Unleashing the fusspot within

F is for Freda, fussy with food

(from Chrisbeetles.com)

My sister, a naturally skinny person, has always been incredibly fussy about food. I've seen her turn down whole meals for such misdemeanors as being not quite the right temperature, flavour or texture, or for looking like it 'might' contain some food that she just hates (like mushrooms). Everything she eats has to be exactly the way she likes it. I'm not sure that her 'cheese with everything and go easy on the veges' eating style should be emulated for perfect health but she is an example of how someone eats that has nil issues with food and body image.

Lately I notice that I have also been increasingly fussy about what I eat. Previously I pretty much ate what I'd planned to eat, regardless of whether I felt like it or not. When I was dieting, I hardly had an interest in what I was eating because when you are so hungry all the time, the only consideration is what is immediately available, right now, now, now! This new mentaility has just evolved naturally and I consider it a firm positive indication that I'm moving away from disordered thinking around food. Yesterday I looked at my lunchtime salad beans and thought 'mmmm, they look a bit soft'. I thought about salad beans, I prefer them firm. I thought about eating the soft beans anyway because they are good for me and I'd gone to the effort of packing them. Mixed up with my tuna and dressing they might be passably good... but still slightly mushy. I decided that in order to really enjoy my lunch I'd better go out and get a new can of beans. At the supermarket I saw wraps and thought of BattyF and her tuna roll-ups. Yep, that's me, I told myself. Doing a quick label read I noted that one brand was higher in calories but much lower in sodium. I hmmmm'd a bit and chose the low sodium one (high five!). Then, assembling the wrap I'm thinking .. to go with my tuna I need a bit of tang (dressing), a bit of crunch (salad), something 'different' (tomato). I noticed that I was thinking of my food as ... food, not macronutrients, although I certainly knew it had the proteins and carbs in there. This is just one little example of how things are going, foodwise. Last week I faced the dilemma of wanting to add fruit to breakfast but knowing that bananas are really the only fruit that would be a good flavour mix with the cinnamon I like to sprinkle on my oats. I'm still a bit scared of bananas - how can something so yummy be anything but fattening?. After pro-ing and con-ing for at least two days, I decided to just eat the banana. What a concept!