Strangest non-scale change: fryer smell quit calling my name

2026-10-06 23:22

I run a small cafe, and my portion-control kryptonite has always been the 4 p.m. lull: broken cookies, the last few fries, a spoon of soup for salt. Since starting treatment in early March, the oddest thing isn't appetite exactly. It's that the fryer smell at closing stopped reading as food.

It smells like hot oil and dish soap, not "one more bite." I still taste sauces and plate 30-40 lunches a day, but I'm not grazing the pastry case. Instead, I've been reorganizing the walk-in when stressed.

Last Tuesday I sorted the jam shelf by color and felt ridiculous, then weirdly proud. My husband asked if I'd taken up a new hobby.

I don't know if it's the med or just having brain space. Anyone else pick up a random non-food habit that came out of nowhere?

2026-10-10 13:42

Dorm-kitchen version of this: the communal microwave used to make anything smell like “free dinner.” Now leftover pizza in the lounge smells like cardboard and guilt, and I genuinely want a tuna packet with cottage cheese (student budget protein, don't judge). The weird one is walking past the vending machine — I used to hear coins, now I just hear the compressor humming.

Are you tracking these switches anywhere? I started a notes-app list called “smells that stopped being food,” and it’s mostly fryer oil, cheap birthday cake, and my roommate’s 11 p.m. ramen.

Not willpower, my brain just filed them under “chore.” What’s the next smell you’ve noticed getting demoted?

2026-10-13 05:14

Ha, mine was movie-theater popcorn. It used to be a full sensory ambush; now it’s just fake butter and salt.

Coffee, though, got better—I can actually smell the roast instead of just wanting the sugary latte. I dump stuff like this in a notes app, not on the scale, because it’s all noise until the 10-day trend moves.

Did yours stay neutral, or did it flip back once the novelty wore off?

2026-10-16 01:51

Mine was the vanilla syrup pump at a coffee shop I pass. It used to smell like melted ice cream and I’d start bargaining; now it’s more like sweetish hand soap.

I actually stood there trying to find the “food” part and couldn’t. I’ve started jotting these sensory shifts in my notes app because I trust them more than the scale on weird days.

Gentle question: when the fryer smell goes neutral for you, does it stay that way all week, or does it flicker back when you’re tired or stressed? No pressure—just curious.

2026-10-18 01:16

Not the fryer for me—it’s the dorm elevator after someone reheats fish. Used to trigger instant scavenger mode; now it just smells like regret and carpet cleaner.

The truly strange part: I’ve become a person who gets genuinely hyped about a 99-cent can of tuna mashed with mustard packets, because it’s like 20g protein for pocket change. My roommate says I’ve replaced food cravings with spreadsheet cravings.

I log “protein per dollar” in my notes app like it’s fantasy football. Did anyone else’s brain switch from “that smells amazing” to “what’s the macro math on that?” Or is that just me becoming insufferable?