Phantastica had the best post in this thread about super foods and the "abundance mentality." She said:

Another thing I like about superfoods/whole foods is that the focus is on getting as much nutrition in as possible, rather than skimming the less healthy stuff. It's a refreshing switch to an abundance mentality instead of the scarcity mentality, which is usually what's found in weight loss initiatives. Rather than say "I can't have this, and I can't have this", we're saying, "How can I get more? How can I squeeze some of that in?"

This struck me as just so important. It was a huge switch for me and one of the reasons why I think I was so successful. Diets had always been horribly punitive, no eating, hungry, depriving, can't WAIT until it was over ordeals. The whole "healthy foods lifestyle" was more of a I need to eat so many healthy foods, I want yogurt and blueberries and walnuts and salmon and all these good, tasty things. I looked forward to meals!

Just a hugely positive mental shift for long term success. Abundance mentality, I love it!

:: blushes ::

I didn't coin these terms - they seem to be used a lot in psychology circles - but it certainly came to mind with dieting and western culture for me.

http://aboriginalrights.suite101.com...rcityMentality

From the page:

• Scarcity Mentality - Me, mine, my own, more, now, separation, destruction, non-Indigenous.
• Abundance Mentality - Us, ours, shared, enough, soon, connectedness, creation, Indigenous.

I've never heard that phrase in psychology (but may not be prevalent in my kind of psych) but I LOVE IT!! What a great way to think!!

I think it does change you. I think you must remember (which I tend to forget) that you have to temper it when you are trying to lose weight. Don't you think? Abundance is great of the right things but also making sure are Glory stated that when she was losing weight to make low fat choices.

I have a real tendency to go for it and eat in abundance....and kind of forget the low fat verse full fat...example: My new love affair with Fage yogurt....and the steel cut oats.....

For me I have to take it easy because I found myself getting somewhere in the 600 calorie range for breakfast!

Do any of you have the same problem or had it.....How do I solve this?

DITTO! I think the idea that you can get enough of whatever it is you need is key (for me, at least) in feeling secure and being successful in all areas of (my) life. Still working on it, though!

BTW, Wyllenn, what is your area of psych (if you don't mind me asking)?

It is a balancing act. I mean, peanut butter is good for me, and I love it, but I realize a serving size is 2 tbs and it must be balanced around my calorie total for the day. Just because it's good for me doesn't mean I can sit down and eat a cup of peanut butter (although I could, heh).

Normally, I plan my meals days in advance so I can tweak the calorie totals. If I happen to have Fage yogurt (which is slightly higher calorie than the yogurt I normally eat) I tweak other things throughout the day to keep me around 1800 calories. If I eat peanut butter for breakfast, maybe I don't have the calories for cashews in my stir fry.

I could easily sit down and eat 4 servings of trail mix. I don't bcause I know that I have a lot of goals for the day - grams of protein, number of super foods AND max calories. I realize that I would gain weight if I ate 3000 calories of Big Macs or 3000 calories of sweet potatoes.

I've actually heard this more connected with the spirituality concepts. Instead of putting out to the "universe" all that we can't have with negative attitudes, we should assume we can have what we need and want and it will come to us in one way or another. A self-fulfilling prophecy as it were.

As to the fat comment, it's not about having all and everything we want, but what is best for us. If we eat to much fat, sugar or flour that leaves out the more nutritious foods. For instance If I eat 200 calories, I can have either 2 Tbl of oil or sugar which doesn't have much benefit to me and certainly doesn't do much for my appetite, or I can have many different fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds or proteins bursting with all kinds of good things for me. That's abundance!

Phantastica.. this is so profound. Scarcity mentality conjures up feelings of insecurity, unstableness, deprivation and need to protect things "mine". Abundance is totally the opposite, a calm assurance and satisfaction of what is and is shared.

It also shows that what we eat is connected to everything else.. a part of lifestyle and thought process.

Disconnect the "diet" from the lifestyle and you have scarcity mentality.

A lot to chew on for one evening! Thanks for the post!

Not at all! I am a social/cultural psychologist. I am interested in how culture shapes our sense of self and our values -- what's right/wrong, that sort of thing... Right now I'm specifically studying the function of apologies in Japan and the US, and the degree to which they are linked to a feeling of responsibility for a transgression vs a kind of "social grease" required to maintain a relationship (apologizing not because you're wrong, but to tell the other person the relationship is important)...

Anyone still there? I could go on, but I am afraid of putting you to sleep in front of your monitor. I like talking about my research, but because I'm at a small teaching college, I spend more time in the classroom, which I love!

I will say this, though. In general, social psychologists study how people are affected by other people, and there have been so many cases when I have applied information from my field to this weight loss/fitness journey!!!

Wyllenn-

Your research sounds really interesting! You and I have a few things in common: I was in a doctoral program for clinical psych, and although I did not complete it (got my MA), I somehow ended up in research anyway. And I notice you have 2 pugs, no kids - same here! So I guess we have a psychology/pug/weight loss/Dr. Kracker connection .

Mary

That's awesome. It's a great distinction, and it's something America could definitely learn from the Japanese. Rugged individualism, you know ...

Not boring at all, BTW.