So new indulgence is due and the news is I am not too bothered about it! In fact my wife is far more excited than I am, as this would be a chance for her to drag me out to one of our favourite restaurants for a meal.
Thing is there are 2 things that lead me away from indulging...
1) Paradox of choice: the weight of choice, the slavery of freedom in the capitalist world of endless choices. With so much to choose from, the actual decision process can be a stressful experience that takes away from the spontaneous enjoyment of the chosen treat. Let's put it this way, one of my favourite things of PCP is the evening milkshake...easy egg whites, milk and apple with cinnamon ( or sometimes cardamom powd or ginger powder) and crushed iced all into the blender, EASY! No thinking about dinner, no effort, no trying to be clever or fancy with the meal and yet (possibly as is the post strength workout meal) the most satisfying of the meals of the day ( even though into the other ones a decent level of creative cuisine goes into them)
2) Subconsciouss Guilt: with so much effort into the diet thus far, and the well being high of
good nutrition, the taste of greasy foods and loading the body with refined sugars feels somehow like a step backwards...
On the other hand the freedom to be able to join a friend in some impromptu tapas or a glass wine is an appealing factor. I have realised that what I really crave is the "social spontaneity" factor and the convenience of ot trying to concoct a PCP compliant meal from the cornucopia of oily and salty foods and highly caloric wines to be found in Spanish menus.
That is one thing about miserable and rainy London..the ease with which to find reasonably PCP adaptable choices in restaurant menus and takeaway food outlets.
So indulgence no.2 is still work in progress...but I am surprised by my complete lack of interest or excitement about it.
Still I can see Patricks point of it as an experiment to contrast old eating habits with newer sensations, and to see food attachments for what they really are, rather than experience them as idealised concepts of joy, as memories of happiness and pleasure that do not necessarily stand the test of our new PCP refined palates.
More soon on this, once I have selected my indulgence...
I like the idea of Tapas. We have some fantastic Tapas places around here. What I really want though, is some Alfredo pasta, a glass of wine and dinner at a slow paced dark Italian restaurant. All things I cant find around here....
ReplyDeleteYes, the point of these isn't to glory in the oily salty food but to calibrate how much you've changed and how your relationship with food is evolving. Good stuff Jose!
ReplyDelete