Fat Free Yogurt

When I first started loosing weight (on a popular paid for programme) I cut many delicious things from my diet. Almost all of them were high calorie, high fat. (Obviously it's the high fat calories that make it delicious!) I successfully lost 3 stone, got my gold thingy and relaxed. To date I have gained 2 stone back, but seem to be stable for now. I am giving myself a bit of a break at the moment while I'm in the early stages of not drinking and dealing with all that brings.

There are some low fat options that are permanently replacing the old high fat choices. I found some lovely low fat sausages that are really good, I'm now accustomed to low fat cheese, which was hard. I love cheese, especially melted cheese. On toast, on pizza, picked from the sides of a cheesy oven bake. Low fat cheese has none of that, it bubbles when heating and retains a weird texture, but does taste of echoes of cheese, if you over do it a tiny bit.

The real revelation has been fat free Greek yogurt. I love it, I prefer it to full fat yogurt, I would choose it even if I was underweight. I'm eating more yogurt now than I ever used to, just because this stuff is so delicious.

How does this relate to building an alcohol free life?

I have found that I can trick my body into giving me a quick pleasure rush by pouring myself an alcohol free drink as long as I go through exactly the same ceremony and stages as I used to when pouring and drinking an alcoholic drink. It seems too much to just cut all the habits and patterns and as my wife is still drinking it's not possible to just hide from the stuff.

So, I think I'm searching for the "fat free Greek yogurt" equivalent of the alcohol free alcohol options. I doubt very much that it actually exists - something that is a close enough taste that I like it as much as the carefully acquired taste of the drink with alcohol. So far they all have a slightly synthetic edge, and most have an added sweetness I do not like. I like the bitterness and sour notes in my booze - real ale, gin and tonic, bitters based cocktails. None of the alcohol free options I have tried so far come close.

I'm realising as I write this though, perhaps I need to work at acquiring a taste for the new stuff, to carry on drinking that stuff even though I don't like it, until it tastes good. I managed it with an actual poison, surely I can do it again with something that doesn't taste quite right. After all, if I can do it with my beloved cheese, I can probably do it with anything!