Frienemy foods...

Our bodies need food but I think we will all agree that some foods are not nutritional and some are pretty awesome for us fueling our bodies.  These non-nutritive foods; fluffy, sweet, crunchy, salty are my frienemy foods.  Specifically, ruffles (with french onion dip), cookies (home made), salt and vinegar potato chips, and bread.  What bread?  ALL bread.  They are my frienemy foods because I love them but they do not have my best interest at heart.  I eat them and am still hungry and I want MORE.  Plus....I feel horrible.  Like Adam Levine sang about the girl that he couldn't get enough of and then he felt awful about (mmmmhmmmm) the next morning but ... I really did feel awful.  Self loathing mixed with feeling sick and sluggish. 

With one completed Whole30 (no grains, sugars, soy etc etc) under my belt...I heard one of the coaches saying that 30 days *sometimes* isn't enough.  That 60 days would be better as our bodies become more adapted to a clean way of eating.  Therefore, making healthy choices becomes more systematic as we are "reprogrammed".  This made sense to me as after my Whole30 I was able to slip quickly back in to eating the frienemy foods that don't fill me but were habitual; bread, cheese (I am lacto intolerant), and processed foods. 

I decided to do a Whole60.  At the end of the first Whole60, while eating a meal, I was able to feel that it was time to stop eating <feeling full sensation>.  Wow...that was completely new.  I was certain that years of overeating had eliminated that instinct from my repertoire of instincts.  I just pushed the plate back.  At the end of the first Whole60 it was my 40th birthday.  I imagined what I would want to have.  I made a list that was long and included a dunkin donuts trip.  Then it hit me...I didn't really want those foods...I just missed those foods.  My frienemy foods.  The ones that didn't have my best interest at heart.  No matter how I justified it...a donut is always going to stick to my thighs and do nothing for me nutritionally.  I used to enjoy those foods and they were a very small part of my life.  However, the roller coaster that it put my body through undermined my ability to make good choices for the rest of the day.  But I missed them.  So, as I considered my list I realized that I already knew the outcome.  I have to change to change myself.  So...I went back on Whole60 again.  Now at the end of my 2nd Whole60 I made a list of what I wanted to have as a treat but after thinking about what I miss and what I want the answer is the same I would rather have a steak and sweet potato.  Maybe some corn on the cob.  I no longer want my frienemy foods.  I see them for what they are.

So to my frienemy foods I bid you farewell.  I am better off without you.  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.