From SAD to Delicious

[Mole]

Margaret Mead says it is easier to change our religion than it is to change our diet.

And it is so hard to change our diet because it is ruled by our appetite.

So although we can't change our appetite by an act of will, we can sculpt our appetite. We can sculpt our appetite into an appetite we would like.

In a way sculpting our appetite is a bit like meditation - no one can meditate by an act of will, but by repeating other things, the meditative state can creep up upon us.

So if we wish to change our diet from SAD (standard American/Australian diet) to healthy fruit and vegetables in green smoothies with a side dish of steamed fish, we can only approach it indirectly.

So we have a repetition of two days. First day we have green smoothies and fish, and the second day, we have anything we like. And on the third day we have green smoothies and fish. And on the fourth day we eat anything we fancy. And we do this repetition for eight days.

And most important, at the end of every meal we see how we feel. If we feel better after the green smoothies, we keep making the green smoothies. And if we don't, we stop.

In this way we slowly sculpt our appetite with green smoothies and before we know it, we have moved from SAD to delicious.

 

[wolfy]

Yes, nobody likes to go without. And the pressure can build, blowing the diet to smithereens. I like to make a list of the things that pop into my head and have them when the timing is right.

 

[Haphazard]

But fish is gross.

 

[Udog]

Interesting - I hadn't heard about an alternating day strategy before. Have you tried it, Victor? If so, how has it been working?

What I HAVE heard about is evaluating how we feel after a meal. Do we have more energy or less? How long until we start feeling hungry again? Did the meal lead to a headache? Paying attention to that stuff can help us realize how crappy nasty food makes us feel, and encourage us to eat better.

 

[Chaotic Harmony]

Hmm... Could you substitute grilled chicken for the fish? I think I have a food allergy to fish, so I tend to just avoid all fish... But other than that, it seems like it'd be something I could stick to.

 

[gromit]

There are many other healthful foods beside blended smoothie + fish. LEGUMES, anyone? But the alternating idea is an interesting one, Victor. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Udog]

Hmm... Could you substitute grilled chicken for the fish? I think I have a food allergy to fish, so I tend to just avoid all fish... But other than that, it seems like it'd be something I could stick to.

Sure. The main benefit of fish is that they are pretty lean (low saturated fat) and generally have higher levels of hard-to-get Omega 3 fats. A pretty good, albiet not necessarily tasty, alternative source of Omega 3s is ground up flax seed and flax seed oil. You can sneak flax seed into a Green Smoothie that has mixed berries with decent results. You can also get some Omega 3s from nuts, in addition to other sources that I'm too lazy to look up right now.

 

[angelhair45]

About 6 years ago I radically changed my diet. One of the things I did/do was take the approach that if I didn't like something, I just didn't like it YET. So I will continually try things over and over and eventually I will acquire a taste for it. My most recent is sauerkraut, I just started liking it two weeks ago after trying it for many years. Similar to Victor's approach, but not so regimented.

 

[man]

i just force myself to eat something until i like it

idk about this SAD nonsense, I just eat whatever lollol

 

[Mole]

The Revenge of Our Appetite

Yes, diets only make us fat.

The most interesting thing is appetite.

And it is most interesting because it is out of our direct control.

There are lots of things out of our direct control - most people, the economy, the weather, discovery, art and of course our appetite.

How frustrating it is when we tell our appetite what to do but it just goes on its merry way. Let's face it - it's embarrassing to realise we are at the beck and call of our appetite.

But it's worse than that - for deep down we don't want to change our appetite. We jus' wanna be fed.

And being out of our control, some of us come to hate our appetite and declare war with anorexia. But we can't kill our appetite without killing ourselves and that is what anorexics do. It's kinda death with honour.

The rest of us realise we have been beaten and surrender and find consolation in food.

Cook books sell the best and we love to watch them cooking on TV.

And yet with our appetites sated we find we are SAD. It's a bit like post-coital tristesse. But we seek coitus as we seek food. In fact it is our appetite that drives us to both.

On the other hand we know we are just cigarette papers width away from controlling our appetite. We are constantly tantalised by the possibility of control. And every week women's magazines bring out a new diet for us to try, but the more we diet, the fatter we get. This is the revenge of our appetite.

 

[Thalassa]

It's true that you can change your diet this way. If you eat lower carb long enough you will start to almost hate sugar, and when you do crave it will be satisfied by very small amounts.

I've always loved a lot of healthy food, though, fortunately. But IME, Victor, doing what the OP suggests is in fact very effective.

 

[mmhmm]

when you take green smoothies regularly...
the nutrient denseness of it, really helps
you curb the cravings.

i started raw food without the smoothies
and had insane cravings for anything deep fried
and smothered in chocolate. green smoothies
to the rescue.

my favourite mix is: fresh squeezed orange juice + kale + mangoes.
easy to go down.

victoria boutenko has some really great books on the subject.

 

[Metamorphosis]

The Warrior Diet was the best appetite/diet change I've ever experienced.

 

[Feops]

The Warrior Diet was the best appetite/diet change I've ever experienced.

Warrior diet was basically a raw foods thing, yes?