Honestly - the biggest "negative" from a family perspective is that I no longer eat with the family just because it is dinner-time. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat. This was hard for my family to grasp and probably is still a negative in their minds. I join them at the table with a cup of tea - but - I will no longer eat because it is the socially acceptable thing to do.
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Ahh, yes, I forgot about this one. I do this same EXACT thing. Right down to the tea. I never viewed it as a negative. I don't think my family adores it, but they've gotten used to it. They are thrilled to have a slim, active, productive, healthy Mom and they are aware that my "habits" are beneficial to my well being and they've accepted it as "what Mom does". It's now normal to them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoldingSteady
If I am low in selenium, I eat a food that will supply that mineral. I no longer enjoy going to my favorite chinese restaurant because the thought of the fat and sodium in my favorite dishes taints the experience. I am not sure if this is a healthy attitude to have. It's not that I dislike my food, just that the pleasure element is much less.
I agree with this and alluded to it in an earlier post. I don't view it as a negative per se', just something that happened in the process of me changing my relationship with food. In fact if you think about it, it's pretty much a positive.
This has been another thought provoking thread. Thanks for starting it Jessica.
I'm not sure if this is negative, but I have lost my innocence regarding food.
Maybe by innocence, I mean a certain obliviousness. And to some extent, that was a good thing to have lost, since I ate without really understanding the consequences, and look where that got me.
But I know that this loss of innocence means that I'm forever unfit to attempt anything like intuitive eating. I have no intuition left. I can't see food as itself anymore, as a neutral entity. I'm always judging or going through a bit of calculation, thinking ahead to possible consequences.
That is, if you put me back in the Garden of Eden, I wouldn't be able to wander through it looking at all the growing things without thinking: "Apple ... excellent ... slow to digest & some fiber there ..." and "Banana? I'll eat half. Do I need the potassium?" and "Coconut? Hmmm. Those are contentious. So are avocados, but my position on them is lenient."
As I said, this is good, mostly. But it does leave me a little sad.
This is brilliant! And so well put. Do you write for a living?
Oh, dear. It's showing. But thank you. Yes, I do. But not about food, weight, dieting or any of the issues discussed here. This is a very special place for me, because only the people who frequent these forums understand what I'm talking about.
I don't know. My initial reaction was that yes, I did develop some negative eating habits, but thinking about it more, I think I had a lot of the same bad habits before, I just didn't notice them. Maybe because I didn't have the good habits.
When I allow myself a treat, I definitely struggle with the problem of feeling like I have to eat as much as I can because who knows when I'll allow it again. That's new, but I still had problems with binge eating before. It was nothing for me to eat a half pint of ice cream at a time. I remember in high school my sister and I consumed almost an entire 9 x 13 sheet cake by ourselves in one sitting. And we would have terrible binges when we got home from school that I'm sure were fueled by the fact that we didn't eat all day (not even breakfast).
Another habit I've developed is always thinking about the next meal. As soon as I finish a meal, I'm looking at the clock to see when I can eat again. I relish the times when I get so involved in a project that time passes without me thinking about when I can eat again. Often times, it's not even that I'm hungry, I just want to eat. But, now that I think about it, I think I probably struggled with this to some extent before as well. I remember having a rule that I could never eat lunch before noon and I remember frequently watching the clock for the noon hour to roll around. And I wonder if this isn't more of a work avoidance thing than a product of my new eating habits.
Like Saef, I also have no ability to eat intuitively. But, then again, I'm sure I ever really had it to begin with. I've always been a member of the clean plate club. I remember stuffing myself to the point of being uncomfortable at a very early age, before even my tween years.
But, when I wasn't paying attention to what I was eating, I just didn't notice this stuff. Now, it stands out in sharp contrast to the way that I eat when I'm on plan.
Wow, this is a very interesting thread! I have to agree with Meg.
I can remember when I was proud of my weight loss. Like I said I used to be 176lbs. Then, somewhere it changed for me. I started to feel like the weighing and food planning made me a downer,or different from others. Where most people might see being accountable a good thing,I sort of feel bad that I'm not an "intuitive eater" by this point. I know many maintainers blogs that have moved past food scales etc to a new and free life as they call it..not controlled by food anymore. While,sorry..but I still have food issues. I certainly think it's a healthier habit then my binge eating days..but I'm still not perfect. I think it's sort of lonely some days. That is why this forum is nice,many other people here seem to have the same struggles.
