(27) What Foods Should You Eat?

With 0-5 you eat exactly what you want to eat. But sometimes it's hard to know exactly what you want. Listening to your body's cravings can be harder than it sounds. How do you know for sure what your body really wants/needs? Are you recognizing your body's actual cravings or do you eat certain foods thinking it's a craving when it's really a food that is only filling an emotional void in your life at that moment? I've learned over the years to rate my food. Ensuring that the foods I am eating are as close as possible to my body's actual cravings. There are basically three different ratings I give all foods. They are: Pleasing, Teasing, and Garbage.

Pleasing foods are the foods that you love most of all. The foods you start thinking about and desiring long before you see them or smell them. You crave them from deep down inside yourself. They're so good to you and when you eat them, you feel absolute body satisfaction. These foods are very specific and they are continually changing. If you've ever watched a naturally thin person eat, you'll see that they are annoyingly picky when it comes to what they will and what they wont eat.
My best friend from high school was like this. She has always been naturally thin. I was always jealous of how she could eat anything and stay thin. I remember on two occasions watching the way she ate and being quite surprised.
One morning we were eating homemade pancakes and she started picking off the little tiny crusty lumps of batter that had strayed away from the actual pancake but stuck to the sides of it. She said she didn't like those. My mouth hit the floor. Weren't the crusties just part of the pancake? Also, she liked Spaghettios but didn't like regular spaghetti. I couldn't understand this way of thinking then. Now I see that she was listening to her body and eating only the foods that were pleasing to her body.
A few of my own "pleasing" foods are lobster tail, crab legs and calamari. Big thick chunks of calamari. Especially those from a restaurant in Pueblo called Giacamo's. And I have to have fresh lemon squeezed all over it. I also love the chicken salad croissants that are served at wedding receptions. But not if it has fruit in it. Or if it does have fruit, I don't want to taste the fruit as fruit. I want it to add to the chicken salad flavor. My mom's chicken salad croissants are heaven in my mouth!

Teasing foods are the foods we grab when we're not really hungry but feel the need to nosh on something. When our emotions seem too much to deal with so we want to bury them under food. Teasing foods are easy to get and in our minds they taste better than they actually taste in our mouths. We don't think about them unless or until we hear, see, or smell them. They are basically "fillers". For me, classic "teasing" foods are Ding Dongs, chips, white bread, non-beef hot dogs... I like and want a couple bites of these foods once in awhile but any more than a couple bites will always make my body feel gross. And by the way, any food can become a "teasing" food. Our most "pleasing" food turns into a "teasing" food the moment we eat it past a 5. After you hit a 5, any more is just "filler", which makes us feel like yuck inside.

Garbage foods are just what they sound like, absolutely disgusting. The thought of them makes you want to gag. They don't taste good in any way shape or form. They're either too fatty, too salty, too sugary, too starchy, too blah.. We eat them and wonder why we just put ourselves through that torture. All of us have different "garbage" foods. Some of mine are bbq chips, doughnuts (most of the time), the fake sausage on pizza, Cheese Nips and any kind of candy. I'm a salt girl, I have to have my salt. I don't care for sugar too much but I do love my chocolate.

You want to be eating the "pleasing" foods as often as possible. You will always feel more satisfied if you eat foods that your body wants. This is one of the many reasons diets don't work. The foods you eat for a diet are all "teasing" foods. Skinless bland chicken, dressing-less salad, large amounts of plain carrot sticks... good sometimes but when eaten by force, boring, bland, and restricting.
When you you eat 0-5 and eat only the "pleasing" foods that make your body feel good, you'll find that eating will always be a satisfying experience. When you stop at a 5, you'll feel light and energetic and...naturally thin!