Having never been a TV fan, I find myself falling into the chair at the end of the day (how common! How suburban!) and, waiting for my daughter to finally fall asleep so I can head to work (else she will hear me type and come bother me every two minutes for hours), I turn on the Food Network.

I blame my sister. After all, she introduced me to the joys of Guy Fieri, The Next Food Network Star, Chopped, and all of the other shows I’m seemingly addicted to these days. All I can say is, WTF?! I’ve always been disdainful when it comes to TV programs—particularly sitcoms, reality shows, and other weekly broadcasts—but I find myself eagerly rooting on my favorites on The Next Food Network Star (Go, Aarti and Herb!), addicted to Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and even checking out new shows like Kid in a Candy Store (doesn’t that guy look a lot like Andy Serkis, by the way?). So what is the appeal behind these shows? What’s so special about them that they’ve been able to melt my cold, anti-TV sealed-away heart? Here are 10 reasons I could come up with.

10. Food is My Porn

I love to eat. I love to cook—okay, I don’t love to cook right now, but that’s because we have a gas stove in our old house that terrifies me. But I do love to make new things, get creative, bake, and prepare food for groups of friends. I get excited when I see new dishes—maybe not sexually so, but perhaps with the addiction and happiness that a man might have when it comes to his porn.

9. These Shows are Realistic

They’re not campy ha-ha shows where I’m expected to really give a damn about people’s petty problems or stupid antics. They’re real people cooking—sometimes, sure, with their own real problems thrown in—and, hopefully, exhibiting their real personalities. It just doesn’t reek of the fake annoyance I used to experience when my parents insisted on watching Friends or Seinfeld.

8. They’re Mentally Stimulating

Not every show is, of course; but Chopped in particular makes you think in creative ways. How would you have prepared the dish differently? You also learn about all kinds of new foods—red carrots, poppadom, and whatever those potato-centered pastries were last night, for example.

7. They Help You Dream

When I watch Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, I do it with pen and paper in hand. The same goes if I catch an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Why? So I can write down these amazing restaurants and their locations, of course! There are a ton of places that I want to go eat at now when we travel—particularly in Chicago—that I would have otherwise never known about.

6. It’s Fun to Be the Judge

I get how people could like those reality shows where people are voted on or off something now. I still don’t like the idea of them at all and won’t watch all of those crazy island/ apprentice/ bachelor/ house/ whatever programs, but I do have fun predicting who will stay and who will go on Chopped and The Next Food Network Star. Last Sunday, I even agonized over it, since I didn’t really want to see anyone go on NFNS!