Category: 6_avail

“temptation” is now shortened to “YH” for you4huo4, referring to food made available by family members, rather than the stash I built up in Bayonne home.

obesity: improve public infrastructure

Posted on by tiger40490

Given that the real world won’t improve fast enough for my life and your life, some of us will have more BMI-life-chances due to personal effort, education, access to better jobs/nutrition,,,,

This article seems to play down the importance of individual effort and emphasize the environment factor. This article is a credible argument, but I maintain my perception — effort is the biggest factor within one’s control. Better jobs and better nutrition is also within our control.

— My reflections on https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/obesity-public-health-problem-solutions-weight-loss-2844661, written by a FinancialTimes reporter.

“Obesity is not the cause of a problem, but a symptom. Over the past 50 years, no country has reversed the trend of rising obesity.”

Q: Given the increasing public awareness, consumer education, why are citizens not improving our waistline?

There is now a scientific consensus that whether or not someone becomes overweight is, for the most part, the result of the interplay between genetic predisposition (responsible for around half of variation in body mass index), and environmental factors… The ‘individual responsibility’ idea, that people gain weight due to self-destructive decisions that they can be enlightened out of, has proved false…Obesity shows us primarily what is being done to people, not what people are doing to themselves….”regularity of dietary habit is simply incompatible with irregularity of work and income​​”

Q: why are low-income families more affected by obesity?

The author points to stress, overwork, unreliable income, financial insecurity,,, I feel these factors are indeed important. An outrageous analogy — in an world of increasing work stress, food insecurity, income insecurity, and increasing availability of addictive substances [alcohol, sugary drinks, cakes,,,], is some form of addiction inevitable for most? I guess we already see the widespread addiction to screens, sugary drinks… the curse of our time.

“But if any country is to reverse one of the world’s most stubborn trends, its policymakers must recognize that the solution will come not from haranguing people, but from improving the quality of their lives and their environment.”

Q: will it help if employer (like mine and Macq) provide free fruits in office pantry?

Q: will it help if employer (like mine) provides relaxation facilities in office?
A: I doubt it. I guess most employees prefer to get as far away from office as possible.

Look at the overwhelming amount of food advertising, esp. in malls. How many percent of them are truly healthy like raw veg, whole fruits, skim milk?

Convenience .. is a key factor in our increasingly busy lives. Those convenient locations and food choices are mostly (like 99%) less-than-healthy.

 

sickness: available!!enticing

Posted on by tiger40490

Due to my sickness, many “bad” foods become “available but no longer enticing”.

A rare but revealing factor is sickness. Sickness did reduce my appetite and hunger. I tend to perceive sickness as an external factor, because an empty stomach often sends the not-really-hungry signal.

After CAD, my appetite dropped suddenly. I stopped responding to tasty foods present in office or home. Good or bad? I think it’s good for my CAD condition. Adaptation.

buying n warehousing unhealthy-enticing foods

Posted on by tiger40490

See https://btv-open.dreamhosters.com/2016/11/13/weight-loss-personalsystemreviewedadjusted-over10y/ for a framework.

I often fool myself trying to save time and money by buying cakes or ice cream (examples of fatty food)  in bulk and stock up, hoping that I would eat them slowly. Reality — I’m not different from my son. I over eat these things. The stock at home is just a temptation too great to resist.

strong advice: for any unhealthy food, it’s better to buy in small quantity, and pay triple the quantity price

— warehousing beats eating immmediately .. for both my son and me, buying unhealthy food without eating right away .. is an acceptable thing, vastly better than taking the same free food, and eating.
cCost is more severe than $cost

irresistible foods: buy-n-stash

Posted on by tiger40490

I have started experimenting with this technique:

I come across some familier, tempting food. It’s too hard to resist the temptation, so I buy it at a reasonable cost, then bring it home and keep in freezer or otherwise try and keep it long-term.

  • cost .. is a key factor
  • shelf-life ..
  • transportation effort ..

Q: what if I fail to eat it due to loss, rotting etc?
A: it’s still better than eating it !

— examples:

  • nuts
  • cakes, pastry — freezer
  • ice cream

hedonic^homeostatic hunger

Posted on by tiger40490

 

I think for many healthy adults, the homeostatic hunger becomes unbearable after many hours. If you are such a healthy adult, then a lot of the hunger you experience is probably not starvation-homeostatic hunger.

That’s why many healthy people can train themselves to fast for multiple days on a regular basis.

Most of the hunger in my life is predominantly hedonic hunger, though the two hungers represent two ends of a continuum .. See https://www.livescience.com/54248-controlling-your-hunger.html

Q: So am I saying that over one or more days on nothing but juice, skim milk, raw vegetables, fruits, occasional protein powder[3], your body[1] can survive the fast without long-term [2] damage?
A: basically yes but with disclaimers:
[1] Note your mind may suffer if you are forced (by other people) to starve, rather than trained and willingly undergoing the fast.
[2] short term health effects are hard to ascertain. Stomach may growl. Energy level may drop. Sleep might be hard on an empty stomach. If practiced regularly, such fasting reactions may subside. I think most animals and our ancestors are used to such fasts.
[3] In my fasting diet, I exclude starch, fat and cooked food. See also ## acceptable foods during standard fast #fiber,starch

—how is this related to my 3-temptation theory? Hedonic hunger is the main driver behind the temptations. Take for example the wrong-time temptation. Timing is “wrong” because my body experiences no homeostatic hunger

—how is fiber related? Fiber doesn’t provide calorie so not addressing homeostatic hunger.
Does fiber address hedonic hunger? Not at all in my experience. Best example is chia seeds, which make me feel full for hours, but not satisfied.

Most of the “filling” or “fullness” or “satiety” foods promoted in mass media suffer the same weakness. In contrast, comfort foods [meat/fish, nuts, smoothie and dozens of starchy foods …] each satisfies a specific craving and provides satisfaction , the key factor of hunger.

In starvation mode, people eat roughage [grass roots and certain parts of tree barks] to satisfy hunger.

—How is smoothie related?
The ice in smoothie satisfy hedonic hunger better than fiber.

It is extremely important for short-term hunger management, but it has no effect on homeostatic hunger due to calorie.  Without ice, I feel hungry within 30 minutes.

separations intensify attraction@@ 80%likely #w1r4

Posted on by tiger40490

Original title –prolonged separations intensify attraction, but20%chance@weaken`

If you don’t eat (involuntary or self-control) an enticing food for a long time, you are likely to miss it. This is a general rule, with exceptions. Biggest example by volume is various forms of starch.

The clay-pot rice in office fridge should not be discarded. It will satisfy a real, legitimate craving.

— the opposite phenomenon.. with a 20% chance.

As seen in numerous smoke quitters, a prolonged separation can also weaken the attraction.

However, in most cases the attraction is not permanently weakened, but dormant like a volcano. It can lie dormant for years, but is usually shorter.

  • eg: tobacco cessation
  • eg: I had a successful ice cream fast for a few months after I arrived in White Plains
  • eg: American cheese cake .. for a few years in Singapore ..
  • eg: sunflower seeds of China

buy small qty@nuts|cake|ice-cream 2pacify craving

Posted on by tiger40490

big ice-cream/cake is cheaper but more damaging than small slices. Small slice can be extremely expensive but relieves me of the struggle, pain and guilt of overeating.

— nuts .. see this bpost

Nuts are OK but non-essential (better than cakes)

— cakes are seldom OK. Cakes are OK iFF very small, with strict portion control

I should slowly change my habit to buy tiny cakes. Small pieces are the best portion control for these extremely addictive cakes.

Eg: My last experience – big slice of chocolate cake from CakeHistory … unable to leave half to next day

Eg: At 2020 CNY buffet, I took many tiny “cubes” of creamy cake.

Eg: I used to avoid small slices due to “/exorbitant/per-ounce pricing”

score each delicious food #nuts,

Posted on by tiger40490

I feel in general, the more fatty foods are more effective as companions (or taste-enhancers) of raw-veg such as (the most filling, least expensive, or the current favorites) carrot, lettuce, cumcumber.

  • nuts, Hummus and rice pudding probably worked better than ice cream
  • Ice cream seems to work much better than red-bean potong
  • cakes work better than fancy breads
  • avocado smoothie is the most effective smoothie as a raw veg companion

For each __highly_attractive__ food like creamy cakes, flavored nuts, avocado,, I will record up to two scores. (No more than 3 different scores .. information overload.)

  • score: published calorie density vs my own estimate thereof, on my own digestive system, in my own body
  • score: the food’s value as a taste-enhancer or comfort food to encourage me to take in more raw veg.

Case study: nuts — are the prime example of its type — high published density but lower density in my estimate; high value as a companion for raw veg. For better enhancer score, I should take only garlic flavored nuts without coating.

Case study: left-over starch — in a delicious starchy food. For example, Red-bean bun or pizza ,,,
I often use these foods to help me take in more raw veg.
After I eat up the most tasty part, there’s the left-over, usually starchy. I always feel a semi-conscious urge to finish the left-over but .. but the satisfaction+reward vs calorie “load” profile simply don’t make sense!

case study: egg yolk — high published density but lower density in my estimate

case study: avocado — high published density but lower density in my estimate

— less important scores:

  • score: harms and benefits. Few delicious foods have known side effects — trans-fat, alcohol,,,

Before I blacklist a highly attractive food, I better decide really how bad it is to me.

ignore cost@healthy foods when fac`Availability

Posted on by tiger40490

Case in point – at Ikea café, I noticed the multiple temptations (wrong food). In response, I bought a raw veg salad. Not attractive, not cheap, but it made me feel noticeably better. It reduced the impact of the loss@control, as in Bao3shan1.

Another example – at company buffet, there are too many temptations (wrong-time, wrong-amount and wrong-food). It would be good to buy some salad from a nearby shop. I think fruits are cheaper and easier to eat.

another example — j4 S$7.50 salad