Ending My Love Affair With Food, Join Me?

buddlloyd

There are many reasons why I ended up overweight.

It was a part of my life that I had control over, so whenever I was in the middle of a life earthquake and nothing really worked I always had the taste of Chick-Fil-A to satisfy me.

I was prone to be obsessive about patterns in my life, so I would have the same breakfast/lunch/dinner in a row for sometimes two weeks in a row (I shudder to think I was taking in almost 5,000 calories a day).

I never got exercise, I was allergic to running and was stuck playing half-court basketball (a.k.a. basketball for people who are out of breath by the third play of the game).

But I think the main reason that I ended up overweight was because I was in love with food. Maybe you're like me and you had huge feelings of loneliness and the only way you felt the way to cope was by eating something (and for me that usually was a large thin crust from Pizza Hut with a side of breadsticks).

When I started eating healthy and exercising, "cheat meals" became this outlet for me. It was like working up to a prize. If this works for you, then please continue to do so.

But I think the problem for me was my mindset. Whenever I would have a "cheat meal" then it would be this huge release for me and what should have been a cheat meal would end up as a cheat day.

Now it's really cool that I'm still on the path and these mistakes haven't cost me the drive, but I started to think a lot more about it most recently, because I really messed up at the Super Bowl. Went overboard, had a caloric goal and almost doubled it.

Spent the first couple of days this week just lethargic, like I was running in peanut butter everywhere I went.

And I started to think about why this was a huge mistake and I think honestly that I'm still "in love" with food. I still have the wrong mindset about it. And if I don't change my mind then I'm going to keep setting myself back.

So I wanted to just get rid of this mentality. Throw it away. Doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy little things here and there. It just means that I'm not going to have the wrong affection for food.


TL;DR: Food is no longer going to be the object of my affection.

cherie515

No way!!! I say continue to love food. Food is what keeps us alive and there is so much to enjoy about it. Just change your focus. You have a calorie limit, what can you do to stay within that limit and keep it as yummy as possible? Have fun with it.
I try and figure out what kinds of frozen fruits I can blend in with a healthy yogurt to avoid the extra sugars and jelly icky crap in the "fruit on the bottom" kind. What kind of a yummy fruit salad can I make with oranges, apples, bananas that are just sitting there. What kind of toppings can I add to a whole grain pita to make a healthy pizza? What yummy seasoning can I add to my chicken, or shrimp, should I add it to whole wheat pasta or add it to a big crispy salad. How can I make the dressing healthy.
Research healthy options and take advantage of your love for food. Focus on what you can have, what can I get into my body that will keep me from feeling like I'm running in peanut butter?
Before you know it this food will taste so good to you and will be your new obsessive pattern. Do this about 80-90% of the time and the other times, go for some stuff you would've normally eaten and it may not be that pleasurable anymore.
Now go eat :-)