Re: childhood food issues (was low carb critique/GI index discussion)

[Guest guest]

Interesting subject Al. I was also " strongly encouraged " to eat. I was

very skinny and in those days, fat was healthy, thin was sickly. To be fair

to our parents though, current knowledge in nutrition just didn't exist back

then; " meat and potatoes " and hearty meals stood for good health.

There was a " backlash " or I should say " forward lash " in my case. I found

the ordeal of being forced to eat so distasteful that I swore to never do it

to my own kids. And of course I didn't.

Btw I have never been anorexic as a result of food issues in my childhood.

However, when upset emotionally, I used to get sick to my stomach. I

eventually realized it was connected to childhood food issues, and when I

did, it stopped!!

on 3/8/2004 3:56 PM, old542000 at apater@... wrote:

> My parents insisted that I eat as much of the boiled potatoes

> drenched with beef fat, extremely overcooked meat and minimum of

> vegetables boiled beyond recognition in taste. Standard " desert " was

> white rice over-boiled in whole milk, sometimes with white sugar.

>

> I now find food constraint extremely easy and seek the most

> nutritious foods. I suffer anorexia nervosa. Ad lib, I ate an SAD.

> I initiated weight loss involuntarily with Pritikin.

>

> I eat more fruits and previously only had an apple once in a while

> and oranges rarely. Bananas were occasionally available when on sale

> for overripe bananas.

[Guest guest]

LOL. Obssessing about healthy eating (without it resulting in a food

disorder) and resulting in better health is fine with me!

Actually you can't know how much each one of us " obsesses " . We're merely

staying on topic when we post to the board. As an example, I belong to

several other groups which cover other topics that I'm interested in. It

may seem like " obsessing " when I stay on topic in those venues.

on 3/8/2004 4:56 PM, susan at bluedragonfly128@... wrote:

> Anorexia has little or nothing to to with food. In fact, anorexia is a

> " symptom " , a desire to control some aspect of one's life. The irony is the

> members of this group who claim they are not anorexic spend far more time

> obssessing over food than people with an eating disorder. ~

[Guest guest]

Hi :

It almost sounds as if you are saying you think it is inappropriate

to spend time and effort to do 'important' things well.

Health, surely, is a very important aspect of everyone's life, and

food is a huge part of health. Is it your opinion that responsible

people should not make a serious effort to attend to this vital part

of their existence?

And if you think it is inappropriate in the case of food, then how

about other important aspects of life? Are we supposed to just drift

through life aimlessly not caring if we ever do anything, even the

very important things, properly?

Rodney.

--- In , susan <bluedragonfly128@y...>

wrote:

The irony is the members of this group who claim they are not

anorexic spend far more time obssessing over food than people with an

eating disorder. ~

[Guest guest]

Some of us do see a relevance. Perhaps others, like you, don't.

If a topic being discussed on the board doesn't interest you, why not hit

the " delete " button rather than challenge those of us who find it

interesting and relevant?

on 3/8/2004 7:04 PM, susan at bluedragonfly128@... wrote:

> Well, It seems to me that there is still much debate over what " healthy "

> eating is. And what difference does it make whether or not your parents made

> you clean your plate, or eat something that is now (by today's standard)

> considered to be unhealthy? So called childhood food issues are hardly

> relevant to the topic at hand. What are *food issues* anyway? Please educate

> me on the connection.~

[Guest guest]

Speaking for myself only, I define a food issue as a consistant desire

to eat unhealthy food, regardless of hunger, and for no reason at all.

I fight these urges & do the best I can to get the most nutritious foods

and recognize satiety. I have found a lot of useful information &

tools in this group to help me with my goal.

As a child, I was required to remain at the table until I had eaten all

on my plate. I don't know whether this had impact on my food issue. I

wish it didn't happen, but as Francesca mentioned, our parents thought

they were doing the best for us. Things could've been worse... there

could've been no food. But parents lived in the depression... my mom

grew up on a farm that required all day physical labor to get food. She

wasn't sitting inside an office all day like me.

susan wrote:

> Well, It seems to me that there is still much debate over what

> " healthy " eating is. And what difference does it make whether or not

> your parents made you clean your plate, or eat something that is now

> (by today's standard) considered to be unhealthy? So called childhood

> food issues are hardly relevant to the topic at hand. What are *food

> issues* anyway? Please educate me on the connection.~

[Guest guest]

I think I see your point. IMO, there is no "unhealthy" food, since we need energy and it doesn't make any diff if that energy is fats or carbos, except how it effects, say, diabetes. Assuming one eats 8# or romaine, eg, one can then eat fats or sugars for energy, which, BTW, is the medical description of "nutrients", opposite form the definition we use here.

It's when we eat too many calories that some fats get stored and we gain weight - most of us, anyway. Likewise for the atkins low carbo, or Ornish low fat approaches. Those are therapies to lower the weight of obesers or remove fat from arteries of CAD patients.

My mother made me clean my plate, but the biggest incentive was not a lot of food to begin with. That particular instinct is very hard to overcome - some will not throw food away. I get a doggie bag, carry it home, put it in the frig and dry it out until my wife throws it away or gives it to the dog.

Fortunately, the other thing I've learned to do is not eat those leftovers.

Regards.

----- Original Message -----

From: susan

Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 6:04 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] childhood food issues (was low carb critique/GI index discussion)

Well, It seems to me that there is still much debate over what "healthy" eating is. And what difference does it make whether or not your parents made you clean your plate, or eat something that is now (by today's standard) considered to be unhealthy? So called childhood food issues are hardly relevant to the topic at hand. What are *food issues* anyway? Please educate me on the connection.~

[Guest guest]

LOL. It's true!! I also find it hard to throw any food out!

I suspect it's a generational thing that us older folks were taught not to

" waste " food and that the younger generation (from what I see anyway) has no

qualms about so-called " wasting " food.

on 3/9/2004 10:12 AM, jwwright at jwwright@... wrote:

That particular instinct is very hard to overcome - some

> will not throw food away. I get a doggie bag, carry it home, put it in the

> frig and dry it out until my wife throws it away or gives it to the dog.

>

> Fortunately, the other thing I've learned to do is not eat those leftovers.

>

> Regards.

[Guest guest]

should that be 'waisting' food? -r.

From: Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>

Reply-

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 13:00:39 -0500

< >

Subject: Re: [ ] childhood food issues (was low carb critique/GI index discussion)

LOL. It's true!! I also find it hard to throw any food out!

I suspect it's a generational thing that us older folks were taught not to

" waste " food and that the younger generation (from what I see anyway) has no

qualms about so-called " wasting " food.

on 3/9/2004 10:12 AM, jwwright at jwwright@... wrote:

That particular instinct is very hard to overcome - some

> will not throw food away. I get a doggie bag, carry it home, put it in the

> frig and dry it out until my wife throws it away or gives it to the dog.

>

> Fortunately, the other thing I've learned to do is not eat those leftovers.

>

> Regards.