal, she usually eats fruits or salads throughout the day.
Yes
Now she is always keeping track of what's in the food she eats and she says most people don't even look at or consider it.
No
she says most people don't even look at or consider it.
two years
he started the job two years ago
Yes
To some, it's a dream job---eating delicious meals for free and then writing about them.
Yes
 keeping her weight steady and her health intact is a daily battle.
food editors, writers and critics
food editors, writers and critics across the country couldn't agree more.
across the country
And food editors, writers and critics across the country couldn't agree more