I LOVE LETTUCE - REALLY - I DO!!
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Lalasharni
Posts: 353 Member
This is a strange idea, but it has worked well for me and may help some of you who are craving junk food and give in to binges.
Before I started with MFP
I was a junk foodie. I would cram down McDs and Krispy Kreme like there was no tomorrow and follow it with lots of alcohol.
I decided that if I were to succeed in losing weight, I would have to retrain my brain to actually “love” what was good for me and this is how I did it.
If you are hungry, then you will eat anything. By “hungry” I mean really, really hungry. Now I don’t advocate starvation as a means of losing weight as all of you here will agree, but I decided on a “semi fast” week to begin with, drinking lots of water and a pretty nutritious soupy mix made from vegetables and fat free chicken stock. I took extra vitamins and spent a lot of time in my library reading and well away from food. I promised myself on the first day that if I made it, I would treat myself to a tomato. At the end of the day, having made it, I got a huge beef tomato and quartered it on a plate, added some black pepper and ate it with a knife and fork – savouring every bite. You know, that tomato tasted like heaven.
The next day, I did the same and promised myself a full salad bowl with a drizzle of French dressing. That was the pivotal moment, when I realised that really simple food can taste amazing.
At the end of that week, I had “treated myself” to a tomato, a salad bowl, an avocado with some prawns, a slice of multigrain bread (no butter), a bowl of steamed broccoli with 10 grams of real butter, a bowl of stir fried cabbage and onions with fennel seeds and cashew nuts and last, but not least, a bowl of baked white flaked fish with fresh parsley sprinkles.
All these items were eaten at the day’s end, seated at a table, with a knife and fork, and eaten one bite at a time, concentrating on the flavours and textures.
Now, I LOVE lettuce. At buffets, I will take one sandwich and hoover up all the salad garnishes that people leave on the platters – I plough my way through lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cress, watercress, celery and anything green, red or yellow that others leave on the buffet table. I can actually end up with a pound or more of salad, but I eat it, as always, seated, with a knife and fork and savour it.
My tastes have changed. Thinking about what I eat has educated my taste buds. I no longer crave junk.
Yesterday, I collected my son from the airport – he had just returned home from the Far East. On the way home, he was ravenous and we stopped at a motorway cafe. Burger King was open.
He had a Whopper with cheese, bacon and fries.
I had a grilled chicken wrap – a little Caesar dressing and the biggest salad bowl in the world from a next door Marks & Spencer food stop.
It took him five minutes to devour the Whopper, he then waited for half an hour for me to munch my way through my salad bowl and wrap – I was absolutely stuffed.
I am telling this story to tell anyone who wants to read it, that tastes can be educated. It is hard, but possible, and anyone hooked on junk should try this method. Once the week is over, see if you don’t look forward to wonderful plain and simple food – learn to love lettuce!
Before I started with MFP
I was a junk foodie. I would cram down McDs and Krispy Kreme like there was no tomorrow and follow it with lots of alcohol.
I decided that if I were to succeed in losing weight, I would have to retrain my brain to actually “love” what was good for me and this is how I did it.
If you are hungry, then you will eat anything. By “hungry” I mean really, really hungry. Now I don’t advocate starvation as a means of losing weight as all of you here will agree, but I decided on a “semi fast” week to begin with, drinking lots of water and a pretty nutritious soupy mix made from vegetables and fat free chicken stock. I took extra vitamins and spent a lot of time in my library reading and well away from food. I promised myself on the first day that if I made it, I would treat myself to a tomato. At the end of the day, having made it, I got a huge beef tomato and quartered it on a plate, added some black pepper and ate it with a knife and fork – savouring every bite. You know, that tomato tasted like heaven.
The next day, I did the same and promised myself a full salad bowl with a drizzle of French dressing. That was the pivotal moment, when I realised that really simple food can taste amazing.
At the end of that week, I had “treated myself” to a tomato, a salad bowl, an avocado with some prawns, a slice of multigrain bread (no butter), a bowl of steamed broccoli with 10 grams of real butter, a bowl of stir fried cabbage and onions with fennel seeds and cashew nuts and last, but not least, a bowl of baked white flaked fish with fresh parsley sprinkles.
All these items were eaten at the day’s end, seated at a table, with a knife and fork, and eaten one bite at a time, concentrating on the flavours and textures.
Now, I LOVE lettuce. At buffets, I will take one sandwich and hoover up all the salad garnishes that people leave on the platters – I plough my way through lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cress, watercress, celery and anything green, red or yellow that others leave on the buffet table. I can actually end up with a pound or more of salad, but I eat it, as always, seated, with a knife and fork and savour it.
My tastes have changed. Thinking about what I eat has educated my taste buds. I no longer crave junk.
Yesterday, I collected my son from the airport – he had just returned home from the Far East. On the way home, he was ravenous and we stopped at a motorway cafe. Burger King was open.
He had a Whopper with cheese, bacon and fries.
I had a grilled chicken wrap – a little Caesar dressing and the biggest salad bowl in the world from a next door Marks & Spencer food stop.
It took him five minutes to devour the Whopper, he then waited for half an hour for me to munch my way through my salad bowl and wrap – I was absolutely stuffed.
I am telling this story to tell anyone who wants to read it, that tastes can be educated. It is hard, but possible, and anyone hooked on junk should try this method. Once the week is over, see if you don’t look forward to wonderful plain and simple food – learn to love lettuce!
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Replies
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yea, it happens to me every time I eat something besides fish and broccoli which is almost every day
I had pizza last night tho and it put me to sleep0 -
Awesome! I grew up on healthy foods, so I already like the simple stuff, but I just had to retrain myself to not want the unhealthy stuff. It's a little hard sometimes when I have a craving, but I do often find it hard to reach my calorie goals because I eat a lot of dense veggies now.0
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I loved your story, thanks for sharing. It really does make sense to re-train your mind. I like that you now sit down and truely enjoy your meals and eat nice and slowly. I'm going to try that too! The meals sound so delicious as you described them
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I read something that told me based on my personality I should put my fork down after every bite and put my hands to my side
so I do that now.
whenever im craving something sweet I slice up cucs, tomatoes, and apples sprinkle some salt on them and they do fill me up
its getting easier to stay away from the junk0 -
Very nice Lala!0
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