Attitudes towards Food?

[Rheghead]

I have been thinking about my attitude towards food and wondering if I need to change it. A little bit of background. During my childhood, I was always encouraged to eat up everything on my plate, failure to do so would be accompanied with a scornful response that there are kids in Africa that would be grateful of my scraps so I shouldn't waste anything. I always got the 'like it or lump it' warning as we never got seperate meals for each, the same meal was set out for everyone.

I think because of this, I have had a very bad attitude towards food and so until a very short time ago, I felt very guilty about leaving anything on my plate. The results being that I can put weight on quicker than I should. I now think I should stop when I'm full, even if I have to leave most of the meal. It has taken me 43 years to break out of this attitude towards food.

I now tell myself that if the kids in Africa want the leftovers then they can have it after a 3 week journey through the post. Other than that, unless I go out for a meal, I just use a smaller plate and fill that up rather than the big plates.

I'm telling you all this because I am just over the moon about losing 10kgs in body weight and I am now just simply over weight with a BMI of 29!!:lol::lol:

[brokencross]

Congratulations on your weight loss.
I must be of the same "eat it all up" era.
I still find it difficult to leave food on the plate; even when I am "full". However, I do think my high level alarm must be on some sort of delay because I clean my plate most times no matter how much is on it!

[pat]

remeber member of the family did tell mum to wrap it up and send it to Africa - they were not going to eat it and that was it!

We didn't hear too much about poor little African children after that - it brought the house down as we had visitors.

Congratulations on your weight loss - that is a huge amount to lose - just pick up 10 bags of sugar and see how it feels carrying around that extra weight.

[teenybash]

Good on you Rheghead and I bet you feel great. More people should follow suit if they are a little on the large side and just put less on the plate.

[justine]

Congrats. Its got to be one of the hardest thing a human can do other than quit smoking is losing weight. Well done keep it up..

[changilass]

I would say loosing weight is much harder than stoping smoking (which I did a year ago).

You don't have to smoke to live but you do have to eat.

I have put on the equivalent of another person in weight since stopping smoking, I keep threatening to start again, but that would just give me two problems lol

Hopefully at some stage I will manage to get the weight off too.

Well dont Rheggers, proud of you, keep up the good work and forget about the biafrons or whatever they were.

[Venture]

Rheghead well done on your weight loss. I like you, was always taught to clean my plate. That's OK when you're young and slim but as you get older the more overweight you are the harder and slower it is to shift. I just need to look at a cake and I put on 2lbs. Dieting has been a major part of my life.

I think though that I might have come up with a way of saving calories for all the family, without them even knowing. I recently bought a new dinner set which has plates that are smaller than the average dinner plate. This means less on the plate to eat. Nobody has noticed the difference and I haven't had any requests for seconds. Don't know how long I can fool them for but it's been working OK since Christmas. ;)

[Kenn]

Well done Rheghead.
Yes we should take a look at out attitude to food, like Venture I too use smaller plates and less size in the portions, have substituted puddings for fresh fruit or simple youghurt, eat earlier in the evening and cut out the suppers.
Plan the meals for the week before shopping which has considerably reduced the bill and also make sure that any left overs are used the next day only problem is I can't resist a slice of cake or a cheese scone with my afternoon cuppa!

[binbob]

well done....and i hope u are very pleased.not easy to lose weight.;)

[Bad Manners]

Well done Regghead cutting down is all well and good but it is the quality of food that makes a difference as well.

i have cut down on what I eat but have also stopped all the processed food etc and eat better quality food it has made a big difference
Keep up the good work

[Bobinovich]

Similar story here Rheghead, but I always ate everything 'cos my mum was such a darned good cook - if you didn't eat quickly then you'd starve 'cos everything was gone :D!

Like you I've lost around 10kg over the last 9 months or so - mostly by cutting out snacks with my cuppas, reducing main meal portions, and having fruit available to fill up on instead. Being in charge of the shopping and cooking has helped that greatly.


Plan the meals for the week before shopping which has considerably reduced the bill...

Absolutely - and also checking dates on perishables to ensure we'll have enough time to eat them. Where necessary rake around at the back of the shelf to get longer date-outs!


...also make sure that any left overs are used...

:confused whats a left over :lol:?


...only problem is I can't resist a slice of cake or a cheese scone with my afternoon cuppa!

...and that was one of the hardest habits to break - still let myself have the occasional treat, just not with every cuppa!

[Errogie]

If you have a few hens in the back garden then there is no problem with guilt about left over food. It's just converted into wholesome fresh eggs or chicken to put back on the table.

[Tom Cornwall]

I always thought food was a necessary thing, so food was always classed as 'see food...eat it..move on' so what's new

[ShelleyCowie]

I think about food most the day. But never really seem to get around to eating most of it. I do eat quite a bit but i do exercise quite alot too.

Well done Rheghead. :D

And well done Bobinovich. :D

[JAWS]

The only thing that worries me about food and weight is just how did the human race manage to survive for the last half million years without all the constant stream of instructions about what to eat and what not to eat and what our weight should be.

As for "junk food" just look at what the Victorians ate and it didn't seem to do them any harm. And don't tell me they worked it all off slaving away ion the mines and the mills or starving in the city slums because that certainly didn't apply to all of them. One of their suet puddings to eat in addition to a meal would send the modern day "food experts" into orbit.

If you are healthy and your weight isn't giving you problems then why worry yourself into an early grave with years of anxiety and stress panicking about it? ;)

[Anne x]

well I do think about food if you have a OH like mine who calls from the office at midday conversation goes Hi hows you fine !!! Whats for dinner ?
as a lot of you know I bake and cook but sometimes I get fed up looking at it food that is not him well not yet lol

But I have struggled in the past I was in my late teens on intravenous steroids and ended up at at 12st 7lbs for my 5ft 1ins frame was hefty eventually I got to 7st 6lbs in the late 90s and early Millennium

Lately I have been really trying to stop smoking oh good god I am slowly becoming a small heifer but finding it very difficult to control my eating and hate the tight waistbands etc none of it is easy
stopping smoking or stopping eating I despair sometimes
maybe I should stop cooking lol

[Aaldtimer]

Simple really...Eat to live, Don't live to eat!:)

[porshiepoo]

Congrats on the weight loss Rheghead.
I too have a destructive attitude to ward food and unfortunately I do live to eat rather than eat to live. Food and the thought of it takes up about 80% of my waking moment thoughts. I don't think people understand how a food obsession of any kind can rob a person of years of their life.
During my childhood I remember having proper meals but I felt starving all the time. I used to go to my room and cry when I realised dinner would be another 20 minutes or so. I was never overweight as a child though and could eat as much as i wanted and never gain a pound.
I used to creep downstairs and quietly open the fridge or the cupboards and see what I could get that wouldn't be missed. 9 times out of 10 I'd be creeping back upstairs empty handed.
The incidents throughout my childhood of food being an issue to me are legion and they continue even now. I have to eat everything on my plate and the plate will be piled high. I will eat and eat to the point of feeling sick and then eat some more, then I'll give it 20 minutes to go down and start again.
Thankfully I try to keep active during the day on the land and so although I'm overweight, it actually doesn't show too much.
It's piling on though. lol. Guess I'm going to have to get a handle on it before it causes me some serious damage.

It's great to hear that you have been able to get a grasp with your weight and food issues though Rheghed, I applaud you cos I know it's an extremely difficult thing to do.
Can I ask what motivated you? Does seeing weight come off help give you the drive to keep going?

[Green_not_greed]

I'm telling you all this because I am just over the moon about losing 10kgs in body weight and I am now just simply over weight with a BMI of 29!!:lol::lol:

I'm not surprised with the amount of cycling you did over the past 2 weeks! Well done.