The Pleasure Trap Trigger Foods Poll

[lifeisgreat]

I noticed that many of the old-timers haven't posted on this poll. I found the longer I eat this way the more simple my choices become.
If I make a muffin that includes chocolate chips I will just go back and have one several times a day. So I just don't have those things around. I have tried things like black bean brownies and found them just too tempting and so I threw them away. if I'm having a light meal of soup and want a piece of bread with it. I can have a piece of bread. I judge what I shouldn't eat on the program by how my body responds to it. I know it's not unusual for someone 76 years old to have aches and pains. As I remain diligent I have very little pain.
Be careful with the conclusions you draw from this poll because it is a process for all of us. It has been a natural process to simplify my food choices. If only newcomers are responding you're going to get what it's like for people new to the program. When I started 25 years ago I really craved pretzels, they were oil free. At that time no one was nagging about salt. I had quit smoking, change my eating habits and was going through death of my parents and divorce. I started back to college and I ate a lot of pretzels. I no longer eat pretzels at all. I don't want them. I started out on the regular McDougall program. And found myself drifting slowly over the years to on many days of the week eating MWL. I do not feel guilty when I eat the regular McDougall program. If something affects the quality of my life I try to figure out what it is and then I just don't do it anymore.
I learned in my occupational therapy program that chewing on the pretzels affected my central nervous system. It help me focus and concentrate by providing proprioceptive input at a time when my life was in chaos . I'm not saying that that's what someone should do. I'm saying look deeper into why we make certain choices. If I had the knowledge I could have received the same input from crunchy vegetables.

[JeffN]

Thanks for the votes and comments.

I have the poll running in a few places and we have ~1000 votes so far.

I will run it a few more days and then tally it all up.

In Health
Jeff

[Plumerias]

A good toothy loaf of whole grain bread will get me every time. On one hand, it's very sad, most of the bread products in this country are squishy cardboard. On the other, it is fortunate for me, as it limits options. So, flour.

[dteresa]

I have been thinking about this. I would not overdo it on the whole wheat pasta if it were not for the tomato sauce on it. I just would not enjoy naked pasta unless there were salt on it. I do not think I would be overdoing it on bread that did not have, even a subtle taste, of salt. Alverado Street makes a salt free bread which I make sandwiches out of but I would not go crazy over a whole loaf of the stuff as I would with Trader Joe's Pane.

It was not on the list but I make a lot of tabbouli using bulgar wheat and I can overdo it even on this intact whole grain---but not plain without the lemon juice, mint, a little salt etc.

So perhaps it comes down after all, to salt, sugar and fats. Is there anyone who would sit down to a bowl of flour, even whole wheat flour?

didi

[patty]

I have been thinking about this. I would not overdo it on the whole wheat pasta if it were not for the tomato sauce on it. I just would not enjoy naked pasta unless there were salt on it. I do not think I would be overdoing it on bread that did not have, even a subtle taste, of salt. Alverado Street makes a salt free bread which I make sandwiches out of but I would not go crazy over a whole loaf of the stuff as I would with Trader Joe's Pane.

It was not on the list but I make a lot of tabbouli using bulgar wheat and I can overdo it even on this intact whole grain---but not plain without the lemon juice, mint, a little salt etc.

So perhaps it comes down after all, to salt, sugar and fats. Is there anyone who would sit down to a bowl of flour, even whole wheat flour?

didi

Jeff explains in his Calorie Density dvd, that it is the fiber and water mixed together, that fills the stomach to send the message to the brain it is full. And pasta being cooked in water, is what makes it doable. On the food forum I posted a picture of Pizza Strawberries. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=48641 And in sharing with Minnie I remembered in "The Pleasure Trap", where Doug Lisle shares how the bird goes through a long process to convince the other bird that it is a worth while mate. And how we have lost that and shifted into instant gratification. Now my fear of bread has disappeared.. and my making dough has simplified I am in heaven:) The only bread I buy, is a Jewish rye, I refrigerate the bread and only use it for Jeff's bean burgers. I make pasta salads with a tofu mayo. I haven't made any pasta with a red sauce as yet.. i think because I identify eating it with bread, where the salads I don't. It is the combination of SOS, and fat/oil and nuts I stay away from. I now finally understand most chocolate isn't vegan, and some sugars are made with the use of animal products. Amazing how denial works:) So now I know I can use cocoa or carob. Being a ethical vegan makes a world of difference for me, because compassion is the greatest illusion breaker.

Aloha, patty

[lifeisgreat]

I woke up this morning thinking.( not always a good thing) I wonder if all the bad press about bread has influence people's belief system so that they would be more likely to identify it as a trigger food . Two things in my opinion that may influence this poll neurological reactions, and societies belief systems.
While I was volunteering at an occupational therapy clinic in a hospitI waiting to be accepted into the OT program. I was bored so I decided to set up a poll in the hand clinic to identify similarities between the patients who needed treatment. I was new to this way of eating. I was absolutely sure lifestyle choices would be the common denominator. Much to my disappointment the common denominator was that they had all experienced a tragedy in their lives within the last couple years. Most of the time it was something that they had felt helpless about, like losing a child they couldn't help.
So why am I making this point here? It is because I think in the quest to find the perfect way to eat we leave out the individual differences. A one of the ASW I saw Jeff eating breakfast that was just all fruit. If I did that I would feel horrible. Does that make me wrong or doesn't make him wrong? it doesn't make anybody wrong we are individuals. This way of eating has change my life beond my wildest dream.
Sometimes we just need to dig a little deeper for the reasons behind our choices.

[Plumerias]

Well, my problem with good bread is not the bread itself, but the amount I eat, like way too much at one sitting. And as it's higher on the calorie density scale, it most definitely makes me gain weight. Especially if it's fresh from the oven, still warm. Sigh.

[dinska]

Sometimes we just need to dig a little deeper for the reasons behind our choices.

And sometimes a big fluffy slice of baguette isn't as filling as a bowl of oatmeal. Imagine that!

[baardmk]

None, I think. I may "overeat" flour products and nuts at times (which compensates multifarously), but I don't think it's a "pleasure trap". I don't support the premise.

I accept that some foods may be easier to overeat for some people in some situations and that various tools such as calorie density may be helpful, but I wouldn't go very much further than that; among other reasons for not wanting to be perceieved to be abstemious or self-depriving.

[Birdy]

I agree with vegpdlr that this is an interesting question/poll. I'm sort of gratified to see that flour products dominate as a pig out food - oh I mean trigger food. I'm very likely to overeat good quality bread and especially any pasta dish.

I wonder what the results would be if a similar poll was posted on a board for omnivores or even on a paleo board with categories including animal foods, high fat plant foods, flour foods, sugary foods, etc.? It's interesting to think about. My suspicion is that flour products might also dominate as trigger foods for people eating SAD or paleo.

Looking forward to hearing more from Jeff about this and the other polls he has running.

[JeffN]

The results and my comments are now up.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=48760

In Health
Jeff

[colonyofcells]

My guess is consuming more water with the drier foods should help to fill up the stomach and help prevent overeating. With whole grain breads, I just drink lots of water for every 2 pieces. Bread usually has lots of salt so I also drink lots of water bec. of salt in bread.

[Melinda]

I guess I'm lucky - I don't have a problem with any of that stuff. I don't even like nuts unless they are the salted dry roasted kind (!) which we hardly ever buy. I do put nuts in salad dressings sometimes.

[vgpedlr]

I was going to amend my comment about bread as being a salt issue, but stayed out waiting for Jeff's response. I agree with the ease of consuming and salty taste, I thought that might be the attraction for me but. . . . not quite. My favorite breads are the densest, chewiest, highest fiber breads I can find. And I have had one of the few no or super low salt breads, and I love it. Though not as much as other saltier breads.

That is why I limit bread. I can easily overdo it, no matter how healthy it may be.

A further thought on the soft, easy to consume and salty nature: Would that apply equally to mashed potatoes that are salted?

Why or why not?

[Tiger]

When I had a bad day at work, I'd sometimes go to the cafeteria and get a plate of mashed potatoes for lunch. They were probably loaded with salt, milk and fat - and very soft! This was before I got onto plant-based eating. Even now, I find mashed potatoes to be a comfort food but without the additives, they're self-limiting for me. Very filling, and the way I make them, still pretty lumpy, and, personally, they don't trigger any cravings.