Food Instincts

[digitS']

I think it may be true - I mean, every creature has instincts to eat. And, these instincts are honed by our culture and experiences. We arrive at the table armed not only with our tableware but all of these instincts to EAT!

So, how about going to an expert on human behavior and nutrition. Shouldn't someone who teaches psychiatrists how to help people lose weight be a good choice for a guide? I suspect so - therefore, my "plan" is to get this book and keep it close at hand for the next few weeks. I might also read it at odd moments .

The instinct diet : use your five food instincts to lose weight and keep it off, by Susan B. Roberts and Betty Kelly Sargent. Dr. Roberts is a nutritionist and a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine.

This book is also in new paperback form under the title, The "I" Diet. I thought I would need to buy it but learned that this is the same book, a hardback in my public library. I've got a hold on it & might be able to pick it up as soon as this afternoon.

Instincts -- it's all about powerful motivations to environmental stimuli, baby!

Steve

 

[wifezilla]

Keep in mind your instincts get seriously warped by modern, refined foods. I can rely on mine now, but that's after five years of not eating grains and sugars. The best books I read that really helped me are "Natural health and weight loss" by Barry Groves, "Protein Power Life Plan"by Drs Mike and Mary Eades, and "Why we get fat and what to do about it"by Gary Taubes?

 

[Greenthumb18]

I work at Wholefoods, I can recommend a great book called Eat Right America by Joel Fuhrman.

 

[vfem]

I have to agree with Wife! Things like 'suggestive' packaging now rival what we really are craving. We may WANT some vitamin C, so we crave an orange or we crave 'fiber' so we want some apricots. However, you see 'vitamin C' labeled on a bottle or box and we assume that will help our craving and it must be healthy. We weren't craving or need the massive amounts of sugar that are there too now... nor did we crave the preservatives inside it. Then after we eat it, we find ourselves still craving and we go off to find what is missing after we over did so many things we didn't need. Our body is being over come by advertising and our brain is doing way too much in determining what we need.

Last year, I made myself a list of 'ok' foods. Things I could eat because I was getting lots of good things I needed everything, and making sure I had these things on hand to grab made my body have less cravings... and eventually less time was spent on thinking I was hungry.

Things like Bananas, apples, celery, natural granola with nuts, 'Wasa' bread crisps (in the cracker aisle), low fat cheeses, skim organic milk, spinach in place of lettuce, many dried fruits, low fat yogurts, olive oil for cooking and sugar free juices. I kept things like soda, pasta, rice, candy & heavily salted snacks OUT of the house. It was a nightmare the first 4 weeks. But after that, I felt like I purged my body and I found I didn't CRAVE those things.

So realize, there is a time to PURGE your body to get healthy!

<--------- lost 33 lbs in less then a year and never put any back on!!!

 

[NwMtGardener]

Great job vfem on the weight loss

Steve, i think you're following your instincts in other ways too, good idea getting all us supportive encouraging friends involved!! W e're behind you 100%!! :bun

 

[wifezilla]

I am not a fan of anything low fat, reduced fat, no fat, etc... When you pull out the fat, what do you have left? Sugar! Fat is what tells the body you are full. Fat is also what makes vitamins bioavailable. Without fat, there are many nutrients your body doesn't even absorb.

 

[OselJ]

Congrats on the weight loss vfem! I feel the same way about unhealthy snacks keep them out of the house so I wont be tempted to eat them. I noticed that you like Wasa Crispbread. I actually work with the Wasa social media team and thought you might be interested in a coupon available on the Wasa North America Facebook page. Good luck with your healthy eating routine!

 

[digitS']

It took me quite awhile to thoroughly scan the book on instincts. I really haven't been that thorough yet and since it has many pages of recipes (nearly 2/3rds of the book), scanning is all that is necessary.

My take-away so far (& I could be wrong) is that I need to make food the enemy . . . then, I can get into all those many pages of recipes and enjoy what's there. So, I've got to overcome decades and decades of eating habits. Yes, I think that is possible but I think I'll put the book back on the shelf for awhile.

Meanwhile, I've lost the 15 pounds!

Problem: it was 20 pounds I gained last winter . . . so, 15 pounds won't be the goal in 2011. Last year, I probably only lost about the last 5 of that year's 15 pound goal because some respiratory ailment go a hold of me in October. I doubt if I can always be so lucky as to be racked with some infectious misery or another just at the right moment to drop 5 pounds :/.

I DO have to find some way to keep the pounds off in the winter because this may not only be a roller-coaster ride but it may become steadily more difficult for me.

Greenthumb, that book - Eat Right America by Joel Fuhrman - has been recommended to me more that once. Strangely, no copies are in the local libraries. Also, no Wholefoods here . . . I will have to look for it on a bookstore's shelves to try to get an idea if it is the guide that's needed.

For now, I will continue with my active gardening - you may not realize this but - I spend a lot of time gardening, harvesting etc. It is just that I don't spend a lot of time doing anything else . . . Oh, there's puppy-sitting responsibilities. I don't sleep much, usually can't stand (or sit) for what's on television, venture out to the bars and restaurants, not at all . . . You have to put up with me here - recounting my dietary habits and such .

Steve
who is looking at a 37F prediction for tomorrow morning and wondering if the Weather Service is correct that fog will allow the thermometer to drop no further. frost or no frost, garden production has come to an end. oh well, the harvest continues and garden clean-up is just about to begin!

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm right there with you on the roller coaster weight loss/gain Steve! And I also seem to lose less in summer than I gain in winter.
I know I'm not eating all that much more, it's got to be the metabolism change you hit at a certain age...

The other day one of my customers was telling me about this fantastic app on her iPhone that calculated calories consumed and burnt, she said "You wouldn't believe all the calories gardening burns!". I wondered why I wasn't willowy...or at least less chubby, since I spend the majority of every day but Sunday in the gardening position...

Maybe I'm just more efficient and so burn fewer calories ... yeah, that's gotta be it.

 

[digitS']

Oh Gosh, Thistle'! I'm not efficient!

My movements are erratic enuf to frighten the dog . . . cats won't come close to me . I try but there's too much damage to the nerves.

This summer I was carrying a bucket of onions in both hands - fell, and was stung by 2 yellowjackets that must have just been waiting for that opportunity! That set me off my feed for a day or 2.

Willowy? No, if I was I'd probably be more like the scarecrow who Dorothy & Toto took along with them to Oz. If I get any more uncoordinated out there in the garden, I'll have to be tacked to a post to serve any purpose.

Steve