For such a short week, Friday took a surprisingly long time to come, didn't it?
Our kids are back, the 4th is over, we are back into the grind of camp and daycare and activities and cooking dinner and not drinking every night.
I've been listening to a very interesting podcast and thinking I need to work on my relationship with food. It called "Weight Loss for Busy Physicians" but has practically nothing to do with physicians and is actually applicable to a lot more than weight loss. She talks about stress and coping and basically CBT (changing your thinking so that you can change your emotions, your outcomes, and your results).
One thing she said that I'm still trying to wrap my head around is this: "Make your food boring, and your life exciting". My first thoughts: "Wait, what? But food is often the ONLY excitement, and reliable source of enjoyment, in my day!" Which, when said out loud, definitely sounds a bit sad and like a person who needs to make some changes in their life. Even when I'm eating exceedingly healthy foods, I still look forward to eating way too much.
To illustrate, I have been considering our weekend activities. Sunday we are going "hiking" (walking on trails in a woodsy park) which may or may not involve whining for snacks and hitting each other with large sticks, and hopefully will not result in us bringing home more ticks. I also told the boys I'd watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with them, and we would get pizza. Its supposed to be nice out, so probably some more park time, and the boys are super into playing Phase 10 (B) and Uno (L) so certainly we will be busting those cards out. Plus the usual chores. Of all of those things, I have to say, the only one I can say for 100% will be enjoyable is...the pizza. I mean, I can't control weather and wildlife and moods and behaviors of children. And I don't want to stake my expectations too high on any of those things, because disappointment is sure to follow. Food is just such a constant.
If you've figured this whole thing out, help is welcome.
I was going, "I will have to listen to that podcast!" until I got to "Make your food boring, and your life exciting"... and no, that is not how I want to live my life. I am a proud foodie who, even when visiting exciting new places, looks forward to the cuisine the most. We would also have to spend a lot more time on the plane or move to get excitement that didn't involve food in our lives. And I'm not that crazy about non-food related excitement anyway. I like hiking and all, but it is hot, humid, and flat right now.
ReplyDelete(My current weight problem is that I need food to think right now because I'm pushing myself at work because I'm still behind on research and need to get things out because of all the new projects that are starting up. I think caffeine and very low sugar chocolate are potential solutions there, but I react badly to caffeine withdrawal, so I'm leery of starting it. I've also been slipping on the eating PCOS-friendly food which has resulted in more skin-tags and some other problems that could be related to pre-diabetes... so... I could start on metformin or actos which would automagically cause weight loss, or I could stop buying things in the bad glycemic range. That doesn't mean I have to stop caring about food, I just have to focus on food that's better for me.)
I think if my life weren't having brain-eating, that a solution is to do like the French and have small amounts of intensely delicious food. You can't eat what you've already eaten, and intensely delicious food is more satisfying than somewhat tasty food. Just like it takes less Green and Black to satisfy a chocolate craving than it does Hersheys.
So no, I think it is completely ok to love food and appreciate food. If that's sad, then we're condemning entire cultures. What would France or Italy be without their appreciation of food? I, in fact, feel a little bit sad for the podcaster, though I am sure she gets happiness out of the rest of her life-- different people just have different preferences. Some people like sky-diving and others look forward to poke.
(We have an early blogpost on getting excitement from food and why that's fine with us...)
I may have misrepresented the concept with my super quick post, but I don't think she's saying never to enjoy food or look forward to it...she talks about meals at restaurants and recipes she loves for her family. I think its just that if you ARE actively trying to lose weight, it helps to put the emphasis on something else as your entertainment, not JUST food. I'll write more about this next week. I think she's a very successful and happy person, so I wouldn't feel sad for her!
DeleteI think a mix of "food as fuel" combined with super yummy indulgences works best for me. I could happily eat the same salad for lunch every day and have simple & functional work night dinners, to allow for pizza and wine on the weekend and some really good cheese sometimes.
Doing things like the French sounds like such a great ideal! But I totally agree, it can be hard to think of other things that are as exciting as food. And I'd hate for my food to be boring.
Deletehttps://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/how-do-you-get-excitement-in-your-life/
ReplyDeleteFrom 6 years ago!
p.s. Maybe you could develop a tea habit. (Bwahahahaha)
ReplyDeleteI kid, I kid.
I am kind of super into the early grey iced tea at the coffee shop around the corner from our house. (but then you get into the whole frugal "iced-tea factor" issue because I haven't figured out how to make it taste that good made at home and stored in the fridge")
DeleteMaybe try getting loose leaf tea at a local teashop? (I got a teapot for Christmas that I love -- Forlife teapot with infuser ~$30, dishwasher safe-- so I've been drinking a lot more tea since then.) I've found a big difference in quality between the loose leaf leaves we get at a teashop in the city compared to the kind that comes even in the best teabags.
DeleteAfter some struggles with food in my teens, I wanted to *stop wanting* to overeat/undereat. After trying cognitive approaches on myself, I took a directly behavioral approach modeled on my mother: I ate the same (yummy/balanced) meals at the same exact time for breakfast, lunch, and snack, then dinner was whatever. I also ate her portion sizes, which left me hungry for the 1st year of this regime; then I lost weight, weight stablized, and everything was great. The food was 'boring' in that it was always the same but I always enjoyed it because I'd get hungry for the meal about a half hr before I had it. I followed this routine very strictly for 4 years, in which I also allowed myself zero sugar except for jam on toast, sugar in tea, and sweets on holidays(!) After 4 years of being strict, my 'rules' had transformed into healthy habits. Now I'm a lot looser, but still avoid sugar and more than 1 snack/day. I feel very contented/peaceful in my relationship w/ food.
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you're saying about food sometimes being the only thing I'm looking forward to... but wasn't it supposed to get better after residency ends? Also it's hard bc food is tied up into activities where we get out of the house as a family and do something, so it's not *just* the food. However perhaps I need something more to look forward to on the weekends besides beer and pizza. 😝
ReplyDelete