Oy- I wrote a longer post but walked away for so long I was bumped off. This will be shorter.

Some comments on the forums have triggered some thoughts about what we expect our food to do for us. Relieve boredom, reduce frustration, energize us when we lack sleep, provide a distraction, focus our mind and even impress our friends. Some of these things are even contradictory expectations!

Our taste buds have been desensitized and now expect high sugar and high salt flavors. Salt makes us thirsty. Sugar makes us hungry.

When we eat to focus our mind or wake us up.. does it REALLY work? How would it compare in effectiveness to doing 2 minutes of jumping jacks or walking fast on the treadmill for 5 minutes?

We have had food pushed at us as a cure for all that ails us. We turn to it out of habit. The sugar in the food has a very short term psychological effect that leads to a crash. Can you start to imagine how you might start to interrupt this habit? Can you envision a focus on food in your life as a complement to your life rather than "fix"?

And "fix" is an interesting descriptor. We use food to "fix" us- our boredom, etc. And then it truly becomes an addictive "fix". Working to weed out the addictive components of our food while finding healthy alternative strategies for our boredom, frustration, fatigue etc should be at the front of our consciousness.

What can you do differently in relation to the triggers?

And lastly, are you bored with your food? What is "bland"? Have our taste buds been so co-opted by Big Food that we cannot appreciate whole, natural food alone? Or with spices that improve our health without triggering more processed food purchases? Remember the benefits of garlic, cinnamon and turmeric? What is more BORING than food that is over treated with salt and sugar in every bite of every item on the plate?

What are your thoughts?

Interesting, and worth mulling over. You have to slowly rework your current relationship with food, if it is out of order. (And it probably is if we are here!)

YES! Training taste buds, or maybe freeing them, has been one of the pivotal changes I've been making to become successful in establishing healthy eating habits.

My biggest helps in this aspect of the journey have been self-talk and descriptive language. I was just eating some cantaloupe with low fat cream cheese the other day... gazing at that tantalizing cantaloupe... appreciating its delicate color... wondering how much of the white mixed with orange it would take to get that perfect cantaloupe color... appreciating the slight contrast of its color next to that purely white, creamy, cream cheese... much more silky and luxurious than any cheesecake dessert I've ever had... and so much more nutritious, without the sugar bellyache... all the while working to use as little cream cheese as possible to get that perfect blend for a sumptious treat.

I love HHO!

I was just re-reading some of the forum subjects today. Catching up. This one in particular hit me today... just this morning I was having my quiet time and realized how the battle of my urge for evening snacks doesn't seem like such a battle anymore. Eating a good balanced dinner seems to satisfy any urge to get up at a commercial and find something to graze on while watching tv. I may fall asleep during a movie, but that is a great exchange from getting up and eating "another full boat of calories" late night. Success in the decisions I am making about food makes me feel powerful and happy.