The CR Way features The End of Overeating by David Kessler as a benefit of the Healthful Weight Loss Membership. Knowledge is power! Sharing David Kessler’s unique perspective on why people overeat helps empower healthful weight loss members to let go of unhealthful comfort foods . We show them how to create irresistible calorie restriction diet plans. A core part of the program is the CR Way to Happy Dieting (the quick start guide that comes with full membership), which helps members change their brain biochemistry so happiness and satisfaction increase.
Another aspect of making a calorie restriction diet plan that works comes from the Kessler book: how to make foods irresistible. Dr. Kessler shares information from a presentation, Simply Irresistible – understanding high levels of satisfaction and what it means, by Michele Foley, a food scientist. She asks, “What kind of attributes increase craveability for the product?”
Here are her findings:
- Texture dynamics – the way the (food) sample feels in your mouth as you chew (hard or crisp? tending to fracture or melt?)
- Flavor dynamics – variety and complexity of the flavor – dairy, grilled, herbs, tangy/spicy, fruity/sweet, seafood, and timing of a flavor’s release.
- Flavor intensity (scored on a scale of 1 – 15)
- Mass dynamics – the way the sample is transformed in the mouth – (does it form a doughy mass or melt completely away?)
- How easy is it to eat?
Further analysis allowed her to pinpoint five key influences of irresistibility
- Calories
- Flavor hits
- Ease of eating
- Melt down
- Early hit
“…these are the attributes that drive cravings for you to eat. It’s about creating a lot of fun in your mouth, a lot of novelty in your mouth.”*
*The End of Overeating, David A. Kessler, MD – Chapter 21, The Ladder of Irresistibility
Once we understood the nuances of irresistibility, we decided to strive to make CR Way foods, recipes and diet plans irresistible. However, most comfort foods can ruin your lipid levels, send glucose levels through the roof, and produce any number of other unhealthful outcomes. But CR Way foods help people feel better, protect against disease, and – quite possibly – live longer. Here are some of the attributes you may wish to incorporate into your food to make healthful eating even more fun.
- Visual appeal
- Pleasing aroma
- Contrasting Tastes – multiple taste sensations that last for a long time.
Making your food irresistible
Take some simple, very healthful foods and make a snack that is so enjoyable you will want to have it again and again. We suggest starting with your favorite healthful fruit: blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries. Consider using frozen fruit because it’s easy, and because the best frozen food suppliers get their fruit right off the vine, so it has more nutrients than most fresh fruits that take weeks to make it to the grocery store shelves.
Now, plan ahead: Decide whether you want your fruit to be juicy at room temperature, warmed a little, or perhaps right out of the package like a frozen dessert and proceed accordingly.
Add some walnuts, creating contrasting tastes by combining the wonderful, woody flavor of the nuts with the sweetness of the fruit. You might also try a tablespoon or two of ground flax seed, moistened with a tablespoon or two of lemon juice – making your desert fun and adding still more contrasts along with textured, chewy interest. Want to add aroma and visual beauty? Try a slice or two of lemon on top.
Voilà! You have used some of the very principles that food manufacturers use to create irresistible foods to help make your CR Way life irresistibly enjoyable.
Full members can find more in a new section: “Healthful Hedonics” under Delicious foods – Make sure to rank your own recipes with the new Deliciosity Index
The CR Way approach offers healthful foods that are great for you, while wowing you with taste sensations – adding joy to your life. That’s a good reason for living longer, and if you need to lose weight, it’s easier this way.
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