Food is definitely still high on my list and I'm okay with that. I love trying out new recipes, finding good deals at the grocery store, and eating delicious homemade meals. I consider cooking to be a hobby. This lends well to weight loss/maintenance because I can make lots of healthy homemade food to help me with my goals. It's hard to justify eating out when I have something delicious already made at home.

I also find eating to be a pleasurable social experience. I love sitting around the dinner table with family and friends or going out for a special meal with my significant other. Food is a part of the social experience and it adds to the enjoyment of the occasion.

The one thing I did have to change was when I ate to avoid emotions. I used to eat to fill a void (loneliness, sadness, etc.) It's a rough transition to have to feel your emotions instead of using food to distract yourself, but it's by far been the best transition I've made for long lasting weight loss. I now make a big cup of flavored tea with cashew milk and stevia and curl up with a journal, book, coloring book to work things out. Otherwise I get out of the house and take a walk, go to the mall, or call someone. It's been helpful to have these healthy habits in my back pocket for when I start to crave stuffing my feelings down with cookies.

Food is certainly high on my list of life's pleasures. I do enjoy cooking and baking. I'm rather picky about what I think is worth eating. I don't eat out much because I enjoy my cooking better than most things I can get at a restaurant, at least the ones in my price range.

I think what has shifted from when I was morbidly obese to now is that I'm more likely to use food as fuel to nourish my body to be able to do the endurance activities I love. In addition, I'm less likely to use food as a band-aid to deal with life's issues.

I too have food high on the list of pleasures. Social events in my family always included food. Good Tasting is very important and creates more of a challenge.

Using my daily bank of points/calories I am having luck controlling when I am done for the day. I could sit at dinner and eat two dinner or more before. By keeping the budget in my head it helps me say "I done for the day." It has been working for a few weeks now.

I had a best ever chicken pot pie last night from a specialty restaurant and it was worth it. Would I take a frozen one home??? Uh not on your life. Would I eat there again tomorrow or next week?? Nope. It would be a rare treat which I could enjoy and I will keep it that way.

For Thanksgiving and eating at our daughters MIL's place I don't substitute per se. I eat one sliver of real pumpkin pie or some years two slivers for the taste. I am not deprived but do early smaller portions of most things and can skip most of the rolls etc. It is just one meal and not more than that for me.

This year with changes we may go somewhere else for Thanksgiving anyway.

Food has long been pleasurable for me but somewhere in the mix it also became somewhat of a crutch that helped me escape unwanted emotions, deal with stress, etc. It was this murky mix of enjoyment combined with some qualities of an addiction--a form of self-medication. Of course, in retrospect, it did nothing to medicate and in the end, the way I was using it made whatever stresses or pressures I felt worse, not better.

In this 'switch-flipping' transition I've done while losing weight, I was able to put food in a more fitting role: one that returned it to pleasure and fuel, and less of a mindless, somewhat numbing crutch. I still eat fast a lot, but I really try to be aware of each bite. More importantly, I try to restore the related aspects of eating that can make it social--really focusing on conversation and time with family and friends when that's the case. If I'm by myself, I try to be aware of flavors, textures, and nourishment.

Related to this, I have moved my behavior from mindless quasi-constant consumption to 'it's just food'. In the days prior to WW, I would plan my day around it (as per the LTL the other day), unhealthily so. Now, for the most part, I let food have proper context as fuel combined with more present and aware enjoyment of the whole experience when I'm eating.

My key to weight loss was and is tracking. WW provided for me a structured approach that gradually transitioned me to eating a reasonable amount of food. Most days I find that amount is plenty; I'm amazed at how much less it is than what I used to eat. I find I am pickier now. I eat a lot (LOT) less junk than I used to.

All in all, my enjoyment of food has evolved over time. I feel like I'm back from the brink with respect to using food as a crutch. Even though I eat far less than I used to, being mindful, making good choices and being more present while eating helps me enjoy it more.