Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

3

What are your go to Food Reward food items as well as tips and tricks?

edited Jan 26 2012 at 7:21

asked Jan 26 2012 at 7:08

Eric
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I don't understand this question – Aravind Jan 26 2012 at 12:02

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What did you do to impliment low food reward? – Eric Jan 26 2012 at 15:26

What worked well? – Eric Jan 26 2012 at 15:27

J. Stanton - gnolls.org · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-26 10:23:27Z UTC

Realize that "food reward" is not a unitary concept -- it's composed of several distinct drives. If we don't understand this, we're stuck in a land of unclear and circular definitions
Further realize that our tastes are the product of millions of years of natural selection, during which animals that didn’t have our tastes died out and were replaced by those that did
Therefore, eat plenty of natural, whole foods that contain these tastes, because we have them for a reason
However, avoid packaged and processed foods which remove nutrition and replace it with artificial concentrations of these tastes

Someone once told me that a good sauce should contain elements of all the basic tastes, even if one predominates. For instance, a combination of Five Spice Powder (spicy, sweet), Sriracha (hot, sweet), and gluten-free tamari (salty, sour, umami) produces an Asian flavor I find delicious...far more so than simply dousing food in sugar or salt.

In order to avoid overconsumption, I have a basic rule: no snacking. Anything I eat must be part of a nutritionally-complete meal -- because short-term consumption is the product of liking, wanting, and satiation. Without satiation, you'll never stop wanting more food even if you don't like what you're eating all that much...whereas if you eat satiating food, you'll stop wanting it no matter how much you like it. Example: 1 can of Pringles = 1 dozen eggs, calorie-wise...but we can all easily eat a can of Pringles, whereas downing a dozen eggs is difficult.

(For the current state of the science behind "food reward", including the terms and definitions I'm using: http://www.gnolls.org/2304/why-are-we-hungry-part-1-what-is-hunger-liking-vs-wanting-satiation-vs-satiety/ )

JS

alwayscurious · Answer 2 · 2012-04-08 16:41:03Z UTC

The two simplest "hacks" for reducing food reward I have implemented in my own life are:

Boring Breakfasts - pick one breakfast, no more than two ingredients, cycle weekly. Usually I find an animal/fruit combo works well to start the day, like a couple of hardboiled eggs with an orange, or a pork chop with an apple.
Lame Lunches - make a big pot of soup each week, seasoning as lightly as you find palatable. Have only the soup for lunch each day. Cycle meats/veggies weekly.

Both reducing the number of foods available in a sitting and increasing monotony have been shown to spontaneously reduce caloric intake. I find they help keep my snack cravings down.

This also works for me because I tend to have these meals alone, while dinner is almost always a social meal.

Murph · Answer 3 · 2012-01-26 09:51:33Z UTC

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What do you mean? Like "low food-reward" foods?

Yeah I'm trying to figure it out myself. I made fish ragu with tilapia just yesterday.

answered Jan 26 2012 at 9:51

Murph
31●1

Yes, low food reward... – Eric Jan 26 2012 at 15:26

Mike T · Answer 4 · 2012-04-08 14:18:56Z UTC

I think slow cooker is a great gentle cooking method for low food reward. I just put in some peeled potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes, a hunk of pastured beef, water and spices and cook it on low for 8 hours. The result is palatable (at least to me), but after a couple of bowls, I am satiated. I think if you cut out the spices, you could lower the food reward further, but that's probably not necessary for most of us.

Derek · Answer 5 · 2012-04-08 19:24:59Z UTC

Food reward system I have instilled: If my dog sits, shakes my hand or lays down she will receive a treat. As for me, I generally just eat food and enjoy it. I am however becoming a little suspicious that this girl I've been seeing might be attempting to implement this on me. It's getting a little weird when she tries to give me a piece of jerky in public because I fought my paleo urge to pee on a bush and instead used a rest room.

JeJ · Answer 6 · 2012-04-08 20:42:35Z UTC

I don't really think this works for everyone. If I am forced to eat bland food, I will just eff off and go eat a pizza. Get zero satisfaction and satiation, feel like I didn't get a "real" meal. Can't stand eating tasteless, boring food. If I take the time to make an elaborate, well seasoned meal, I will eat it slowly and because it is generally more price-y and time-intensive the portions will have to be smaller. I would rather get a lot of satisfaction from one filling, well made meal, because then I don't want to put something in my mouth afterwards to ruin the taste of the experience I just had. For me the perfect way to start to hate eating paleo would be to prepare bland food.

Food is where I get a huge portion of pleasure from, and I don't think that is a bad thing. Call me a hedonist, but I don't feel complete or happy unless I have access to and the ability to prepare really freaking good food.

I think instead of "blanding up" good food, this can be applied more in a "avoid foods that you can eat until eternity". For me, that is only grains. Fruits, I know I'll get canker sores so I stop when it just seems too sweet. Caffeine, I only like 1-2 cups of coffee before I get a headache, so I'm not going to go crazy. Chocolate, I work at a chocolate company so I can only handle a few pieces at a time now before I'm tired of it. I can eat a whole lot of low quality grain-related food (pasta, rice, bread, pizza, cake), but only a little bit of rich, high quality food (dark chocolate, steak, stews, well-cooked greens etc). So, passed cutting out "high reward grains" I'm good on not taking it any farther than that. Except for ribs. Who can stop eating ribs? Nobody, that's who.

Food Reward hacks?

6 Answers