Guest guest Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 > > Hello everyone! It's time to move on to chapter 2...and if you have > any comments on 1 feel free. As always, if any question makes you > uncomfortable just skip it. > > So, some questions: > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > I am definitely an Unconscious Eater. I graze without thinking and have always eaten too fast. > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? I started gaining weight at about 5 years old. I would say I was an intuitive eater until then. My parents are both overweight so I think I followed the example. > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? My parents went out to eat a lot so that was kind of controlling. However they never tried to put me on a diet. I did that when I was about 11. I'm 34 now and still haven't lost all the weight. > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > I eat when bored, lonely, and for entertainment. I would say 30 years of eating like that has killed my intuitive eater. > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? I always feel like I should eat something healthy. I am so used to weight watchers points that I always seem to think in those terms. But, it never helped me with the reasons why I eat. Yes I internalize those messages that it I should be eating something else. It makes me crazy! > > Thanks all, and I look forward to reading the responses!!! > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 > > Hello everyone! It's time to move on to chapter 2...and if you have > any comments on 1 feel free. As always, if any question makes you > uncomfortable just skip it. > > So, some questions: > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > I am definitely an Unconscious Eater. I graze without thinking and have always eaten too fast. > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? I started gaining weight at about 5 years old. I would say I was an intuitive eater until then. My parents are both overweight so I think I followed the example. > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? My parents went out to eat a lot so that was kind of controlling. However they never tried to put me on a diet. I did that when I was about 11. I'm 34 now and still haven't lost all the weight. > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > I eat when bored, lonely, and for entertainment. I would say 30 years of eating like that has killed my intuitive eater. > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? I always feel like I should eat something healthy. I am so used to weight watchers points that I always seem to think in those terms. But, it never helped me with the reasons why I eat. Yes I internalize those messages that it I should be eating something else. It makes me crazy! > > Thanks all, and I look forward to reading the responses!!! > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Here are my responses! 1. I am every kind of unconscious eater. Primary right now is Chaotic Unconscious because of my stressful job, but on any given day (or hour!) I could be any of the others. I've probably had very short periods when I've been a Careful Eater, too, but unconscious is the primary. 2. During my time in France, as discussed in previous posts. Also, during a prior attempt at IE, I definitely was picking it up, but don't think I ever fully mastered it. 3. No, my parents never did that. Though my mother occasionally commented on my weight, she never pressured me to diet as a child (she did once later when I gained a lot of weight after college). Though I have one funny story related to my mother and food. My freshman year in college, I gained 20 pounds. When I would come home for the weekends, my mother would often exclaim something along the lines of " You're gaining so much weight! Look at your face; it's so round! " (Yeah, thanks, Mom. Nice to see you, too.) But when I left on Sunday to return to school, she'd hand me bags full of home-made chocolate chip cookies and quiches full of cream and cheese! To my naturally thin mother, it was all the " junk food " that I was eating at college that was making me gain weight. But to her mind, her home made foods were healthy and nutritious and could never be a problem. Talk about mixed messages. LOL 4. Mostly, it just makes me not trust myself and think that if I have something " bad " I'll never be able to stop (which is actually kind of true when I'm dieting because it's so forbidden). But also, when I hear advice from " experts " who insist that you have to eat every four hours or your metabolism will shut down and you'll never lose, that kind of thing can be confusing, because I know that when I eat intuitively (or as close to it as I've been able to come), I don't want to eat that often. So then I start to question whether I can trust my natural eating patterns and still lose weight. 5. Yes. I'm really interested in food and nutrition and read a lot of books like Fast Food Nation and Omnivores Dilemma. Which I think are great books and send really important messages about the quality of our food supply and some of the dysfunctions of factory farming. As a result, it's really important to me to do things like eat organic unprocessed foods and whole grains whenever I can, and shop at farmers markets. And I don't think these are bad things, BUT they can make me feel really bad when I do give in to things like Mcs or tv dinners or sodas or something. Because I really do think those foods aren't very good for me. But I realize that restricting things for " health " reasons can sometimes be as bad as restricting because you're on a diet. Josie *visit www.artofintuitiveliving.blogspot.com. New posts went up Thursday and Saturday.* > > Hello everyone! It's time to move on to chapter 2...and if you have > any comments on 1 feel free. As always, if any question makes you > uncomfortable just skip it. > > So, some questions: > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? > > Thanks all, and I look forward to reading the responses!!! > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 hi, my eating personality - I have pretty much done all of them at one point in my life. sometimes I've been a permitter other times a restricter. At times I've been a careful eater, planning out " healthy " meals with very low fat or calories or carbs. you name it, I've tried it until it got too much & I would throw in the towel & become a permitter again ( & gain it all back). I have also been a professional dieter (you should see my collection of books & magazines, not to mention all those library requests). LOL. Unconscious eater aptly describes me, too. Pretty much all of the unconscious categories fit me at some point. WELL, I guess I have pretty much done it all where the yoyo dieting & eating are concerned. Now I am really working on becoming an intuitive eater FULL TIME. This will be my new " role " . I just have to look to my 3 year old grandson to learn how to do it. It comes so naturally to him. He eats when he is hungry, he eats only what he likes ( & it is generally healthy) & he stops when he has had enough. He has NO problem leaving food on his plate & I have NEVER seen him eat food off other people'ss plates (which is something that I have been known to do in the past) lol. that's it for eating type for me mj > > > > My responses are below. Answering these was helpful! Sorry I went on so long. > > Laurie > > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > > > I come from a family of what Geneen Roth would call " permitters, " who not only ate however much they wanted whenever they wanted, but also had no sense of certain foods being unhealthy. I definitely revolted against the unhealthiness of the diet I ate at home, and became a Careful but still Unconscious Eater. I am careful about quality and unconscious about quantity. I have for some time been an Unconscious Eater, paying no attention whatsoever to my level of hunger, eating instead when it was " time " or because there was an occasion (I have until late been a Refuse-Not Unconscious Eater), or in response to stress, or because I was just not paying attention to whether or not I was hungry. > > I am to some extent a " Waste-Not Unconscious Eater, " which is why I choose to use smaller plates and bowls when I eat at home, because I find I get just about the right amount of food if I am using these smaller items (and cleaning my plate/bowl). At some point I suppose I should learn more consistently not to let how much I serve myself determine how much I eat, but for now I'm content being able to do that in restaurants where I don't have so much control over how much is being served. In restaurants, I regularly don't eat the whole amount I'm given, because it's usually too much. > > I am also an Emotional Unconscious Eater, usually eating in response to small or large stresses. I rarely eat because of boredom or loneliness, because I am rarely bored or lonely. If I keep food easily available, I find I reach for it in response to the smallest stress, and so I try to keep food not so readily available (i.e., not in easy reach, and not out on the counter), so that I will have to make a conscious decision to eat it. Still, I'm not above making myself a sandwich and eating it before I even realize I've done so! > > I have until recently (with IE) very rarely had any success restricting the quantity of what I eat; for the last 15 or so years I've been unable to diet for more than a week or so. On the other hand, I am a compulsive and fitful exerciser. Either I'm exercising too much or not at all. It is very hard for me to strike a balance with exercising, because I have the attitude that if I don't do it excessively, it's not worth the effort. I am working to adjust that attitude, especially since I am now nursing a swollen Achilles tendon from overdoing my exercising after a hiatus from it. > > > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? > > I don't think I've been an intuitive eater since I was a toddler. My mother told me that at one point I threw down my tippy cup of milk and refused to drink milk from that time on. I suspect that may have been my very last intuitive eater act! I learned very early to overeat, following my parents' examples, so I would say that past that point I was no longer eating intuitively. > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? > > My parents were compulsive overeaters, so no, there was never any attempt to control my eating habits, and I don't remember anyone else ever trying to do so. At some point, though, I became aware that I was eating more than people outside my family, and became ashamed of that, and started hiding the quantities of what I ate. > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > > I think attempts to diet simply added another layer of cement over my intuitive eater. Since I've been an adult, I've been a careful eater in terms of quality of food (eating mainly a " healthy " diet), so my diet challenges have always been ones of trying to restrict quantity of food. Restricting inevitably had me labelling foods like sweets and breads and anything with fat in it as " bad " ; dieting episodes caused me for the first time to binge (as opposed to my habitual, simple overeating) in rebellious response. When I dieted, I restricted quantities and banned entirely certain classes of foods (those containing sugar, white flour, and fat), I almost immediately began craving more of whatever foods I'm restricting, even if they are foods that I normally don't eat. Dieting turns me from an overeater into a compulsive overeater, one who is obsessed about food and can never get enough. So in this way there's one more layer burying my intuitive eater! > > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? > > For a very long time I have had a lot of self-imposed rules about what I will and will not eat (in terms of food quality), in the name of eating healthfully, because I do care about my health and do think that a healthy diet goes a long way towards making me feel better on a day-to-day basis. I do not drink sodas or, for the most part, eat sweets (I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so eat them sometimes); I avoid if possible anything made with white flour or white rice, and do not eat anything that contains trans fats, or anything with unidentifiable/unpronouncable names--in short, processed foods. Usually I'm not terribly careful about fats, though, since I don't have to watch those much because if I eat too much, I get sick, so it's self-controlling. I don't drink coffee and don't eat in fast food restaurants unless there is no way to avoid doing so. I don't eat anything with artificial sweetners in it. I know all the foods that are unhealthy (I read a lot about health) and most of the time I avoid those foods like the plague, because I want to, not because I think I ought to. I am (ironically) very health conscious in this regard, and so I'd say that these food rules are entrenched in my psyche, and I don't find them at all problematic. I don't crave or miss eating unhealthy foods, as I never anymore think of myself as restricting them--this is simply the " way I choose to eat. " I've lost my taste for those foods. If I'm someplace where food options are poor and I'm hungry and have to eat something unhealthy, I find I do not enjoy the food and tend to eat as little as possible; I often end up throwing most of it out. I am, however, not a " food Nazi " : I could care less what other people (exception: my husband) eat. My husband also likes to eat healthfully, so there is no conflict. > > I do work for a rather amateur food Nazi, though--my boss's wife (who is the VP of our company). I admit it amuses me that my she goes on and on about why people shouldn't eat iceberg lettuce, while she herself is eating lunch meat with all sorts of preservatives and nitrates in it, on cheap processed white bread, with that " healthy " romaine-based salad of hers, on which she puts highly processed bottled diet salad dressing, and then she trolls for candy others have in their desks just about every afternoon. I choose simply to avoid her and her lectures, and I don't care to tell her what I think of the way she eats, because it's none of my business. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a secondary? Please explain!!! I am the Waste-Not Unconscious Eater. We were always made to clean our plates when I was young and not waste food. That law was further reinforced when our kids were younger. We had 5 kids within 7.5 years and lived on one income. There was never enough money for things, so you certainly did not want to waste food. It is really difficult for me to leave food on a plate. I use smaller plates now (salad size) so that I will eat less, but it is still usually more than I need. I have thought about moving down to a bread plate size. 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? I don't know if I ever was an intuitive eater. It seems like I've always more than I needed. 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in childhood? Anyone else? How? Yes, by making us clean our plates. Other than that, I don't remember any other ways. 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal experience, I mean. Again, by just cleaning my plate without even thinking about what I'm doing. I am trying to be more conscious now of recognizing when I'm satisfied but it's so hard, because I eat without even really thinking about what I'm eating. It's just habit to sit down and consume whatever is in front of me. 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you internalize them? How does this affect you? I encounter them mostly by watching the news. The funny thing is that I know that in a few years (if that long), they're going to change the new guideline they've just come out with, but I believe it anyway and stress over incorporating it into my diet. I wanted to comment also on the section " Dieting " and the backlash I've experienced. I live with all 6 of those side effects of dieting every day. I seem to gain weight overnight. It's like I can't stop it no matter what I do. I don't binge eat a lot, but it can happen, usually if everyone else has gone to bed. The feeling of deprivation from all the years of dieting seems to kick in and, even though I'm not hungry, I HAVE to eat. Then that leads to the sense of failure and I'm beating myself up emotionally because I've " failed " . It's a never ending cycle but one that needs to be broken! It makes me sad to think I've lived like this for so many years. It's not really living though, because I always think I'll enjoy things when I'm thinner. That's why I'm excited to have this group and this book discussion. We all need to heal from the emotional abuse we've put ourselves through and I think this will help us along that way. Rhonda > > Hello everyone! It's time to move on to chapter 2...and if you have > any comments on 1 feel free. As always, if any question makes you > uncomfortable just skip it. > > So, some questions: > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? > > Thanks all, and I look forward to reading the responses!!! > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a secondary? Please explain!!! I am the Waste-Not Unconscious Eater. We were always made to clean our plates when I was young and not waste food. That law was further reinforced when our kids were younger. We had 5 kids within 7.5 years and lived on one income. There was never enough money for things, so you certainly did not want to waste food. It is really difficult for me to leave food on a plate. I use smaller plates now (salad size) so that I will eat less, but it is still usually more than I need. I have thought about moving down to a bread plate size. 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? I don't know if I ever was an intuitive eater. It seems like I've always more than I needed. 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in childhood? Anyone else? How? Yes, by making us clean our plates. Other than that, I don't remember any other ways. 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal experience, I mean. Again, by just cleaning my plate without even thinking about what I'm doing. I am trying to be more conscious now of recognizing when I'm satisfied but it's so hard, because I eat without even really thinking about what I'm eating. It's just habit to sit down and consume whatever is in front of me. 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you internalize them? How does this affect you? I encounter them mostly by watching the news. The funny thing is that I know that in a few years (if that long), they're going to change the new guideline they've just come out with, but I believe it anyway and stress over incorporating it into my diet. I wanted to comment also on the section " Dieting " and the backlash I've experienced. I live with all 6 of those side effects of dieting every day. I seem to gain weight overnight. It's like I can't stop it no matter what I do. I don't binge eat a lot, but it can happen, usually if everyone else has gone to bed. The feeling of deprivation from all the years of dieting seems to kick in and, even though I'm not hungry, I HAVE to eat. Then that leads to the sense of failure and I'm beating myself up emotionally because I've " failed " . It's a never ending cycle but one that needs to be broken! It makes me sad to think I've lived like this for so many years. It's not really living though, because I always think I'll enjoy things when I'm thinner. That's why I'm excited to have this group and this book discussion. We all need to heal from the emotional abuse we've put ourselves through and I think this will help us along that way. Rhonda > > Hello everyone! It's time to move on to chapter 2...and if you have > any comments on 1 feel free. As always, if any question makes you > uncomfortable just skip it. > > So, some questions: > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? > > Thanks all, and I look forward to reading the responses!!! > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a secondary? Please explain!!! I am the Waste-Not Unconscious Eater. We were always made to clean our plates when I was young and not waste food. That law was further reinforced when our kids were younger. We had 5 kids within 7.5 years and lived on one income. There was never enough money for things, so you certainly did not want to waste food. It is really difficult for me to leave food on a plate. I use smaller plates now (salad size) so that I will eat less, but it is still usually more than I need. I have thought about moving down to a bread plate size. 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? I don't know if I ever was an intuitive eater. It seems like I've always more than I needed. 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in childhood? Anyone else? How? Yes, by making us clean our plates. Other than that, I don't remember any other ways. 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal experience, I mean. Again, by just cleaning my plate without even thinking about what I'm doing. I am trying to be more conscious now of recognizing when I'm satisfied but it's so hard, because I eat without even really thinking about what I'm eating. It's just habit to sit down and consume whatever is in front of me. 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you internalize them? How does this affect you? I encounter them mostly by watching the news. The funny thing is that I know that in a few years (if that long), they're going to change the new guideline they've just come out with, but I believe it anyway and stress over incorporating it into my diet. I wanted to comment also on the section " Dieting " and the backlash I've experienced. I live with all 6 of those side effects of dieting every day. I seem to gain weight overnight. It's like I can't stop it no matter what I do. I don't binge eat a lot, but it can happen, usually if everyone else has gone to bed. The feeling of deprivation from all the years of dieting seems to kick in and, even though I'm not hungry, I HAVE to eat. Then that leads to the sense of failure and I'm beating myself up emotionally because I've " failed " . It's a never ending cycle but one that needs to be broken! It makes me sad to think I've lived like this for so many years. It's not really living though, because I always think I'll enjoy things when I'm thinner. That's why I'm excited to have this group and this book discussion. We all need to heal from the emotional abuse we've put ourselves through and I think this will help us along that way. Rhonda > > Hello everyone! It's time to move on to chapter 2...and if you have > any comments on 1 feel free. As always, if any question makes you > uncomfortable just skip it. > > So, some questions: > > 1. What kind of eating personality are you? Do you have a > secondary? Please explain!!! > > 2. When, if ever, were you an intuitive eater in your life? > > 3. Did your parents every try to control your eating habits in > childhood? Anyone else? How? > > 4. How has dieting " buried " your intuitive eater? Personal > experience, I mean. > > 5. Do you encounter many " eat-healthfully-or-die " messages? Do you > internalize them? How does this affect you? > > Thanks all, and I look forward to reading the responses!!! > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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