Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve been browsing the thread where you show pictures of what you eat. It made me realize that I don’t feel “in love” with food lately. I see it, and it just gets no reaction from me. I have gone for days where I haven’t wanted to eat, and only ate a small portion at dinner with my husband because I felt I needed the nutrition. I have only been on keto for about 3 months, I’ve lost 33 pounds. This is weird to me, because, well… food porn! haha You know when you see something and it instantly makes you crave it…? I don’t get that so much anymore. I am starting to understand what my husband always says when we go to a buffet…“I feel so full just looking at all this food.” He’s never been overweight a day in his life and sees food as fuel. Maybe I’m just depressed that I can’t eat what I used to. Have any of you felt this way?
Have you ever felt "disengaged" from food?
Yes. Completely normal and often results in accidentally fasting, sometimes for days. It’s one of the awesome side effects of keto! If you’re not hungry why eat?
Pre keto I could spend all day obsessing about the “naughty” fast food meal I’d sneak in on the way home, I would literally spend hours salivating over it and then hours after gorging on that, finding something else to eat. The weekend was almost “free eating” time because I’d be away from work and have so many more reasons to eat.
Now there’s very few things get me truly excited that I have to eat it no matter what. I think an awesome Brazilian BBQ place is one of those, and who wouldn’t be excited about that?
Omg. You just said Brazilian BBQ. Now I’m craving that. I am having the same issue as the OP, there’s no food that gets me really excited anymore… but that, THAT!
Salad, meat, vegetables. Repeat
You definitely have to spice it up a little and cook something ethnic or comfort food. Maybe get a cooking magazine or browse recipes online for ideas.
I have not been in love with food, ever. It’s the old saying, “some people live to eat; some people eat to live.” I eat to live. Not that I don’t get hungry, I just don’t dream about food or obsess over it. I cook but don’t enjoy cooking. It’s just one more chore like cleaning the bath tub.
So why am I on this forum, trying to eat Keto? I guess my weight was creeping up for the last 10 years or so; being nearly 70 it might be expected. Then I had surgery on my foot and I couldn’t get out and do the activities I wanted to do. Depression, RA and medication probably helped pack on a few pounds. And I ate lots of veggies and fruits, smoothies, drank whole milk. Things I now know weren’t helping me lose weight. So I understand being disengaged from food. We are all different, aren’t we?
I’m a hard core foodie. Love fine dining, love home cooking even more. I never felt disengaged until I started fasting. It just happened. I look for new recipes when I fast, they don’t trigger me to eat. I do avoid the smells of the kitchen though. Makes it so much easier to fast without smelling things.
This^
I window food shop more now…from bakeries to donut shops
I watch food tv shows ALL the time…from sweets ( Halloween baking and cupcake wars - yippee!! Soon ) to meats
All while fasting w little temptations or triggers
Great to get recipe and chat
And get some walking steps in as well. Love it
Hi “ welcome to our bakery . Would you like to try a danish or fresh apple fritter?”
No😓
“I’m enjoying my pink salt rocks now
Thanks though …BUT, have you heard of KETO”
Lol🤣
So, disengaged🤔
Sure…I guess when fasting ( everyday )
I’m a foodie too, I like read cookbooks and watch cooking shows. I’ve also experienced almost “grief” at going keto. I know that sounds strange, but I felt myself feeling sad, then angry…really angry, and now I think I’m beginning to accept that I just have to accept this new way of eating so I can be healthy.
I embraced it because I focused on the wonderful stuff we get to eat and not thinking about the things I can’t. I have learned to cook without gluten, grains, and starchy veggies. I had been a serious bread baker, sourdough was my passion. Once I realized I could live without my sour dough bread, I realized the other stuff could also go away.
I did keep my darkest chocolates and wine. 'Cause both go so well with steaks. LOL
I’m definitely working on thinking in the positive, rather than the negative. I suppose that’s a whole new thread right there on it’s own!
I think it’s different for all of us, but seems most everyone gets that same separation to some degree. - I kind of see it more that the desire to eat lessens, along with the cravings itself. (Which is indeed a good thing for weight loss) but I too admit to mostly not having that ‘Ohhh, I really want some of that!’ feeling, as I might of before.
And I also agree that fasting can enhance this separation too, because you are almost training yourself to do just that. By abstaining from eating, to therefore create the separation. … I know some folks avoid talking about food, or even smelling foods, while fasting. But for me, I can make dinner for my wife and son, and it doesn’t bother me one bit not eating. - For me, I think it helps to look forward to recipes I find that I haven’t tried yet, or even better yet, recipes I want to create myself that keeps me interested.
But you are right, the old desires… are not the same as they used to be.
For years I spent at least a couple of hours each day perseverating over what to buy for dinner on the way home - trying to remember what was already in the fridge and deciding what I needed to pick up. Visual cues were powerful. The biggest change has been the minimal amount of time thinking and shopping required. I also spend less on unnecessary groceries. I’m buying much higher quality and spending less now that I have no food cravings.
Recently listened to a talk by Dr. Peter Attia, where he mentioned that to truly control your WOE you need to totally disengage emotionally from your relationship with food. You have to just see it solely as a fuel source and nothing more.
While I agree that this does make sense, I find it a bit sad as well. It almost seems like it’s to deny an aspect of ourselves that makes us human- a passion for food. You only have to go visit the ‘What Did I Keto Today’ thread to see it in play.
Some might argue that passion is just another name for cravings and addiction but I believe it goes beyond that. Like a lot of things with Keto it’s an n=1 thing.
But it’s good to see by reading some responses in this thread that you can disengage from food but still be passionate about it. You wouldn’t think a paradox like this is possible but I know from my own personal experience as well that it is. I can acknowledge a food looks beautiful and probably tastes delicious but have no desire to eat it. I can cook and be creative with food for other people and still enjoy myself.
It’s like, once keto allows you to strip away your cravings and addictions and forces you to disengage emotionally to a certain degree from your relationship with food, it reveals what you’re truly passionate about.
I’m sure there’s some analogy about sex, lust, love and the human condition I could compare it to but can’t think of anything right now, but you get the idea.
I have explained it to my wife this way. “I no longer eat for enjoyment, but still enjoy eating.”
It’s the motivation that has changed. I eat for nutrition and adequate energy, and usually only when I have genuine physical hunger. Not because I want a pleasurable sensation.
However, when I do eat, I love and enjoy the food I eat.
Well said!
Eating used to make me nervous and unhappy, especially when every day some study would come out telling us to eat this and not that, etc. I find having parameters around what I eat puts my mind at ease now and I have more respect for food and eating in general.
Like most of us here, food has always been the center of family activities…births to deaths and most celebratory events in between. There was true love and passion in those events in the preparation, presentation and consumption of the food as a central part of the shared activity. The dark side of certain food (for me) is the emotional and chemical dependency it creates. When not on program, I use food as a reward for a hard day or happy day or rushed day or short day or any weekday with a vowel. When on program the chemical dependency is gone, and with it goes the cravings, and most of the passion for foods I prepare for myself by myself. At that point I truly am “eating to live, not living to eat”. Like the OP said, you eat because you need the nutrition. I’ve learned through the years, nothing taste as good as being healthy feels.