[mandalinn82]

But things like cauliflower, broccoli--the smell is just so strong and horrible to me.

It's possible that you're a supertaster...meaning that you taste the volatile compounds in some vegetables more than others. THis could mean that certain veggies and other things can be hard for you to eat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster

But even for supertasters, not EVERY vegetable is unpalatable. And cooking techniques can reduce the volatile compounds that supertasters react to. I'd bet that almost EVERYONE can find some vegetables they like, with enough experimentation.

[yoyoma]

There is so much super advice in this thread already.

I just want to emphasize that your tastes will re-calibrate if you start eating differently. Simple example-- if you went on a low-sodium diet, you would find many of the foods you currently enjoy *too salty*. The same thing happens with sugar (too sweet!) and fat (too greasy!) -- really!!! (Similarly, you can also get used to eating extremely spicy food.) I'm not suggesting you switch from one extreme to the other. You could move to the other end of the spectrum more slowly. But where ever you are on the salty/sweet/fatty/spicy spectra, your tastebuds will judge foods relative to what you normally eat. So foods that you now consider bland will be more flavorful and enjoyable when you are used to eating foods that are not masked with a lot of salt.

And yeah... if you eat veggies more often, you will get used to eating them. And you will miss them if you skip them once you are used to them! Although I love veggies in general, I never ate many salads and just didn't like them much. But I got addicted to them over the summer.

So the point is, you can eat healthy and get a lot of pleasure from food. Part of it is finding those healthy foods that you love from the get-go. The other part is recalibrating your tastebuds to appreciate the healthier foods. Good luck!

[kaplods]

Recalibration is a goofy thing. Suddenly you find yourself loving a food you despised - it's kind of disorienting sometime. Hubby laughed hysterically at me last night. He poppled some popcorn and in the past, I would have wanted butter on it or at least ranch dressing powder - SOMETHING to spice it up and give it some flavor.

I had already put together my snack (raw peppers, carrots, celery and cold leftover roasted brussels sprouts), but hubby shared some of his popcorn, and the combination of popcorn and brussels sprouts was crazy good (I was wishing I had more brussels sprouts. I was pulling off the brussels sprout leaves one at a time to prolong the awesome combination).

Would I have thought it was amazing five years ago? Definitely not, I would have gagged (or more likely refused to even try it).

Cutting way back on sugar, salt, and fat has been a bit like turning down a super loud stereo and being able to actually hear and appreciate the music better - I notice and appreciate more subtle (I would have formerly called bland) flavors.

I know it's unbelievable. When people told me this is what I would experience, I didn't believe them. I assumed that boring would always be boring, and too bitter would always be too bitter.

It's like trying to describe colors to a blind person, you can't really appreciate colors unless you've seen them.

I never would have imagined getting excited about going produce shopping, but I have just as much fun and excitement picking out fruit as I once did fancy chocolates. In some ways it's even better, because there's not that feeling of "I shouldn't really be doing this."

[JulieJ08]

Originally Posted by kaplods

Cutting way back on sugar, salt, and fat has been a bit like turning down a super loud stereo and being able to actually hear and appreciate the music better - I notice and appreciate more subtle (I would have formerly called bland) flavors.

Good analogy.

[blueridgegirl]

So much good advice - I'll add two things.

I read the book 'the slow down diet' which talks about mindful eating and slowing down. A possible experiment - eat what you usually eat, but eat more slowly, chew each bite more. Turn off the radio, TV, put down your magazine, whatever, and really be with your food and savor it. You may find yourself enjoying it more and eating less. Usually when I find myself scarfing chips it's because I've let myself get too hungry and then I eat a bunch without really tasting them just cause I'm ravenous, and then feel yucky afterwards. So maybe a first step is not changing what, but how, you eat.

Second, I challenge you (and me and all of us) to think about other places besides food where we experience pleasure. I'll start mine here:

1) an aromatherapy massage
2) lazy sundays with my bf with lots of naps and laying around
3) sitting in a nice cafe with a skim latte (okay, kinda food related, but still)
4) laughing with a friend so hard my face hurts
5) deep relaxation at the end of yoga class
6) a shower and cup of tea after a long run and then putting on pajamas and slippers and snuggling into bed with a book
7) sitting in a hot bath
8) a day when I have nothing on my calendar. Just seeing that little box on my calendar with no appointments, meetings, etc scheduled in makes me happy...I look forward to it, then enjoy the freedom!

Alright...that's a start. Of course there are other things I could list but trying to keep this family friendly. Anyone else want to chime in with what brings pleasure?

[petra65]

A bubblebath is one of my favorite pamper yourself things to do.
Sitting on the beach and reading a book
Playing video games
Playing frisbee with my dogs
Doing something nice and unexpected for someone else.

[luckymommy]

Pleasurable things?
Shopping for a new lipstick
Reading a good book
petting my dog and cat
doing my nails
talking with a good friend
seeing a great movie
listening to music on youtube and dancing to it when nobody's around and pretending I"m still young and clubbing
Stretching
massaging my feet with lotion
watching The Biggest Loser...I know, I'm such a dork!

[girlonfire]

Originally Posted by cfmama

Chips? You lose your taste quickly for them... as you do chocolate etc. Although if you can handle it you CAN work reasonable portions into your diet.
.

I concur! I have completely lost my taste for chips. However, chocolate never! I eat a little square of very very dark chocolate with filberts.(I have found it is impossible for me to overeat on very dark, rich chocolate. I only overeat the crummy quality, super sweet chocolate).

You CAN do this! You can totally lose weight without sacrificing the taste. All of cfmama's ideas are SUPERB as well as the advice of the others. I have faith that you can achieve your goals!

[lots2go]

I love food too, all of it. But as others have said, you're here, so obviously you want to change. I've found that its all in the mind. When you're really really ready it will happen and it won't be near as hard as you think.

[screamingfatgirl]

Originally Posted by CherryBlossom

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking a lot about how I eat. I hear the mantra "food as fuel" meaning we should just think of food as some abstract thing that's a necessary evil.

The "food as fuel" argument simply doesn't work. Humans aren't designed to experience food in this way. We evolved to desire and consume the sweetest, fattiest foods possible because sweet foods are safe to eat (bitter foods are more likely to be poison) and both sweet and fat-filled foods are calorie-laden. Humans who ate a lot of these things (that would be our ancestors) survived and procreated to create more humans who desired the same types of things.

Beyond that, food is a rich part of culture. You can't avoid the fact that food and food culture are about pleasure. If you approach food with ambivalence because you want to take pleasure in it and feel constantly in denial, you will fail. This is a reasonable situation. Not everyone can be disciplined and give up all of their food-based pleasure. I know I haven't.

This does not mean you are doomed nor that you cannot lose weight. You can still enjoy food. You just have to change the way in which you enjoy it. I suggest you start with paying attention to how much pleasure you're extracting from taste and texture as opposed to compulsively eating large quantities of certain foods. For the most part, the pleasure you get from food has diminishing returns. Most compulsive eaters (and I'm one, too!) are not actually savoring every bite. They are just putting away quantities of food because the act of doing so is comforting.

I started modifying my eating habits by starting with being very aware of every bite I was eating. I paid attention to the flavor and texture and let things like chocolate sit on my tongue so I extracted more pleasure from it. Pay attention to this and you'll see that the first bite is the best and every bite thereafter is not as good. You don't need to eat a whole candy bar. You only need three small bites to really get the best experience.

I then modified my habits by scaling portions gradually. My coffee cup used to be large, then it was medium, then it was small. Now it's very small. I do the same with everything. My meals were scaled back such that I'm more satisfied with less. I eat what I want, but I eat less of it and I don't eat everything I want everyday. Having something everyday also diminishes the pleasure of the experience.

You can wean yourself off of compulsive eating and learn to focus on truly extracting pleasure from the food rather from the act of simply eating and being very full. You don't have to give things up. You just have to re-train your notions of how much you need to enjoy food and how often you need such things.

I will tell you that I eat chocolate everyday. I sometimes eat chips and I eat full fat cheese. I have scones and pancakes for breakfast, too. I just don't have big amounts of anything and stay around 1400-1600 calories a day by doing so.

I don't want to make it sound easy, or like you won't be hungry or uncomfortable making adjustments. You can have (a small bit of) your cake and eat it, too. Just give yourself time to change your habits and approach toward food.

[Windchime]

Originally Posted by screamingfatgirl

I then modified my habits by scaling portions gradually. My coffee cup used to be large, then it was medium, then it was small. Now it's very small. I do the same with everything. My meals were scaled back such that I'm more satisfied with less. I eat what I want, but I eat less of it and I don't eat everything I want everyday. Having something everyday also diminishes the pleasure of the experience.

The portion control is a very good point. When I was just a few months into my journey, I started occasionally using small salad plates instead of the big plates. I do it almost exclusively now, and what this means is that I have a small plate that is really full at dinner time, instead of having a huge plate that looks empty (and thus tempts me to fill it up fuller).

It seems silly, but it really helps to use a smaller plate!

[yoyoma]

Originally Posted by screamingfatgirl

Having something everyday also diminishes the pleasure of the experience.

Gosh that is so true and a very good point!

If you do/eat/indulge in something regularly, it's nothing special (at all!). Ho hum. But if you only indulge on occasion, then you get more enjoyment out of it!

[RN BSN 2009]

Originally Posted by dragonwoman64

I'd suggest not looking at it as something you're denying yourself, but finding better ways to treat yourself, because you f'ing deserve it -- to have better health, better self esteem, a better life. Life IS hard, and it's worth the effort for us to better the lot we have in any way we can.

Amen sister!!!

[ladyrider72472]

I agree with dragonwoman64 also. Tell yourself you choose to not eat the JUNK we put in our bodies. I mean..... explain fast food..... before I started this lifestyle (b/c anything other than that creates temporary weight loss), I could eat 2 Big Macs, SS Fries, Lg Coke..... and then an apple pie or sundae. So, if I were to go home and create the exact meal do you think I could plow through it? I tried-- the answer is NO. The reason? Fast Food is not real food. It is sooooo processed all of the filling abilities and nutrients have been taken out to make it FAST. I don't want to sound to preachy..... b/c I LOVED FF..... but honestely, what is the "meat" they call taco meat at most FF taco places?

I said all that to say this..... was your body designed to run on that stuff? Not likely. Yes, it tastes good now..... but after having real food...... there is no comparison. You can make versions of the FF you love at home, at a much cheaper cost to your body. The choice is yours. Just do baby steps of tweaking and finding out what you and your family likes..... and it will work. You won't feel as deprived as you do now. There will be occasions when you do say I want "X" and I don't care what the nutritional value is..... but for the most part if you change your mind...... the cravings will go away. If not, talk yourself into portion control.

[zanjabil]

You've got so much supportive and great advice, i have nothing to add, but I do have a good book suggestion. It's called Breaking Free From Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth, maybe it could be helpful.