Comfort food is the bane of a dieter. Or at least, its certainly my difficult point. Most comfort foods are high in fat and have that wonderful gooey texture... all things that I just shouldn't be having.
Weight Watchers helps. I mean, they do have some really good entrees that are comfort foods. The mac and cheese and the tuna noodle casserole are two of them that I just can't do without.
I seem to spend a lot of my time trying to find ways of having comfort food without it being high in points. Chocolate... especially chocolate. I crave chocolate.
Jenn pointed out to me this weekend that I only seem to crave chocolate when I can't have it. She's probably right. The entire time I was pregnant, when I shouldn't have had all that caffeine sort of compound, not to mention nuts, I totally craved chocolate covered nuts. And now that I'm dieting again, I find myself daydreaming about chocolate ice cream, or brownies, or cake...
I'm starting again, aren't I?
I think that it is that when I can't have something I love, I start to crave it. Cheese falls into this category as well. And salami. Okay, so I'm weird. Oh, forgot peanut butter. I cannot find any way of making peanut butter fit the diet. *sighs*
Posted by Deb Atwood at June 25, 2002 12:22 PMOkay. I can't keep my big mouth shut when it comes to diets. I have opinions galore. So ignore me if you will.
Comfort foods are a learned response. As a child, we often felt sad or upset, to make us feel better our parents gave us a treat. Usually a treat filled with fat and calories. As time passes, we develop a pavlovian response. I'm sad/stressed/upset and want to feel better and (sometimes) I don't want to deal with my emotions so I will eat what I know will make me happy.
The trick in the comfort food is that it is a LEARNED response. That means we can unlearn it or refocus it. Instead of finding healthier chocolate alternatives, try changing your thought process. Changing your thoughts will change your behaviors and lead you on a path to a healthier you.
Try asking yourself questions before you reach for that chocolate. "Why do I want this?" "How am I feeling?" Then think about how you will feel after you eat that chocolate. "Will you feel happy?" "Will you feel guilty?" "How will you feel when the scale goes up?" If you still want it, go for it. But if you don't, you've taken your first step into rethinking about food.
Posted by: Liz :) on June 25, 2002 02:56 PM