My taste have definitely changed after 3 years of healthy eating. I have substituted alot of healthier food choices for the unhealthy ones. When I do eat higher carb or processed fat I feel blah- no energy, 5-6 lb instant water gain and sick to my stomach. My body now craves brown rice over the white, plain greek yogurt w/fruit over ice cream and avacados over Whooppers and big Macs, whole wheat over white bread. There are times when I do crave foods and I give in but the junk food just desn't taste as good to me any more. Anything with sugar just taste too sweet now!

hi everyone. Thank you so much responses. I really appreciate hearing all of your experiences. Its nice to hear those of you who say, yeah I miss it but don't often think of it. I can honestly say I really don't think of d much anymore unless they're smacking me in the face at a party!! Do I still think French fries sound heavenly? Absolutely. Do I Jones and white knuckle for them? Not a chance. As many of you said I focus on all the delish and satisfying foods I CAN have.

I try to keep a visual of last summer at a dear friends wedding when I indulged, and ended up bloated, gassy and miserable. Had to change out of my bridesmaid dress because it became uncomfortably tight!!! Never again peeps.

Anywho just wanted to hear that some of you still enjoy the smell of bread or miss certain things. I don't feel severe cravings but do miss some things. I can look right at them and resist though. Went out for mothers day to an Italian place. Mom and grandma had spaghetti and meatball while I had


salmon :-)

Yeah, I would love to eat "normal" again if not for the consequences with blood sugar and weight.

I can,t say that I think of any carby foods off hand out of the blue anymore but I do want them if they are in my face. I feel really freed by the fact that now I can see something I want then walk away from it and totally forget about it in a few minutes. It took along time to get to that place and I hope I can maintain it for the reast of my life. I do have a planned meal off every two weeks and find that I don,t even think about what I am going to have at that meal until we,re in the car ready to go and have to decide where to go.

I'm not looking to convince myself that carby foods are revolting and disgusting...that would be unrealistic. I've simply accepted the fact that my particular body works better without foods such as those. Do I miss them? Not really because I don't miss what goes along with eating them. I still cook all the regular carby foods my family prefers and I bake most weeks for them all...and it doesn't bother me a bit. Don't worry, you'll get there

I finally get this!!! Today, I understand this! I've read about this feeling from other people before, but I didn't understand it fully! Instant gratification isn't from the carb-poison, it is from how your body feels right now because you have been treating it so good. You can't get anymore instant than that!

I still have cravings - for me it is a constant battle. I have had binge eating and compulsive eating disorder since age 9, so getting rid of it doesn't come very easily. It really is one day at a time.

But there is some hope. I used to have a problem with alcohol, I wasn't an alcoholic, but at one point I was going that way. Even when I had some control over it, I couldn't imagine there ever being a time when I wouldn't crave it. Now, I have a drink to be polite a few times a year, but don't finish a glass a wine - there used to be a time when I couldn't not drink the rest of a bottle if it had been opened. Now I don't crave alcohol at all. So this gives me hope for my sugar and processed carb cravings, that one day, the cravings will subside.

Lee

You know, at one time I drank a lot. And smoked dope, and enjoyed some other illegal substances. I'm not planning on doing any of those things again. But that doesn't mean I didn't at least some of the time have a lot of fun when I did!

And so it is with many of the foods I once enjoyed. Some fond memories, and some not-so-fond. But in the past either way.

I think, for me, a lot of it is simple Pavlovian response...

Like that thought, "Oh, this is GOOD! It's still in the mind, subconsciously, but I don't REALLY want it..."

My dog will still jump to his feet when he hears a certain song that used to be my ringtone on the eldest daughter's phone. Back in those days, he heard the song and rushed to the door. I always called when I was turning on the final street. He would race down our dead end street, and I would open the door and he'd jump in the truck and ride a half block. He was so HAPPY...

That song still jogs that instinct... even though he's lying at my feet when I might play it on yo ut ube. He no longer NEEDS to rush to the door... but his "training" kicks in.

That's how I feel about MOST carby junk, at least... :P

Some I miss and some I don't.
Knowing the negative and sometimes painful effect my past eating habits have had there are some foods that are easy to pass up.
Other things I may indulge in once in a blueemoon, but when I do, I go into it with FULL disclosure--that I will probably feel sick, bloated, have a headache and carb hangover, and it will take me days to get to feeling my normal. Usually after giving it the 10 seconds of thought needed to run thru a internal full disclosure monolog I usually am able to take a pass. I'm human, there is that rare time where I go for broke.
Right now, I'm thinking about purchasing 1 slice of "real" birthday cake for my birthday on Friday. Who knows what will happen--last year I went thru my internal monolog and did a pass...this year, who knows.

I try and practice the 90/10 rule (taken from Mark Sissons 80/20 rule which was a bit to loose for me). If 90% of the time I'm true to my WOE and the parameters I have set for myself, then I'm a happy girl. That 10% allows me the RARE indulgence of my choice.

Progress not perfection.

Lisa

Of course they are good lol...

Donuts, stuffed shells, potatoes with sour cream and butter, pizza... I mean, om nom nom lol.

I really like the keto version of the LC diet. I stay under 20 grams of carbs per day and eat however much food I want; I lost 80 lbs that way (in 4 months).

After I was in good shape I decided what the hell, was around the holidays - I started eating carbs again over the winter. Since then I have put on 15 pounds (5-7 of which is simply glycogen in the liver) and decided today to go back on my diet.

I am fine with this. I really love my <20 grams of carbs per day diet and it slimmed me from 280 to 199 pounds. I however could not accept the ridiculous notion that I couldn't go drink some beer and have some pizza with friends ever again.

So I own a scale and know how my clothes are supposed to fit. If that pizza and beer starts betraying my waste line (and you better believe it does lol!) I know how to quickly get back to where I want to be.

I think Atkins himself said that he used his diet "several times" over the course of his life to slim down when he felt as though he was getting too heavy. I could be wrong, but I do not believe Atkins lived his diet everyday, only when he felt he needed to.

Also I just at a 2.1 pound piece of London Broil smothered in 2 tablespoons of butter. Yum.

As a younger male who exercises, you don't have to.

But it's not a ridiculous notion for me; an older female with a hip problem that restricts exercise, and a gluten problem that means one meal of pizza and beer will start up the awful arthritis pain in my hands.

You appear to think you will have no problem ditching the 15 pounds gained over the holidays. But lots of people DO find great difficulty losing again after such a long carb binge; not to mention the struggle with cravings as they try to establish their healthy eating patterns again.

I used to believe that such "indulgences" did no harm. But I've since come to believe that it's not just "me and wheat." There's a book called Wheatbelly that confidently makes the case that wheat is bad for everyone. Even though I thought I had no reactions to wheat; it turned out I did. When I got old enough to get arthritis, it was the wheat that did it. Because ditching wheat is making it go away.

So I still get together with my buddies; and I have a glass of wine and eat only the toppings off the pizza.

I'm very new to this, so I'm still at the point where I have to remind myself, "Wait! Stop! Remember? No beer! No tortilla chips!"

Chips. That's what I miss. Ruffles with green onion dip.

But I also remind myself of this: I've eaten almost every delicious food there is. I've had many, many plates of pasta, pounds and pounds of fried rice, thousands of pieces of cake and pie. I've eaten bags and bags of chips. Bowls and bowls of ice cream.

I've had all of it. Loved all of it. I'm not "missing out" because I've already enjoyed so much of it. So much of it that I'm unhealthy now.

I don't need to lament that I "can't" indulge. I've already indulged. I haven't missed out on anything.

And if, one day, something amazing that I've never tried crosses my path and I want to give it a try I will. The difference is that I won't do that over and over again like I've done all of my life.

None of this really addresses the original post about missing certain foods. But I think that when I remind myself of this, I shift from missing it so badly to just remembering it fondly.

Jadeite

I love your post. You have a great attitude!

^^^^

Everyone...and I DO mean EVERYONE...should read Wheat Belly. I'm about to finish it and it has been fascinating and eye-opening.