Feast Foods

Note: Those of you who read this as an email will need to hop over to karenehman.com to leave a comment. :-)

Question.

So why would someone who has a feature on her blog called Weight Loss Wednesdays interview women who have cooking sites and sometimes feature recipes that are not “lite” or “low-fat” or “low-carb” or “low-anything” for that matter?

Seems a little culinary schizophrenic, right?

Good question….

One discovery I made on the way down the scale while losing 100 pounds (and one I am rediscovering  as I’m still attempting to get these last dozen or so pounds back off after regaining) is the concept of feast foods. Hang with me….

So many women lose weight (and lots of it, mind you) by cutting every and all “fattening” foods from their diet in extreme ways.

Some go low fat. Thus NO fat at all.

Some opt for no carbs. Bye-bye bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugars and starches.

Some choose the no sugar path. Hello meats and veggies and nuts, ….oh my!

Now, all of these diets will work.

If you stick to them.

For me, the problem is in the sticking.

And, when I stop sticking and wander even slightly off course, the forbidden food I sample then becomes a trigger food. For in my mind I surmise, “Shoot! I just ate XXXXX (fill in the forbidden food) and went off my ‘diet’. Might as well just eat some more of it (or another forbidden, but now oh-so-magnetic food like it). I blew it. I’ll stuff myself now and start over again tomorrow.

Been there sister? I have. Visited there just this weekend thanks to some full-fat brats, Heath Bar ice cream and some salt-and cracked pepper potato chips! YIKES!

The problem I see is two-fold.

First of all, it is hard for me to “get there” without a little fun food and incentive sprinkled in along the way. When I dropped the 100 pounds, I had dark chocolate everyday. Lately I have been in deprivation mode, sampling nothing that wasn’t a lean meat, a veggie or a poached egg.

Boring.

I just set myself up for a fall off the weight loss bandwagon.

Now, for those gals who can stick to it for the long haul eating only what is on the approved list for their diet, what happens when the weight is lost and the ‘diet’ is done? Do they continue to eat that way for the rest of their life? When the forbidden foods are added back in, will they too become trigger foods? Nearly everyone I’ve ever known who did an extreme diet to lose the weight regained it. Not all of them, but most of them.

So, here is the dealio and the reason I sometimes feature what seems to be fattening recipes here on this site.

It is okay to eat them.

Sometimes.

In moderation.

They are what I like to call “feast foods”.

In the Bible, there were several occasions where God called for a party. Usually about once a month. During those times, the people feasted. They ate fattening stuff. They had themselves an all-out Middle Eastern buffet-laden good time.

Then…… they went back to eating “their daily bread”.

(And by the way…..if carbs are so evil, then tell me, why did Jesus say He is the bread of life? He didn’t say “I am the broccoli of life” or “the tuna-fish of life”, now did He? Must be bread isn’t all that bad IF it is bread like they ate in Bible times, not the bleached, nutrient-stripped, white stuff that passes for ‘bread’ today. But, that is a post this whole wheat-grinding mama will tackle another day….)

We need to treat ‘feast foods’ as ‘feast foods’ and not eat them constantly. Sadly, most people today eat what I’d consider a feast food at nearly all 21 meals per week! Or we can invent celebrations for any reason as an excuse to stuff ourselves with feast foods.

“Oh…it is so-and-so’s graduation party. Better pig out.” (Even though there is a beautiful veggie tray and tons of fresh fruit)

“Oh, I just made cookies for the kids. I’ll just have one….two….seven…”

“I’m eating out and someone else is paying. I’m not gonna order a grilled chicken salad. Duh!!”

Our minds can turn any occasion into a reason for a feast food frenzie.

Maybe instead we should plan ahead and work just a few into our weekly eating. Say, stick to the healthy stuff in small portions all week except for Sunday when you are having company for dinner. Or Friday night when you and the hubster will farm the kiddos out to grandma and grandpa’s and head to your favorite restaurant.

And, don’t forget those little daily treats. A dark Hershey’s kiss has just 20 calories. Just make sure you are only eating a few as an afternoon snack.

Treat feast foods a rarities and don’t let them become trigger foods which send you spiraling down into depression and send the scale numbers climbing higher and higher…..

Okay now, leave a comment and let us know how your week went. Also, let us know your favorite feast food. Then, plan to eat some of it this week.

Careful now….I’m talking half a piece of cheesecake…..not half a cheesecake!

Feasting Blessings,

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