Hey guys! So I have this weird association with food. Like, sometimes I will crave a food because I associate it so strongly with a situation. For example....I went to Universal Studios a few weeks ago and went to Harry Potter. When I was there I just had to get a caramel covered apple because having it helped me get into the whole "magical" "harry potter" theme. I guess it makes sense...I associate apples with halloween and witches (snow white and the apple, bobbing for apples at halloween parties etc...) so to get into the magical theme I wanted an apple. But still it's weird to think how any food could make me feel more....well...magical I guess??

Let me give you another example. When I think of pizza I think of having good times with friends just unapologetically bumming around, watching TV and sharing a pizza pie. So now, whenever I feel stressed about the future I crave pizza because it makes me remember the feeling of being carefree, doing absolutely nothing with friends, and loving it.

I don't think that's weird at all! If you think about it, as a nation we do this; we associate apples, pumpkin and cinnamon with fall; peppermint with the holiday season; chicken wings with the Superbowl; hot dogs with summer BBQs, etc.

Individually a lot of us have our own food histories and traditions. It would be too simplistic to think of "food as fuel" all the time. In reality, food is deeply woven into the tapestries of who we are as individuals, as a society, and as human beings.

If not for seasonal foods/treats, I don't think I would ever get excited about holidays or changing seasons! I definitely have certain situations and emotions and holidays tied to certain kinds of foods, and I also don't think it's a problem at all so long as it doesn't result in extreme overindulgence in those foods beyond control

Totally agree! I think it's disgusting how far our society takes it sometimes (Not every single food company needs to come out with Pumpkin Spice whatever-the-feck) but I do enjoy those flavors in my own way.

one of the strongest food associations that i have is a negative one...when i was pregnant and very poor, i ate a can of spaghetti-Os and it promptly made me insanely ill and throwing up (morning sickness, but in my case, All Day Sickness lol)....to this day, i cannot stomach the sight of spaghetti-Os and the thought of eating them makes me still feel ill...and that incident happened 15 YEARS ago!!

on the other hand, one of my favorite food associations is rhubarb...every summer growing up on the homestead we'd go pick rhubarb all day long at an abandoned cabin...rhubarb taller than me as a child, dragonflies and grasshoppers around, the stillness of the hot air....and then bringing it all home, cutting it up til the scissors blistered our hands, the stain of red juices on our hands...and then mom making rhubarb pie, rhubarb cake and rhubarb crisp....yummm...now that i'm grown up i have my own rhubarb patch to tend to

Pumpkin in the fall is my absolute favorite, but I prefer to make the things healthy with good ingredients and less sugar.

I don't like pumpkin-flavored stuff. I buy canned pumpkin or get a pumpkin to scrape out the innards! I make pumpkin everything with the intention of making it healthier than store-bought alternatives. Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin hot cocoa, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread....

In winter around Christmas I'm obsessed with peppermint, but again, I make all my own stuff or have healthy things. Peppermint tea and peppermint hot cocoa all the time!

Luckily in summer I just love iced tea. I don't sweeten it because I just love the cool refreshing taste! Popsicles might be my summer downfall on a hot day, but luckily if I'm careful it's not too much damage.

I think that's pretty normal, we often make associations with foods we eat because in America we are brought up eating food at special occassions as a way to connect with others and to connect with events, to create further emotions and good feelings. It creates direct relationships between food and emoitons we feel or crave. It's hard to let go of that and I don't think it's entirely necesssary to do so, but it's important to be conscious of it and see it as a craving rather than hunger and slowly stay away from using food as a way to make you feel a certain way.

Oh another thing, I used to have this with smoking. And this is a perfect example. I would smoke socially in the summer, whne it's gorgeous out becasue that's what I did with friends. Now sometimes when it's beautiful outside I want a cigarette just because it furthers my "appreciation" for the weather. It makes me feel like that's how I truly appreciate it which is RIDICULOUS, no?

I haven't smoked in a year. So yeah, it's possible. You just have to ignore the compulsions.