Chewing and Spitting.

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mizzymiz
mizzymiz Posts: 417 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have to admit that the hardest thing I've had to overcome in the past 2 years of dieting is the urge to chew and spit food. I have worked very hard to get past this but every now and then that little urge pops back into my head and I have to remind myself of the damage it does to my body/teeth and wallet.

I've never actually talked to anyone about this, but, have read numerous chats on the topic on other sites. Since I am new here, I just thought I'd put the topic out there to see if anyone else has battled with this and has tips/tricks for ignoring that urge. I can say that for me drinking lots of water and having portioned controlled sweets available has made all the difference. Also, thinking of throwing all that food away makes me sick - such a waste of money and food. Yet still about once every two months I'll slip.

I think a lot of people thing it's harmless behavior until they make it a habit. That was certainly my case. I'd want just a piece of cake, but then I'd realize I could just chew/spit a whole cake. The time it'd take to do that with the whole cake would distract me from eating other things and it satisfied the need to binge. But, It is a form of an eating disorder and can seriously deter your weight loss efforts. It's taken a while for me to admit that it's not 'okay' to do every now and again, but like I said, it's still hard to resist sometimes when I just feel like I can't limit myself.

Anyways, just wanted to put this out there and get some feedback from anyone that's dealt or is dealing. Thanks! :smile:

Replies

  • mizzymiz
    mizzymiz Posts: 417 Member
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    I have to admit that the hardest thing I've had to overcome in the past 2 years of dieting is the urge to chew and spit food. I have worked very hard to get past this but every now and then that little urge pops back into my head and I have to remind myself of the damage it does to my body/teeth and wallet.

    I've never actually talked to anyone about this, but, have read numerous chats on the topic on other sites. Since I am new here, I just thought I'd put the topic out there to see if anyone else has battled with this and has tips/tricks for ignoring that urge. I can say that for me drinking lots of water and having portioned controlled sweets available has made all the difference. Also, thinking of throwing all that food away makes me sick - such a waste of money and food. Yet still about once every two months I'll slip.

    I think a lot of people thing it's harmless behavior until they make it a habit. That was certainly my case. I'd want just a piece of cake, but then I'd realize I could just chew/spit a whole cake. The time it'd take to do that with the whole cake would distract me from eating other things and it satisfied the need to binge. But, It is a form of an eating disorder and can seriously deter your weight loss efforts. It's taken a while for me to admit that it's not 'okay' to do every now and again, but like I said, it's still hard to resist sometimes when I just feel like I can't limit myself.

    Anyways, just wanted to put this out there and get some feedback from anyone that's dealt or is dealing. Thanks! :smile:
  • BrandNewLaura
    BrandNewLaura Posts: 1,650 Member
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    I've never dealt with this, so I can't offer much feedback, but my thoughts as with you as you overcome this eating disorder.
  • MiaBellaFaith
    MiaBellaFaith Posts: 60 Member
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    what's so bad about chewing and spitting?
  • overthehillsandfaraway
    overthehillsandfaraway Posts: 179
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    what's so bad about chewing and spitting?

    well, it's wasteful for one but personally, I couldn't do it without just eating the darn things.


    It's difficult for other folks though and can understand the problem. Best wishes towards you
  • lisarae
    lisarae Posts: 113
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    I've been doing it for two years off an on. I don't think it's too much of a huge problem, but yes, I sometimes eat pieces of something and spit it out. It is a secret for me. I'm with you, and I understand what you are thinking in your head. I guess it's better than binging and purging, but probably that's the only positive thing.
  • Cassia
    Cassia Posts: 467 Member
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    wow i've never heard of this being a problem...i've done it before but not more that a serving or so...how is it harmful? can you tell me more about it?
  • TNTPete
    TNTPete Posts: 701 Member
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    I haven't heard of this persay but it sounds like a compulsion problem? Anyway - I think the problem would be the secretive nature and the work-around you're doing to avoid binging.. so, it is more the thought process that you're going through not the actual event.

    Good luck and I think it is a positive step to eliminate this pattern.
  • mizzymiz
    mizzymiz Posts: 417 Member
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    Okay, well I only know what I've read, so I'll just have to copy and paste here...
    Chewing and spitting out food is an old eating-disordered behavior only now coming to light. It’s the latest trend in eating disorders, not because the behavior is new, rather because the online community is rapidly passing around the secret. The mechanism is simple: a person who chews and spits puts food in his or her mouth, tastes it, chews it and then spits it out without swallowing in the hopes of getting some enjoyment out of food, while not having to suffer the weight-gain consequences.

    Is it an eating disorder?

    Some experts say, yes. Others say, no. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) the proverbial Bible of psychiatric illness, does not list “spitting and chewing” as a separate, diagnosable eating disorder.

    Yet, chewing and spitting is nonetheless part of the eating disorder landscape. That is because chewing and spitting is a misguided calorie-control technique, a “food issue.” Individuals with true eating disorders -- anorexia, bulimia and eating-disorder-not-otherwise-specified – use the technique in a creative attempt to have one’s cake and eat it too. Sort of.

    Is it harmful?

    Absolutely. Here are four good reasons:

    1. A person who chews and spits is not allowing essential nutrients into the body. Therefore, the behavior is akin to starvation dieting and/or purging by vomiting.

    2. Ulcers (because food in the mouth triggers acid release in the stomach) and jaw pain are possibly in store for regular chewers and spitters.

    3. Weight gain, not weight loss is the most likely consequence. The body reacts in unforeseen ways to continual chewing and spitting. Seeing, smelling, hearing about and even the hint of food can trigger the release of insulin. This hormone regulates blood sugar and is a major player in diabetes. Tasting food releases salivary enzymes and also triggers the release of insulin. Excess insulin is a dieter’s worst nightmare, because the hormone stirs appetite, making a person feel hungrier, wanting to chew and spit more. Here lies the addiction to chewing and spitting, which like bingeing and purging can be daunting to try and quit. Heightened appetite also triggers eventual weight gain, something easily evidenced by simply reading the bloggers’ laments. If a person chews and spits long enough, they can fall into a state of hyper-insulinemia, producing too much insulin, which sets him or her up for insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and eventually diabetes.

    4. Finally, a person who chews and spits is probably harboring deeper fears about his or her weight and body image. These fears-- and all preoccupations with thinness and dieting-- are the foundation of all eating disorders. If you chew and spit, you are setting yourself up for a serious disorder later in life.
    So, that's about it. For me I've noticed that when I start C/S I gain about 3-5 lbs over a couple months and loose that when I stop so I know that it is having an effect on my 'hunger meter.'

    Thanks!
  • MiaBellaFaith
    MiaBellaFaith Posts: 60 Member
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    daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammit... it sounded soooo good too. chew a little cake... spit er' out. Ugh. WHO could imagine you'd gain weight. SOOOO irritating.
  • faerieface
    faerieface Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm seriously struggling with this right now. This is my second day of my attempt to quit. It's been really rough so far. But I feel like chewing and spitting has made me GAIN weight so I HAVE to stop.
  • campjodie
    campjodie Posts: 16 Member
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    I have had a problem with C/S for 2 years now. I understand that its a problem and its definitely not normal. I didn't get the idea from anyone else. I just thought I had outsmarted the system. At first it helped me lose a LOT of weight because anything that I didn't want to eat I could C/S and feel fuller without eating. In the last 6 months it has gotten a bit out of control. I will drive t the store late at night to buy a few dollars worth of food. This is a huge waste of money, especially to a college student. Other than that I eat extremely healthy; mostly fruits and vegetables. I am trying to lose some weight right now because I have gained about 10 pounds from where I was comfortable, and that makes this even harder to stop because I am afraid of eating bad foods while trying to lose weight. But in my house there are other people who are constantly buying bad foods and it is very very hard to ignore the temptations.

    The best help I've had is telling my amazing boyfriend about it. He still loves me and he encourages me to limit the amount of C/S I do, and hopefully eventually quit it altogether. Whenever I think about doing it I can call him and he helps me through it.
  • jljshoe1979
    jljshoe1979 Posts: 325 Member
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    I've never heard of this before, but I wish you the best in stopping. After reading the facts in an earlier post, I was wondering what happens if you eat something healthy first (like celery sticks or an apple) and while that is still on your stomach, you then c/s the unhealthy food like cake? Wouldn't eating/digesting something first help to counteract the acid/insulin produced by the body, thus diminishing the negative effects that occur with c/s? Also wondering, could c/s be a coping mechanism (like when people bite their nails and spit them out)? If so, there may be some similar solutions to helping overcome c/s.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    what's so bad about chewing and spitting?
    Yeah, I don't really get it either. I do it once in a while. I had a roommate that was a chef and always cooking and sometimes she would tell me to try something she made. I told her I couldn't do all the calories so I'd just chew a bite and spit it out. She thought it was kind of funny but it worked. I also do it if I'm cooking for someone else and need to taste test something. I don't sit there and chew and spit a ton of food, it's just a bite and then I spit it out. I do it maybe once a month or less.
  • nokanjaijo
    nokanjaijo Posts: 466 Member
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    There is an episode of Intervention with a woman who does this with all of her food. She has a feeding tube in her stomach (an actual hole in her belly to her stomach, I forget what it is called) and that is how she gets her nutrients. She is also on a lot of pills which she crushes, dissolves in water and injects into her tube.

    Clearly that is a whole different ball game.

    This thread just reminded me of it. It's one of the most memorable episodes I've seen.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    There is an episode of Intervention with a woman who does this with all of her food. She has a feeding tube in her stomach (an actual hole in her belly to her stomach, I forget what it is called) and that is how she gets her nutrients. She is also on a lot of pills which she crushes, dissolves in water and injects into her tube.

    Clearly that is a whole different ball game.

    This thread just reminded me of it. It's one of the most memorable episodes I've seen.
    Oh, man. I saw that one. That *kitten* was crazy lol.

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