Monday, August 20, 2012

Day 27 of 40 - Why Do I Eat?

I wish I could honestly say that I only ever eat to satisfy my physical hunger and fuel my body. But that would be a lie.

Obviously, most of us eat as a way to celebrate, and sharing good food with friends and family is a time-honoured ritual of community and fellowship. Nothing wrong there. But there are times when eating for non-hunger reasons really are a bad idea.

I eat when I'm bored.
I eat because I've had a rough day and I "deserve a treat".
I eat because I feel unworthy of having a fit and healthy body.
I eat to punish myself.
I eat when I'm grieving.
I eat secretively, for no apparent reason, just because "I can".
I eat just because the food tastes good, even after I'm already satisfied or even full.
I eat because the food has strong sentimental value.

I'd say things are much better now than they have been in the past. I'm more mindful of not using food to abuse my body, but the boredom thing is still an issue for sure. I also eat out of routine, even if I may not actually be feeling real hunger.

It's such a new process, this whole listening-to-my-body thing. When I was on Weight Watchers, I knew how many points I had, and I'd just spread 'em out over the day. I could basically schedule my eating and then not think about it. That definitely had some advantages, but it's not a great way to live long-term, in my opinion. Nor did that way of eating help me to actually tackle any of the negative reasons I eat.

I'm not having an easy time in facing my food demons, but very few worthwhile things come easily. I know that this needs to be a battle fought - and won - over time, so that it the victory has some staying power.

Breakfast: Two sweet potato and zucchini latkes with two fried eggs and some sauteed kale. A cup of half-decaf with coconut milk.
Lunch: Beet greens (green and purple) sauteed with chopped bacon.
Supper: One hot Italian sausage, one broiled chicken thigh with BBQ sauce, green and purple string beans, roasted purple cauliflower and spaghetti squash tossed with homemade basil pesto and diced tomatoes.
Snacks: 2 muffins, 3 snack balls. Too many snacks.

3 comments:

  1. i try to listen to my body, too, but it doesn't always work. sometimes my head wins out and i overindulge. i think we can't beat ourselves up about it too much. i work out so i can eat more because i like to eat...i think you are doing a fabulous day and i am always interested to read how you are doing and what you eat every day!

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  2. "I eat because I feel unworthy of having a fit and healthy body." WOAH did that ever hit me!! That is what I do... but I couldn't put words to it. I feel like I will never be smaller than a size 10... I work hard (but not hard enough), I eat well (but not good enough) and that is WHY! Ok I need to go digest this epiphany now...

    Questions: Zucchini in sweet potato latkes? Just add them in and take out some potato?
    And what kind of muffins??

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  3. Glad to know I'm not the only one. :) We can work on our issues together - and pray for each other!
    We just tossed some extra shredded zucchini in with the mix. We're never super precise about measuring - just toss it in! :) An easy way to add an extra veggie at breakfast. (The muffins were the apple spice breakfast cake recipe I posted, but I increased it to a full cup of apple sauce and made it into muffins instead.)

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