some things are magic combos — bagels and coffee, coffee and cigarettes (i quit), cigarettes and a glass of laphroaig (don't drink hard alcohol anymore)…

last night i had single glass of organic wine and it didn't taste so good…i think i am slowly losing my penchant for that too.

I suspect the association would be reasonably positive, although I did nurse a lot of hangovers there, I guess… :)

It could be worse — at least I never worked there… *wink*

— Jack

That aside — I meant to mention, bagels + coffee.. they're such a great combo. It's a weird thing — it's like, by themselves they're ok (but not great) but together they're awesome. Two bad foods make one good one? You almost need one to compensate the other.

pps. super glad I've never worked in hospo. Crazy, but boy, great way to develop alcoholism :)

then again, i was also working in a bar in nyc while i was in school. friday night, saturday double, sunday brunch. i'd take my hard-earned $ and go bonkers at gourmet garage and lifethyme (a health food store)…toting bags and bags of groceries home on the train like a modern-day cavewoman drags a gazelle for hubby (i.e. my crazy artist bf who rarely left the studio to shower, much less eat).

Oddly, the best bagels in Melbourne are in a place right under my building.. but since going very-much-mostly raw, they're just tasting more and more bland & stodgy. My imagination? :)

Nifty trick re truffle oil btw. I've gotta say, I've enjoyed a truffle pizza on occasion. Boy howdy that's tasty.

I agree music is a LOT safer in terms of emotional connections. I suspect there's still a strong effect there (after all, sounds & music are used heavily in various forms of therapy), but at least you're not dealing with the heavy/toxic/etc biochemical effects of positive-association-yet-negative foods.

.. and isn't it odd how rare it is to have a positive emotional association to, I dunno, broccoli? *grin* maybe that's just because of the commonality of eating crappy food when we're younger.

Got any associations to mcdonald? *wink*

So, thinking about it, here's what I'd do (& will. soon. I promise *grin*):

* think of positive memories around chocolate — good times you've had it — positive associations. Tap on those "even though chocolate reminds me of X.." etc

* think of benefits from eating chocolate — eg, "even though chocolate cheers me up..", "even though chocolate tastes really yummy.."

* after you've hit all the positive things you can think of, try just hitting it straight out "even though I'm addicted to chocolate.."

also useful might be to try open-ended tapping. tap "even though I'm addicted to chocolate because.. [then keep tapping, but wait a coupla secs, as if your brain is saying something to fill in the gap] I deeply & completely love & accept myself" then on each point "I'm addicted to chocolate because [keep tapping for a coupla secs]" — sometimes your brain will fill in the gap with words, in which case say them out loud. sometimes it won't — in which case that's ok, just keep tapping.

in terms of specific cravings, I've actually found just 'releasing' the craving to work better than tapping.

I reckon that'd be a pretty good start.. let me know how you get on! (& I'll do likewise)

Apparently living close to Dr Who's Tardis as I do, this phrase was instantly translated into "Palmerston North" for me. Anyone else had that happen to them?

Nostalgic moment : I was going through some old boxes of stuff I'm in the process of throwing out, and came across a diary entry that simply said "Si, 21st, Palmie". Great party. I'm glad you've stopped dancing naked though. And I'm hoping you no longer decorate your rooms in total black?

Love ya, man… :)

Back on topic though — it doesn't surprise me too much that food has emotional attachments — I mean, we do it with smells, and music, and anything else as well, probably (textures maybe? colours?). The negative aspect of food is that the wrong food may be mentally positive for us but physically bad. Music tends not to do that. If I listen to The Muttonbirds' Envy Of Angels CD, I'm instantly back living in your garage again (1998?), pretty vividly. Great times, great CD.

I found a funnier connection last week — was in a coffee bar the other day (poisoning myself with much glee and joy, I might add), and a blast from the past hit the shop's speakers — The Holiday Makers' Sweet Lovers. I hate the song with a passion because my first girlfriend deemed it "our song" (as in, "oh, they're playing our song, lets dance to it!"). I hated it then, I hate it now, but I could never muster up the courage to tell her.

The association is positive though, since it always makes me smile about how young I was. Awful song, bad memory, yet a positive connection!

bacon was never my thing…being asian, nothing's sacred and my parents certainly brought the stuff home. i ate it as a child but i never liked the smell of it frying up in the microwave. no attachment there.

bagels…ahhh.…i can relate. the BEST bagels imho are in nyc. btw, si, i was also at the atlanta olympics! i was a volunteer with my dad and my aunt for table tennis. SO much fun! i used to eat a cheddar jalapeño bagel or two every morning with coffee when i worked in ny (i was a smoker at the time and believe the nicotine certainly contributed to my calorie-burning propensity). sometimes i'd toast the bagel and put butter and more cheese on it(!) so yes…i understand what you mean re productivity and bagels…although i suspect the caffeine also helped. :)