Excellent article about the cultural obsession to eat right.
http://verilymag.com/2015/06/healthy-eating-fear-of-food-intuitive-eating-diets-eating-disorders
Though I'm not an "intuitive eater" and I enjoy counting calories, watching my weight, eating gluten free and playing around with my "diet" and WOE, I tend to agree with much of this article. Thanks for posting. Nice site.
This is why i never refer to myself as being on a Diet. It's the big D world and it's like a curse word with so many negative associations that goes along with it. I association fad diets with a "diet". I am on a lifestyle change
A few years ago I stopped at the local health fair and had my cholesterol checked. It was a little bit high. The previous year I had been on a very strict, low cholesterol, low fat, low calorie diet, but about the time I started falling away from strict adherence to that plan some changes in health advice came along. Suddenly eggs were okay, certain fats that used to be bad were now good and sugar was passing up fat as the big bad thing.
So when the nurse looked at my numbers and asked me if I "ate right," I suddenly didn't know how to answer. I told her I wasn't sure, it depended on the current definition of "right." This made her angry and I started to feel upset and judged in a way I hadn't felt since I last got called before a teacher in school. I'm almost seventy years old, I don't need a young nurse to lecture me as if I were a bad little girl.
I don't ever again want to be asked if I eat right, or eat clean, so long as I live.
I am totally confused as to what is "right" eating. But I know that years of trying to follow it when I was being "good" just messed me up even further.
Now I eat fat (avocado, chicken skin, real mayo) pretty much at every meal and eggs and for the first time in my whole adult life I am pretty much full. Eating all those grains and carrots and popcorn and fatless meat left me starving and, partially, contributed to my binging because I was hungry and deprived.
A nutritionist probably wouldn't like the way I'm eating -- although it's nearly all from scratch and whole foods. The weight is falling off. And I feel great (this is also because I've eliminated dairy.) And I don't feel like I'm on a diet. So I KNOW I am eating right for me. (And oddly enough, I am probably eating quite similarly to how previous generations did.)
I am totally confused as to what is "right" eating. But I know that years of trying to follow it when I was being "good" just messed me up even further.
Now I eat fat (avocado, chicken skin, real mayo) pretty much at every meal and eggs and for the first time in my whole adult life I am pretty much full. Eating all those grains and carrots and popcorn and fatless meat left me starving and, partially, contributed to my binging because I was hungry and deprived.
A nutritionist probably wouldn't like the way I'm eating -- although it's nearly all from scratch and whole foods. The weight is falling off. And I feel great (this is also because I've eliminated dairy.) And I don't feel like I'm on a diet. So I KNOW I am eating right for me. (And oddly enough, I am probably eating quite similarly to how previous generations did.)
I hear ya! I kicked the fake-food bucket completely almost 6 weeks ago and finally started losing. No more margarine (although I'd already cut that out) reduced fat sour cream/mayo, diet soda, corn/canola oil, etc. I'm even making my own organic bread crumbs for one of my fave indulgences, fried green tomatoes (in lard!)
Portion control is not even an issue now, because I feel full with less intake. Just like when I was young living "at home" eating country food...and I was "underweight" then.
Last edited by PrairieQueen; 07-26-2015 at 08:39 PM.
I know, right? Isn't it crazy? All these years I was hungry and tired and fighting with my body. Who would've ever thought if you just feed it proper whole food and (gasp!) fat, you would get full and feel better??
I know it might not work for everyone, but it (and I have say, the no-dairy thing) has made a big difference to me.
Great article. Thank you for posting it. I definitely have fallen into the trap of considering foods "good" or "bad" and judging myself on how I eat them. In the last few years, I've been doing that a lot with fats, especially stuff like olive oil and avocado. In becoming a vegan (which I am for ethical reasons - have no objection to others eating meat if that's what suits them), I stumbled upon a whole body of thought labeled as the "whole foods plant based diet". The idea, though isn't just about eating whole foods but it's also about not eating any fats. And I mean ANY, even whole fats like nuts, seeds, and avocados. A popular thing is for the doctors who push it to show some pictures of blood vessel movement and how sluggish it gets after a meal with fat in it. It was quite convincing to me until I realized that the meal had been a high fat meal (like a fast food meal), not the kind of thing I eat, as I might have a meal with some fat in it (like a teaspoon of olive oil in a salad) but nothing like that. So the idea that moderation is key is something that these doctors insisted doesn't exist but I know for myself that it does, as there are some foods (even those that are considered unhealthy, like dark chocolate) that I actually can eat a serving of and not go crazy.
This is why i never refer to myself as being on a Diet. It's the big D world and it's like a curse word with so many negative associations that goes along with it. I association fad diets with a "diet". I am on a lifestyle change
That reminds me of an old Garfield cartoon. Garfield's owner complains that he is getting to heavy and that he's going to put him on a diet. Garfield says, "Diet is 'die' with a T!"
Tammay Some "doctors" think and say wrong things. Good thing you recognized that. Olive oil, nuts, etc are not only healthy, but help satisfy hunger so we don't eat too much.
I'm not afraid of the word diet. I plan to stay on the healthy diet I'm on and am learning to enjoy some new foods.
At Italian restaurant yesterday, the bakery faces us as we walk in. I went knowing what I was going to choose that is healthy, and I did and stopped. Water, not the wonderful strawberry ice tea with sugar that I used to choose.
Diet? Yes, only this diet is also a lifestyle change that I'm learning to live with and enjoy it.
Stop telling women to "eat right!"
