I Haven't Eaten...

Have you ever gone to a bakery and the smell of baked good smells so good when you approach and when you walk through the door. However, after you have been there a few minutes, you don't even notice the smell anymore. The same is true for taste. The first few bites, you really can taste the flavor. As you eat, the flavor is less dominant and you are just finishing what is on your plate.

With that first bite of cake, or a good steak, or pasta, you get that look on your face and you say, "Ah this is sooooo good!" (If you are having a conversation with someone, you don't register that thought again.) After the last bite, you say "I am so full," usually not "That was soooo good."

As obese people or former obese people, we practically "inhale" our desserts because we want them gone from the plate as quickly as possible so no one looks to see this overweight person having a piece of cheesecake. We never actually savor the flavor.

It takes a few minutes for a Hershey Kiss to dissolve in your mouth and many more minutes before the flavor dissipates. The key is to let it slowly dissolve and savor every bit of that flavor. This is true with anything, especially sweets. Don't eat the second one, or take a second bite until the flavor from the first is gone. It takes time to get into the habit, because we want to bite and chew everything, but learning to savor is well worth it. You will noticce how much less of something you eat.

My aunt and I had a bit of a dispute on a group text message this morning. I told her I had ice cream yesterday. She responded with, "Imagine if you didn't have that ice cream how many more pounds you would've lost". My response was, "I probably would've been upset being the only person in the office not getting free ice cream, and I would've felt bad about myself. Besides, I read the nutrition label and I measured out one serving of the ice cream. Even though it was reduced-fat, I didn't eat the whole container. That way, I got the satisfaction I needed from eating what I wanted to eat, without spending all my calories on it."

My aunt was an extreme grapefruit dieter back when I was a kid and cut everything fun out of her daily diet. She was my second mom growing up, and it pained me to know she would stop visiting and hanging out with me because we were surrounded by "bad foods" that would tempt her. Throughout my childhood she was a yo-yo dieter, and I was always like, "Why does it have to be like this?" Now I know thanks to MFP and other resources this does not have to be the case.

Fast forward 15 years, and I am on my first "diet". But rather than focus on deprivation, I work on making better choices throughout my day. I love meat and sweets, so why stop them completely? Craving them in the long run just makes me more suceptible to binge on them when I'm feeling weak. I walk 3-5 miles a day, eat way less than I used to, more importantly, eat BETTER than I used to. I pay attention to portion sizes and how they fit into my daily routine. This week, I have had barbequed pork, ice cream, and beer, and I have not felt hungry once while eating on a deficit. The vast majority of my days include lean protein and are mostly vegetarian. Today though, I wanted a delicious sausage, egg and cheese on a brioche, and you know what I did? I ate half of it and saved the rest, and now I'm munching on green beans. That way, even impulsive-me can do my best to not fall off the wagon, get the nutrients I need, but eat what I want in moderation.

Yea, not everyone can do "everything in moderation". For some of us, one small piece of cake turns into the whole flippin thing. No offence, but that logic just doesn't work for everyone.

But if the goal is to be "normal" and normal people eat in moderation, shouldn't we be practicing? I'm not saying I'm always perfect. There are days when I eat too much. But, it's gotten better the more I've worked at it. And I'm to the point where I can say "No Thanks" to anything that I don't really want or to a second serving. Isn't that the goal?

You only get good at something by working at it, not by avoiding it.