I think I might cry

I understand how you feel! I wanted something "bad" on my birthday, but not too bad. So I decided on Panda Express, teriyaki chicken bowl with white rice. I was salivating by the time we got home, smelling it was pure torture. Then I was so disappointed when it didn't taste as good as I remembered. We had learned to make something similar at home, and I prefer our version now. Much less salt, better portion control, and so much cheaper! We were so miserable after eating that dinner, I won't be going back.

I think it's a good thing! All of the fast food restaurants around us are going to miss our money, we've discovered homemade can be better than eating out. Now I just need to learn how to make a good pizza...

Congratulations !!!

Sounds like your birthday present was realizing that your new eating habits have become your new lifestyle

Yes, taste buds change and you'll find you might not enjoy the same foods any longer. This happened to me too and I realize, food solely no longer plays such an important part of my enjoyment in life! I'd rather cherish and enjoy the time I spend with a few close friends over a meal rather than the other way around. ;D

First of all don't panic. I think you just shocked your system because you are still making the mistake of living on "Diet" food that and let's be honest with each other here .. you don't plan on sustaining.

Thing is yeah Chinese takeaway food is really fatty and salty depending on the quality of your local. And since you have been living on .. as you put it .. rabbit food yeah i can imagine that you found going straight to Chinese unpalatable.

You have to find more of a balance in your nutrition. You really REALLY don't have to live on seeds and pulses and cardboard and rabbit food to lose weight. And even if you do as soon as you stop and go back to your old ways you will just regain all the weight anyway. If so what are you suffering for?

You need to look at how you eat everyday and find tasty healthy foods to eat. Learn to cook and prepare your own food. And trust me food can TOTALLY be healthy and tasty at the same time.

A temporary ban on stuff like sweets or cakes can be good for some people to allow them to form healthy eating habits. But you have abandoned everything with an ounce of taste. This is a seriously bad attitude to food and needs to stop. For your own sake.

Some people are dieting, but some people are making lifestyle changes, like adding exercise and eating healthy food.

The weight loss is really a side effect of the healthier living.

Dieting is great! No problem with eating whatever you want or just making portion adjustments!

But some people really are making lifestyle changes. Part of that is realizing that the food you used to love doesn't taste as good any more. Another part is finding out that, sometimes, when you eat the things you used to love, you feel kind of sick later on. Not nauseated! Just "Ugh" kind of sick.

It's all part of the lifestyle change.

Yeah I don't really disagree with what you said. But she said she is living on seeds and rabbit food and other tasteless stuff. To me that's just sad you know. I mean we don't get fat because we don't like food so for a fellow foodie to totally abstain and try and live of stuff they plain hate just seems like some kind of obscure self torture. With no real point. I totally agree that your tastes change when you eat healthier though. More often than not when I want sweet stuff I want fruit more than candy. And more often than not I just plain crave healthier foods. I just think my definition of healthier foods is broader, more forgiving and mentally healthier than her. Neither man nor woman should live on rabbit food alone. Tis bad for the soul dontyerknow XD.

Make you own.

I find chinese food from takeaways a huge disappointment and never filling enough.

I have tried diets where I was so restricted I was miserable. Right now I am trying to just be gentle with myself. I am making a lot of foods I used to love but aren't quite working for me anymore. Swelling from chinese food makes me hurt the next two days so I am making it for myself in ways I can enjoy it without pain. But I am using real foods to do it - real butter, real flour, real sugar, real honey....I'm not stuffing things full of fiber to make me think I am getting more. I am learning how to stop when I have had enough. Last night was steak night for a celebration. I made dinner rolls from scratch and baked potatoes and ribeyes - well marbled. I had enough halfway through the first roll, about 2 oz of steak and a third of the well buttered/sour creamed and salted potato ....and I stopped eating. I enjoyed the company and the family and enjoyed watching people eat what I had made. Not a green thing in site because we were celebrating and just didn't wanna.

Be gentle with yourself. Try not to go about weight loss as a punishment for getting heavy to start with. This is a process that will last for the rest of your life. Try not to make yourself miserable over it.

Yes, I've had the same experience. Food I used to love just doesn't taste good. I can feel all the fat in my mouth and it isn't a good feeling. Candy bars just taste sweet -- no other flavor -- so I don't eat them any more. Not even tempted when I'm hungry and standing in line at the grocery store next to the candy display.

I've found other stuff I like, still not a healthy eater as such, but better than before.

Yep. Been there and still there and dealing with it. I was a serious foodie for a long time, and I mean spending a significant portion of my salary on restaurants type of foodie. My tastes have simplified and my wife and I cook much more now than we did. I'd suggest starting to learn to cook some of those recipes and/or finding places that fit your calories better. I'm much more of a good margarita pizza or grilled sirloin steak guy today than the prime rib and foie gras fellow I was. And, yea, you can still enjoy your foods so balance that with your palate changes.

Don't eat rabbit food. Rabbit food is for rabbits and you're not a rabbit. Seriously, get rid of the notion that you have to eat certain foods to lose weight and you will be much happier.

As for the Chinese, I'm sorry your experience was less than desirable. You'll find your new favorite foods soon.

You might just need a better Chinese restaurant. My stepfather likes a Chinese restaurant that uses, in my view, way too much fat, salt, and MSG.

Some of the Chinese restaurants where I live offer two menus: a western menu, with things like egg foo young, General Tso's chicken, etc., and then a more traditional menu that's closer to the original regional cuisine of the chef. The latter tends to have more subtle flavors.

Or make it yourself.

Seeds, pulses, whole grains, and veggies don't have to taste bad, though, not if you learn to cook them properly. Herbs and spices are key, as is learning how to cook them properly. Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian has great recipes that don't take much work, and the Post Punk Kitchen website has excellent, flavorful vegan recipes (http://www.theppk.com). I'm an omnivore but I often make vegetarian or vegan meals just because they're tasty.

We also became disappointed any time we ate out. Our home made food taste and texture is so much better.

Maybe try a new technique? :smokin: :laugh:

The Chinese restaurants in my town are all Americanized and greasy, with low quality meat. Yuck! Having eaten at high quality Chinese restaurants in other towns, it's not "Chinese food" that's the problem... It's just the way these greasy spoons prepare their food. So, in my town, I've substituted Vietnamese for Chinese. The local Vietnamese restaurant is great (good quality ingredients, very little "grease"). We also have a Thai restaurant that's decent and a good sushi restaurant when the mood strikes.

Food doesn't have to be greasy to be awesome-tasting. You can find a great substitute that hopefully will make you happy-cry! :laugh: