Breaking the food addiction cycle

 Well here is an interesting tidbit.  Previously, I had always been a bit of a bottomless pit when it came to food.  Diane can attest to this as I would finish her meals, and I would eat most of the food in the house (even food that she had thought she bought for herself).  No matter how much food I ordered whenever we went out, I would eat the whole thing (no need for alka-selzer).  In large part, this was just driven by appetite.  I just always found myself hungry.

Lately this has not been the case.  As an example, today for lunch I brought my leftover caramel-apple pork chop, some leftover risotto, a salad (greens, a few shrooms, grape tomatoes, and cauliflower) and a couple of nectarines.  I started with the salad, and when I finished that, I wasn’t that hungry anymore, so I just ate the nectarines and called it good.  I knew that if I got hungry later in the day I could always have the pork chop.  And I did have the pork chop later in the afternoon, but it wasn’t like I was starving or anything, I was just a bit hungry and it was what I had.  This just isn’t like me.  But I have been feeling really satisfied by the “real” food I’ve been eating, and finally I don’t feel like my appetite is a monkey on my back.

And, I still have what seems like an over abundance of energy.  I am starting to get a lot of the little things done around the house that before I would just put off because I was so tired after getting home from work that all I wanted to do was flop on the couch and watch tv. I have to say, so far I am really liking all these changes.

Next week is vacation, and my plan is to try to adhere as much as possible to the principles of our new lifestyle.  There won’t be any way to make sure the restaurants and hotels use only fresh organic ingredients in the meals they serve me, but on the other hand I will have choices and I am sure I can manage to at least avoid things with a lot of sugar or things that appear overly processed. I know I will enjoy my vacation much more if I don’t revert to how I was eating before this experiment.