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Old 05-31-2013, 10:41 AM   #1  
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Question Your food habits compared to a "normal" eater's food habits...

Your food habits VS "normal people's" food habits.

I'll start.
I went along with a guy friend to do his grocery shopping with him, and he got tons of amazing, tempting snack foods. The entire rest of the day, he didn't crack open one bag/box of anything because he had no "interest to eat that right now." If that were me, I would've started eating the food in the car ride home.

I was with my sister the other day and dinner was in the oven. I opened her cabinets and took out chips and salsa. I was chowing down in front of the TV and realized she wasn't eating. When I asked her why she wasn't eating these amazing chips and salsa in front of her face, she looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Why would I eat that when I'm about to eat dinner in 15 minutes?" She's right. It makes so much sense. Why can't I grasp that?

I'm jealous of people with "normal brains." It just shows me how unhealthy my relationship with food is.

Anyone else have stories to share?

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Old 05-31-2013, 10:52 AM   #2  
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Oh, that is so my boyfriend! He can go all day without eating because he's not hungry. For him, there is no such thing as eating on a schedule or a certain amount of calories per day. He eats when he's hungry and stops when he's full...and he eats whatever he wants. He's 5'10" and weighs 170. Even his doctor is surprised that his weight only fluctuates by 3lb.
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Old 05-31-2013, 11:01 AM   #3  
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But what is normal? So many recent 3FC threads discuss what normal is in regard to weight & eating & seemingly address readers & potential posters as though we are all NOT normal but everyone else is lol.

I personally think most people are "normal" in that most of the human race is very much like the rest of the human race & behave differently only to the extent of cultural differences & circumstances.

Does anyone have some verified scientific, well established, wide ranging data as to what normal eating behavior is?

Asked respectfully & have a great day all!

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Old 05-31-2013, 11:08 AM   #4  
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I'm going to piggy back on your comments as they totally apply to me too!

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Originally Posted by GotothegymOKAY View Post
[COLOR="red"]I'll start.
I went along with a guy friend to do his grocery shopping with him, and he got tons of amazing, tempting snack foods. The entire rest of the day, he didn't crack open one bag/box of anything because he had no "interest to eat that right now." If that were me, I would've started eating the food in the car ride home.
That's how my husband is. He can have a box of unopened snacks that last through our next food shopping and if I say "Do you need a snack?", he will respond that he still has the said snack from last week unopened. (The good part of my diet is that I don't like the snacks he likes so I'm never tempted!) I used to always grab myself a snack for the ride home from food shopping too, and it was never an apple or an orange. It was chicken fingers from the prepared food section, a bag of chips at the register, or <gasp> open the bread, the cold cuts and the chips and make a sandwich in the car. Who does that? I used to.... It would never ever occur to my husband to eat on the way home from shopping or even when we walk in the door (I used to open packages of things I just *had* to have right then, could be 3-4-5 things).

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Originally Posted by GotothegymOKAY View Post

I was with my sister the other day and dinner was in the oven. I opened her cabinets and took out chips and salsa. I was chowing down in front of the TV and realized she wasn't eating. When I asked her why she wasn't eating these amazing chips and salsa in front of her face, she looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Why would I eat that when I'm about to eat dinner in 15 minutes?" She's right. It makes so much sense. Why can't I grasp that?
When we go to certain friends of ours for a Saturday night, they either plan to have snacks or to order pizza. The snacks will usually be a veggie tray, chips & salsa, a warm appetizer (sometimes a cheese dip with crackers or stuffed mushrooms) and that's it for the night with our drinks. If they decide it's pizza night, then it's just the veggie tray prior. When it's our turn to host, it's all of the above!! It would never occur to me not to have appetizers, snacks, pizza and then dessert to top it off! No wonder she was 180lbs less than me (yes 180 LESS)...

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I'm jealous of people with "normal brains." It just shows me how unhealthy my relationship with food is.
I will never have a normal brain in regards to food. I don't even know if I ever did. I think I loved food for my whole life. And my mom was so generous to her 4 children, she'd make us whatever we wanted (even if it was 4 different meals because we wanted something different. Spoiled brats we were). I mean, not every night but more often than not. If we didn't want chicken, she'd make us a hamburger. She never wanted us to be hungry. Out of the 4 of us, I'm the oldest and really the only one who gained ridiculous weight as an adult (I was fairly thin til I was 18 but was so active til I got a car and a job.). A lot of my eating I believe had to do with unresolved emotional issues but that's a story for another thread.

I'm jealous of people too. Food is everywhere, we need it to survive, it's an addiction. But hopefully I have a grasp on it this time. HOPE-FULL-Y.
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Old 05-31-2013, 11:52 AM   #5  
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I agree with Amarantha. What *is* normal? It seems that we all struggle with a similar set of issues so doesn't that make us normal and not outliers? Especially nowadays, if more people are overweight than not.

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Old 05-31-2013, 12:45 PM   #6  
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Whenever I used to hang out with my group of friends in college, every time that we have our daily break I would want something to eat: sandwich, chips... etc. But they only do that like once a week, max! And when that happens it's usually a cup of coffee or something. I don't know how they can't get hungry after 4 hours of lectures and just "sit there" on their break with nothing to eat. To be honest, I still don't think that's not normal and you have to have lunch when it's noon.
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Old 05-31-2013, 12:47 PM   #7  
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Yup, I don't even know what normal would constitute, anymore! My 'normal' father eats protein bars and yogurt all day before gorging on Mexican for dinner. My 'normal' father in law eats huge breakfasts, snacks on nuts and cheese and salmon, then lots of ice cream and salad to top it off. My 'normal' stepmother could live off of canned soup and always seems to be trying to lose fifteen pounds before hastily gaining it back.

These days I'm convinced there's no healthy normal. Healthy eating makes one aberrant, and normal seems to be piles of junk and convenience food, if we'e going by statistical prevalence as the definition of 'normal'. By my grandma' definition I'm probably one of the most normal eaters I know, given what I eat and how much. And yet I'm so far from normal, with my weight reduced state and particular menu choices.

I take food habits from all sorts of places, if they fit my goals. My intention isn't for normal, but *livable* for me. The more I observe people's eating the less commonalities I find!
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Old 05-31-2013, 01:08 PM   #8  
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I would also love to know what normal is.

One thing I became very conscious of in the last couple of years is that some people really think of food primarily as fuel. I might have eaten when hungry, and was technically fueling, but the prominent role of food in my life was to cause me pleasure. My husband could always just grab some random thing out of the fridge and it didn't matter to much to him whether it was something he loved or not. But I would never eat something that wasn't just what I wanted, which was always pretty terrible for me. And of course, it was fine w me if I wasn't hungry (a state I rarely got to, honestly) as long as the food was yummy.

Now I suppose I am even farther from normal. I usually fast for around 20 to 24 hours, eat one meal and sometimes one snack. I tend to eat the same foods over and over ( my meal is normally 1 avocado and 2 salmon patties, my snack 1 ounce cheese, 1 ounce almonds, 2 little wedges dark chocolate). Two or three times a week I'll have something different. That cannot be normal! lol
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Old 05-31-2013, 01:28 PM   #9  
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Here's mine: I was at a party recently and somehow the topic of ice cream came up. Someone said something to the effect of "We all probably have a gallon of ice cream that's been in the freezer for months." Everyone nodded, but inside my head I thought "What????" Ice cream is something I binge on and so I NEVER keep it in my freezer. It wouldn't last a day, much less a month!

I actually think there might be a "normal" only in the sense that it's how our bodies are meant to operate. The more I read about insulin resistance and carbohydrates and sugar, the more I think that there's something PHYSICAL about my overeating. I have plenty of willpower in every other part of my life, and I just can't believe that people who don't overeat are just naturally more virtuous than I. (Especially since I watch plenty of my thin friends drink more than they should, spend excessively, etc.) There's gotta be a physiological component that makes some of us have so much trouble with this.
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Old 05-31-2013, 01:43 PM   #10  
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don't forget the 3rd category - those of us who would love to dive in to that salsa or snacks on the way home and tell ourselves that we shouldn't/can't because we have to stay on plan.

it would be lovely to have that 'normal' brain (although I would argue normal biology dictates stuffing yourself! the world of abundance is doing us in!), it is possible to strike a balance between 'abnormal brain' and learning habits of control for long-term success.
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Old 05-31-2013, 03:37 PM   #11  
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There is no "normal" I feel like. What may be "normal" to me may not be "normal" to another person. To kind of go off what the OP said - there are times I will go to a store and see something sweet and think "those candies looking effing amazing" and buy them. But then will go days without eating them. I think psychologically it's just the happiness knowing I have something to snack on when and if I get a craving. A "normal" eating day for me is nothing compared to my dad who could probably eat a good 5000 calories a day and stay a skinny mini and the same size as he was in high school.
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Old 05-31-2013, 03:39 PM   #12  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GotothegymOKAY View Post
Your food habits VS "normal people's" food habits.

I'm jealous of people with "normal brains."[/COLOR]
Me too. And I also find them incredibly annoying -- way too "sensible" for me. I've said this many times, but I think they key difference between "naturally thin" people and the rest of us is that the thinnies just don't WANT food the same way we do. They may be receiving the same hunger signals, but they interpret them differently. They may be smelling or looking at the same delicious food, but it doesn't have the same allure for them.

Freelance

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Old 05-31-2013, 03:44 PM   #13  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newleaf123 View Post
I agree with Amarantha. What *is* normal? It seems that we all struggle with a similar set of issues so doesn't that make us normal and not outliers? Especially nowadays, if more people are overweight than not.
I don't think the semantics are the important issue (normal vs. not normal), but the range of responses to food among humans. I don't think all humans struggle with the same food issues. Perhaps most of us on this board do, but years of observation have made it clear to me that there is a subset of people who don't find it difficult to moderate their eating and don't have food on the brain very much.

F.
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Old 05-31-2013, 05:53 PM   #14  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PreciousMissy View Post
Oh, that is so my boyfriend! He can go all day without eating because he's not hungry. For him, there is no such thing as eating on a schedule or a certain amount of calories per day. He eats when he's hungry and stops when he's full...and he eats whatever he wants. He's 5'10" and weighs 170. Even his doctor is surprised that his weight only fluctuates by 3lb.
You've just described my husband to a tee (other than the fact that he's 6 ft and 180). His weight doesn't even fluctuate a pound!! How is that??
The other day, we had gone to Starbucks, but he doesn't care for their food, so he just had a coffee. Later that morning, around 11:00, I asked him if he had eaten. He said, "Not yet." He didn't eat until 12:30, and that was only because I was making myself some lunch and asked if he wanted any. I guarantee you that if I had not, he would have waited until dinner. I asked him how it is possible that he wasn't hungry. His reply: "I am hungry, but so what? What's the worst that could happen if I don't eat? I pass out? I doubt that will happen." Amazing!

There are many, many differences between the way I think and the way a normal eater thinks. One is that I will actually think about and plan the goodies I want to eat. For instance, I have it in my mind that tomorrow after CrossFit, I will be going to a bakery to buy an artisan salt bagel. Next Friday, I plan to go to a gourmet cheese store / cafe in my area because they have a new, gourmet macaroni and cheese every Friday. This probably has to do with calorie counting and "saving" my calories for food like that.


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Originally Posted by freelancemomma View Post
And I also find them incredibly annoying -- way too "sensible" for me
Me, too!! I wonder why I feel that annoyance. Is it jealousy? I cannot figure it out.

As for those who are questioning what normal is, to me the definition of that as regards eating is not being obsessed / overly focused on food, especially when one lives in a country where it is plentiful. To me, it seems abnormal to have an almost "survival" attitude toward food ("I must eat now!" "I must eat this entire bag of [fill in the blank]" etc.) in a country where such an attitude is unnecessary.

Last edited by lin43; 05-31-2013 at 05:59 PM.
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Old 05-31-2013, 07:40 PM   #15  
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I wish I could have a "normal" relationship with baked goods. Over memorial day weekend we decided to get cookies from the bakery but I wanted one sort that was special for the holiday and hubby wanted another. both kinds only came in a platter of 50 so we ended up with 100 cookies. We figured we would have some and send whatever was left on Tuesday to his work to be finished off... NONE WERE LEFT

from friday to monday night hubby had maybe 15-20 cookies, I had the rest. once they were in the house I just kept eating them. Not fast enough to make myself ill, or really even particularly full, but steadily enough that i ate 80-85 in 4 days
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