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I am not a dog
May. 12th, 2006 08:29 amA while back, my dad sent me an article on natural eating. I've lost that pointer, but here's another random article on the subject. Basically, eat what you're hungry for, when you're hungry for it. Do not eat otherwise - no grazing at parties, no "social" eating. Nice idea, I thought, but I doubted it would work for me, because I'm very bad about social eating.
My brain dredged this up yesterday, I think in connection to a cheesecake a co-worker brought in, and I was pondering some of my bad food habits when it struck me:
I am an adult person with a car. If I want some special food item, I can go get it. Whenever I want to.
I'm greedy with food that I like. I want "my fair share" and sometimes a little more. Like our old dog, Sheila, that means that I'll eat things that I know I like, if they are present and other people are eating them or might possibly eat them, even if I would otherwise not eat them right now. Because if I don't eat them now, they will be gone! All gone!
I am an adult person with a car. If I want some special food item, I can go get it. Whenever I want to.
This... this might work for me. Yesterday, while the car was having its tires rotated, I was hungry and so stopped at a nearby McD's to try the new Asian Chicken Salad. (Verdict: they get points for the edamame, but McD's grilled chicken scares me and the fried chicken defeats the purpose of a healthy salad.) As I often do, I weighed the notion of also having a caramel sundae: I love carmel.
I am an adult person with a car. If I want some special food item, I can go get it. Whenever I want to.
I didn't really want a caramel sundae right then. The salad was decent enough and I wasn't in the mood for sweets. And it's freakin' McDonalds - if I suddenly feel the need for a sundae two hours later, it's not like there aren't two of the things within five minutes of my house. I left to go get my car without feeling deprived of a treat, and also not feeling like I'd turned the entire sundae question into a willpower war to win or lose.
I am really psyched about this. I've known for a while that I have some unhealthy attitudes about food and eating, but haven't had the foggiest notion how to address them. I've changed some habits, and that was damn hard to do with the old attitudes still there. This... well, it seems reaching to call it an 'epiphany,' but that's what it felt like - I mean, I've intellectually known that I can buy food for myself but never related it to the emotional cues the food and eating were bringing up - this epiphany or awareness is the first clue I've gotten toward changing those attitudes.
My brain dredged this up yesterday, I think in connection to a cheesecake a co-worker brought in, and I was pondering some of my bad food habits when it struck me:
I am an adult person with a car. If I want some special food item, I can go get it. Whenever I want to.
I'm greedy with food that I like. I want "my fair share" and sometimes a little more. Like our old dog, Sheila, that means that I'll eat things that I know I like, if they are present and other people are eating them or might possibly eat them, even if I would otherwise not eat them right now. Because if I don't eat them now, they will be gone! All gone!
I am an adult person with a car. If I want some special food item, I can go get it. Whenever I want to.
This... this might work for me. Yesterday, while the car was having its tires rotated, I was hungry and so stopped at a nearby McD's to try the new Asian Chicken Salad. (Verdict: they get points for the edamame, but McD's grilled chicken scares me and the fried chicken defeats the purpose of a healthy salad.) As I often do, I weighed the notion of also having a caramel sundae: I love carmel.
I am an adult person with a car. If I want some special food item, I can go get it. Whenever I want to.
I didn't really want a caramel sundae right then. The salad was decent enough and I wasn't in the mood for sweets. And it's freakin' McDonalds - if I suddenly feel the need for a sundae two hours later, it's not like there aren't two of the things within five minutes of my house. I left to go get my car without feeling deprived of a treat, and also not feeling like I'd turned the entire sundae question into a willpower war to win or lose.
I am really psyched about this. I've known for a while that I have some unhealthy attitudes about food and eating, but haven't had the foggiest notion how to address them. I've changed some habits, and that was damn hard to do with the old attitudes still there. This... well, it seems reaching to call it an 'epiphany,' but that's what it felt like - I mean, I've intellectually known that I can buy food for myself but never related it to the emotional cues the food and eating were bringing up - this epiphany or awareness is the first clue I've gotten toward changing those attitudes.
