About seven years ago we selected a cat from an animal shelter as a pet. We were told that the cat was between two and three years old. The owners of the cat added a dog to their household and the cat did not get along with the dog so the cat was placed in the shelter. The good thing for the cat was that we adopted her after only a few days in the shelter. Knowing some of the cat’s background, I was hoping the cat wouldn’t act psycho once we brought her into our house. Luckily for us the cat was well-behaved and a very affectionate cat who loves being around people.
We decided to give the cat dry cat food and once in awhile give her some canned cat food. As time went on, I noticed an interesting behavior the cat demonstrated on certain occasions. When I would open a can using our electric can opener, the cat would run to the kitchen, meow, stand on her back legs and beg to give her what was in the can. My guess is that in the cat’s previous home when she heard the sound of a can opener that meant that they were opening up a can of cat food for her. What I realized was that for the cat, her food trigger was the sound of a can opener.
I think that we all have some kind of food triggers. It might be the smell of baked goods from a bakery that makes us stop in and buy a pastry. If we are feeling depressed we might open that pint of ice cream, grab a spoon and eat straight from the carton to enjoy the mouth feel that we get from eating some creamy ice cream. When we go to the movie theater, we might immediately stop by the counter and get a large popcorn and soda to enjoy during the movie because we have always had popcorn at the movie theater.
Sometimes we aren’t even hungry but then the smell of a certain food or the look of a certain food all of a sudden makes us hungry and we want that food. When I was working at one of my early jobs, l would stop at the little stand in the office building that I worked in and would buy a chocolate covered donut every morning before taking the elevator up to my office. That donut looked so good and smelled so fresh that I just had to have one every day. Buying a donut was part of my morning ritual. I did it without even thinking if I was hungry or not. Eventually I decided that I needed to lose some weight and the first that was eliminated was that morning donut. So I wouldn’t be tempted to buy a donut, I would avoid walking past the stand in the mornings.
At another job, I would go to the specialty coffee shop on the main floor of the building and have one of those creamy coffee drinks during the afternoon as a pick-me-up. I think I tried every flavor that was offered in the shop. I even had one of those cards that you get punched every time you purchase a drink and after a certain amount of drinks, you get one free. If the coffee shop was across the street, I wouldn’t have had that coffee drink; but the location of the shop was so convenient for me. Those drinks were so good that I didn’t even think about the amount of calories that I was consuming. No wonder I was always struggling with my weight.
Thankfully, at my current job there isn’t a coffee shop in the building to tempt me. There is a coffee shop across the street but that is too much effort for me especially during the Chicago winter unless I really need a coffee fix.
If we would all eat just when we are hungry and only until we started to feel full, there would be less overweight people. This is difficult to do with all the food temptations that are out there. What is your food trigger?
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