Jenn J

Day 26: When food disappoints you

When Sally peeked into the break room one morning at work, she noticed that someone had brought in a three-layer chocolate cake. All morning long, she anticipated having a piece of it at her coffee break. But when she took the first bite, she realized the cake was dry and crumbly.

How disappointing! Sally had really looked forward to this treat, but now it didn't even taste very good. Just in case she was wrong, Sally took another bite, then another.

She kept hoping that the taste would get better, but of course, it didn't! After she finished eating the piece of cake, she felt even more disappointed because she never did get the flavor or the texture she'd wanted.

Match what you want

When you eat something in order to appreciate a flavor, make sure the food matches what you want. Think carefully about how you expect the food will taste. Evaluate all aspects of it, such as whether it's too cold or too hot. Decide if it's overly salty, too dry, or even too moist.

Food isn't always perfect. In fact, sometimes when your body needs fuel, you'll be faced with mediocre food and decide to eat it anyway.

But food will never magically change into your dream taste. If you're eating to appreciate flavors, and a food doesn't taste as good as you'd hoped, stop eating it! Then get rid of the rest so you don't reach for it again to see if it got any better!

Let it go

If you aren't enjoying the taste of a food but you keep eating anyway, you may be slipping into a type of emotional eating. Perhaps you think that wanting your favorite food seems "bad," so you force yourself to eat something you don't like.

Maybe as a child, you always had to finish what you put on your plate, whether you liked it or not. Let go of any old rules that say eat your food, even when it doesn't taste very good. If you don't love it-leave it!

TODAY'S TASKS:

Choose a favorite treat for this exercise. Take a small bite of food, then think about how it tastes. Is it good? Wonderful? Just fair? Is it the correct temperature or is it a little too warm or too cold?

Take another bite, and then decide whether or not this food meets your expectations. Is it truly awesome, or do you feel disappointed with it?

In your notebook, write down your response to the food you're eating. If you decide it's absolutely perfect, feel free to enjoy some more. But if you realize it's not tasting very good, stop! Don't keep hoping it'll get better-because it won't.