Are You in Love with Food?

by Linda Spangle, RN, MA

One of the most common excuses for falling off a diet is “I just love to eat!” Of course you do. And because food is a wonderful part of our society, you are entitled to love it. But like any amorous relationship, if you keep getting into trouble, it may be time to re-evaluate the picture.

Take a close look at what you love. Besides delighting in the flavors of the food itself, you might also love the activities that accompany it. Maybe you love entertaining and serving fabulous home-cooked meals or talking about recipes or new restaurants with your friends. Perhaps you get excited when you discover a new gourmet cookbook or locate a wonderful Farmer’s Market for buying fresh produce.

All of these food pleasures contribute to your enjoyment of life. But these great activities can also be the downfall of your diet program. The truth is you don’t have to stop loving food in order to manage your weight. But you might find it helpful to become a little more picky about your love life.

A test for love

With all those foods you LOVE, here’s a way to decide whether you might be fooling yourself into thinking they’re a perfect match for your taste buds. For this exercise, choose a tempting food such as a restaurant entree or a decadent dessert.

Take a small bite of food, then evaluate it based on each of these criteria.

• Flavor: How does it taste? Is it exquisite? Wonderful? Just fair?

• Temperature: Is the temperature perfect for that type of food? Or is the hot entree only lukewarm or is food that should be served icy cold actually closer to room temperature?

• The texture: Is the chocolate-layer cake moist? The grilled steak tender? The garlic mashed potatoes smooth and creamy? Or is the cake dry, the steak overcooked and the potatoes grainy and bland?

• Does it match what you wanted? Take another bite, then decide whether this food meets your expectations. Is it truly awesome, or do you feel disappointed with it?

• Is it worth it? If you decide the food is absolutely perfect, feel free to keep eating and LOVE the food. But if there’s nothing special about it or it doesn’t taste very good, STOP!

Never waste your diet budget on mediocre food. And don’t keep eating, hoping the food will get better, because it never does!

©2007 Weight Loss for Life, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission from Linda Spangle, RN, MA, Weight Loss for Life.
http://www.WeightLossJoy.com/
http://www.theWeightLossCafe.com/

This article may be distributed and republished. All article occurrences must include the copyright statement above and, in the case of web publishing, link to at least one of the listed URLs.

Questions? Want to share your use of this article? Send an email to: Linda@WeightLossJoy.com

back to top