My own take on "open meals" is that I avoid them unless they're a last
resort.  I definitely don't use them as rewards or treats.  I found in my
case, that I'm so sensitive to the addicting effects of refined sugars and
grains and dairy, that one "bad" thing can get me craving more again, in a
big way.  My most vulnerable times are right before my cycle.  And in my
case, the paleo way of eating is the only type of diet (as in eating plan)
that ever managed my hunger cravings.  Early on, when I'd go off paleo, it
was hard to "have just one".  Once it took weeks to get straight again.   So
I lose in two ways when I have an 'open' meal - one- the urge to go after
and eat  bad things gets back in my system, and two - I lose my place in the
'hungerless' zone, which means I have to go thru that unpleasant carb
drying-out period all over again.
I save unpaleo for when no other choice (including skipping a meal) is
viable.  And then I mentally tell myself not that I've just had a lovely
interlude, but rather that I've been forced to ingest poison and need the
antidote as soon as possible.

The one thing positive I will say about open meals--they remind you how bad
bad can be.  Once an art teacher told me that you need to study and absorb
the work of those better than you.  But then every once in awhile, go back
and look at lesser work--if you can now see WHY it's lesser, then that shows
you how much you now know.  It's always easier to understand what A is, in
relation to B.  If you're only ever in A, you lose perspective.  When I was
in a paleo groove for a long, long time, I forgot what it was like--all the
icky things I felt when eating bad.  It was a huge lesson to re-experience
some of the unpleasant effects of off-paleo.

Ro






On Feb 11, 2008 1:54 PM, Gale <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'm in Milwaukee.  We had 17 inches of snow last Wednesday - just got dug
> out and had a couple of more.  Now it's minus 1 fahrenheit with a windchill
> of minus 20 and they tell us to expect another 3- 7 inches later
> today/tonight.
>
>  I'm ready to take out a petition to get winter banned.
>
>  gale <---  too damn old for winter
>
> Robert Kesterson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>  On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:38:55 -0600, Gale wrote:
> >
> > Hey Robert. Can I come over for dinner? lol.
> > yummmmmm
> > gale
>
> If you're ever in the neighborhood, sure. Good food and good friends are
> two of life's great pleasures. :-)
>
> Today isn't a good day, though. It's raining ice. Literally. There's
> about half an inch of it on the ground, and more on the way. I'm so ready
> for spring...
>
> --
> Robert Kesterson
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Never miss a thing.   Make Yahoo your homepage.
>
>