That Elusive Spot

Sometimes I've wondered if what I'm craving is what my body actually needs. (excluding chocolate )

For example there are times I could eat greens at just about every meal & at other times ... not quite so appealing!
Some sort of nutrient deficiency, maybe?

Same with read meat. Which I don't eat a lot of at all.
There are times when I really crave a steak, generally when I'm a bit rundown.
And the impact of eating it is felt almost immediately.
Instant hit!

OK, pipples. We are talking about a different spot.

If you can predict when the spot is hit, that ain't it.

If the same food always hits a spot, it's not THE spot.

If your body requires some kinda nutrient and you eat some of it, that ain't the SPOT.

It's not simply about satisfying a craving, which can be wonderful. But it doesn't mean that the spot is hit.

This isn't about drinking coffee. My example was that you could drink a buncha cups of coffee. From the same pot. All in one day. Only one of them hits the spot.

Chai may be onto something. A combination of emotional and physical elements.

Dunno. This spot is turning about to be more elusive than I expected.

One more thing. When the spot is hit, it's not an oooooh. It's an aaaaaah.

Oh, well, my spot seems to be fat, to catch potatoes.

I get your point, Roberta, but not really.

I don't have testimony for eating my favorite thing in sequence and recording my oohs.

It may be that my favorite things are relatively rare, which may be the cruxt of the matter.

It also may be not about that but about perfection..

osso, This has nothing to do with eating favorite things.

Your spot can be hit by a slice of toast, a slice of melon, or a scrambled egg.

It's something about a particular food at a particular time. It pleases in a way that doesn't qualify as delicious.

I can only say I'll think about that.

I can understand melon on the beach in Mexico, I remember it. I cataloged it enough to mention it here, but not a key taste of my life while up there on the list, and I know melon is not your point.

I think this is a messy idea, but then I am not able to give you a pinpoint answer.

Do you want to hear about the first time I got a small gelato cup in Rome? I've gone on and on about that, generally, for years now. That mere dollop cemented me to Rome. But it was only one of various connections from me to it. What really cemented me to Rome was walking out of the metro station and seeing the Aventine, but before that, a well coated suave older person helping us get on the right train.

So, not the gelato, but it's well connected.

All I can say, Roberta, is that there could be a bunch of widely varying reasons for food cravings to pop up in different ways, with very different individuals, & also there could well be entirely different explanations as to what it might take to "hit the spot" for them.

olga, I agree that there can me lots of reasons and explanations for hitting the spot.

Clearly we've all got our own ideas about what hitting the spot means. And it looks like my defintion will have to serve for me. If it doesn't apply to other people, then it doesn't apply.

I think I got satisfying a craving & "hitting the spot" confused with each other, Roberta.
To me they mean much the same thing.
I'm working on it, though.

There is another spot, not exactly as boita is calling for, I think. But an important one. After I have worked in such broiling conditions every day, the first thing I do, on entering my home, is grab a slice of ice-cold watermelon. It helps to instantly make me feel better, plus there is the hydration aspect. Yesterday, I bought an $8 melon. I never contemplated such a purchase, in the past. But, I have become dependant on them to the extent I would even pay $10, if the fools but realized the power they hold over my melon needs. Last night, I dreamt I tried to pick up on my own the greatest watermelon known to man. But I lost my grip. It fell apart, crushed by its own weight, as it met the ground. Oh, well. Carry on.

I get what you mean Boida.

It isn't a place, or "the first time I had that" or associated with some story you can relate to others.
It isn't something you plan (although you might be planning to have that particular food, not knowing this particular time it's going to hit the spot)

It's just like you said. You lean back, say ahhhhhh....and all's right with the world in that moment.

I'm thinking "soul food"

Edgars example, working in the heat to make the barbeque, takes a long time. You know you're going to enjoy it, but when you sit down and take that first bite.....ahhhhh.....


all kinds of things have done that for me, of course not every time I eat it.

sushi does that sometimes. sometimes liverwurst on white bread with mayo. it can be that last swallow of cold coffee you forgot about. you could have dumped it down the sink, you shot it back instead.

ahhhh.....

chai, Exactly. You understand what I'm talking about. The spot I'm talking about. The surprise factor. The satisfaction.

I have milk and cookies every night before I go to sleep. Always satisfying. Always enjoy the two. A few days ago that first sip of cold milk hit the spot. Made me sit back and say Aaaaaah. Got me thinking about the spot. Why this time? I wondered. That sip got me to start this thread.

It's a puzzlement and a mystery--to me. Hundreds of glasses of milk. One sip hit the spot. Go figure.

I haven't been able to travel this summer, but I stopped by McDonald's today to try their new Mango Pineapple Smoothie that a friend had told me about.

Talk about hitting the spot...

It was a vacation in a cup.

Eva, Glad your spot was hit and you're saving on airfare.

For me, it's an emotional spot. Deeply comforting, deeply satisfying, leaves me craving nothing more. A perfect sensory experience.

And you have to know what it is you are looking for--A sense memory? Novelty? Familiar and soothing? How about those times when you know you want something, but nothing seems to hit the spot?

What makes "comfort food" comforting? Does it always hit that spot?

So, for me, it's the emotional factor--the feeling of, "Ah, yes!" when I've found it. Sometimes I know where to look for it, other times I may not even be expecting it and it just takes me by surprise. It's just the right thing, at the right moment, to fill the right need. You know it when you find it.