Toast when I have no appetite

A small finding from this week. On mornings when food holds no interest, I put two slices of bread in the toaster anyway. I do not want toast when I press the lever. About ninety seconds later the kitchen smells like toast, and that smell usually makes me want it.

By the time the slices pop up, I usually want them, which still surprises me. I used to think I had no influence over wanting food. I cannot talk myself into hunger, but the smell often gets me there.

I tested a few variations this week. Frozen bread works as well as fresh. A darker setting makes a stronger smell, though the toast comes out slightly bitter, which I accept on hard mornings. Staying in the kitchen while it toasts matters too. The smell needs to reach me up close.

Other smells that help

• Onions softening in butter102 kcal, even before I know what I am making with them.
• Coffee, even though it is often said to blunt appetite. For me it signals breakfast.
• Cinnamon6 kcal warming in a dry pan when I am trying to eat oats150 kcal.

I have stopped being embarrassed by how mechanical this is. Smell and routine affect whether I want food, so I set those up on purpose. The toaster is the most reliable cue I have found so far.

Breakfast usually builds from there. Some days the toast gets eggs72 kcal with it. Other days I spread the second slice thickly with peanut butter188 kcal and slice half a banana105 kcal over the top, and the meal ends up larger than anything I could have planned at seven in the morning.

Some mornings it still fails. I butter the toast generously and eat it slowly at the table anyway. That is still better than skipping breakfast.