Due to my projected overcompensation for constantly worrying about my weight, everyone I know thinks I eat 5,000 calories a day and miraculously fit into small pants sizes.

I think someone recently asked how I eat "like I do" and stay this size, and I told them the truth - I lift weights 4 days a week and try to go to the gym at least 5 or 6, before dinner time I almost NEVER eat over 800 calories, and I have Greek yogurt and salad for lunch 5 days a week.

Megan - I say "hangry" too. People look at me weirdly but it's so apt.

The Beck book - which I have used strategies from, and like for the most part - has a whole section called "Hunger is Not an Emergency." Which makes perfect, logical sense . . . until I'm hungry. Then food needs to get in my belly. Yesterday.

I wonder we "food shame" ourselves or others. And I know I'm just as guilty as everyone else. Of course, now I'm aware of it and try to stop.

That's wonderful. I once thought I might be but then wondered why I hung out with 3FC types, LOL.

I still get defensive when people comment about my food choices. In the fall, we were at Ponderosa with DH's father. I got up to refill my plate and my father in law - who is 94, started laughing and made some comment about how I was going up "AGAIN??!!" and I snapped (and I mean SNAPPED) at him - "Yes, and I ran 8 miles yesterday and lifted weights this morning!"

He was clearly very embarassed, and felt bad for having commented. And then I was self-conscious about how much I was eating and wondering if EVERYONE was staring at me.

Then I thought about my naturally super-skinny sister-in-law who literally eats like someone is about to steal food off her plate. And I know that she would have just shrugged off the comment without even thinking about it. She wouldn't have been defensive at all...

OK, you got me!

Most people who eat well and exercise probably are somewhat 3FC types, they just don't go the extra step to make an account and post.

Here's a new one...my best friend has always been very thin, but definitely has food issues. For example, i was with her and her boyfriend the other day and he got ice cream. She decided not to. He got a big waffle cone and gave her a spoon and welcomed her to help him eat it. She took a few bites...then he offered again--"want some?" She goes, "oh, if you're not going to eat it." !!! You know, pretending she'd only eat if it's otherwise going in the trash.

This. I've got that book and try to use some of its strategies but being hungry makes me anxious, and being anxious makes me want to eat, so...it's hard.

I agree with Megan that it's more a matter of thought. I'd like to be someone who doesn't think about food all the time. I'd like to get away from feeling like my weight or what I eat are the most important things about me or my life.

I'm always astounded at the nasty comments some of you have had to deal with and then I realize that I isolated myself for a long time, so I just didn't allow any opportunities for people to be so mean.

The true enjoyment of a meal is such a joyful thing. Like when a loved one invites you over and prepares a meal, or you're really hungry for something and finally have it and sleep well afterward and awake happy the next morning.

I contrast this with meals that are eaten in haste, in anticipation of a self-inflicted shame for being 'bad', or just in that lost space where what you eat doesn't really matter and you pick up something from somewhere and it's prepared and consumed with indifference.

I once conducted an experiment in which I figured out how much I should eat so as to not feel 'full'. I found that I really require much less food than I thought and that the feeling of fullness was actually uncomfortable. The joy in eating this way was limited by a lot of mind-chatter on my part about all of my pre-conceived notions of who I am/have been, and what others would think of my reduced intake. Aside from this barrier, it was a happy time.

I wish we could all do this, to eat joyfully and in peace and truly take care of ourselves...

See, I wish I could feel this way. To me, to feel full is to feel happy. I love the feeling of fullness. I don't mean the bloated-I-can't-move fullness---just the fullness that comes from eating a sizable portion of exactly what I want. For instance, when I go out to dinner, I'll have a great salad to begin with, a delicious entree (usually a seafood dish), and then dessert is a must. I also have a couple of glasses of wine along with the meal and at least one roll with butter. That meal usually comes to about 1600-1900 calories. I feel full and satisfied after eating it. I love that feeling. Unfortunately, if I were to eat like that every night, the 50 lbs I lost would quickly find me.