There are a lot of people who want you to think of food as fuel.

I find this a bad idea for two reasons.

First, just as a metaphor it's dumb. People will tell you to think of food as fuel and then tell you to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I would love people who say that to tell me how they think a combustible engine works. If I thought of food as fuel I would never eat another salad in my life. When we're talking about fuel we're talking about energy and salad has very little energy (in the form of calories) in it. In fact, we want our "fuel" to have a lot of calories in it. Do you know how many calories are in a gallon of chocolate milk? About 2560. Do you know how many calories are in a gallon of gasoline? About 31,000. That's why we don't run our cars on Nesquick. If you were on a desert island, you would live a lot longer if you had a can of Crisco to eat as opposed to a bag of mixed greens.

Second, even if we take thinking of food as fuel to mean eating foods that are loaded with nutrients (and not energy), I still think it's dumb. Oh sure, it's pragmatic, but removing any emotional element to eating and breaking it down to its biological function isn't the smartest or most pleasurable way to control something. If you tell a sex addict, "Think of sex as a means of inseminating a woman for the purposes of reproduction," I don't know that you're helping him out in any way.

And I don't think it helps a dieter to think of food in purely clinical terms. To think of it solely as a clump of calories or as fuel. I understand that we don't want people eating for the wrong emotional reasons. We don't want someone eating out of boredom or depression. But I don't think we should make the act of eating itself less emotional. In fact, I think it's more powerful to make it more affecting to you. We're always more responsible in regards to things that we imbue with a lot of weight and meaning. The sex-addict may enjoy sex, but it doesn't have any meaning to him. If we get him to view sex as an expression of love or at least a deep connection between people, then it will probably slow him down. If you can view eating not as a chance to stuff your face, or an opportunity to "refuel," but instead as a chance to commune with people you care about and indulge in food you truly enjoy, eaten at a pace that allows you to appreciate every bite, I think you'll probably find yourself eating better food with more care and attention than you had before.

Maybe this sounds ethereal, but I mean it all in a very practical way. Some subset of people who are overweight have turned to food because of depression. I don't know how one handles that because that's not my situation. Obviously the root problem needs to be addressed in some way. And part of that will be making sure the emotions that surround food are actually food-related and not "my father left me when I was 3 and now I feel empty inside" related. But another subset of people who are overweight that I do fall into are people who are sensualists. I have a very strong passion for food, massage, fast cars, music, women, etc., and I find it very easy to over-indulge in these areas when I'm not giving them the proper significance in my life. And you give things the proper weight just by changing how you think of them.

Don't see food as just fuel. See it as one of life's great pleasures that you are fortunate enought to take part in three times a day, and appreciate it as something important. In other words, don't fuck those mashed potatoes, make love to them.