"When Food Guilt is Ruining Your Life"
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It might not be holier than though attitudes. I could not care less what you eat the struggle I have is with myself and I think that is what the original post is trying to say ...stop the internal struggle. I just have no freaking idea of how to do that without going off the deep end of unhealthy patterns of crap food and no exercise..so instead I control my intake for over 2000 days and crazy levels of exercise.0
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I suffer from feeling the need to deserve food but I am an extreme type person. If I am not following "the rules" then I feel out of control. I do not enjoy indulgences as I regret them and cannot just eat in moderation.
How does one find it in them to be able to eat freely without needing to be a fitness site in which they log their food to hold themselves accountable?
You learn to listen to your body's hunger and thirst signals. You understand that eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but "healthy foods". That it's all about balance.
At least that's how I do it.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I suffer from feeling the need to deserve food but I am an extreme type person. If I am not following "the rules" then I feel out of control. I do not enjoy indulgences as I regret them and cannot just eat in moderation.
How does one find it in them to be able to eat freely without needing to be a fitness site in which they log their food to hold themselves accountable?
You learn to listen to your body's hunger and thirst signals. You understand that eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but "healthy foods". That it's all about balance.
At least that's how I do it.
Pretty certain I have never been able to respond to hunger/full cues. I am able to deny hunger but not recognize the cue that I have had enough.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I suffer from feeling the need to deserve food but I am an extreme type person. If I am not following "the rules" then I feel out of control. I do not enjoy indulgences as I regret them and cannot just eat in moderation.
How does one find it in them to be able to eat freely without needing to be a fitness site in which they log their food to hold themselves accountable?
You learn to listen to your body's hunger and thirst signals. You understand that eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but "healthy foods". That it's all about balance.
At least that's how I do it.
Pretty certain I have never been able to respond to hunger/full cues. I am able to deny hunger but not recognize the cue that I have had enough.
+1 My mouth does not have an off position.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I suffer from feeling the need to deserve food but I am an extreme type person. If I am not following "the rules" then I feel out of control. I do not enjoy indulgences as I regret them and cannot just eat in moderation.
How does one find it in them to be able to eat freely without needing to be a fitness site in which they log their food to hold themselves accountable?
You learn to listen to your body's hunger and thirst signals. You understand that eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but "healthy foods". That it's all about balance.
At least that's how I do it.
Pretty certain I have never been able to respond to hunger/full cues. I am able to deny hunger but not recognize the cue that I have had enough.
Well, I did say "learn".
It may not be something you can do now, but your body does give you signals and you can learn to recognize them if you want.1 -
This just reminds me of this girl on youtube who is SO hard on herself about "eating clean" all the time. She even does dairy free 6 days a week and I just think its madness! To make yourself feel so bad about food is ridiculous. Shes super healthy and tall and lean. I recognize I do this to but not as bad. Its just sad0
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Thank you for sharing! Such a great reminder to focus on our "inner and outer self."0
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I missed this lovely post back in January. Thank you for sharing @Orphia !0
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Feeling guilty about some foods can lead to feeling guilty about eating all food. When food becomes the enemy life becomes hell. I'm grateful for sites life MFP which taught me to stop seeing food as the enemy and start viewing it as fuel. It completely changed the way I eat and live and saved my health.0
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Interestingly, logging does allow me to feel ok about the type of food as long as I stay UNDER my goal.
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Logging for me is reassurance that I am holding myself accountable, and that I am honestly doing all I can do to unlearn habits that have been harmful to me and replace them with habits that are enjoyable, sustainable and move me closer to my goal of reducing my weight. Its my little "pat on the back" at the end of the day.
It is a curious thing that for many women (and men too of course but to a lesser degree) that there are societal standards that dictate how we think, behave, look, and how women have seemed to just absorb them, and not question their validity. I have a daughter, and I always wonder what her life will be like when she is my age.0 -
kommodevaran wrote: »I see lots of people in here, and every other forum where food and eating is discussed, "confessing" daily. Especially women aren't really entitled to enjoyment. At least not one they freely can administer themselves.
We might think we are getting less religious, but we have just shifted focus from sex to food. "Eating clean" is another bizarre "morality disguised as health" thing.
I might regret eating something or too much of it, even feel weak, but I don't feel guilty. Either I'm lucky, or I'm just not a real woman.
Love this.
Also the OP.0 -
I didn't have as much an issue with 'bad' food, but it took me a long time to 'forgive' myself when I went over my limit. Accepting that "yes, I will mess up from time to time but as long as I don't let it become a trend I'm fine" was hard, but made things a lot eaiser once I did!
Also, just as a comment, women aren't the only one to fall pray to this. Men do too, though probably not near as much.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »...You learn to listen to your body's hunger and thirst signals. You understand that eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but "healthy foods". That it's all about balance. ...
The original post is just great and on the money, thanks for bringing it round again folks. And ^this^ --- "eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but 'healthy foods'" -- WOW! Thank you. Illumination.0 -
kommodevaran wrote: »I see lots of people in here, and every other forum where food and eating is discussed, "confessing" daily. Especially women aren't really entitled to enjoyment. At least not one they freely can administer themselves.
We might think we are getting less religious, but we have just shifted focus from sex to food. "Eating clean" is another bizarre "morality disguised as health" thing.
I might regret eating something or too much of it, even feel weak, but I don't feel guilty. Either I'm lucky, or I'm just not a real woman.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I suffer from feeling the need to deserve food but I am an extreme type person. If I am not following "the rules" then I feel out of control. I do not enjoy indulgences as I regret them and cannot just eat in moderation.
How does one find it in them to be able to eat freely without needing to be a fitness site in which they log their food to hold themselves accountable?
You learn to listen to your body's hunger and thirst signals. You understand that eating healthy does not mean eating nothing but "healthy foods". That it's all about balance.
At least that's how I do it.
Pretty certain I have never been able to respond to hunger/full cues. I am able to deny hunger but not recognize the cue that I have had enough.
Well, I did say "learn".
It may not be something you can do now, but your body does give you signals and you can learn to recognize them if you want.
I'm not sure that's the case for everyone. The body certainly tries to signal you when you're full - but I think in many cases that system just isn't working right, in small or large ways. It would be surprising if it truly did work for everyone - there's no other system in the body that works perfectly for everyone.
Thankfully there are tools that can help those of us who won't rely on our bodies to regulate our intake. I do agree with the point about balance.0 -
There is a (different) type of food guilt found with those who were raised in a "less than enough" environment and were taught never to waste anything. Like myself. It's sinful to discard foods.
Later in life in a more abundant environment we basically become a food garbage disposer.
I'm working to change that behavior. If the milk is approaching its expiration date while still half a carton full, screw it I'm not gonna overload my body with it. It will go to the trash bin. The six jars of spaghetti bought a while ago from a sale or in moment of weakness will go to the trash when their shelf life is over.0 -
I suffer from feeling the need to deserve food but I am an extreme type person. If I am not following "the rules" then I feel out of control. I do not enjoy indulgences as I regret them and cannot just eat in moderation.
How does one find it in them to be able to eat freely without needing to be a fitness site in which they log their food to hold themselves accountable?
It may be something you need to discuss with a professional, but you could start by trying to accept that we will always need checks and balances to maintain a healthy weight, and that IS healthy.
What's not healthy is letting it interfere with your enjoyment of life.
If you can't use priorities to eat the things you most love from day to day (these things change daily with me), that might be a sign of needing to make changes.
Best wishes.0 -
endlessfall16 wrote: »There is a (different) type of food guilt found with those who were raised in a "less than enough" environment and were taught never to waste anything. Like myself. It's sinful to discard foods.
Later in life in a more abundant environment we basically become a food garbage disposer.
I'm working to change that behavior. If the milk is approaching its expiration date while still half a carton full, screw it I'm not gonna overload my body with it. It will go to the trash bin. The six jars of spaghetti bought a while ago from a sale or in moment of weakness will go to the trash when their shelf life is over.
Interesting you mention throwing out food, especially if it's going bad. I actually didn't start to really consume a lot of vegetables until I started throwing them out. Used to be, if I would buy some veg and didn't particularly like it, I'd hang onto it for days, if not weeks until it really went bad and I had no choice but to throw it out. Now, once I know I've given it an honest shot and it's not working out, into the garbage it goes, which frees up my bare fridge, freezer or house for more vegetables to either try for the first time or in a new way, or otherwise actually eat because I already like them. I also use my freezer whenever possible for storing vegetables - that way, there's no pressure to eat them immediately and they still do not go bad0 -
Bump!
Photobucket might be blocking the image in the OP, so here it is:
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