Don’t Change your Comfort Foods to Diet Foods
Leeann Simons asked:
A colleague asked me to contribute to a project she is doing for her job. She works on a web site for people who are going through illnesses or caring for their loved ones who are ill. She designed a place for people to share their experiences with others, and to get (and give) support and encouragement.
As a nutritionist, her suggestion was that I discuss how to make comfort foods more nutritious. We talked about our own comfort foods, and for me, this included a specific brand of vanilla, mashed potatoes and tuna fish on toast with french fries (for some reason, all my comfort foods are what I call “white foods”-except chocolate, of course). Macaroni and cheese seemed to be a popular item, and she suggested that I come up with a way to modify it to make it more nutritious.
After my colleague finished telling me about this idea, I found myself immediately saying ?I would never touch anyone?s comfort food.? And I wouldn?t. I can?t imagine telling someone, going through a difficult time in their lives, to change the food that brings them comfort. There are many types of nourishment; emotional and psychological may be more important at this time in your life than physical nourishment.
If you changed your macaroni and cheese to whole-wheat macaroni and low fat cheese, it would be an entirely new food. I would never tell a person who loves brand name vanilla ice to switch to fat free frozen yogurt-not at this time in their lives. Using plain yogurt and fat free butter with mashed potatoes? When you are trying to lose weight, this is, possibly, an appropriate choice, particularly if you like it. But changing one?s comfort food creates an entirely new food with entirely new associations. And one of those might on a subconscious level say, ?you weren?t doing this right, you should have done it this way.? Where is the comfort in that?
The entire concept of comfort foods is to be nourished by a happy memory, a safe time, a place when you were being taken care of. And now you are making it to take care of yourself. You are not eating the food for any particular nutritious reason, but rather an emotional, psychological reason. It takes you to a time when you felt safe and secure, and for a small time during this particularly chaotic period in your life; you absolutely must have (and deserve) your small island of comfort.
So I told my colleague I?d be happy to write for her, but not on the subject of changing recipes for comfort foods. My advice in this area? Perhaps you don?t need to eat the whole bowl of mashed potatoes, or the entire box of macaroni and cheese. But during illness, stress, it is not time to worry about the “right” foods, the low calorie versions, the low fat cheesecake. While this may not be the most nutritious advice, my primary concern is to help you take care of yourself. And taking care of yourself doesn?t involve making changes to anything (including food) that has worked for you in the past.
I can be your nutritionist another time.
A colleague asked me to contribute to a project she is doing for her job. She works on a web site for people who are going through illnesses or caring for their loved ones who are ill. She designed a place for people to share their experiences with others, and to get (and give) support and encouragement.
As a nutritionist, her suggestion was that I discuss how to make comfort foods more nutritious. We talked about our own comfort foods, and for me, this included a specific brand of vanilla, mashed potatoes and tuna fish on toast with french fries (for some reason, all my comfort foods are what I call “white foods”-except chocolate, of course). Macaroni and cheese seemed to be a popular item, and she suggested that I come up with a way to modify it to make it more nutritious.
After my colleague finished telling me about this idea, I found myself immediately saying ?I would never touch anyone?s comfort food.? And I wouldn?t. I can?t imagine telling someone, going through a difficult time in their lives, to change the food that brings them comfort. There are many types of nourishment; emotional and psychological may be more important at this time in your life than physical nourishment.
If you changed your macaroni and cheese to whole-wheat macaroni and low fat cheese, it would be an entirely new food. I would never tell a person who loves brand name vanilla ice to switch to fat free frozen yogurt-not at this time in their lives. Using plain yogurt and fat free butter with mashed potatoes? When you are trying to lose weight, this is, possibly, an appropriate choice, particularly if you like it. But changing one?s comfort food creates an entirely new food with entirely new associations. And one of those might on a subconscious level say, ?you weren?t doing this right, you should have done it this way.? Where is the comfort in that?
The entire concept of comfort foods is to be nourished by a happy memory, a safe time, a place when you were being taken care of. And now you are making it to take care of yourself. You are not eating the food for any particular nutritious reason, but rather an emotional, psychological reason. It takes you to a time when you felt safe and secure, and for a small time during this particularly chaotic period in your life; you absolutely must have (and deserve) your small island of comfort.
So I told my colleague I?d be happy to write for her, but not on the subject of changing recipes for comfort foods. My advice in this area? Perhaps you don?t need to eat the whole bowl of mashed potatoes, or the entire box of macaroni and cheese. But during illness, stress, it is not time to worry about the “right” foods, the low calorie versions, the low fat cheesecake. While this may not be the most nutritious advice, my primary concern is to help you take care of yourself. And taking care of yourself doesn?t involve making changes to anything (including food) that has worked for you in the past.
I can be your nutritionist another time.
Related posts:
- Perricone Diet — Losing Weight and Looking Good John Grant asked: The Perricone Diet promotes living longer...
- Eating Out While On The Low Gi Diet Wesley Atkins asked: One of the best advantages of...
- Raw Foods Diet or Lifestyle? Paul Zayer asked: Everybody wants to be in good...
- Suffering From Acid Reflux? Foods you Should Avoid! Bob Barton asked: Did you know that certain foods...
- Get The Low Down On Low Carb Diet Foods Lee Dobbins asked: Carbohydrates come from a wide array...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: Low Fat Cheese, Tuna Fish
