I am watching a Cooking Channel, “My Life in Food” first thing in the morning instead of the morning news. Yay! They are doing piece on food cravings and The physical effects of cravings. It reminds me of the whole food addition topic and the fact that there are no rehab centers for people who need to modify their food habits. Seriously, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are very temporary. Face it there will be an exception to the rule but most people gain it back because it only deals the the symptom and not the cause of the weight loss.
Food addictions is forever as we need to eat daily. I think of it like I do as an eating disorder but the serious effects are slower. Obesity can kill you, but not immediately. Obesity is a side effect of eating too much (but you knew that one!). Not everyone is addicted to food but there are more people addicted than we know. It’s not a bad addiction as we do have to eat but it is real.
Back to the program at hand, they were speaking about how food cravings affected their eating habits and the physical effects on the brain. It was a great study and because of it, the hosts of the show got a PET scan to see how their brains reacted to a food craving. The food stimuli was a juicy cheeseburger. Funny thing about that. I love cheese but it hates me!
While watching television, all I can think of is the thousands of calories and large amounts of food I saw in the study. Cravings to me are just natural. some times I can control them and other times it just futile. Thank goodness that I have better control than I used to.
Now why did I go off on this tangent, because the holidays are coming and all of my old nemesis are going to be present. Yes there will be pie, and cake, and ice cream. Yes there will be turkey and plenty of vegetables, but how do I get a low fat version of the stuffing (face it it’s not possible). But I’m going to try.
I will be crafting my low calorie foods for the holidays. I started by making a great chicken which I ate for dinner. It was great because it was full of flavor. The poultry seasoning and the basting with pater and chicken stock was a great touch. Here is how it went:
1/4 tsp onion powder (add to inside & then a second 1/4 tsp to the outside)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (add to inside & then a second 1/4 tsp to the outside)
1/4 tsp paprika (add to inside & then a second 1/4 tsp to the outside)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 tsp thyme leaves (fresh or dried) (add to inside & then a second 1/4 tsp to the outside)
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning (add to inside & then a second 1/4 tsp to the outside)
1/2 cup water (outside for basting)
1/4 cup vegetable or sunflower oil (outside for initial seasoning)
1/2 cup chicken broth stock
1 whole chicken
Set oven to 355 degrees (Fahrenheit). Add the oil and the seasonings to the chicken. Season both inside than outside. Bake chicken until the chicken is done (around 1 – 2 hours). Baste chicken after baking for an hour. Then after baking let sit for 20 minutes.
This works on turkey as well. Well, 1 dish down and 8 more to go. Eat up!
Related articles
- 6 Ways to Reduce Food Cravings (thejennyevolution.com)
- Dieting Does Not Work (lgdekker.wordpress.com)
- 3 Ways to Deal with Food Cravings (paleoplan.com)
- Food Cravings? What To Do? (wellnessessentials4life.com)
- Surviving the Holidays with Eating Disorders (epicahealth.com)
- Don’t Crave Food… Crave Endorphins! (thenaturalhigh1.wordpress.com)
- Unintended Consequences (psychologytoday.com)
- Food Addiction Treatment for the Impaired Professional (Food Addiction Institute)
- Physical Craving and Food Addiction: A Scientific Review (Food Addiction Institute)
- Dr. Chopra’s manual on “higher health” (msnbc.com)
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