Balance of Food

Coping with reduced enthusiasm for food

We suggested a charcuterie board last Thanksgiving as an alternative to the elaborate holiday meal. As This Hour Has 22 Minutes parody notes, a charcuterie board could be really expensive in 2023.

The idea of a charcuterie board was to reduce the stress of the holiday as family celebrations cranked up back to the pre-pandemic possibilities.

The 2023 scenario has a different issue: reduced enthusiasm for food. Meal planning, even for one, was something where I got put the spreadsheets to consider the holiday options. This year, my reduced excitement for even a holiday meal is a concern.

Meals are more boring because I can't get the enthusiasm to jump into the holiday mindset. Even if I wasn't cooking the food, meals take longer to eat because I can't get the enthusiasm to focus and eat the meal. I dream of making a 3 or 4 course meal for myself but that feels impossible thanks to a lovely combo of anxiety and depression.

I joke that when I watch Food Paradise on the Cooking Channel, I have the opposite reaction of Pavlov's dogs. I tend to lose my appetite when they bring out those ridiculous dishes. Certainly not my version of Food Paradise.

Now this applies to regular food that isn't freakish. I have dreams of an oyster po-boy that duplicates what Alton Brown did in the episode, right down to the slaw.

Deep fried food needs to be dark brown. When I got desperate during the pandemic, I went to a neighborhood place for deep fried food that was very light brown. The taste reflected the contrast. Deep fried food isn't worthy unless the color is as dark as those oysters.

Food used to be a temporary cure for anxiety and depression, or at least reduced my higher anxiety levels. This story doesn't match exactly my concerns but I feel some bonding. Eating healthier can help those symptoms but when the cook is depressed, well, that makes life more difficult.

Don't have the energy to make this oyster po' boy sandwich yet would manage the energy to eat this sandwich.

Charcuterie board offers a small Thanksgiving feast without pressure or hard work

Temptation of the Week: Cranberries by themselves

Leftovers are the pinnacle of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. You put all of that effort into a single, gigantic meal and then eat leftovers for several days. A turkey sandwich that you dip in gravy on Black Friday. The pumpkin pie that you had for dessert on Thursday becomes breakfast on Friday and Saturday.

Might be worth making a huge meal just to have days where you don't have to cook. The drawback to leftovers is you may not be excited to eat them.

One Thanksgiving, your humble narrator has a typical Thanksgiving meal at a hostel in San Francisco. My second choice would have been S&G restaurant in Chinatown getting the Peking duck with the bao buns. Easier to eat than cook … and no leftovers.

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Thankfulness. Love. The first is obvious. Being thankful. Love is crucial, especially if you are celebrating with family.

Love also means love for yourself. You deserve a Thanksgiving celebration. Doesn't have to be a feast in the classic sense. Minimal cooking. Maximum eating, to a point.

Be thankful and worthy of self-love in preparing Thanksgiving. Even if you have to go to a family celebration where you won't be comfortable, make a separate Thanksgiving meal for yourself. You deserve something for yourself. 

A loved ones Thanksgiving is often a great excuse to blow off a less than desirable family event. Protect yourself.  

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Holidays can make mental health issues, especially anxiety and depression, worse. This can take a toll of the enthusiasm for food. Do something celebratory but low-key with little to no pressure.

video credit: This Hour Has 22 Minutes/CBC
photo credit: Good Eats/Cooking Channel

Cutting way back on major label fast food

Hard habits to break. Fast food might be one of the toughest if you live in the United States or Canada. Those who drive might find giving up to be virtually impossible. I accumulated a lot of fast food, often without a car.

The COVID-19 pandemic made that a lot easier, as we have written about. Many people, because they are human, have resumed their previous behaviors. No judgments. Just a reality.

Your humble narrator is not a genius or specially gifted. Yet to the best of my knowledge, I am coming up on an unusual anniversary. The last memory of being at a major fast food place was in November 2019. This would be the 4-year anniversary of not going to a major fast food place.

Let's offer a few caveats. I remember that visit to a McDonald's in November 2019. I might have visited a McDonald's or a Burger King between November 2019 and March 2020. I can't swear I made a visit but don't recall a single visit in that time. I can promise I haven't made a trip since March 2020.

We define major fast food places = McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. I have made a few Arby's visits, some Little Caesar's stops for Crazy Bread, and one not-so-great Long John Silver's visit. A lot fewer fast food trips than in the before time (before March 2020).

Before you ask where is the book I've written on how I made this happen (there is no book), I do have some theories as to why this has happened.

Anxiety and depression: Reduced interest in things I previously enjoyed. Some good things have disappeared along with the desire for a lot of fast food. You take the good and the bad.

Reduced enthusiasm for French fries: I thought my strong love for French fries would return when things went back to relatively normal. They don't taste as good, even when I have had them. French fries isn't a strength for the major 3 hamburger places. McDonald's used to be good in the beef tallow and trans fat days. They need ketchup, hopefully one without high-fructose corn syrup.

Less running around: The fast food siren gets silenced when I don't run around as much. The temptation gets stronger when I am running around doing activities. "You need a snack. It's not that much. You used to love me."

I didn't eat fast food because the food was good tasting. I ate fast food out of convenience. Make a snack and take it with you. Easier said than done but that could get you out of a pickle or jam with fast food.

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You may still have a long relationship with fast food. You had a car so when people couldn't get fast food without a car, you had a car.

The funny thing is when you don't have that relationship with fast food: you remember the sad moments in that relationship. Eating a McDonald's hamburger that tasted more like a pork sandwich out of a microwave oven than beef from a griddle. Stopping in the middle of a Burger King Whopper and finding the burger so dry that you didn't want to finish the burger.

Those are real memories from 2019. I hope I have enough self-respect that I deserve better. My lone Long John Silver's pandemic trip had very little satisfaction. I have fought with my local Little Caesar's that often serve me Crazy Bread without the cheese sprinkled on like the product.

Fast-food chains are feeling the heat from false advertising lawsuits claiming their food doesn't match ads or photos on the menu board. https://t.co/HvHJUDhaOP

— Axios (@axios) September 2, 2023

I have childhood memories of dark brown chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken. The only way you can get that dark brown color is in the KFC advertising. The wonder over getting a breath of mustard in lieu of a decent serving of mustard on a McDonald's hamburger on a consistent basis.

Those who are fighting fast food companies over how much better their food works in commercials versus reality: we love and support you. The uphill battle is taller than Mount Everest and might be about as dangerous to climb. We wish you much luck.

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Eventually Cal Ripken Jr. sat out a game. Long streaks come to an end, for those who don't get the baseball reference. There will be a moment when major fast food will pass through my lips and sadly into my stomach.

I will enjoy what I have until that streak ends. When the streak does end, I won't go back to a regular habit of fast food. Hopefully.

If I had the power, I would negotiate a deal: I'll eat major fast food when I can get a product that looks as good as the ones in the ads.

photo credit: McDonald's
Twitter capture: @axios