erparamedic:
... Even if I can control myself for say a "bad meal or two", I have had the "taste" again...
You hit it on the head!
I was speaking with a friend 6-8 months ago. He had never been over weight in his whole life. We were talking about a coworker who passed away the week before. The coworker was about 500 lbs. My friend wanted to know how someone could get that big without caring about it.
I asked him if he ever had a craving for anything, and he said, "no... not really". Here is how I explained it to him:
Imagine something that explodes with flavor in your mouth. It tastes so good that you just enjoy the flavor, the texture, the aroma... the act of eating it.
Now, imagine that just the act of eating it gives you pleasure. Can you imagine having this feeling with almost everything you eat?
Now, imagine you let yourself be fooled into the belief that eating is not just what you do to survive. It is a pleasure that pleases your tastes and makes you feel gloriously full and content in that you have filled your needs. You have satisfied the craving that MADE you eat the entire thing. You wouldn't want it to go to waste, would you? I mean, it gives you pleasure to taste it... so much pleasure that you finish it... every time.
I told him that is what happens to me when I eat. The flavor of so many things create the craving in me. When I smell it cooking, my mouth waters. The only reason I am not bigger than I already am is that I remind myself what eating is for.
- It's not a pleasure craving that needs to be filled at every turn.
- It's not a craving at all... over eating is a habit... and, a bad one at that!
- Eating, at its base, is only an act of survival.
- If you want to indulge and enjoy, do it VERY slowly. Put the fork down... smell the aroma... close your eyes and allow it to take your senses... Pick up the fork and take 1/2 the size you want to put in your mouth... PUT THE FORK DOWN... taste it, let it please you, don't talk with it in your mouth, use your tounge to move it from one side of your mouth to the other, chew it and move it back, chew it some more, don't swallow it until it is liquid in your mouth, take a deep breath, pick up the fork only when you are ready to do this all again... no matter what you do, leave at least the last bite on the plate... do not eat it. Prove that you are in control of eating, not the other way around.
- Eat for the weight you want to be. Find a weight calculator on the web and enter your information with the weight you want to maintain (or 10 lbs less) and use the "to maintain your weight" calorie count as your maximum calorie count
- If you can't find time to exercise... find some way to stretch. Just the act of stretching feels better than doing nothing. You can stretch almost anywhere without looking stupid
I am not a nutritionist, or doctor, or professional in the health field. I am only listing those things that are helping me. Use what works for you... AND... be happy (It really does make a difference when you are happy)!