Quality vs. Quantity

I've always been more of a quantity eater. I enjoy the sensation of putting food in my mouth, chewing it up, and swallowing it. The more, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned (although there are certain flavors that I don't care for, such as green peppers, cream cheese, or coconut, which I mostly avoid).

Because of my enjoyment of quantity eating, I learned that the best way for me to lose weight is to eat large but low-calorie meals all day, and then enjoy a large, higher-calorie meal in the evening. For example, I eat a bowl of Dannon Light & Fit strawberry yogurt with rice krispies sprinkled on top for breakfast, along with a glass of water. For lunch I have a can of Campbell's healthy request soup. Then for dinner, I can basically eat whatever I want, within reason, of course. For dinner, we usually have lower-calorie versions of our high-calorie favorites. For example, I love ice cream so we eat ice cream a lot, but we eat Edy's slow-churned or Breyer's fat-free double churned, which have about 1/2-2/3 the calories of regular ice cream per serving.

I used to think that eating was all about shoveling food in your mouth, but becoming more food-aware through Weight Watchers has disabused me of that notion. Now, although I'm still a bit of a novice at it, I try to appreciate the quality of the food I'm eating too.

After I'd been on Weight Watchers for about a year or so, Jeff remarked to me that I was becoming a picky eater. No, I replied. I'm a selective eater, and there's a difference. Before I put something into my mouth, I weigh the options. Is it worth it to eat this piece of food? I have only a certain number of points* to spend today, so this food had better be worth the number of points. I need to enjoy it enough that I don't feel "eater's remorse." I need to have enough quantity of food so as to fill my stomach and stop the hunger pain. Does this food fit into my plan for the day?

Some foods, such as most vegetables, contain no points, so I can shovel them into my mouth mindlessly. Even fruit has one point per cup at most, so I can still enjoy almost as much fruit as I want without thinking. Other foods I know I don't like enough to spend points on them. For example, I never drink fruit juice, because while I do like it, it's just not worth the high number of points to me. Water isn't quite as tasty, but it's points-free. Likewise, I really don't like sandwiches very much, so I almost never eat sandwiches. It has to be a really high-quality, gourmet sandwich before I will be tempted.

It's the really delicious but really calorie-intensive stuff that I have to make decisions about. I know that for some reason, I cannot stop eating peanut M&M's once I start, so I have banned them from the house. I'll eat just about anything that's sweet, but as long as it's not peanut M&M's, I'm able to control myself.

They say that three bites of a food is enough to satisfy any craving. I think that's true, but sometimes it's hard to synchronize. Sometimes you're in the middle of eating something when you realize, you know what, I've had enough. It's hard to stop eating at that point, especially if you feel a compulsion to clean your plate, as I do. But I have had more success at stopping myself as I've become more food-aware.

I'm a professional cheapskate, so I balk at buying expensive foods. I'm a loyal purchaser of the store brands, because it's cheaper and I was taught that you're getting the same thing for a cheaper price because they don't have to pay for advertising, fancy labels, sweepstakes, etc. The thing is, I apply that logic only to foods, because I always buy brand-name laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaner, toothpaste, etc. And in the case of those products, there really is a difference. Is my assumption that you're getting the same food product true?

So I decided, as an experiment, to see if there was a difference between cheaper and more expensive foods of the same type, and if so, whether it was worth it. For example, if you get the Campbells' Cream of Mushroom soup, it is creamier than the store brand, but we decided that it wasn't creamier enough for the price. Next I think I'd like to try brand name frozen vegetables vs. store brand frozen vegetables, and see if there is a difference.

Another related question is whether using supposedly higher-quality (and therefore more expensive) ingredients makes something taste significantly better. I made a cake using cake flour and butter rather than all-purpose flour and margarine. The cake was much fluffier and lighter, and a lot better. Since I don't bake cakes very often, and when I do, it's for a special occasion and I'd like it to be the best cake possible, I think that the extra cost of using cake flour and butter is worth it.

*Weight Watchers shorthand for mapping calories, fiber, and fat content of food to a single number.