To Eat Or Not To Eat

I love food. The richer, the better. Cream sauces, beef marbled with fat, thick, crusty bread drenched in olive oil and topped with grated parmesean cheese, gooey, chocolaty cakes. I love to prepare food as well -- it's as if I am creating a piece of art. I get great pleasure from my time in the kitchen. I am fascinated by the color and texture of  ingredients, and love the smells that fill the kitchen when I am cooking. It's intoxicating.

But indulging in my pastime has come at a price: I'm now overweight and frankly, I no longer have a clue how to eat sensibly. It has become second nature to me to sometimes use a stick of butter and several teaspoons of salt in a dinner entree. Bread is a staple at every meal and dessert is always served when the meal is over. I'm in an ongoing cycle. After 10 years of indulging in this activity, I have put on 80 lbs. So now it's crystal clear to me that things need to change.  

But where to start?

For me, Optifast offers something I desperately need at this juncture: Someone else making the food choices for me. Regarding the Optifast food, it may be in liquid form, but I have different products I can use and a schedule for when to have them. For instance, I have four shakes a day and a very tasty soup spaced out in three hour intervals. I buy a week's worth of products at a time, thus removing any need to refer to fatty (but so tasty) recipes for dinner.

I am also allowed 1 cup of sugar-free jello or low sodium broth a day. This menu may sound stark, but it is actually quite pleasing if you put on your Chef's hat and do some "enhancing" of your products. For instance, extracts and flavorings are allowed in the program. That means your shakes can be flavored in many different ways to make them more enjoyable. Favorite recipes include:

"The Pancake Shake": Vanilla shake mix, 1 tsp. maple extract, 1 tsp butter extract. Lovely!

"The Banana Bread Shake": Vanilla shake mix, 1 tbsp. banana extract, 1 tsp. walnut extract. Yum.

"The Butter Rum Shake": Vanilla shake mix, 1 tsp. rum extract, 1 tsp. butter extract. Marvelous.

Many other extracts are available to jazz up your shakes: Orange, lemon, almond, banana and coconut, to name a few. Some Optifasters mix diet soda, such as root beer or orange, with their drink mix. Flavored syrups made by Torani or Davinci may be added. But I prefer the extracts.

I really let my creativity shine with the two soups to choose from: Creamy Chicken and Creamy Tomato. Typical spices like curry, dill and cayenne add nice flavor. I am branching out into exotic Indian spices and using fresh herbs from the garden. As long as I avoid salt and use spices in moderation, I am able to serve up a tasty meal.

Do I miss solid food? Well, it's really quite amazing that at this juncture, I would much rather have my liquids! I do not feel hungry or stuffed. I feel wonderful, balanced and satisfied. Before, I never ate breakfast or lunch, preferring instead to eat very large portions at dinner and graze the rest of the night. I don't do this anymore. And I feel great!