Habit is better than self control

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:07 am

I have a neighbor who grew up in Mexico and is a fantastic cook. If I do the slightest favor for her, she sends her kid over with food. No, this does no make me cry

She sent over some sort of fried pastry filled with chicken, beans and red pepper today, but it was after dinner.

Now, I'd love to claim credit for great self control or something. But that's not what happened. What happened is that I'd already had dinner, so wasn't going to eat because that's not what I DO. I was slicing them in half and arranging them in a pretty bento for tomorrow's lunch (along with the usual sliced veggies and fruit bits) as I was cleaning up from dinner without giving it any thought other than, "Man, am I looking forward to lunch tomorrow."

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:45 am

Good for you Noel!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:06 am

yeah, baby! I know wht you mean. I'm just full after dinner! I wouldn't enjoy anything I ate then, but I'm not so habit-driven that I want to think about it too much right now...

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:02 am

Good for you! I'm not at that point yet (I probably would have tried at least a little of it to see what it tasted like), but I'm hoping I'll get there eventually.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:12 am

I think a good part of what keeps the French, Italians, Japanese and others from overeating is habit. They just have centuries of practicing it on us! k

Actually, we used to have those habits. I'd love to know how American corporations and advertising got us to change those habits in a few decades. Whatever it is, they're now doing the same things in France, Italy, Japan and other places around the world.

Apparently China went from a country where obesity was so rare that no statistics were kept on it to a country where it is a significant problem in less than 20 years -- thanks to McDonald's, KFC and other American fast food restaurants and products. I've read that the governments in China, France and Italy have never been very involved in dietary guidelines and food pyramids. They are now more involved, recommending that people go back to their old ways of eating.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:04 pm

Funny. A few years ago I read a book about French style and how to use it to get slim. The author said one of the reasons the French don't snack or overeat was just "comme il faut," which I think means "how it's done." That or its opposite has popped into my mind so many times over these last 10 weeks. I'll see cupcakes or something at work and just think re: eating them "It's just not done." At least in my life now. And it's not like I purposely think it. It just pops in.

BTW, this is a miracle. I am famous at work for always being ready for cake or chocolate. And I would say, "Anyone who takes a piece of cake with a lot of frosting and doesn't eat it will be shot." Yesterday I saw a box of See's and my heart just barely jiggled a little when it used to positively jump!

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:32 pm

oolala53 wrote:"comme il faut," which I think means "how it's done."

That's a pretty good translation, yes. Il faut is generally translated as "it is necessary" or "one must". So, there are overtones of the imperative in the expression.

The cultural baggage of it would be to an American something like, "Behaving with class." There's a strong association with sophistication and appropriate behavior.