Lots of people fluctuate when it comes to weight. We’re oftentimes good one week, then bad the next when it comes to food and drink. But if we want to have the sort of physique we claim we want to have, that requires self-control; we can’t eat everything we crave in the amounts that we desire. I for one always want to eat more calories than I burn, which is especially hard when confronted with the delicious food vs. tasty food conundrum.
Something that works for me is having tasty food in the house that I enjoy eating but do not have a desire to gorge on. My personal nemeses are ice cream, Ghiradelli Brownie mix, or home baked bread that I make myself, because I can eat half a loaf right after it comes out of the oven if I have butter and raspberry preserves in the house. If I don’t have butter and preserves in the house I have a lot more restraint. The plain bread tastes great (tasty), but slathering warm bread with butter and preserves makes it irresistibly delicious—which means I lose all control.
So what it comes down to is my having food at home that I like and enjoy, while avoiding buying craveable delicious foods that I want to never stop eating. Granted, unlike many people, I do not easily leave the house just to go buy a food I'm craving, so I have that advantage over others. But knowing I can’t eat what isn’t in the house, like ice cream beckoning me from the freezer or the amazing smell of something baking in the oven, I don’t buy these items very often. Instead of ice cream in my case I buy big bags of frozen mango chunks and blueberries, which I love, and I eat while still frozen. This combo has about 1/3 the calories or less of the ice cream. In my case this satisfies the ice-cold mushy part that ice cream does. Another of my problems with ice cream is that I can polish off two large tubs in a day, which amounts to a massive amount of calories. I just cannot leave it alone—I’m never satisfied, whereas with the mango/blueberry combo, one bowl is plenty, and quite satisfying.
All things being equal, the key becomes knowing what tasty alternatives satisfy you and quiet your cravings.
Making healthful lower calorie foods that I cook taste better by experimenting with spices and non-creamy sauces like salsa or Old Bay or soy sauce increases the flavor allowing me to eat more of the nutritious muscle-building stuff so I don’t have room left for the low-nutrition snack foods craving to set in.
Having said that, people who "can't" cook and have no desire to learn how are screwed. Allowing others to make your food is the death knell to weight control.
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