My new addiction

I have a new addiction – health food bars.

To understand where this addiction came from, you have to understand a little about the Optifast program I underwent recently.  After an initial consultation, you begin a 12-week strictly-regulated diet, eating only Optifast products.  (There are other aspects, like monitoring by doctors and nutritionists and educational classes, but those aren’t pertinent to this story – I just don’t want to make Optifast sound so much like a scam.)  For the first three weeks, you only get liquid products – soups and shakes.  After three weeks, you get to eat one of three types of Optifast bars.  And let me tell you, after three weeks of liquid, those bars taste good.

It’s not the taste that got me though; it’s the idea that health can be regulated through small portions of prepared foods in bar form.  I not only became used to the ease of “meal” preparation, I think I actually find emotional comfort in eating bars – I don’t have to spend energy or thought on what to eat, beyond what flavor I select.  For someone who used to plan Thursday’s dinner during Tuesday’s lunch, and all meals in between, based on what I craved at that moment, there’s a lot of emotional comfort to be found in trusting one little bar to have all the nutrients I need, the right portion I need, and a controlled amount of calories.

I realized today I’ve been lying to myself.  Sure, I select bars made with all-natural ingredients, no trans fats, sweetened with agave nectar, high in protein, sold at Earth Fair, made with hemp seed or flax seed or enriched with Omega-3′s.  I am the $400/glass wine snob of health bars.  But I realized, as I was munching my 180-calorie Hemp Java bar on my way back to work, even the healthiest health bar is still a manufactured blob of stuff that satisfies my emotional needs.

This is just one more emotional hook I’m going to have to sever.  Fortunately, I at least now have the awareness to recognize my emotional hooks – chex mix was the first I battled after completing the Optifast program, apparently health bars are the next.  Not to say that health bars won’t have a place in my life – after a raquetball game or during an exceptionally busy day, they can come in handy, and at least I have now learned what brands I like and how to shop for them.  But 3 bars a day?  I’m starving my body’s needs for natural foods and vitamins in order to satisfy my emotional needs for comfort, stability and consistency.

From here on, I’ll be packing baggies of fresh fruit and veggies and throwing them in Ziplock bags.  I can still control my portion sizes, eat snack-size meals and satisfy my emotional comfort needs without sacrificing nutrition.