Everyday Systems

Since starting No-S, I seem to have developed a new habit of thoughtfully planning my snacks and sweets for the weekend. I'm not saying I obsess over it or anything, but by Thursday I usually have a pretty good idea of some dessert or treat that I intend to eat that weekend. The past two weekends I've bought the ingredients to bake a nice dessert and very much enjoyed the process of preparing them. My family is appreciative too Because I'm spending time really considering what's going into my mouth, I'm finding that I don't actually want to eat cheap cookies or donuts or other random junk that I might have otherwise eaten if it was available to me.

All of this has made me realize a couple of things that I hope are part of a new, healthier approach to eating:

- The anticipation of an eating experience can be as much fun as the experience itself (again, assuming you are not unhealthily preoccupied with anticipating such).

- When you choose to only have sweets & snacks some of the time, it's worth making those something you REALLY enjoy and want to eat.

What's most interesting, though, is that even though I've only been at this a few weeks, it seems like my appetite and tolerance for sugar have both diminished so that I'm not even really eating much of the much-anticipated sweets. I baked chocolate chip cookies on Saturday and after eating only one after dinner, I felt stuffed. The week before that, I made some tarts and again, couldn't even finish half of one even though I had it in front of me for several hours after dinner while playing a rather long board game with friends. I'm quite happy about this overall because I feel the desserts are assuming their proper place in my diet for a change!

Anyone else?

hi,
i have had the same experience with sweets, i think about them all week and then when i can have them they really don't taste that good and i can't finish what i have.

i'm realizing more and more what caused me to gain over the years has been the perma-snacking, the little piece of cheese here, the taste of this or that there. I think during the week this is what i miss the most...the little treats i eat out of boredom and feeling somewhat empty at times. like any habit though, it's getting easier with time, learning to deal with those feelings in other ways.

Hi geekmom,

I also plan what esses I will eat on weekends to avoid clunking myself on the head and saying, "I could have had a ____!" (fill in the blank with anything but a V 8 )

I put goodies in the freezer and packaged goodies out of sight so come the weekend, I just need to look on my calender HabitCal which tells me the goodies available for that weekend. Works for me.

janmarie wrote: I think during the week this is what i miss the most...the little treats i eat out of boredom and feeling somewhat empty at times. like any habit though, it's getting easier with time, learning to deal with those feelings in other ways.

I agree, this is a habit that can be hard to break. I'm starting to be comfortable with the idea of being *properly* hungry at mealtimes; snacking interferes with that so now when I get those little urges to eat between meals I simply acknowledge the feeling as a charming relic of my old habits and then move on.