Do you ever feel sad?

[kiki & jojos mommy]

So I saved up some points WPA's because I knew we were going out to dinner on saturday. We went out for Mexican (my absolute weakness) and I ordered my favorite (I am not going into detail). I could hardly wait for the waiter to bring it. When it got there I dug in...and after about 2 bites I started to feel guilty because even though I had the points it wasn't exactly a healthy choice. I slowed down and about two more bites later decided it wasn't even that good...and I just pushed it aside and didn't finish it. It's weird because I was really proud of myself for not eating it, but I was sad. Sad that this on going afair I have been having with food was coming to an end. Sad that this one thing that I have LOVED for years was turning into something that just wasn't worth my time anymore.
Is this weird? Have any of you felt sad because you weren't going to eat some of your FAVORITES anymore? Have any of you experienced this?

[s_suther]

Oh my gosh, this is so funny!! We went out for Mexcian Friday night. I ordered the fajitas - my favorite - and felt some of the same things. It didn't taste nearly as good as I thought it would. I had eaten strictly OP all week, saved my WPAs and everything just knowing HOW GOOD it was going to be to eat those fajitas. Well, I didn't even use any WPAs because it wasn't so good. I also had incredible indigestion that night. Mexican is my absolute favorite and we go every Friday. Now I'm just not so sure and yes, it makes me sad. Maybe I'll find new favorites, things OP.

[lisafirst]

As you eat healthy there are a lot of changes that happen in your body. For me, I cannot believe the incredible amount of energy that I have had since starting back OP. It's gotta be the change in diet, the fact that I am eating high quality foods and not crap.

Anyway it makes sense that your tastes also change. Your palatte becomes accustomed to less fatty foods so things that are very fatty taste greasy and unpleasant. But rather than being sad, think about the things that DO taste great now.

This morning for breakfast I had an apple and some natural peanut butter. OMG I cannot remember when an apple tasted so good. Fresh, crisp, juicy. I make my own meatballs and sauce that are only 4 points per serving (for 6 little meatballs) and when I heat one up for dinner when I come home, I am in absolute italian heaven. Spicy and warm and yummy but not fatty or greasy. I pretty much enjoy EVERYTHING I eat now. Even milk tastes fantastic. When you rid your system of most of the highly processed foods and greasy stuff everything tastes fantastic. This makes me happy. Think of how much money you can save by eating at home vs. going out anyway :). That makes me happy too!

[suzie_lightning]

You know, I don't usually feel guilty for eating "unhealthy" foods. I go for a 90/10 balance -- 90 percent of the time health, 10 percent of the time not. It's unreasonable (for me) to think that for the rest of my life I will never eat unhealthy foods again. Everything in moderation, right?

I wouldn't feel sad in your shoes -- I would feel happy! YOU decided the dish wasn't that good. YOU decided to push it away because it wasn't worth the calories. Our current favorites will not always be our favorites. Do you remember when you were a kid, some of the favorite foods you had then? Now I wouldn't touch Strawberry Quik with a 10-foot pole. ;) Tastes change. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing that your tastes are changing.

You are making room for NEW, healthier favorites! I :bcbsalute you!

[beth323]

Is the sadness coming from the food you could no longer eat, or the feeling the food use to give you when you ate it? I actually think you have moved to another NSV. To often we compare how much fun we had by what we had for dinner instead of why we were out for dinner, and with who. So congradulations. Next time you go out ask yourself what do you really want?

[BarbA]

I almost wish i had that problem! :D
I plan for the "splurge" type of foods that i want and i still enjoy them.
Seriously thought, I get envious at those who have indicated that their taste buds have changed and that now they crave salads and roasted veggies!

It's nice knowing that with WW, you can plan for your pizza, Mexican or whatever and enjoy it ... yet i would feel safer if i knew that i really just didn't want it.

Maybe life isn't about safety? I'm getting too introspective for a Sunday morning! <grinning>

[lisafirst]

It's nice knowing that with WW, you can plan for your pizza, Mexican or whatever and enjoy it ... yet i would feel safer if i knew that i really just didn't want it. I still love that stuff too, but my tastebuds ARE more refined. I will never eat mediocre pizza again... it has to be from my favorite place and it has to be worth the points. Points are too scarce to waste on bad pizza! Also now that it is more of a treat, I find it tastes better because it's not an every day thing. I can't say I am ever craving a salad (unles it's got lots of other stuff in it besides veggies) or roasted veggies, but these things do taste a lot better to me than they used to.

To the OP, I bet you can find some other mexican goodies that you will love just as much now that your tastesbuds are changing. I love mexican, not a month goes by that we don't spend a week plowing through a big container of homemade guacamole. It's easy to pack on the points if you eat it with chips so I eat it with my lunch... chili made with 93% ground beef, lots of beans and veggies, served over brown rice. A half of a cup of guac is 3.5 points, 3 points worth of rice, 3 points worth of chili and for under 10 points you have a mexican feast. People at work are always DROOLING over my lunch when I bring this (I heat up the rice and chili together and then spread the cold guac on top of it, yum). 1/4 cup of guac is only 2 points and is enough but I am always short on points at the end of the day and this was a good way to add some in, plus avocados are good fats (and they are in season now!)

I am an ethnic food junkie and I do save up for my favorites though! I'm just a heck of a lot more picky about what those favorites are. Even with pizza, I take a napkin and absorb any extra grease from the top... I figure every tsp of grease I absorb is a point saved AND it's a heck of a lot tastier without that getting in the way.

[merriweather]

Yeah - I think part of why I feel sad is because I spent so much energy in the past "enjoying" something that really wasn't all that pleasurable. Which makes me wonder if I really enjoyed in the first place. I feel sad that I've wasted time on food that wasn't fantastic and still ended up at 250 lbs. I feel sad that I mistreated my body by filling it with fat and junk when I really wasn't get the high from it I thought I was...or maybe I was too busy being embarassed by my body and stuffing those feelings with anything that was quicky, easy, handy and sweet because i couldn't bear to actually feel the embarassment.

I find it a blessing through when i discover that I now don't enjoy something as much as I used to think I did (wow was that a even a sentence?). Now I can focus on finding food that truly is worth the points to me. I find if I'm not enjoying my meal (especially a dinner meal) that I eat less of it because it's not worth the points and I'd rather save a point or two and having something else I really enjoy like maybe an extra slice of fresh bread from the bread basket or split a dessert with my hubby.

I understand the sadness - but try not look at it as not eating your favorites ever again - try to look at it as an opportunity fo find new favorites that may also be meals worth saving points for.

Keep up the great work.

[andip67]

Actually this makes me happy. I love that my tastebuds are changing and that I now actually crave healthy foods instead of junk most of the time. To me that means that I know this is a plan I can stick with for life. Roasted veggies have truly become my new favorite comfort foods. I still LOVE chinese food, but I have found so many recepies to make healthy versions of my favorites that I would much rather have those now than the take out kind. Try not be sad, instead celebrate because you are learning to live a healthier lifestyle :)

[Cynduck]

I understand the emotional "sad" that you felt. It's true - it's a love affair that most of us have had for a very long time. I am thrilled that my tastes are changing now though and start to wonder how I could have ever thought *insert whatever* tasted wonderful before core.

I know it can feel a little sad but that "affair" really did nothing but make you miserable i n the end. I'm happy for you that it's ending!

[MamaArdra]

I soooo completly understand/empathize/relate to your post!!! i feel this a LOT lately!! i call it "looking back to Egypt". you know you are better in the desert out of Egypt but sometimes you find yourself looking back with longing thinking "was it really so bad?"

i posted about this in the 50 plus forum but to summarize, my husband made me an amazing meal on my birthday of all of my favorite things and they just didnt hold the same appeal as they normally did... oh i still ate it :) dont get me wrong, (heck, im NOT a saint after all haha) but it didnt consume my being like it used to... that whole "slave to the food" thing is really just not the same anymore :) i know this isnt the "Christian forum" so i hope i dont offend anyone (i appologize up front if i do) but Praise God! :) He totally changed my body and my heart :)

you guys are great! the inspiration i find here is next to nothing! :) couldnt do it without you guys... it so helps to know that i am not the only one saying goodbye to a love i have had for many years!

hang in there kiddies :) WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!

[kiki & jojos mommy]

Beleive me I am totally proud of myself for not eating what wasn't good! I think the sadness was more of like a greiving for a loss. I am losing the person I "thought" I was. I thought I really liked certain things and through this journey I am realizing maybe I never really liked those things. Maybe I was just mindlessly going about my life trying to stay disconnected so I wouldn't have to face the reality of what I have done to myself. And now that I have faced it and am changing that there are so many things I have to learn about myself. What do I really like?I just feel like I am coming alive after being in a coma for a really long time. In the last few years I have purchased a home, quit my job, started my business, had two kids, gone back to school, had some pretty bad marital problems...and through all of that food was always there to comfort me. The things I ate rarely changed they were the one constant in my life. Now my marriage is back on track and I am settled as a mommy. I have learned to be proud of being an at home mommy and daycare provider. I am doing well in school. There is no place in my life for my old friends (food), and that just makes me sad. Sad that I let such a bad influence medicate me for so long. Sad that if I would have taken charge and kicked out this old friend sooner maybe my "coma" would have ended sooner.

I know this is all good and I am veryproud of myself for all of it. I guess it just takes some adjusting!