Looking for a way to temporarily shut down my sense of smell.
 

I know several people who, through various circumstances, lost their sense of smell. Unfortunately I can't repeate these circumstances because they mostly involved head trauma. On thing all of these people had in common was an almost complete loss of appetite. They said everything they ate tasted bland, (like cardboard). They all lost a good portion of their body weight due to their loss of appetite.
Now, to my problem. I am interested in losing weight. I don't have much opportunity to exercise, so don't bother suggesting it. I have a desk job which keeps me from getting any walking done at work. At this point I'd say my best bet is to cut calories by eating less. If I lose 30 pounds I will be at a very decent weight. Does anyone know of a way (other than head trauma :)) for me to temporarily 'disable' my sense of smell? It seems to me it would be a great way to cut back on eating with very little affect on my lifestyle.
Thanks,
Bent

Vicks VapoRub under your nose. (only half kidding)

I had thought of that and I just may give it a try. I was tying to come up with something that other's wouldn't notice. I suppose if I just use a tiny bit other people won't smell it. Fortunately people tend to stand back when talking to be because of my bad breath. :D Thanks!

get yourself a nasty head cold. that'd do.
you can also reduce your appetite by getting food poisoning.

I have a desk job, and still get a lot of exercise in at lunch...so it CAN be done.
Are there stairs near by you could walk at lunch, or around the block or?? There are so many ways to squeeze exercise in.

If you don't have access to showers, a package of "Wet Wipes" will help get you cleaned up and ready to go back to work.

How about just eating less? It would take you forever to lose 30lbs that way but at least you won't gain.

A small psychology lesson for you:

The smell senses and taste buds are closely linked together. Ever watch a chef show? When the chef tastes his soup/sauce he will breathe deeply through his nose to take in more of the smell and thus tasting more distinct.

So, in a nutshell, if you can't smell, you can't taste (if you can, it will subdued substantially).

If you get a bad cold you can knock off your smell for a while. Alternatively, as you mentioned, head trauma should be sufficient to pull all the delicate little nerves off the olfactory bulbs and stop you smelling.

However, I reckon weight loss is a lot better/longer term etc if you do it by exercise!

Off topic:
I've always had a bad "long range" sense of smell. At work my colleagues smelled smoke while I didn't even notice. One time they said paint fumes were heavy in the room next door and when I went in, I everything seemed normal to me. But close range (1-2 feet), my sense of smell is decent, and my sense of taste is excellent. I can identify different ingredients and stuff in all kinds of dishes and soups. Also, when I have colds my sense of taste is the same although my appetite may diminish. I've always wondered if there was something wrong with me.

Use tape! Duct tape! Beyond that.. I would still try exercise, if not for weight loss, then for general personal health, as already suggested. Eating less would probably also work.. You seem as if you've already made a conscious decision to lose weight; you might not even need to lose the sense of smell in order to eat less. After all, you don't want to make all foods taste bad, you just want to eat less, right? I would also suggest drinking lots of water as opposed to sugary drinks and not to keep your eye on the scale too much.. General body appearance is much more important than mere weight, it seems to me.

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Although you said not to suggest excersize, like other people mentioned, you're not going to get too far without it. Unless you're chained to your desk 80-90 hours/week, you should be able to find 15-20 minutes to take a walk every day.

I don't know how healthily (is that a word?) you eat now, but don't set foot into a McDonalds for any reason.

You can't really trick yourself into weight loss, but you've got the desire, build off that.

You could try jamming kleenex up your nose, I would do it when my hayfever acted up and I didn't have any pills around. I couldn't smell a think. I looked like a jackass though.

You could always take up smoking, that's an appetite suppressant and kills your sense of smell. Probably not the best route if health is an issue, though. :)

At one point I weighed about 30 lbs more than I do now and that's not counting when I went through pregnancy and post childbirth (that was 70 lbs more than I weigh now). I have learned to really simply listen to my body. If I'm not truely hungry but just craving something I will chew gum or drink lots of water. Those things can help your body believe that you've eaten and the cravings lesson. I know it's not fool proof because when I crave chocolete there is nothing that helps that except a nice piece of dark chocolete. I have even been known to eat unsweetened baking chocolete in a "feeding" frenzy.
Just whenever you are wanting to eat something ask yourself "Am I really hungry?" Half the time the answer will be no. Also ask yourself that when you are wanting to go for seconds on something.

It helps too if you don't go out to eat as much. I know when I'm eating out lots I tend to gain some. Partly because of how miserly I am I won't leave any food behind on my plate because I paid for it. Eat at home. The work taken to prepare it will at least burn off a couple calories. Good luck.

I know what you mean. When I split w/ my ex wife I lost 30 lbs in 2 months. I guess I was on the 'OMG, strangers are going to see me naked' diet. :)
Thanks for the great ideas everyone.

Try a pocket inhaler (over the counter)http://www.vicks.com/products/vapor_inhaler.shtml