Addiction or advantage?
There’s really two ways to look at food in low carbing (or, for that matter,any other eating lifestyle). One that I’ve seen popularly espoused is thattoo great a love of food is an addiction that needs to be broken, that foodshouldn’t assume too big a role in one’s life and you need to de-emphasizeit, that when you’re hungry, take a walk instead of eating, etc., etc.
The other viewpoint, the one I lean towards myself, is that the love of goodfood is a character trait, neither good nor bad. It can work against you,when you let it motivate you to eat things you know you shouldn’t. Or youcan make it work for you by letting it turn you into a creative cook, byluring yourself away from the wrong foods by tempting yourself with theRIGHT ones.
Now, let me say for the record that I do think there ARE people who areaddicted to food. Those are the people who feel compelled to eat forwhatever reason — social pressure, emotional issues, boredom, you nameit — even when they don’t enjoy the food. So let me state right up frontthat that kind of eating is not what I’m talking about here. I’m talkingabout the sheer hedonistic love of food, of the flavor and texture andluxurious enjoyment of it, okay?
There always has been and always will be an emotional component to eating.Just try to deny that when you come home from a lousy day at work or crappyweather outside, that after eating a hot, tasty dinner, you don’t feelbetter emotionally as well as physically. Or that you don’t get a naughtylittle frisson of pleasure when you spoil yourself with a rich, tasty dish,an expensive piece of cheese (my personal weakness), a rare and seldom-foundtreat.
Again, this is something that can work either for or against you. If youlearn how to spoil yourself WITHIN your way of eating, it’s a valuable tool.If you know you’re going to be tempted by the donuts at an office party,then trump those donuts and tempt yourself away from them with somethingeven better, like some sinfully rich chocolate mousse, sugar free truffles,etc.!!
Here in Indianapolis, we just got huge loads of snow dumped on us lastnight. Today began the first day of my husband’s vacation after severalweeks of deathmarch hours at his office. I’d been pretty much workingmyself to death too, and just finished a huge project. So last night I madea nice pot of bagna cauda. (For those who don’t know what bagna cauda is,it’s a warm Italian dip made of olive oil, butter, garlic, and smushed upanchovies, into which you dip raw veggies — kind of a non-cheese fondue.The recipe is on my web page, http://members.cox.net/foreverinbluejeans/.Don’t let the fact that it contains anchovies stop you. I don’t likeanchovies either. Trust me.) We sat around for a while by candlelight,dipping veggie bites in the ultra-rich liquid, chatting and watching thesnow fall out the window. It was peaceful, intimate, wonderful.
Your love/hate relationship with food can become a love/love one.Experiment! Try some of the millions of low carb recipes in cookbooks, onthe lists, on web pages!! There’s no excuse for boredom or feelingdeprived. There are luscious low carb dishes out there for every cravingand every level of cooking expertise. And once you’ve tried a few of them,start experimenting on your very own. INVENT!! You don’t have to stopindulging yourself with yummy food. You don’t have to feel deprived, youdon’t have to settle for relegating food to an “eat to live” role. That’swhat this list is for, learning not just how to eat more healthily, butlearning how to enjoy eating more than you ever have in your life — andwith a clear conscience, yet!