A Woman of Taste in a Tasteless World

I’m nearing the end of my first week on the Core Plan, and I thought I would share a few observations.

The Core Plan is very different from the Flex Plan. On the Core Plan, I am free to eat from an exceptionally healthy and wholesome list of foods, and I eat those foods to satisfaction.

One thing I noticed on the Flex Plan was that I found myself clinging to so-called “volume eating”, whereby I would stuff my face with low points foods, just for the sheer sake of overeating. I was not dealing with any old habits with regard to binge/emotional/compulsive eating, and I was not focusing on portion control. I was obsessed with the measurement and weight of my food as it related to its points value, and I never once asked myself if I really wanted to eat the amount of food on my plate. This forced obsession with points-counting skewed what should have been the normal hunger-satiety cycle. I did manage to stay away from empty calories (100-calorie packs and other assorted “mini-junk”), but as you near goal, your allotted points for the day greatly diminish, and you are forced to find creative ways just to fit in your daily healthy guidelines. On the Core Plan, your healthy guidelines are included in the plan. Amen!

The downside of the Core Plan is that food is presented in its simplest form, and the taste factor leaves a lot to be desired. Let’s face it: fat-free, plain yogurt is just disgusting. It’s wretched and vile. We are free to add fresh fruit and even artificial sweetener to the yogurt, but I choose not to consume artificial sweetener now that I am on Core. This is really tough, because my taste buds were wildly oversexed on the Flex Plan. I ate all manner of tasty little creations (all within my points), but I was not doing much to fuel my body for the long haul. I would end up hungry and craving more in no time – a binge-eater’s downfall, for certain.

On the Core Plan, I am now fueling my body with fiber-rich whole grains, seafood, lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, fat-free dairy, etc. This is how we are meant to eat. It is only in the last few decades that processed foods have made their way into mainstream consumption, and it is in the last few decades that humans have busted out all over into what is now an obesity epidemic.

I look at it this way: if my grandparents didn’t eat it, I won’t either.

I cook more. Lots more. I do not eat out. Another new motto: If I didn’t make it, I don’t eat it. That pretty much takes food-on-the-run out of the equation. I am not able to control the quality of the food that other people prepare, or the manner in which it is prepared.

Notice a theme here? Yes, it is PREPARATION.

You have to be prepared on the Core Plan. You have to think ahead. You have to consciously decide what you will fuel your body with and prepare. I believe that this awareness is what contributes to my success. Mindless eating is a dangerous state of being in my world, which found me overweight and on the verge of a heart attack and certain early death.

I’ve made myself the following promise for the long term: I will no longer kill myself with food. Food is not a pacifier or a crutch. It is not love and it is not an antidepressant. Food is fuel for the body.

So, I think I’ll stick with the Core Plan for a while, and give my taste buds the chance to settle down and accept the slow lane.