Debunking the Food Myths - Part 5

I thought long and hard about this blog. I was originally going to say that food is pleasurable - but that really isn't a myth. Sometimes, just the act of eating is very pleasurable and enjoyable. Remove all of the other things surrounding food - pleasant memories, fellowship with other people, the hope that it will make me feel better, or help me escape - and still food can be pleasureable. So, I will say it this way:

Myth #5: Food is Enjoyable - and the MORE, the BETTER

My Dad is a preacher - and because his work was often in new church / missionary areas - we moved around a LOT. One really cool aspect of that is each region has its own food specialty. My Mom is a great cook, and learned to cook whatever the local delicacies were. She can cook Italian like she came from the Old Country. She can fix seafood like a Maritimer. And she cooks Southern better than Paula Dean.

Most of my life, I have not been content with just a small portion of the food I like. If I liked it - I wanted to eat until I was absolutely stuffed. One of my all time favorite foods is lasagna. There is never a time when I won't eat lasagna. I have always been able to pig out on any Italian food - and I have often eaten as if this were my very last meal - and I would never get this particular food again. And yet, somehow, there was always another time where I could eat it.

This is perhaps, for me, the biggest change that weight loss surgery has brought about - I absolutely, physically cannot eat more than a small amount. Where once I would eat a huge portion, and then quite possibly go back for seconds - now I only eat a tiny amount. I have learned to enjoy my food bite by bite - and get the same pleasure from those bites that I used to get from a gigantic serving. If I happen to order lasagna in a restaurant, I take home enough to have two, or sometimes three, more meals. I have embraced the BLT philosophy: Be content with a bite - or a lick - or a taste.

Today is seven months since my surgery. Perhaps the most significant thing that has happened since February 24 is that I can now recognize the myths I built around food.