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Food Games: Saving The Yummy Bits

My relationship with food is not quite right. Not much of surprise there since I once weighed 396 pounds.  I have a good amount of recovery from my dysfunctional relationship with food, but there are still things I do, games I play with my food unconsciously, that cause me problems and are still coming to light.

So, I was driving home from Aikido the other night and thinking about the dinner I had decided on for the evening. I’d decided to order take-out from Osha Thai my favorite local Thai food place. Because it had been a rough day, and I wanted spices to help with my migraine I was all about extra-spice tofu pumpkin curry over sticky rice. My favorite dish from there. As I was driving I was thinking about the impending meal (another bad habit I have with food), and wondering whether it was going to be too much food. I had a distinct visualization of being over full once I got to the actual pumpkin pieces.

Bingo! A light went off in my head. You see, that is one of the funny games i play with food: I save the “best” bits for last. For as long as I can remember I eat meals that have a part that I particularly like this way. In this specific instance my “ritual” is to put the ball of sticky rice into a bowl, scoop the solids (tofu, pumpkin, peppers, basil, and bamboo) out of the container into the bowl with the rice and then pour about half of the curry fluid over the top. I then proceed to push the pumpkin bits (my favorite!) to the far side of the sticky ride.  I eat all the other solid bits, and then the pumpkin and then the sticky rice. This pattern never alters. What that means, and this was the big light bulb, is that I force myself to eat all the parts I don’t want so that I can have the yummy bits i do want, thereby ensuring that on nights were I do not feel as hungry I stuff myself.

Well, that’s silly.  I am not suggesting always eating the tastiest bit first since (for me in particular) that would mean not having much of the healthy and nutritious parts of the meal. But, what I am suggesting, and am going to do myself, is that it’s a good idea to have some of the favored portions early in the meal so that I can stop as soon as I feel full without depriving myself of those parts I like most.

Well, there you have it, a simple seeing of one of my own unhealthy food/eating habits that i hope might be useful for someone else out there.

Cheers!

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