Oinkstop
Full Member
This post is going to be a bit on the long side, but I had a sudden epiphany about my relationship with food yesterday evening, and I thought it worth sharing.
First, a bit of history. I live in a home that was built about 50 years ago. It's not a bad little house, but many parts of it are showing their age, and the house is definitely in need of a few repairs.
One of the quirky aspects to this house is our water heater. Although it does work, it has a tendency to cool off rather dramatically before the burner will kick in and re-heat the water. If no one has run the hot water, eventually the water will cool off to a temperature that's barely above lukewarm. As soon as you run the hot water, enough cold water will run into the tank, the burner will kick on, and in about 20 minutes you'll have piping hot water again.
Usually, before I take my shower for the evening, I make sure we've run hot water somewhere in the house so that my shower is nice. Last night, I showered early, and nobody had run the hot water, so I was treated to a lukewarm shower.
Truth be told, I like my showers hot. In my world, a really good shower is one that stings just the tiniest bit and leaves my skin bright pink. When I'm done, I feel both invigorated and relaxed. It's a perfect end to a each day.
Well yesterday, the water was not hot enough for my liking. So I stood in the shower, letting the water run and run and run. I kept hoping the water would get warmer, and I kept hoping that I'd start to feel like I'd gotten a satisfactory shower. Even though I stayed in there for ages, the water didn't get warmer and I never was really satisfied. Finally, the water heater tank started to run out, and the shower grew cold.
I got out, completely unsatisfied. In the end, I think I wasted at least 40 gallons of lukewarm water, as I'd stood there waiting and hoping I'd get a satisfactory shower experience.
As I was drying off, I realized that experience holds a strong parallel to my relationship to food. There are many times in the past when I have had a craving, but rather than addressing the craving head-on, I've eaten something else instead. Unfortunately, since it's not what I really wanted, I've tended to eat more and more and more of it, hoping to make an unsatisfying experience more satisfying.
I wonder, how many of us have started to eat something, not really enjoyed it, and just kept on picking at it because it was there, hoping that it would somehow satisfy? How many mediocre meals and snacks have we consumed, not because we really wanted them, but because we wanted something else that wasn't available?
Anyway, I'm definitely NOT advocating that we should all go run out and load up with our favorite treats! I guess what I'm saying is that my shower experience made me realize that if I'm going to have a treat, I should make sure that it's the one I really want, so I'm less inclined to overeat with something I didn't really want in the first place.
First, a bit of history. I live in a home that was built about 50 years ago. It's not a bad little house, but many parts of it are showing their age, and the house is definitely in need of a few repairs.
One of the quirky aspects to this house is our water heater. Although it does work, it has a tendency to cool off rather dramatically before the burner will kick in and re-heat the water. If no one has run the hot water, eventually the water will cool off to a temperature that's barely above lukewarm. As soon as you run the hot water, enough cold water will run into the tank, the burner will kick on, and in about 20 minutes you'll have piping hot water again.
Usually, before I take my shower for the evening, I make sure we've run hot water somewhere in the house so that my shower is nice. Last night, I showered early, and nobody had run the hot water, so I was treated to a lukewarm shower.
Truth be told, I like my showers hot. In my world, a really good shower is one that stings just the tiniest bit and leaves my skin bright pink. When I'm done, I feel both invigorated and relaxed. It's a perfect end to a each day.
Well yesterday, the water was not hot enough for my liking. So I stood in the shower, letting the water run and run and run. I kept hoping the water would get warmer, and I kept hoping that I'd start to feel like I'd gotten a satisfactory shower. Even though I stayed in there for ages, the water didn't get warmer and I never was really satisfied. Finally, the water heater tank started to run out, and the shower grew cold.
I got out, completely unsatisfied. In the end, I think I wasted at least 40 gallons of lukewarm water, as I'd stood there waiting and hoping I'd get a satisfactory shower experience.
As I was drying off, I realized that experience holds a strong parallel to my relationship to food. There are many times in the past when I have had a craving, but rather than addressing the craving head-on, I've eaten something else instead. Unfortunately, since it's not what I really wanted, I've tended to eat more and more and more of it, hoping to make an unsatisfying experience more satisfying.
I wonder, how many of us have started to eat something, not really enjoyed it, and just kept on picking at it because it was there, hoping that it would somehow satisfy? How many mediocre meals and snacks have we consumed, not because we really wanted them, but because we wanted something else that wasn't available?
Anyway, I'm definitely NOT advocating that we should all go run out and load up with our favorite treats! I guess what I'm saying is that my shower experience made me realize that if I'm going to have a treat, I should make sure that it's the one I really want, so I'm less inclined to overeat with something I didn't really want in the first place.
