How do you make food delicious while eating healthy?

food

(Jack) #1

Not sure if this post is appropriate for this website but Idk where else to post it.

I’m wondering why, if my body would like some eggs with bacon and toast for breakfast, maybe some chicken, carrots and zucchini for lunch, ending with strawberries fish and almonds for dinner, does it tell me these things are disgusting? Like why do I crave nothing but carbs and sugars and toxic sh** that makes me fat, inflamed and f***** up??

I’ve been off bad foods for like 60 days now and still crave pizza hut and enjoy the more unhealthy things I put on my keto meals. I started having one soda a day as of a few days ago and it tasted like the best soda I’ve ever had, after being off soda for 56 days. I was carnivore for 51 days and I thought that would kill my cravings and love for unhealthy crap. I just don’t understand why the body fights itself. My body feels like its always saying “I want nothing but healthy foods that meet all my nutritional requirements so I can have energy, a healthy mind and a strong body.” While at the same time always demanding me “no no!!! eat that motherf****** pizza dawg!!, only pizza!! and burgers!!! WHOLE BOX OF OREOS BABY!!!”

I swear this has ruined my life forever and it PISSES me off. What the f*** is wrong with the human body to be this retarded, and how do I enjoy the hell out of food while still eating how I should to have sufficient vitamins minerals and a healthy fat to muscle ratio? Is it my cooking skills are awful is why my body hates health foods? Is it just my brain isn’t rewired yet? It makes no sense my supposed “brain built to survive” would tell me that I should in fact eat pure lard and toxic chemicals 24/7. Or maybe cause of stress and unhappiness it thought fast food would help me feel good and work better to survive, who knows. Can anyone help me with this problem?


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

The food industry has invested a lot of money to find the perfect combination of salt, fat, and sugar that maximises pleasure.




#3

It’s not your cooking skills (it may play a role but it’s probably little. but it’s individual. to me, my basic ingredients are already very tasty so no cooking skills needed for a good taste. just for variation). One can easily addicted to flavorings and carbs and whatnot, it seems.

I am super lucky as I always LOVED my healthy food with a passion. (I loved the unhealthy ones too. I loved everything I ate.)
But addiction has multiple layers. You totally can prefer the taste of good food and still feeling the compulsion to eat the bad ones. In huge quantities. Without any real need for food.
Some old habits die hard. And well, you enjoyed your wrong food so many times and your mind remembers. Nostalgic feelings… It tastes awesome, I must have it again, NOW… These things may happen even if your favorite 3 food items are egg, fatty pork and slightly aged Gouda, you feel you actually could live on them for very long and your body fell in love with low-carb a decade ago and throws a temper tantrum if you overdo carbs.
Sometimes you don’t have that and only want the carbs when they are THERE, in front of view. Maybe once in the whole year, rare chance! And free.

It’s individual if you still enjoy the desired food after months or years. But even if not, the compulsion may be great.

So it’s not all easy if you like your good food either but it helps tremendously, of course.

50 days may help a lot but sometimes cravings come back 5 years later (I had that with bread and potatoes, well it was only low-carb, probably 5 years on some strict keto woe is different)…
But I’ve read from many people that they still feel desire towards carby food even if they do carnivore since ages… Others have it easier. Or can’t resist temptation and fall off the wagon. There are many factors. If carbs seriously hurt you, it’s a great motivation not to eat them.
But it’s hard if you hate your food… You either stop wanting joy from food (impossible for me and normal, preferred even for some) or yeah, cooking skills, new recipes, try to make them more tempting somehow. I see so many people eating food they dislike. It’s odd to me. I can’t eat food that isn’t definitely tasty and tempting. I always find the way but as I am in forever love with eggs and they are amazing, it’s easy for me. (And I just need to avoid the syren song of wonderful carby dishes. If I hear that, I am probably doomed.)

Being very, very full with some fatty, protein rich, satiating and satisfying keto food helps with carby desires in many cases. Being hungry is when we are most sensitive.
But if it’s not temporal, that’s tough. Some people emulate the target of desire, to me, that’s just super disappointing unless I don’t except it to be even remotely similar to the original.
Some people eat the carby stuff occasionally or in tiny amounts. Or in too big amounts and they hate it forever, okay, it must have some minimal chance… But if someone is very sensitive and get sick for a week due to the carb overload, it can serve as a good motivation and in lucky cases, it kills even the cravings for that item.

Try keto/carnivore pizza if you like, I think they are often good (I couldn’t try out all, I don’t use all popular ingredients). And usually nothing like pizza but I personally love the pizza sauce and the cheese on top and now fish in-between! I can enjoy them without having something really similar to pizza but if I want a really pizza-like thing, yeast and gluten must be involved. Good thing they aren’t very carby and I am not sensitive to gluten. I just don’t want to eat it too often so I rarely eat pizza, big deal. I still eat it way more often than in my high-carb decades when there wasn’t a pizza every year and probably none in my first 25 years… I started to really like and desire pizza and bread long after going low-carb. I am a weird one.

As a hedonist, I would totally find a way (or search for it passionately for long). It’s UNFAIR for people not to enjoy their woe…


#4

Here’s a couple ideas which I can base off personal experience and low-carbbing, Atkins, and then, truly Ketogenic eating. When I sift started going “low carb” a couple decades ago, I’d still include things that were occasionally sweet - which made me crave more sweets and carbs. Failed. Atkins was great for a while, but the branded “treats” and “snacks” were sneaking in more carbs and triggering the sweet tooth yet again, which led directy to the whole -package- of- Oreo phenomenom you mentioned.
Eating purely Ketogenic, without adding in those “low carb snacks”, without adding in sweetener at all, pretty much did the job, when I combined it with Intermittent Fasting and some Extended Fasting.

In fact, the EF is the primary tool I’d employ when cravings did (and sometimes) still do haunt me. When the craving for say, ice cream would hit, I"d double down and just say, nope- not going there. Start fasting for 1,2 3,5, or 7 days. It was like my brain having a conversation with my body something like this:
Body: I want sugar.
Me: Nope, not going there.
Body: I REALLY WANT SOME SUGAR!
Me: Not happening.
Body: Just pick up the hot fudge, then - and skip the ice cream!
Me: (Frustrated at the temptations)…Nopity, Nope, not happening…This discussion ends now.
Institute Extended Fast for 24, 48, 72 hours…

End fast. Eat a pile of roast beef and butter. No more cravings. Boom. We’re good.

Unleash your inner thug, and just kill that craving.

Now, if you haven’t dug deep enough to find the thug, try salt. When you crave something sweet, eat a dill pickle, some black olives or a beef stick (wth no sugar.). Do the opposite of what your taste buds are asking for. You have to retrain them. The food industry has messed with foods so much, your buds have been trained to want things that destroy your body. Then, the pharm. industry is there to step in and help “rescue” your body with all sorts of medicinal cocktails that only mask the problem, not heal your body. You have to do it yourself.

To do it yourself, you’ve got to throw down, and get real. When my brother died in front of me - it’ll be two years ago on August 24th, that’s when it finally got so real for me, that I couldn’t continue down the path of eating for comfort. It didn’t work when my Dad died, it didn’t work when my Mom died - and losing my only sibling was the final straw. I had to get myself healthy, and 55 pounds later- here I am - feeling better than I have since High School. I’m 53, btw.

Have that talk with yourself in the mirror. Decide what’s important, and if you’re willing to break free from the chains of food. Fasting will free you from cravings like nothing else. Just eat plenty of fat and moderate protein until you are fat-adapted. Your body will live off the fat that you have stored, when you fast. Start with short fast, then go longer and longer. 7 days is my max, and works like a charm with nasty cravings.
Best wishes, friend.


(KCKO, KCFO) #5

This a thousand times this.

Try some of the keto recipes in the Food forum also youtube has lots of how to make them videos.

Sugar should be illegal as far as I am concerned. Luckily I’m more salty crunchy oriented so giving up sugar was easy for me. I handle stevia just fine, don’t get the after taste that some people complain about.

Just curious, why did you stop the carnivore eating?

Good luck sorting yourself out.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #6

For what it’s worth. I was never addicted to anything particular, although I had fave foods and beverages. These included a pretty much full gamut of high-carb foods and ethanol beverages. I started keto with a 4-day water fast. At the conclusion of the fast I just started eating keto. I dropped all the high-carb foods and beverages I had been eating all my life cold-turkey. I thought it was going to be difficult but it wasn’t. It was easy peasy and I never missed any of it. 3 1/2 years later it’s still easy peasy but I’ve discovered lots more keto possibilities.

Yes, it took a few months of experimenting to find foods I really liked and could eat consistently day in and day out. But I looked at as a challenge of discovery, not a road-block. It never even occurred to me to revert to all the carbs I left behind. It just didn’t. Maybe part of it was that I’ve never been much of a gourmet or food-oriented person. Food has always been primarily fuel for me. I don’t eat to cheer up or assuage disappointments or celebrate successes. I’ve always eaten because I have to and it has never been a big deal. I changed fuel. The new fuel is better. End.


(Jack) #7

Well I have every single symptom of addictive personality and tons of my relatives are addicts in my direct family, so I guess I have that “gene” that makes you easily addicted to things. It feels so natural to me to drink like 4-5 cups of diet coke a day and consuming like 3000 calories just sitting around is easy.

If you gave me money for fast food I’d be eating like 4000-5000 calories a day, which I did, when I went from 160 pounds to 200 in a matter of like 8 months, (keep in mind I didn’t eat out more than 4 times a week.) I can’t even imagine how obese I’d be if I were rich. I’d eat out 24/7 and easily hit the 300 pound mark on the scale. My main source of happiness has been food for some time now.


#8

We can’t know if you ate more if you were rich… Even I bumped into a wall at some point… :slight_smile: But it doesn’t matter, have a better woe and you should be fine.

3000 kcal isn’t much. I am a short, not active woman without much abut 3000 kcal is pretty easy, my actual limit is 4000 and I never did it every day I guess… But give me a good woe (well, I grabbed one many years ago) and I automatically go way lower.
My SO is a male, not muscular, not tall, somewhat active, 3000 kcal is a nice day for him, with some hours of being hungry as it’s too little food to get satiated all day… Who told you 3000 kcal is much? :smiley: It’s 2 decent but definitely not near big meals even to me… I blame the carbs in my past :smiley: But some people do need much food.

You wrote about desires and tastes but do low-carb food helps with your overeating? They tend to, surely not in the case of everyone but they usually do. So it doesn’t happen that I am super hungry after half a loaf of bread with lots of butter and honey as I don’t eat that way anymore… But staying low-carb is pretty important for me and good taste must be reached as I refuse to eat less than very delicious food most of the time. So they are connected but it helps a lot if your new, somewhat problematic woe have such huge benefits.

Food is one of my main source of joy too (not happiness, food never made me happy), I think it’s quite common and it’s not necessarily bad, being THE main source is worse, you should find something else, my life is very dark but I still find beauty and hobbies and music and friendships…
So I can relate and anyway, I think people should eat tasty food if possible (health is even more important than that but the two should come together). Try to find some more tempting recipes or ingredients or something. Even if one is poor, there are options. I didn’t spend more money on food when I had way more money except the eating out part but that was rare and now it’s borderline impossible anyway, my diet is too special, I am too choosy… I guess there is a very unfortunate taste where it’s very hard though… But if low-carb helps you, stick to it even sacrificing joy from eating. I still would keep trying to make my food delicious and getting more joy sources…


#9

My brother had a similar issue … it was all or nothing. There could be no in-between. HIs family was not supportive - and despite that, he had managed at a couple points to drop 40-50 pounds. He was closer to 350# when he died, though.

Listen man, I’ve run the gauntlet with food. I was adopted into an older family who had lived through the Great Depression. Forced to “clean my plate”. My Mom bought into the butter is bad- eggs are bad-red meat should be limited mantra. We ate margerine, fake eggs, skim milk, and low fat everything. I allowed myself to get sucked in to eating disorders at age 12. I had bulimia from 12 until I was 29. After examination, when my doctor reviewed the reports, she told me I should have been dead years ago. Then she told me God spared me for a reason…what that reason is, I sometimes wonder.

I tried over and over to get healthy again, but food was an emotional crutch. Eat to celebrate, eat to grieve, eat for activity, eat to relieve stress, (as if), just eat, eat, eat. All that kind of thinking accomplishes is feeling bad, getting heavier and heavier, and killing yourself early. I don’t know what it might take for you to arrive at the point I did. I pray you don’t have to watch your last immediate relative die in front of you - leaving you alone to navigate life. I’d not wish this journey on anyone.

And, to hell with what anyone else thinks or tells you. If you want something bad enough, you fight for it, and you keep fighting until you achieve success. And even after you’ve achieved success, you keep fighting to maintain it. Put the blinders on, and forge ahead. Fasting is a good tool to break habits and cravings. Extended Fasting has made me mentally stronger there. I can prep a three course meal for my family while I’m on a seven day fast, and not be tempted to eat now. From where I was 30 years ago - that is a flippin’ amazing achievement.

I’m not trying to discredit the struggles you face at all, Jack. I am trying though, to encourage you to not give up, and never give in. If pizza is your achilles heel, then make a Keto pizza. Make several, cut them up and freeze them in sections to eat when you have cravings. I’ll write the recipe here, if immediate access will be helpful.

2 c grated cheddar
2 c grated mozzarella
3-4 eggs
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
1TB Dried Italian herbs
Mix well, and spread across parchment paper lined metal sheet pan.
Bake at 425 until it is slightly brown.
Pull it out, spread thinly with pizza sauce-. Key thing here is to buy only the pizza sauce with NO added sugar. Walmart has one - or at least they used to. Hunt for it.
Throw on some pepperoni, sausage, olives- whatever. Add more shredded mozzarella and bake until the cheese is gooey. Cut and enjoy.

Easy. Peasy. Nice and cheesy.

Now, fight the good fight, and come back to help and encouragement. The people on this forum are amazing and wonderful.


#10

Oh hell yea I can relate.

that IS THE hardest part of a lifestyle eating change. Holding it and not craving/caving and believe me there were times my body DEMANDED I eat crap.

It was years before I gained true control cause I am one who has that a bit more addictive personality too. I am one who lies to myself and pretends I can eat this or that and ‘be ok’ and I never was. I knew the minute I ate crap I was off on a week, 2 weeks and more carb binge of epic proportion. I fought the ‘life is unfair’ BS in my mind.

Food is made super addicting now from the chemicals the companies put into them and our bodies crave sugar for those endorphine and more crap that goes on inside us.

What worked for me. Fight like a damn mangy junkyard dog for what you want. What do you truly want? I wanted crap food and weight loss and health, wasn’t gonna happen LOL…then I had to accept this change and that change that suited me personally and it was hard learning what it took for me to be healthy and in control. I, in the end, pretending I could ‘make a crappy eating plan that included my fav foods and get my fix’ found I could not do it. I couldn’t even moderate, when one says on Sat I will have one slice of pizza…yea right, not for me…whole pizza and another week of crap.

then ya got the ‘misery and failure’ you are a loser cause you can’t control your eating and can’t, can’t, can’t…thing is the word has to change to ‘won’t.’

You won’t eat that cause you desire health.
You won’t go off plan because you are gaining great benefits, feeling just so good and do we compromise that and at what cost?

I had to ask all this over and over and over again til I just held on plan. No matter what went down I ate on plan food at all times. If going batty I went to the store and bought the best king crab legs, the best filet mignon and so on and ate like a queen and I paid big money at the grocery but it was worth every penny to not eat crap. Some days I would eat 2 lbs of bacon just to keep from grabbing the kid’s candy crap and chips. I did whatever it took to NEVER eat off plan and it worked for me in the long run thru all the crazy of it :slight_smile:

So I said eat ALL the great I need on plan at all times to make it thru each meal and each day. That is what worked for me and at some point I flipped…I heard about ‘those who flip and it clicks’ and I sure never got that LOL but one day it did, years in and it flipped to I truly do not want that food at all. I eat plan and feel wonderful and the ‘torture of the body and mind game’ is starting to subside so much more that I am now in control.

Time and tricks and tips and eat great on plan and chat with yourself on WHY are you doing this and WHAT actions you will take to achieve what you truly desire. I had to do all that and the time on changing into a way more comfortable lifestyle and accepting it now is just wonderful once I got there :slight_smile:

You gotta want it. In the end if there isn’t that and you don’t put those actions into play to have what you want, you just will yo yo all around and be miserable. It is a rough path, one we all must walk.

best of luck