Thinking less about food...can be sad?
 

I have always enjoyed cooking (though I'm not much of a baker) and especially since I got married (22 years ago!) I have liked to read cookbooks and prepare interesting meals. My husband and I have especially enjoyed Indian and Mexican food, trying to find recipes and sources that are authentic. I realize it is quite possible to be a LC gourmet, and to adapt most ethnic specialities to this WOE. However, I find that for my continuing weight loss it seems best not to think so much about recipes, food preparation, searching out ingredients, and to turn my interests to other things such as more exercise, learning about supplements, etc.
I both accept this and feel it as a loss. I would like to hear from other "foodies" who have gone through this transition. I've been low carbing for ten months. I cook dinner almost every night for my husband and two children.

Hi Diane: Not sure that I qualify for "foodie-hood", but I can say that lately I've been wishing my husband and I didn't have such different eating patterns. I am a snacker and he is a two meal a day big meal guy. Then he snacks on apples and peanuts after supper.

I used to love planning and preparing a big evening meal for him, with enough leftovers to pack in his lunch for the following day. But more and more now, I find myself putting off cooking, or at least finding less pleasure in it.

He is quite thin, but loves all the lc things I've learned to cook since I started lc a little over a year ago. And I can always add a side starch to his meals. So it's not so much that we have different tastes and diets, as what you are describing----I just don't want to have to put as much thought into meal preparation as I used to.

Kay

If it makes you feel any better, somewhere I read that regardless of the diet, one common denominator amongst people who kept the weight off is that food wasn't that big an issue in their lives. In other words, they didn't give it much thought.

I also read cookbooks for pleasure
 

There are times, lately, I've found myself reading them with a more critical light - how can I make this low carb.

There are others I've actually culled from my collection and donated to a local second-hand (similar to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or wherever the recipient of the day is). I've actually been doing a lot of down-sizing, and it's not just me - I've probably given away over 1000 pounds of hobby/craft supplies, books, fabric, clothing, etc., since Jan 1 (when I started sorting and cleaning).

I'm not sure if it is entirely food related (or the energy I've gotten from being smaller), but it certainly feels good to bless others with "excess", rather than hanging onto unnecessary items (and that certainly could include the weight).

Anyway, back to topic - I had collected so many "low fat" books, and realize now that there is very little possibility of making those LC-friendly, that I gave up. I have still kept my baking/cookie recipes, because I do enjoy baking at Christmas (or whenever), and giving it away to church Bazaars, etc. Thankfully, I really don't care if I eat it or not, so I can get the pleasure of creating without the added load it puts on my body.

I don't read the cookbooks that much any more. There's probably a few good reasons:

(a) when my husband is home, he enjoys cooking (although he counts on me usually to find the recipes for him to try)
(b) since (a) doesn't apply again until the end of June, I've just been cooking basic meals (quite often separate ones when necessary) for my son and I. My daughter works such wierd hours that she either creates her own meals, or eats whatever leftovers I've put in the fridge
(c) a few years ago I had a car accident and it affected my sense of taste. My taste buds still work (the ones on your tongue that distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter, salty, etc.), but the flavour I enjoy comes strictly from smell - a real bummer during allergy season - so cooking is a challenge, as I don't really know if I've seasoned something appropriately. Perhaps that's why I stick with such basic dishes - what's the point when you cannot thoroughly enjoy them, anyway?

Perhaps as the other post indicated, food has not become such an integral part of my life (you should have seen me just after the accident - when EVERYTHING tasted like cardboard - so I ate everything in sight, just hoping it would taste like SOMETHING).

I've learned to live with the fact that textures, colours, presentation and especially company are way more important than the food itself, and that it is only fuel for the body, and not a replacement for friendship, lonliness, etc.

I've rambled enough. Thanks for bringing it up - I needed to evaluate a few things, and that helped.

I often feel like that. :-/ My impulsiveness and emotional attachment to food will never go away completely. Even though I'm in maintenance and I've been at this for two years, I still have to steer myself toward the veggies, supplements, etc. Left to my own devices, I'd be living off splenda cheesecake and whipped cream.

Quest, I think that being obsessed with food is a symptom of the way we are trying not to be... but I don't see why you think you still cannot be a gourmand on low carb...

Check out Karen's recipes and website, she has some amazing stuff there, all low carb.

Speaking for myself, I am a passionate food lover - I love chef/gourmet restaurants, and if I go to the trouble of cooking, I like it to be something to be truly proud of. The nice part of LCing is that I no longer get food cravings that dictate when and how much I eat (or rather binge on!). Instead, I truly enjoy my food.

Happy eating!

About 6 months into low-carbing I lost my desire to cook for myself. It was a "lost" feeling. What and why I ate had changed. Up to that point I had never pictured myself as a person who would be happy with a can of tuna, mayonnaise and a few celery sticks.

I got back into the swing of things and started cooking again. I still read cookbooks and magazines looking for good low-carb ideas. But it's not obsessive like it used to be and honestly, it's a relief.

My cooking when I was carbing was obsessive...I would be thinking about what to have for dinner when I woke up!

I think you can have it both ways Quest. You can better yourself and your health and still enjoy cooking and thinking about food. :)

Karen

i am the opposite. i just love searching the recipe sections of all the low-carb sites. and looking through the low-carb cookbooks to find something new and exciting to make.

I'm not obsessed with food, but I enjoy it very much. I enjoy going out to eating and having a good relaxing meal. I can't really do that anymore. There are all of two or three restaurants in the area that I can eat at and be sure that I won't cheat. So I just don't eat out. It's definitely helping my wallet out, but I miss it. I have a strong appreciation for good food.

Oh, how do I struggle with this! I am a complete foodie. I read recipe books like other people read Stephen King. I have the smallest apartment ever, but I have more Le Crueset than anyone I've ever known... all part of the addiction.

I am thinking that I can enjoy the food I am eating more now that I am not obsessing about it or being pulled in every direction due to cravings. It's lovely. :)

That's a really good perspective to have on it.

I know what you mean! On a low fat diet I was buying LF cooking magazines, books, etc and planning my next food or dessert or whatever mentally constantly.

With Atkins that food compulsion just switched off like a light. Now I still cook for myself, but I do it once or twice a week. I have to plan ahead because my schedule is pretty busy. I cook, I got my food for the week, and then I enjoy it! But I'm not thinking about food all the time.

For me it wasn't a terrible loss. Was kind of glad because it frees up some brain cell activity for doing other things!

Atkins has actually made me into a cook and a foodie. When I started, I didn't really know how to cook or plan meals at all, but it quickly became obvious that I'd have to learn. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it, and I've become quite good at it, which is fortunate because I spend huge amounts of time doing it (DH and I both work from home, so I'm serving two full meals a day). I really think that cooking and meal planning has been the key to my success -- I don't get bored with my food because I'm always trying new and tasty things, and my meals are nutritionally well-balanced because I plan them out ahead of time. If I'm not thinking about what I'm eating, I tend not to eat enough veggies, and to decide that a couple of hard-boiled eggs and some cheese is an adequate meal.

However, I do know what you mean when it comes to desserts and baking. Making desserts is more challenging and interesting than yet-another-chicken-recipe, and I'd love to do it every week. It's nice to have a little something on Saturday nights, when we usually have a good steak, "fancy" vegetable dish, and a glass of wine. Plus, if I go too long without making a dessert, DH is sure to come home from the grocery store one day with a bag of Russell Stovers. However, I don't agree with eating dessert (other than yogurt or fruit) on a daily basis, and that's what happens for a week if I make a cheesecake or a cake -- I have trouble just throwing away perfectly good leftovers that took time and money to make. I try to limit dessert-making to once a month, and to organize it so that we'll have company to help us eat the proceeds, but sometimes I do get pouty when I've got a new recipe I want to try.

Not me - I've never liked to cook! But - my best friend is LCing with me, and she feels sad about not making the huge fabulous traditional meals - complete with cakes, pies, etc. - that have always been part of her family's way of showing love. She kind of feels like something is missing. I guess that was a big part of her life before - her mother did it, her grandmother did it, and so did she. Intellectually she knows she's doing what she has to do, and she doesnt even really miss eating the old food, but it is hard for her!

Liz

well...

I was addicted to alcohol. I'm not sure whether I'd qualify as an alcoholic. I was pretty young, and a social drinker, but boy did I DRINK!

I found I really COULDN'T have "just one" drink and call it a night. So I pretty much gave it up two years ago.

Honestly I hope I get that way with food, but I'm not sure whether I'll ever cull the obsession/compulsion with it. I guess in a way I'm so attached to eating that I can't figure out what people do if they don't live to eat...