An exploration of sausages

Now if your mind got a bit carried away with the title of this post then slap your wrist and blush in shame, dear reader! But tucking into my pork peri peri sausages for breakfast this morning it occurred to me that I've relished discovering the different types of sausages that are sold on the supermarket shelf, and I never, ever think about whether or not I 'should' be eating them.

I have never really considered sausages in terms of whether they fitted in with a diet because I had been vegetarian for so long, far before my diet days, and so they had never been part of my eating plan. However, I'm aware that other people who diet see them as a 'sinful' food and often opt for low-fat options, whereas over the past few weeks since I began eating meat again I've been tucking in merrily, with not a low-fat sausage in sight.

I think my exploration of sausages without a care as to how many calories are in them has really shown me how much we can perceive food as 'good' or 'bad' when we've learned to think about it in a particular way. I've not really ever had a reason to form such a perception of sausages since they were never in my diet, and therefore I'm sure any dieter would balk at the sight of me with a buttered slice of bread, two grilled sausages and onions fried in butter for my breakfast!

Still, since I've started eating sausages, however much fat they have in them (I haven't checked), I haven't gained any weight because I eat them in an intuitive way. And I'm really, really enjoying the new flavours, but it is wonderful to do this without WORRYING! I don't think "Oh my, I've eaten a sausage, now I better starve myself", though I do know that two slices of bread would always be too much, so I stick with one.

So, the perceptions we have of food due to what we have learned can really impact upon our enjoyment of it, and the sooner those perceptions are ditched and we see the food as just food, and not public enemy number one, the quicker we can move towards normal eating, I think.

Comments

[lisa jane]

haha I didn't even realise that u could get low fat sausages! :) Wonders never cease huh?

[Jomay]

...and haven't you noticed that when eating foods that you really want and giving yourself full permission to eat them, you are satisfied with so much less!

I feel like I have come such a long way with intuitive eating and now have such a different relationship with food - I wish I had discovered it many years ago before all those painful years of diet food and scale obsession!!!