A big chunk of my fat is eating my emotions...binging on all kinds of processed junk food to the point that I was so full I felt numb (it was better than bored or lonely).
Another chunk of my fat comes from using food as a reward. I'm working on my report cards on the weekend, therefore I deserve donuts for breakfast. I finished my report cards on time, therefore I deserve a Big Mac, large fries, large Coke (the good stuff, no Diet anything because "I done good") and some apple pies....not good habits here -
The last chunk of my fat, and honestly, it's probably a much smaller portion than the things above, is from eating highly processed foods as opposed to healthier food choices. I'd be unhealthy from these choices, but not nearly as heavy as I am now, if I had primarily eaten when hungry and stopped when full.
Since I've been overweight since childhood (read: dieting since childhood), I've been aware of portion sizes as long as I can remember...the emotional side of food just made it so easy to ignore them -
Chick Fil A, Mac and cheese, Chick Fil A, "healthy" (nudge nudge) potatoes and salads, Chick Fil A, MEXICAN FOOOOOOOOD, Chick Fil A...
I still CRAVE Chick Fil A... especially fries and the yummy ChickfilA sauce. Oh dear... and a BROWNIE!
I live in the Chicago burbs and a chick fill a just opened. Before I started with weight loss I was counting the days till that thing opened. But I haven't been yet.
I've been obese since grade school. My parents owned a restaurant / pub so that was the kind of food I ate. They were always working and too busy to cook. So a standard dinner for me was chicken fingers and soda. Or cheese sticks or fried zucchini. As a kid...day in and day out. All the time! My fat is from fried food and no portion control. I knew about the size of an ice cream serving but just stuck my head in the sand.
Also Uno's Chicago style pizza. The classic individual pizza is 2,500 calories!!!!!
I'm almost embarrassed to admit this but I LOVE cheese!! And I love eating late at night when my kids are all asleep.....So I used to sit at 10pm and eat a whole 8 ounce block of sharp cheddar with some ritz crackers
I also was a total fast food junkie. I'd stop at LEAST 5 times a week and grab a McDouble or whopper junior, fries, sweet tea.....taco bell big burritos (or two).
Man when I started calorie counting and looked up what I normally ate, I was shocked! I'm surprised I wasn't alot bigger than 30 pounds overweight!
So, today, I sat down, boxed up and took all my size 10s to the church thrift store. Getting rid of my 10s? really? My 8s are all into the absolutely comfortable range, with a few being loosish, and the 6s I have waiting in the wings can all be put on, but..well, let's say I wouldnt quite want to wear them in public yet.
Anyway, boxing up the 10s put me in a food wondering mode, and I just wanted to ask everyone what your fat is?
Mine is not really dessert fat. I mean, I was not averse to chocolate and sweet stuff, but most of my fat was just good wholesome food, just a whole lot of it. I was very fond of baked and broiled chicken, but having an 8 oz portion of it certainly didnt make it better for me. Cheese is absolutely healthy and good for you, but tossing 3/4 of a cup onto something kinda overrides the wholesomeness of it. Homemade whole wheat bread is great for you, but having 3 thick slices slathered in butter kinda ruins the health benefits. So yeah, most of my fat was just good food, but too much of it. With a few pounds thrown in on the salty/crispy and chocolate/gooey side.
How about you?
I have no control with a wide variety of fatty foods.... favorites include anything salty/crunchy, anything with chocolate, and anything carb based. I could do major damage with a Peanut Butter Chocolate-anything, as it meets all of those categories.
As a result, I keep little to none of it in the house. Better to set myself up for success, and then enjoy them as treats when I'm out! The way I see it, I'm doing all this hard work/careful planning on a daily basis so that I can ENJOY and LIVE when I'm out with family, friends, etc... all about the balance. (Easier said that done, though).
PS-Tornado, we're just about the same size... I love finding other shorties out there! We have it harder, 5lb looks like a lot more on our little skeletons.... hahahaha
I have really enjoyed reading the responses to this. I have often said that often times people don't realise just how large they are. I mean, you know you are a "little overweight" but it sometimes takes that picture, or that word from a friend, or what have you, to make you seriously look at yourself and say "omg, what have I done?"
It works the same with the food. Until you actually stop to look at it with a critical eye, you simply don't realise either how much you have been eating, or just how badly you have been eating.
Kudos to everyone here who did that soul searching (or belly searching) and started treating their bodies like temples instead of tents.
Animal fat: chicken & turkey skin, wings, pork chop fat, roast beef fat, fatty burgers, bacon, sausage, etc.
Unplanned, found food. Cookies, pizza from company meetings, pastries, bagels. Something that I found and didn't plan to eat when I left home. FREE.
Candy jars at work - I had a co-worker who kept a GALLON container full of regular and peanut M&Ms. She sat next to me. I had to walk past that container to get in and out of my cube. I probably averaged a cup of M&Ms a day. I would replenish them out of guilt, and then because I'd helped stock it, I ate them.
Did I mention animal fat: Grilled steak fat, wings, crispy chicken fat, pig skin, pork rinds.
Reese's peanut butter cups. Usually FOUND in someone's candy dish!!!
CHEESE. (Oh, yeah, that's another form of animal fat, isn't it.)
The occasional pig out of chips and sour cream dip. Once I start, I can't stop til the dip is gone.
A habit of a month at a time of a nightly "serving" of ice cream. "Who's turn is it to dish out the ice cream?"
Fat. Yes. Fat.
I never really ate at fast food places or had heaps of classic junk food in the house. So I put my weight down to bad genes. LOL Untill I relized my 'normal' food was probably worse than anything I could get at pizza hut. I'd eat high-fat animal products everynight, (steak, porkchops, chicken skin, sausages, bacon) seemingly healthy veg (covered in butter, oil and salt) and potato, potato, potato, potato, POTATO!!!!! LOL I was kinda obsessed, there were days I'd have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I even invented my own favourite sandwich. White bread, mashed potato, cheese, butter and salt. Then I wondered why I was fat because I only ate 1 sandwich at lunch time
My real killer though was alcohol. I could drink a bottle of wine at night easy or half a 700ml bottle of spirits with coke of course. Scotch, tequila, vodka, rum, bourbon. It didn't matter as long as it got me drunk enough to forget all my problems. I put on roughly 15kgs (30ish lbs) in 6 months by doing nothing different than drinking alcohol everynight. I'm glad that that behaviour only ate into 6 months of my life, instead of years. Though I know it's a slippery slope and I have to be vigilent as not to relapse. SO! If I wasn't eating my feelings I was drinking them and thusly I was fat!!! Nothing to do with bad genes.
Love Love
Lani
Anyway, boxing up the 10s put me in a food wondering mode, and I just wanted to ask everyone what your fat is?
Mine is not really dessert fat. I mean, I was not averse to chocolate and sweet stuff, but most of my fat was just good wholesome food, just a whole lot of it. I was very fond of baked and broiled chicken, but having an 8 oz portion of it certainly didnt make it better for me. Cheese is absolutely healthy and good for you, but tossing 3/4 of a cup onto something kinda overrides the wholesomeness of it. Homemade whole wheat bread is great for you, but having 3 thick slices slathered in butter kinda ruins the health benefits. So yeah, most of my fat was just good food, but too much of it. With a few pounds thrown in on the salty/crispy and chocolate/gooey side.
How about you?
Same, exactly the same. I have never eaten much fast food - I can count on one hand the number of times I've been to McDonald's or its ilk in the last decade. Even when I was busy getting big as a house, when I went to a coffee house I got an unsweetened skim latte (skim milk froths better), not a grande double-caramel mochacchino or whatever with 500 calories in it. I never used mayonnaise or much salad dressing. I never ate a lot of cookies or pastries or chips or that sort of thing.
But, I have always loved to eat, and always ate too much (still do, sometimes). I have always loved to cook with fresh wholesome ingredients, and I always served myself gigantic portions and then took seconds. When I went to restaurants I went to excellent restaurants and cleaned my plate, bread & butter, first course, and entree. (I still go to wonderful restaurants, but I am careful about what I order and how much I eat.)
Cheese is a huge weakness. I would often buy a baguette, some dried figs, and a wonderful cheese or two and then eat ALL OF IT for dinner. Or worse, eat all of it for an appetizer and then eat some marvelous home-cooked dinner.
And then there was the booze. Mix up a huge dirty martini at 5:00 on saturday evening, and then polish off half a bottle of wine with my marvelous home-cooked dinner. A drink on weekday evenings too, more often than not. That's something I've had to give up, almost completely.
I did occasionally indulge in candy (and I'd eat too much) or sweet desserts (and again, eat too much) - but for the most part, my fat is every-day eating of delicious, wholesome food - just Too. Dang. Much.
brownies, donuts, ice cream, cheese dip, fried foods....
