Lunch Upgrade

I went through a phase a while ago where I was trying to convince myself to stop thinking of food as cuisine and start thinking of it purely as fuel for my body. I figured if I adopted the "food as fuel" model 90% of the time that I'd stop thinking of food and want to eat less. Man, I was dead wrong. In reality, I was still hungry and I was hating my meals. I'd gone straight from a "lifestyle change" philosophy to a "diet" and I was torturing myself.

It was about that time that I saw Supersize Me (excellent movie, but that's a different post). Watching that made me want to adopt more whole foods and less processed foods. I wasn't going totally organic, but my standard fare could definitely be improved. See exhibit A:

This is an example of a "food as fuel" lunch. It's a can of soup and a small bag of Doritoes. At 7 points total (4 for the soup, 3 for the Doritoes), it's about the right size for lunch. Since it's only fuel, who cares what it tastes like, right? Well the bowl I eat out of is stained with the remains of dozens of cans of microwaved soup and resembles a dog bowl than a proper utensil. And while those Doritoes might be good enough for Saddam, they're terrible for my digestion - despite the appetizing "Now Better Tasting!" label on the front. I actually had to eat this meal to get the picture for this post, so you guys owe me one.

Certainly this meal can be improved upon. See exhibit B:

This meal is 9 pts. in total (4 for the sandwich, 2 for the bean salad, 2 for the banana and 1 pt. between the sugar-free Jello with peaches and the homemade pickles). Instead of eating the product of mass industrialization, I'm eating a whole lot more "real" food.

This kind of lunch requires a small investment in time the night before, but the results more than speak for themselves. It's a delicious and filling meal, and it's far and away more nutritious.

I've been much more successful with my weight loss when I've taken the time to make appetizing food, even if I have to have less of it. If you have to hate food to lose weight, what's the point?