My Disclosure

[Superstar922]

So I have been logging my food for almost a month now, on here and on livestrong.com. And you know what I have realized? I think I eat too much because I try to control when I am "allowed" to eat, and I end up over-doing it, b/c I'm forcing myself to eat even when I'm not hungry; just simply because some 'diet plan' told me I should be eating at a specific time.

When you fall asleep, you don't do so b/c the clock has stricken 10pm. You fall asleep because you are tired (<-- natural human function).

When you breath, you don't time each and every breath you take. You breath to either empty or fill your lungs (<-- another natural human function).

So why is it when one wants to go on a diet, they must control to a T when they can and cannot eat? You should eat when you are hungry (<-- yet another natural human function). Why should I eat 5-6 times a day if I am not hungry 5-6 times a day? I believe this is what has lead me to overeat b/c I try to incorporate the many smaller meals a day, whether or not I a hungry, and it cause me to has to unconsciously put food in my mouth so I'm not thinking about the fact that I am not actually hungry.

I think that especially in this American society, everything and everybody is surrounded by food. Gatherings, celebrations, welcoming gifts, surprises, ceremonies, EVERYTHING! So we are trained to eat, not b/c we are hungry, but just b/c the food is there. And I believe that when certain diets try to "undo" that habit, they are actually reinforcing it, b/c it's not YOU telling yourself when to eat, it's some diet calling the shots. I think it takes the -- what's the word I'm looking for -- "nature" (i guess) out of eating, and makes it into sort of a robotic habit. Eating shouldn't be a habit or a procedure or something you document and write down. And I think diets that try to make eating into some sort of system do less help than harm.

Since I've been logging my food, I've been really thinking about my eating habits, I realize its not that I eat bad things (well ... not all that time), but that I have trained myself to eat whenever I am "supposed" to eat, according to some diet, and that leads me to eat more than I would like b/c I start eating unconsciously instead of actually eating b/c my body has told me to. From now on, that is what I intend to do. I'll eat when I'm hungry. So if that means breakfast comes at 11am and lunch at 4pm, then so be it. But at least it'll be NATURAL, and natural is something that I can actually stick to for the rest of my life. Being told what and when to eat takes the control out of my hands and I believe has lead my to "cheat" more often than I would like b/c I'm feeling like I have absolutely NO control over something so basic. And the only way I can take back that control is to laugh in the face of my diet and overeat.

Now this doesn't mean 'bring on the cheesburgers!' No. I'm 20 years old and I'm know what is good for me. I do eat all my vegetables at dinner without my mother telling me to do so. And I will continue to eat healthy. But I will eat on my terms and when my body needs the fuel. So forget the 5-6 times a day meals (tho it was 4 for me). Forget planning out my meals (as long as I have a general idea of what to eat--primarily veggies, protein, and fruits, avoiding high sugar and high fat foods, and I'll be fine). It's time I started listen to my body. It knows exactly what it needs much better than any "generic" diet plan could tell me.

[ deep breath ]

I just had to get that out. Anybody who took the time to read all that mumbo-jumbo, thank you!

Feel free to comment if you choose!

 

[KaraCooks]

Steve once said something that perfectly expresses my feelings on the matter:

Listening to your body only works if you speak it's language.

What does that mean? Well, what you're describing is something called "intuitive eating" or "mindful eating". There's been a lot of press about it and there are whole books on the topic - how to listen to your body; eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.

All of that is great, except that for many of us our intuition has been screwed up by lifetimes of - what you mentioned - American/Western societal norms.

We are conditioned to equate emotion with hunger much of the time. Social events and happiness? Eat to celebrate! Sadness and loss? Eat to console. Dinner time? Clean your plate because there are starving children in the Sudan.

For a lot of us, we had to go through the routine of eating at programmed times in order to relearn the language our bodies speak.

So it's good that you're figuring this out .. it's a big step in the right direction.

 

[Superstar922]

Steve once said something that perfectly expresses my feelings on the matter:

Listening to your body only works if you speak it's language.

What does that mean? Well, what you're describing is something called "intuitive eating" or "mindful eating". There's been a lot of press about it and there are whole books on the topic - how to listen to your body; eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.

All of that is great, except that for many of us our intuition has been screwed up by lifetimes of - what you mentioned - American/Western societal norms.

We are conditioned to equate emotion with hunger much of the time. Social events and happiness? Eat to celebrate! Sadness and loss? Eat to console. Dinner time? Clean your plate because there are starving children in the Sudan.

For a lot of us, we had to go through the routine of eating at programmed times in order to relearn the language our bodies speak.

So it's good that you're figuring this out .. it's a big step in the right direction.

Good quote.

I'm just giving up on diets. I just can't stand eating on somebody else's clock, you know? I wanna at least control what I put in my mouth (which is why I can't WAIT to move into my campus apartments, with a full kitchen so I can cook up a storm!!)

But that's my main concern--feeding my body right. So I'm through with the strict dieting, but I am going to bear in mind that a salad would be better for me than greasy pizza. But I wouldn't even eat that salad if I wasn't hungry.

So that's what it is for me. New month, new mindset, on my new shit!!

 

[Kayshiz]

This is very similar to the change I started. When I would go on "diets" before I logged all my calories and made sure I was eating often so... I don't really know why. So I wouldn't be hungry and more tempted to eat the bad stuff?
This time around, no diet food, no logging, just eating good healthy food when I am hungry.
So far I am doing fantastic. 20 pounds gone in less than 2 months.
Of course, that's not to say logging my calories and eating often didn't work. It did. But it just didn't work long term for me personally.
And I really am able to start listening to my body. It's so messed up to think of all the times I would eat because I thought I was hungry, and I now recognize that feeling as my body telling me it was full! how messed up is that?

 

[ChefChiTown]

I'm just giving up on diets. I just can't stand eating on somebody else's clock, you know?

What diet tells you what time to eat at? They might give you guidelines as to what to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but I've never heard of a diet that says, "At 6:15AM, eat one egg, a piece of toast and have a small glass of orange juice. Then, at 11:30AM, eat a small salad and have a glass of water. For dinner, precisely at 5:48PM EST, eat a skinless chicken breast, a handful of steamed green beans and a glass of milk." I have just honestly never heard of a diet that tells you WHEN to eat like that.

Anyway, eat whenever the fuck you want to. It's your body, you know? Nobody can tell you when you should be eating; only you can do that. So, eat whenever you want. Just make sure that what you're eating is good for you, that's all.

 

[Harold14370]

Why should I eat 5-6 times a day if I am not hungry 5-6 times a day?

You shouldn't, because the idea that frequent meals help lose weight is a myth.

 

[angelicrock]

I can relate to this post a lot! I used to have that same mindset of planning not only my meals but also my snacks. It was ridiculous. It made eating a chore. I went from eating to control my emotions to not wanting to eat at all. What changed? I am a very laid back guy and it got to a point where it was too much work for me. I took a step back and said "how can I eat right without the headache?" For me, the solution was getting a calorie counting app on my phone. I log my calories to make sure I am not over eating. I do have a problem of under-eating but I modified certain things to assist with that as well. Right now I am consistently where I should be for someone of my size.

10lbs down and about 10 more to go before I am at my goal weight.

 

[Kayshiz]

What diet tells you what time to eat at? They might give you guidelines as to what to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but I've never heard of a diet that says, "At 6:15AM, eat one egg...

It's not really a book telling you what to eat as much as what you set up for yourself. I can't speak for the OP, but when I was logging calories to eat a certain amount I would pretty much plan out all my calories for the day since I wouldn't be home from work til after 8 some nights. If I didn't bring all my food and I got hungry, I just had vending machines to rely on. So what would happen is I'd get busy or caught up in what I was doing and realize I still had 700 calories for the day at 8pm. I wasn't hungry but was so terrified of eating to few or messing up my "diet" (and I did not understand what I do now about weight loss).
Is it silly? Heck yea. But I understand what they are talking about. If one day I only eat 1000 calories and the next day I eat 2000 I now realize that t will be fine. Some people need the consistency and portion control a set number gives you. We are trying to achieve the same results in a different way is all.

 

[KaraCooks]

I used to have that same mindset of planning not only my meals but also my snacks. It was ridiculous. It made eating a chore

Keep in mind that for a lot of us, planning is NOT a chore and actually does work.

Every Sunday I plan my menu for the week - yes, I plan all my meals and my snacks. First of all I do this because I love to cook. It's fun for me to sit down on a Sunday night with my cookbooks and my websites and think about what I'm going to make. But also it helps me with my budgeting - not just calories and weight loss, but in making my grocery list and keeping track of my $$ for food.

And then once I've planned, I don't HAVE to think about food the rest of the week. I know what I'm fixing. I know what I have in the pantry and the fridge. I know that I have snacks available - and I don't HAVE to be constantly thinking about food. If I get hungry and need a snack - they're there. Healthy ones. And I don't wind up eating a bag of chips from the vending machine ... because I've already planned for an afternoon snack and I have an apple and some cheese and some crackers in my bag.

It's all about what works for you. Just because planning doesn't work for some people doesn't make it a bad thing. It just means it doesn't work for you. For others of us, planning has made all the difference.

 

[dietgrrl]

I agree with Kara. Before, I unconsciously ate when I was hungry but that often meant that I would be caught unprepared and would have to settle for what was available (usually take-out/eating out). Now that I have to plan and prepare my meals before hand, I have more awareness of how I am fueling my body. And I like it.

Cool that this works for you though.

 

[ChefChiTown]

Keep in mind that for a lot of us, planning is NOT a chore and actually does work.

Every Sunday I plan my menu for the week - yes, I plan all my meals and my snacks. First of all I do this because I love to cook. It's fun for me to sit down on a Sunday night with my cookbooks and my websites and think about what I'm going to make. But also it helps me with my budgeting - not just calories and weight loss, but in making my grocery list and keeping track of my $$ for food.

And then once I've planned, I don't HAVE to think about food the rest of the week. I know what I'm fixing. I know what I have in the pantry and the fridge. I know that I have snacks available - and I don't HAVE to be constantly thinking about food. If I get hungry and need a snack - they're there. Healthy ones. And I don't wind up eating a bag of chips from the vending machine ... because I've already planned for an afternoon snack and I have an apple and some cheese and some crackers in my bag.

It's all about what works for you. Just because planning doesn't work for some people doesn't make it a bad thing. It just means it doesn't work for you. For others of us, planning has made all the difference.

HAHAHA, I think it's funny when people think that planning ahead (when it comes to eating healthy) is some sort of difficult task. I mean, all you have to do is throw an apple or two or a low calorie snack bar into a brown paper bag or your briefcase and you're good to go. It's not like you have to sit down on the weekend and spend a whole entire day making up all sorts of flow charts or anything...you just buy healthy foods when you're at the grocery store and take some of them with you when you go somewhere, so you can snack on them when you're hungry.

It's not rocket science. THIS is rocket science...

 

[Superstar922]

Steve once said something that perfectly expresses my feelings on the matter:

Listening to your body only works if you speak it's language.

What does that mean? Well, what you're describing is something called "intuitive eating" or "mindful eating". There's been a lot of press about it and there are whole books on the topic - how to listen to your body; eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.

All of that is great, except that for many of us our intuition has been screwed up by lifetimes of - what you mentioned - American/Western societal norms.

We are conditioned to equate emotion with hunger much of the time. Social events and happiness? Eat to celebrate! Sadness and loss? Eat to console. Dinner time? Clean your plate because there are starving children in the Sudan.

For a lot of us, we had to go through the routine of eating at programmed times in order to relearn the language our bodies speak.

So it's good that you're figuring this out .. it's a big step in the right direction.

What diet tells you what time to eat at? They might give you guidelines as to what to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but I've never heard of a diet that says, "At 6:15AM, eat one egg, a piece of toast and have a small glass of orange juice. Then, at 11:30AM, eat a small salad and have a glass of water. For dinner, precisely at 5:48PM EST, eat a skinless chicken breast, a handful of steamed green beans and a glass of milk." I have just honestly never heard of a diet that tells you WHEN to eat like that.

Anyway, eat whenever the fuck you want to. It's your body, you know? Nobody can tell you when you should be eating; only you can do that. So, eat whenever you want. Just make sure that what you're eating is good for you, that's all.

Yeah, I've never heard of any diet that says at exactly 5:48pm to eat this this and that. But I've read that it's "recommended" to eat every 2-3 hours. There is no way in hell I'mma eat every 2-3 hours. Who even has time for that?

 

[Superstar922]

You shouldn't, because the idea that frequent meals help lose weight is a myth.

I knew it! I knew it! I knew there was something fishy about that. That just does not seem like it'll work out. Least I KNOW it wouldn't work for me.

 

[Superstar922]

Well, it's nice to see that others understand where I was coming from; at least I'm not alone.

And for those who planning out to a T works best for your weight loss endeavors, more power to you! Yeah, it's not rocket science, but for me personally it was becoming so unnatural and so convoluted that I could not see myself doing that for the rest of my life. And knowing I'm not going to stick to it, I want to get out of that mindset asap.

So as long as I know what is good for me vs. what is bad for me, I believe I am set. For example I just had a grilled eggplant wheat wrap with a organic protein shake (no added sugars), with some mustard dip on the side. At my school the whole meal came with a bag of greasy Lays chips and Oreos; I threw away the Oreos (they're gross) and gave the chips to my roomie (<-- that's how to eat right). But I didn't need to sit down over the weekend and write out that I was going to have that meal, you know what I'm saying? That's all I'm trying to do.

(Plus, being on my school's meal plan for now, I don't always know what the dining hall or whatever will be serving, so planning foods becomes even more difficult).

 

[KaraCooks]

There is no way in hell I'mma eat every 2-3 hours. Who even has time for that?

Um. Well. I do. Between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. I eat about every 3 hours. I eat about every 3 hours because it helps me manage my hunger and balance my calories.

There's no need to get angry and defensive ... but I do think there needs to be some balance here. You are discovering that planning doesn't work for you and that's a good thing - it means you're a step closer to figuring out what's best for you.

But there's no need to demonize planing as being "obsessive" or saying things like "who the hell has time for that" because ... some of us do.

Don't be so absolutist. It's great to talk about what works for YOU and to say things like "I don't have time to eat every 3 hours" and "I find myself getting obsessed with planning" .. but to swing to the extreme and say that everyone who plans is obsessed or that anyone who eats every 3 hours is unreasonable is flat out wrong.

We're all different. We all have ot figure out what works for us.

 

[KaraCooks]

You shouldn't, because the idea that frequent meals help lose weight is a myth.

Well, let's be precise here.

The idea that frequent meals raise metabolism is a myth.

For *some* people ... eating more frequently helps them to manage hunger and balance calories. In that respect for SOME people, breaking their food out into a number of meals/snacks provides a more manageable structure to their eating.

There's myth and then there's reality. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Again, when one person discovers that multiple small meals don't work for them, that's awesome. That doesn't mean that the people who DO eat multiple small meals are "doin' it rong!"

 

[Superstar922]

Um. Well. I do. Between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. I eat about every 3 hours. I eat about every 3 hours because it helps me manage my hunger and balance my calories.

There's no need to get angry and defensive ... but I do think there needs to be some balance here. You are discovering that planning doesn't work for you and that's a good thing - it means you're a step closer to figuring out what's best for you.

But there's no need to demonize planing as being "obsessive" or saying things like "who the hell has time for that" because ... some of us do.

Don't be so absolutist. It's great to talk about what works for YOU and to say things like "I don't have time to eat every 3 hours" and "I find myself getting obsessed with planning" .. but to swing to the extreme and say that everyone who plans is obsessed or that anyone who eats every 3 hours is unreasonable is flat out wrong.

We're all different. We all have ot figure out what works for us.

What???

I've been talking about myself the whole time and what works for me. I'm not putting anybody down. I just said that if you can do that, "more power to you".

What are you talking about??

 

[harlan]

You shouldn't, because the idea that frequent meals help lose weight is a myth.

Dead on here!

I don't eat breakfast so much as I eat a small "snack" early then I mix a protein shake and I sip on it when I start to feel a little hungry through the morning. If I notice it has been like 3 hours and I have not had any, I do take a little of it, but I do not concentrate on getting full or taking in a certain amount of calories each time. Lunch comes and I eat the largest meal of the day at that point. Then later when I start felling a little hungry in the late afternoon, usually about 4-5 pm, I will get back to sipping the protein shake.

I drink the rest of it on the way home from work and I go hit the weights, and I make another shake identical to the first one and I have half of it right away post workout, then I sip on the rest until it is gone. Sometimes I add a few peanuts IF I get a little hungry after 8pm, and head to bed later.

The only thing I really try to do int he evening is not eat carbs after about 8pm.

Very unconventional diet, but it has worked great for me and others I have put on it in the past. Also, this is a very flexible diet for people who work and have a busy schedule. No worrying about preparing breakfast or supper. And if you have the ability to eat at home for lunch, you can cook a bunch of your foods on the weekend to grab quickly at lunch time through the week. It also allows you to eat out for lunch and , as long as you have get the numbers and work it into your daily requirements and limits, it has done me just fine.

I've seen pretty much the exact same diet take a guy to about 8% BF. He was ripped.

As long as you really pay attention to your body, you can go with the signals when it is time to eat, but remember that thirst can disguise itself as hunger too, so try drinking some water if it seems too soon after the last meal and you feel hungry.

Sorry for the book. lol

 

[ChefChiTown]

I've seen pretty much the exact same diet take a guy to about 8% BF.

8% BOYFRIEND? Sooooo, that diet turns people gay?



Ahh, I kill myself.

 

[Superstar922]

The only thing I really try to do int he evening is not eat carbs after about 8pm.

Yeah, I'm trying to limit my carbs at dinner time as well, and eat most (if not all) of my carbs for either breakfast or lunch (preferably breakfast though). But I'm start getting sick of breakfast food so I may have to start eating dinner in the am.