The sense of smell

[Momtofour]

Many people have posted about smelling food and being able to not touch it. Some even say that the smell is all they need. I CAN NOT do this. Is anyone like me? I can't smell banana bread and walk away without thinking about it all day. Maybe my sense of smell is linked closer to overeating than others. I don't know. For me it is like the alcoholic sniffing some alcohol. That would be a very dangerous thing to do. It is better for me to just avoid carby, good smelling things all together. I have found that many foods that I used to sit down and eat by the buckets full, just don't taste good anymore, but I certainly wouldn't go smelling them.

What are your thoughts?

[Richt]

Re: The sense of smell

I think its possibly to do with the length of time you have been since eating any of these forbiden foods.

I can now smell chocolate and it will not leave any lasting cravings, but I have been doing this WOE of almost 2.5 years. If I had smelt chocolate a month into my campaign I think it would have been a different story.

Rich

[Momtofour]

Re: The sense of smell

You may be right Rich. I have the control to not eat it now, and I've been on Atkins almost 1 year. Pre-Atkins I would not have been able to control myself and eaten 5 donuts at one sitting. Maybe by year 2 it will quit triggering that part of my brain that makes me think about it. I don't crave it at all unless I smell it.

[iyamamaschke]

Re: The sense of smell

Every single Person is Different and yes, a lot of People have closely linked smell with feeling and such. I myslef could NOT smell and not wanna eat it all the times I did it before. But, I was an emotional eater. I actually had Therapy before I started this time and got to the root of everything. I am now able to smell things and indulge that way, but there are sooo many memories feeling etc. Linked to smell, you can't can't smell it and not want it Try not to do it your Wonderful small could sabotage you and we wouldn't want to do that. Wait a little longer get even more in contorol and try again you may suprise yourself. You just may not be in a place right now where you can do this and Honestly I couldn't the first 8 months I would wanna eat whatever and would think about it all day. I have really grown in the past while and Now smell is a tool. I'm sure it will be for you as well.

Sarah

[ValidRouge]

Re: The sense of smell

Pre-Atkins I would buy candles that smell like vanilla, cookies, cake, etc.

I just can't handle them now. It makes me want the taste too.

I bought some new candles with scents like cotton, rain, grass etc. Things that don't smell like Food!

[Analog6]

Re: The sense of smell

On this line, I saw some chocolate scented body wash! I know it would just make me crave chocolate (although I'm getting better after 6 months on ATkins WOE). And why on earht would you want to SMELL like a chocolate after your bath/shower?!!

[hey_nelson]

Re: The sense of smell

Ya know what gets me. Going to the grocery store and smelling the fresh baked bread. And here, it seems they are baking all the time. That is always a challenge.

patty

[Momtofour]

Re: The sense of smell

The smell of baked goods is the worst for me. I don't miss bread at all until I smell it. I try to tell myself that it is like coffee. It always smells way better than it tastes, for me anyway.

[bizzlekitty]

Re: The sense of smell

I enjoy the smells of forbidden foods, but no longer have the cravings to want to it it. I remember how unfulfilling these foods really were and how hungry they made me afterward.

I still enjoy the smells of them, but that's usually enough for me. I don't think I've been tempted by any of them.

[dotsamantha]

Re: The sense of smell

I've always had a sensitive nose and the past month has intensified it, I think. Certain sweets are almost nauseating. Pastries are too strong for me to be near, but bread baking smells delicious. I also enjoy the smell of whatever i'm cooking more now than before. Unfortunately I still hate the way eggs smel,, even though I love eating them.

[Mary-chan]

Re: The sense of smell

When I'm doing good and really in ketosis (if that makes any sense), I enjoy smelling foods. I reasoned that it was 50% of the pleasure of eating food and 0% of the guilt! It became kind of fun for me to smell foods lol. Then I "fell off the wagon" for a bit and am still not quite on 100% (I kind of put myself in a modified maintenance level for now), and now I cannot smell foods without wanting them, so I stay far away.

[Condor]

Re: The sense of smell

Smell is so realted to memory, have you ever been reminded of an ex-love by smelling the aftershave/perfume they were wearing the time you dated? I think its the same with food, we have very strong memories back to childhood that gives us these intense flashbacks. My mum was a nurse back in the sixties and one of her patients was dying of cancer, this lady used lavender talcumn powder regularly, my mum can no longer bear to be within a mile of lavender although I love it! British supermarkets have been alledgedly using the trick of on site freshly baked bread to entice us poor carbo addicts for years! Getting back to wot you said, smell is a good thing, after living this wol it just get honed finely for the natural foods, trust me.