Reply #72: Yep, it's mindless zombie eating that gets people in trouble. [View All]

People eat way too much of foods they don't even really enjoy just because it's in front of them. Most of the pleasure in any dish is in the first three bites. But enormous portion sizes and a lingering guilt about wasting food/money compels people to keep eating long after they have stopped enjoying the dish and long after they feel full. And you're dead right that so much restaurant food tastes like cardboard after you've cooked for yourself for a while.

My "diet" would be eat whatever the hell you want but don't eat more than three or four spoonfulls if it's high in fat, sugar, salt or calories. Eat five or six vegetables, two or three fruits and treat yourself every day to something either totally new or something you know you'll love.

"Eat to live" just encourages the same old zombie mindset with the added disadvantage of turning one of life's big pleasures into a chore.

Turn off the TV and pay attention to what you eat. Don't eat in the frickin' car or standing over a sink. Take small bites of your daily treat and enjoy the fact that you're eating it instead of stuffing it down "for energy".

It's not what you eat, it's how much and in what context.