06Nov
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What Would You Choose?

Congressman Chris Cannon couldn’t give up ice cream, despite needing to lose weight. He gave himself permission to enjoy a milk shake or bowl of ice cream daily… and lost over 30 pounds.

His story isn’t the first time I’ve heard about licensed indulgence leading to weight loss. Isn’t that the basis of the whole “French Women Don’t Get Fat” diet program, after all? And there’s a lot to be said for such an approach: it keeps dieters from feeling truly deprived, a condition which — as many of us know all too well — not only derails diets but quite often triggers a binge cycle that packs on the pounds.

I’ve been trying to figure out if there’s any one food I love so much that would make it easier to stick to a diet if I knew I’d be indulging in my food favorite daily.

Chocolate? I’ve never been a really big fan… unless we’re talking a sliver of white chocolate with some beluga caviar on top of it. Yes, I know: Caviar? How prissy! It’s one of those things you either love or hate; I happened to acquire my taste for it thanks to places like Stratosphere Las Vegas. But white chocolate and caviar are two foods, so they wouldn’t fall within the licensed indulgence rule.

Chips? Crackers? Sure, I love anything that goes crunch, but really only crave them once a month, if you know what I mean.

A big, juicy steak? Ooooh, baby, I do miss those. I haven’t had red meat in 2 weeks now, and I admit there are times when I truly do miss it. But I absolutely don’t miss the GI distress red meat causes me, and I can’t imagine that eating a small steak once a day would be good for me, no matter how many steamed veggies I munched on the rest of the time.

Cheese, yeah, that’s it. I miss cheese, but not just any ol’ type. I’m not a fan of what we consider cheese here in America: unholy orange stuff, and I don’t just mean those flat oily slices of American cheese. Our cheddar doesn’t stack up to the European stuff, either. Nor does our Brie, my ultimate favorite, but in the case of Brie I do believe a pale imitation is better than none.

Yes, Brie it is: that’s what I’d choose to have as my daily indulgence, the one food which would make three other calorie- and fat-restricted meals so much easier to endure simply for knowing that at the time of my choosing I could sit down with a nice wedge of gooey, room temperature Brie and enjoy it guilt-free.

What would YOU choose?

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Guilty Pleasures
  1. sarahk says:
    November 6, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    I thought it would be dark chocolate, or chocolate almond ice cream. But really, it’s parmesan. I would eat a little bit of parmesan every day. In fact, when I first went GF, there wasn’t a single thing I missed, because I can still eat any flour-based thing I want, I just have to make it with other ingredients. And I could throw a lot of parm on anything. Or eat a handful of it. But it gives me GI distress, seizures, migraines, and horrible muscle aches and nerve pain. So alas, none of that, at least until I’m all healed up.

    I’m still remarkably happy with food, more so than when I could eat everything, and I think it’s because I didn’t have to give up garlic. That would be painful.

  2. Chubby Mommy says:
    November 6, 2007 at 1:37 pm

    Cutting out cheese has definitely been the most difficult part of the way I’m trying to eat these days: lots of grains, raw fruits and vegetables during the day with a gluten- , dairy- , red meat-free dinner that features at least 3 non-starchy veggies.

    If I weren’t feeling so much better, I’d have given this up by now.

  3. Mad William Flint says:
    November 6, 2007 at 2:54 pm

    “behold the power of cheese!”

    I don’t know how you can restrict yourself to one cheese.

    But then, saying that probably isn’t helping.

  4. Elizabeth says:
    November 6, 2007 at 8:45 pm

    No doubt, I would choose dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is my ultimate indulgence and I have to limit it SEVERELY because I will go overboard. A bite isn’t enough. An ounce even. One nibble and I must have more or I’ll drive myself crazy thinking about it. Cheese would be a close second… Gorgonzola my weapon of choice.

    We’re considering the GFCF diet for my son (he has autism) and if we do it for him, I will join in. I’ve been hesitating because it seems sooooo difficult.

  5. Chubby Mommy says:
    November 7, 2007 at 12:23 pm

    It is difficult indeed, Elizabeth, although I’m sure SarahK has plenty of tips about how to do it.

    One thing that keeps tripping me up: gluten-free bread. I can’t find it in our stores, so I’m going to have to make my own. Unfortunately, I also can’t find soy flour around here, so I’ve got to find a rice flour bread recipe that I can make by hand.

    I’m still looking.

  6. Trish says:
    November 7, 2007 at 4:47 pm

    When I am not low-carbing it, I allow myself to have what I want, just a smaller portion. Instead of a BIG bag of chips, I get the normal, personal size, etc. It stops the cravings and therefore a BIG bag of chips hitting my tummy (and ass and hips, lol). It is all about portions and modifications. I have read that skinny people do this all the time? They may indulge here and there and then subconsciously modify the remainder of the day or days…which is why they remain…skinny. For us foodies though, that is pure hell!

  7. alexis says:
    December 12, 2007 at 2:18 am

    I’m (edited by Chubby Mommy: alla@gmail.com) a newly wed (and a spammer) and we (who are both apparently social rejects) together with my spouse decided to start building good credit (while ruining our online reputations) as we started (spawning spammers and creating) a family of our own, as in future we’ll (still be spammers) have buy a house and cars and many other things (if we don’t go to jail for being spammers). I wanted (to be something other than a low-life spammer, like:) a credit card for both of us (but credit companies can’t stand spammers, either), so that we could use it together (when we’re not spamming blogs) and accumulate credit rating (because we’re stupid enough to believe that making money as spammers will still make us good people). Happily (I’ll eventually be paid a visit by karma), but meanwhile I found a card for spouses at (a site whose URL has been deleted because I’m too stupid to realize that someone really DOES monitor this blog and screw with spam comments).