If you don't like it, then why do you eat it?
TheFinalThird
Posts: 315 Member
*** WARNING *** If you scroll down now, you will see that this post is longer than most. If you have the attention span of a West Nile Virus infected mosquito, please do not begin reading it, get sucked into my thoughtful prose and laying open of a sensitive emotionally vulnerable side of me, only to blame me and flame me for the length of this post later on. You have been warned.
Earlier this morning, I made a status update. It mentioned how I didn't like oatmeal, but I knew it was healthy for me, so I was eating it anyway. I received MANY helpful hints. Some were to disguise it with things I had never heard of (some kind of agave nector and flax seeds, which is what I thought they grew chia pets with). Others were to blend in things that, well, let's just say that they sort of defeat the purpose of being on MFP (chocolate chips, sugar, table salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc.). All of the responses, I am certain, were well intentioned. However, one response that I read was so simple, so elegant, so thought provoking, and so potentially life changing (for me), that I felt like I should share it with you here.
"If you don't like oatmeal, then why do you eat it."
Sounds simple enough. We are all familiar with the kid who, at 8:30 p.m.-- because of an ultimatum from mom or dad-- is sitting alone at the dining room table because he or she wouldn't eat his or her lima beans, spinach, liver, broccoli, or other nutritious yet culinary uninspiring ingredient. "Don't even THINK ABOUT getting up from that chair until you've finished your... "
Well, I am no kid, and my parents, rest their souls, were not involved in my oatmeal-based decision making this morning. Why, then, was I so compelled to eat my oatmeal no matter how gag-inducing it was? I knew that the question resonated deeply with me. I could tell because I practically ignored the Houston Texans opening game that I had looked forward to for weeks in order to think it through (according to my ESPN app, they won, 30-10 against the Dolphins, thank you very much).
Here's what I came up with.
The amount of oatmeal that I consumed for breakfast contained 600 calories, very little fat, NO sodium (a big issue for me), virtually NO sugar, 16 grams of protein, and lots of (I don't know the correct term) teeny-tiny woolygroobers that circulate in your veins and arteries and clean out the oogie-squoogie bad stuff). It filled me up for HOURS and left me many, many precious calories for me to enjoy later in the day (helooooooooo healthy tacos with grilled chicken and fish and veggies). So there were good nutritional reasons and tactical dieting reasons to eat it. And to be honest, after about the third or fourth spoonful, I truly began to enjoy the simple, stripped down nutty flavor of the goopy glob. It felt good to be able to enjoy something that, prior to today, would only be mentioned by me with an upturned nose and/or a full body shudder.
But here's the really important part. I ate my oatmeal because it was important to me for me to redefine my relationship with food. Prior to recently, I ate for three reasons. What I ate tasted good. What I ate made me feel good (or so I thought). What I ate made me less hungry (again, or so I thought). Every time I took a bite of fried chicken, or hot homemade biscuits, or meat loaf, I was magically transported back to my own mother's kitchen where she would lovingly dish out the stuff, encouraging me to "ENJOY!" And fatty, salty deli meats... every bite of a piled high pastrami sandwich (on rye with mustard... is there any other way?) transported me back to some distant and happy family get together in the 1970's when I was a young child. I came to realize that my enjoyment of most of the rich or fatty or sugary or salty things that I enjoy eating are NOT a result of the immediate biochemical processes and physical sensations that they cause. Truth be known, most of the time that I eat many of the foods that got me into weight trouble in the first place, it causes more physical discomforts than satisfaction. But until recently, that was never enough for me to persuade myself to give them up. So what has changed?
In the past few weeks of my 40+ day MFP journey, I have tried to disengage the "foods I (literally) grew to love" from their emotional and psychological linkages and (and this is the important part) BEGIN TO eat healthier choices FROM TIME TO TIME simply because they are healthier for me. In other words, I am working to stop treating food as love, food as nurturing, food as comfort, food as friend, and recognize that, for the overwhelming part, FOOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUEL. And the more nutrient dense, low bad fat, high good fat, high protein, complex carb foods that I include in my diet, the better my mileage will be, so to speak.
So this morning, when *I* made myself eat my oatmeal, it was out of the recognition that *I* have the POWER to control and decide what I put in my mouth and body-- not some long distant emotional or psychological linkage to "the good old days" that I had created over the past five decades. Sometimes, that will be small portions of ridiculously unhealthy foods simply because I enjoy them (bacon, chocolate, great hamburgers, ice cream, etc.). MORE of the time, it will be foods that I have traditionally shunned because I perceived that their flavor, or the subconscious psychological or emotional payoff to eating them, was not high enough to warrant their consumption. And here's the best part of all. By "forcing myself" to "eat my oatmeal," with NO sugar, NO salt, NO chocolate chips, NO maple syrup or anything else, I actually learned to enjoy the simple flavor that it brought to my morning.
I am sorry I didn't pay more attention to this afternoon's football game. However, by learning what I finally did, I may, just may, have found the key to unlock this fat suit that I stuffed myself into over the past few decades. I can't wait for the REAL me to come out and visit with y'all over the coming months and years.
Scott R. in Houston, Tx.
Earlier this morning, I made a status update. It mentioned how I didn't like oatmeal, but I knew it was healthy for me, so I was eating it anyway. I received MANY helpful hints. Some were to disguise it with things I had never heard of (some kind of agave nector and flax seeds, which is what I thought they grew chia pets with). Others were to blend in things that, well, let's just say that they sort of defeat the purpose of being on MFP (chocolate chips, sugar, table salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc.). All of the responses, I am certain, were well intentioned. However, one response that I read was so simple, so elegant, so thought provoking, and so potentially life changing (for me), that I felt like I should share it with you here.
"If you don't like oatmeal, then why do you eat it."
Sounds simple enough. We are all familiar with the kid who, at 8:30 p.m.-- because of an ultimatum from mom or dad-- is sitting alone at the dining room table because he or she wouldn't eat his or her lima beans, spinach, liver, broccoli, or other nutritious yet culinary uninspiring ingredient. "Don't even THINK ABOUT getting up from that chair until you've finished your... "
Well, I am no kid, and my parents, rest their souls, were not involved in my oatmeal-based decision making this morning. Why, then, was I so compelled to eat my oatmeal no matter how gag-inducing it was? I knew that the question resonated deeply with me. I could tell because I practically ignored the Houston Texans opening game that I had looked forward to for weeks in order to think it through (according to my ESPN app, they won, 30-10 against the Dolphins, thank you very much).
Here's what I came up with.
The amount of oatmeal that I consumed for breakfast contained 600 calories, very little fat, NO sodium (a big issue for me), virtually NO sugar, 16 grams of protein, and lots of (I don't know the correct term) teeny-tiny woolygroobers that circulate in your veins and arteries and clean out the oogie-squoogie bad stuff). It filled me up for HOURS and left me many, many precious calories for me to enjoy later in the day (helooooooooo healthy tacos with grilled chicken and fish and veggies). So there were good nutritional reasons and tactical dieting reasons to eat it. And to be honest, after about the third or fourth spoonful, I truly began to enjoy the simple, stripped down nutty flavor of the goopy glob. It felt good to be able to enjoy something that, prior to today, would only be mentioned by me with an upturned nose and/or a full body shudder.
But here's the really important part. I ate my oatmeal because it was important to me for me to redefine my relationship with food. Prior to recently, I ate for three reasons. What I ate tasted good. What I ate made me feel good (or so I thought). What I ate made me less hungry (again, or so I thought). Every time I took a bite of fried chicken, or hot homemade biscuits, or meat loaf, I was magically transported back to my own mother's kitchen where she would lovingly dish out the stuff, encouraging me to "ENJOY!" And fatty, salty deli meats... every bite of a piled high pastrami sandwich (on rye with mustard... is there any other way?) transported me back to some distant and happy family get together in the 1970's when I was a young child. I came to realize that my enjoyment of most of the rich or fatty or sugary or salty things that I enjoy eating are NOT a result of the immediate biochemical processes and physical sensations that they cause. Truth be known, most of the time that I eat many of the foods that got me into weight trouble in the first place, it causes more physical discomforts than satisfaction. But until recently, that was never enough for me to persuade myself to give them up. So what has changed?
In the past few weeks of my 40+ day MFP journey, I have tried to disengage the "foods I (literally) grew to love" from their emotional and psychological linkages and (and this is the important part) BEGIN TO eat healthier choices FROM TIME TO TIME simply because they are healthier for me. In other words, I am working to stop treating food as love, food as nurturing, food as comfort, food as friend, and recognize that, for the overwhelming part, FOOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUEL. And the more nutrient dense, low bad fat, high good fat, high protein, complex carb foods that I include in my diet, the better my mileage will be, so to speak.
So this morning, when *I* made myself eat my oatmeal, it was out of the recognition that *I* have the POWER to control and decide what I put in my mouth and body-- not some long distant emotional or psychological linkage to "the good old days" that I had created over the past five decades. Sometimes, that will be small portions of ridiculously unhealthy foods simply because I enjoy them (bacon, chocolate, great hamburgers, ice cream, etc.). MORE of the time, it will be foods that I have traditionally shunned because I perceived that their flavor, or the subconscious psychological or emotional payoff to eating them, was not high enough to warrant their consumption. And here's the best part of all. By "forcing myself" to "eat my oatmeal," with NO sugar, NO salt, NO chocolate chips, NO maple syrup or anything else, I actually learned to enjoy the simple flavor that it brought to my morning.
I am sorry I didn't pay more attention to this afternoon's football game. However, by learning what I finally did, I may, just may, have found the key to unlock this fat suit that I stuffed myself into over the past few decades. I can't wait for the REAL me to come out and visit with y'all over the coming months and years.
Scott R. in Houston, Tx.
0
Replies
-
Very thoughtful post. I too have had to look at my relationship with food and change that relationship.0
-
Great post! And so true!! "We are what we eat!"
Tonight I'm envisioning myself as a huge honkin' margarita... but in reality I'm a rice with peas, carrots and corn. And it's quite delicious too!
0 -
This is the second post of yours I have read (1st being the Godiva Chocolate one).
You brought a smile to my face both times. You have a gift with words! Thanks for brightening my day!
I don't know about "when the real you comes out of your fat suit", but you are better than ok now!
Thanks!:bigsmile:0 -
I think you've discovered a key insight about your relationship with food and how changing it might lead to the weight loss success that has previously seemed so elusive.0
-
Well, good for you, Scott!
I grew up in a large irish family where, like ou, we learned that food was not fuel...but fun, social, something to do while bored, something to do if we are happy, sad, angry, etc., etc... Basically, food was what we did as a family. And to top it off, it was the old Irish favorites - breads and starches (and LOTS of them).
I had to redefine my relationship with food, also. It has taken me nearly 2 full years but I no longer desire to eat those "comfort" foods of my youth. When I do eat one (a potato, for example) my tummy lets me know about it for at least two days. My body just does not like those foods anymore (never did, I am sure, but I never knew what to look for until this new journey began in 2011).
So, congrats on eating your oatmeal and keep up the good work!0 -
This...
teeny-tiny woolygroobers that circulate in your veins and arteries and clean out the oogie-squoogie bad stuff
made me LMAO!!0 -
Eating too much of the food that I really enjoy is what got me into this mess in the first place.0
-
This...
teeny-tiny woolygroobers that circulate in your veins and arteries and clean out the oogie-squoogie bad stuff
made me LMAO!!
funniest thing I've read in a while - loved it and this post as always - keep up the great work Scott!!!!0 -
Great work although *I* would *NEVER* force myself to eat a food i didn't like (unless there were no other options and I was hungry--but that's a lot less forcing and a lot more common sense I guess). Life is too short and I feel like just like with running or biking, if you don't like it find something else that gets you excited...my approach is more similar to "if you don't like oatmeal, for example, then try cream of wheat or quinoa."0
-
I force myself to drink fresh green juices because even though they're bitter, they make me feel like Wonder Woman afterward.0
-
Great thread. Only eating food that I liked didn't do any favours for me - no veges or fruit. I did a really strict 12 step programme and it consisted entirely of foods that I avoided. Best thing I ever did! My relationship with food change immensely and I began to recognised how my body felt when I ate the foods I thought I hated. Now I eat healthily (about 80% of the time) because I actually enjoy them and I like the way it makes me feel.0
-
That is interesting. Personally I see food as both something pleasurable and fuel - fulfilling a human desire for sensory pleasure as well as serving a functional purpose. Kind of like sex, I guess. I don't eat foods that I don't like, because for me personally there is no point, but then I like a lot of healthy foods, and I have lots of options of things to eat, and the foods I don't like are things like cake and ice cream, which my body doesn't need. So for me, controlling eating is more about reducing portions, and refraining from over-indulging in salty snacks.0
-
OMG - That was sooooo long! I can't BELIEVE how loooooooong that was. Just kidding. I love your posts!0
-
I don't drink milk. I get my nuttrients other ways. Not a fan of salad either so I put things on it I like. I don't like procesed food or fried food so I don't eat it.0
-
I really love your posts. You have such an amazing writing ability that where I usually avoid reading really long posts here, I never have an issue with yours. You should turn these longer posts into a book, as it could be very helpful to others in your position one day.
I wish I could eat oatmeal as I love it, but it disagrees with my stomach unfortunately.
But I too have had to learn to balance out the foods I need nutritionally, but might not find as 'enjoyable' with the foods I find really enjoyable and emotionally satisfying. So even if I feel like having a huge baked potato with prawn mayonnaise or some quiche, I stick mainly to my fish, seafood, cottage cheese, eggs, omelette and lots of veggies for dinner, and my fruit and quark before bed, and allow myself a few treats throughout the day. It is hard sometimes, especially when feeling particularly stressed or depressed, and sometimes even when feeling really happy, but it works.0 -
We really are all so different. I am blessed in that I like to eat almost everything. No really. I like to eat stuff my wife can't even look at let alone eat. I just like to eat too much of very good food.0
-
FOOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUEL
This. If you want your body to perform like an exotic sports car, you can't put just any old fuel into it. Or in computerese: GIGO0 -
I liked your post, I learned to enjoy oatmeal after making myself eat it. My favourite is to blend it with cottage cheese.
If you don't enjoy the goopy texture, you should try steel cut oats or hot cereals like Red River, or Rogers cereal that have a bit more whole grain chew, but all the same benefits.
(Also maple or vanilla extract helps)0 -
I always enjoy your long posts - you definitely have something to say, and you say it eloquently.
I am also redefining my relationship with food, which is quite hard at times, as my husband eats for comfort, and really resents when I don't keep him company on his food tours. I love him, and want him to be happy, but I am suffering physically as a result.
So ... I am doing what I can to keep my food clean, meaning eating as many whole and unprocessed foods as possible, and being aware of how various foods make me feel physically, and angling myself toward the ones where I feel good afterward, even if I might not necessarily enjoy or derive comfort from the actual eating. Taint easy, but I do it. Means weight is coming off me more slowly than it might if I was not a loving wife, but I do love my husband and would like him to be happy, and live in a peaceful home. A slower weight loss process is a small price to pay ... and maybe he'll come around at some point and join me on this journey. I can only hope.0 -
Those woolygroobers are fiber!
Great post!0 -
I only eat what I love the taste of and then mostly what gives my body value. That's pretty much it. My calorie budget is to precious to waste on anything else.0
-
Agreed, well said.0
-
*** WARNING *** If you scroll down now, you will see that this post is longer than most. If you have the attention span of a West Nile Virus infected mosquito, please do not begin reading it, get sucked into my thoughtful prose and laying open of a sensitive emotionally vulnerable side of me, only to blame me and flame me for the length of this post later on. You have been warned.
Earlier this morning, I made a status update. It mentioned how I didn't like oatmeal, but I knew it was healthy for me, so I was eating it anyway. I received MANY helpful hints. Some were to disguise it with things I had never heard of (some kind of agave nector and flax seeds, which is what I thought they grew chia pets with). Others were to blend in things that, well, let's just say that they sort of defeat the purpose of being on MFP (chocolate chips, sugar, table salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc.). All of the responses, I am certain, were well intentioned. However, one response that I read was so simple, so elegant, so thought provoking, and so potentially life changing (for me), that I felt like I should share it with you here.
"If you don't like oatmeal, then why do you eat it."
Sounds simple enough. We are all familiar with the kid who, at 8:30 p.m.-- because of an ultimatum from mom or dad-- is sitting alone at the dining room table because he or she wouldn't eat his or her lima beans, spinach, liver, broccoli, or other nutritious yet culinary uninspiring ingredient. "Don't even THINK ABOUT getting up from that chair until you've finished your... "
Well, I am no kid, and my parents, rest their souls, were not involved in my oatmeal-based decision making this morning. Why, then, was I so compelled to eat my oatmeal no matter how gag-inducing it was? I knew that the question resonated deeply with me. I could tell because I practically ignored the Houston Texans opening game that I had looked forward to for weeks in order to think it through (according to my ESPN app, they won, 30-10 against the Dolphins, thank you very much).
Here's what I came up with.
The amount of oatmeal that I consumed for breakfast contained 600 calories, very little fat, NO sodium (a big issue for me), virtually NO sugar, 16 grams of protein, and lots of (I don't know the correct term) teeny-tiny woolygroobers that circulate in your veins and arteries and clean out the oogie-squoogie bad stuff). It filled me up for HOURS and left me many, many precious calories for me to enjoy later in the day (helooooooooo healthy tacos with grilled chicken and fish and veggies). So there were good nutritional reasons and tactical dieting reasons to eat it. And to be honest, after about the third or fourth spoonful, I truly began to enjoy the simple, stripped down nutty flavor of the goopy glob. It felt good to be able to enjoy something that, prior to today, would only be mentioned by me with an upturned nose and/or a full body shudder.
But here's the really important part. I ate my oatmeal because it was important to me for me to redefine my relationship with food. Prior to recently, I ate for three reasons. What I ate tasted good. What I ate made me feel good (or so I thought). What I ate made me less hungry (again, or so I thought). Every time I took a bite of fried chicken, or hot homemade biscuits, or meat loaf, I was magically transported back to my own mother's kitchen where she would lovingly dish out the stuff, encouraging me to "ENJOY!" And fatty, salty deli meats... every bite of a piled high pastrami sandwich (on rye with mustard... is there any other way?) transported me back to some distant and happy family get together in the 1970's when I was a young child. I came to realize that my enjoyment of most of the rich or fatty or sugary or salty things that I enjoy eating are NOT a result of the immediate biochemical processes and physical sensations that they cause. Truth be known, most of the time that I eat many of the foods that got me into weight trouble in the first place, it causes more physical discomforts than satisfaction. But until recently, that was never enough for me to persuade myself to give them up. So what has changed?
In the past few weeks of my 40+ day MFP journey, I have tried to disengage the "foods I (literally) grew to love" from their emotional and psychological linkages and (and this is the important part) BEGIN TO eat healthier choices FROM TIME TO TIME simply because they are healthier for me. In other words, I am working to stop treating food as love, food as nurturing, food as comfort, food as friend, and recognize that, for the overwhelming part, FOOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUEL. And the more nutrient dense, low bad fat, high good fat, high protein, complex carb foods that I include in my diet, the better my mileage will be, so to speak.
So this morning, when *I* made myself eat my oatmeal, it was out of the recognition that *I* have the POWER to control and decide what I put in my mouth and body-- not some long distant emotional or psychological linkage to "the good old days" that I had created over the past five decades. Sometimes, that will be small portions of ridiculously unhealthy foods simply because I enjoy them (bacon, chocolate, great hamburgers, ice cream, etc.). MORE of the time, it will be foods that I have traditionally shunned because I perceived that their flavor, or the subconscious psychological or emotional payoff to eating them, was not high enough to warrant their consumption. And here's the best part of all. By "forcing myself" to "eat my oatmeal," with NO sugar, NO salt, NO chocolate chips, NO maple syrup or anything else, I actually learned to enjoy the simple flavor that it brought to my morning.
I am sorry I didn't pay more attention to this afternoon's football game. However, by learning what I finally did, I may, just may, have found the key to unlock this fat suit that I stuffed myself into over the past few decades. I can't wait for the REAL me to come out and visit with y'all over the coming months and years.
Scott R. in Houston, Tx.
I read your entire post- every word of it. I have to say I find it incredibly inspiring! I thank you sincerely for sharing this story with us. It has mad me rethink about the choices I've made and will make in the future.0 -
Great post but I would KILL for a bowl of oatmeal. I am on a very special eating plan (I hate the word diet) under doctors orders at the moment with no grains, milk or sugar. However it is only a temporary thing and I can hopefully re-introduce all (except the sugar - I was already not having sugar anyway) in a couple of weeks time.
Love your style of writing and can't wait for the next one.0 -
Love this post!0
-
I really love your posts. You have such an amazing writing ability that where I usually avoid reading really long posts here, I never have an issue with yours. You should turn these longer posts into a book, as it could be very helpful to others in your position one day.
I wish I could eat oatmeal as I love it, but it disagrees with my stomach unfortunately.
But I too have had to learn to balance out the foods I need nutritionally, but might not find as 'enjoyable' with the foods I find really enjoyable and emotionally satisfying. So even if I feel like having a huge baked potato with prawn mayonnaise or some quiche, I stick mainly to my fish, seafood, cottage cheese, eggs, omelette and lots of veggies for dinner, and my fruit and quark before bed, and allow myself a few treats throughout the day. It is hard sometimes, especially when feeling particularly stressed or depressed, and sometimes even when feeling really happy, but it works.0 -
your post just inspired me to eat oatmeal hhahaha and i hate the stuff0
-
Thanks for the kind words!0
-
Personally I see food as both something pleasurable and fuel - fulfilling a human desire for sensory pleasure as well as serving a functional purpose...So for me, controlling eating is more about reducing portions, and refraining from over-indulging in salty snacks.
This. I think to break it down, I'll eat oatmeal in order to have room for the yummy stuff.
While I don't care for Aristotle's philosophy all that much, his idea of finding a "golden mean" is really important. Taking your relationship with food from one extreme to another is not realistic. I like that you were excited about the healthy tacos later in day. It's a nice balance.0 -
Scott,
Thank you very much for sacrificing a beloved game and for taking the time to write this thoughtful and lovely post. I want you to know that I read every single word and laughed out loud at "teeny-tiny woolygroobers that circulate in your veins and arteries and clean out the oogie-squoogie bad stuff."
I sincerely wish you nothing but the very best on your health and fitness journey. :flowerforyou:
PS. Coincidentally, I had added old-fashioned oats to my grocery list a mere two hours ago. 0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions