Why do you eat?

As a child I found meal times a waste of time and still have a little of this memory. If I am busy, I am happy to go until late afternoon until I eat, but if I have had a drink and am relaxed, well, I can eat everything in the fridge. If I am stressed, as before Christmas I can eat for England, but now we are back to normal, I am just eating two ordinary meals again. I avoid breakfast as it makes me hungry all morning and do not buy any 'nice' snacks, only exotic fruit. It really is all in the mind I think.

OldMeg Starbird

Many thanks. I haven't heard of ginger tea but I went into town this afternoon and got a ginger root. I made the mixture and just drank it. I had quite a big dinner so it will be tested tonight.
Starbird
We always eat and have last cup of tea by 7pm and don't go to bed until quite late. I do drink water during the evening. I sometimes eat rich tea at night if I can't sleep and they do help.
Thanks again.

Eat to live - I'm another who is waiting for the 3 pills a day diet - this seems to be a theme, wonder where it originated? Soylent Green maybe ?
Don't like food shopping, cooking, eating or washing up - would rather read than do any of them.
Ate out of boredom whilst I was still at work but now I look after my grandson full time, I've lost 3 stone in a year - no time to eat and 100 times more exercise ?

Mollie I don’t see that at all. While I try to provide healthy and tasty meals, I don’t see them as a’treat’ or a ‘comfort’ as something to ‘give with love’ to anyone.

To me food is something to fuel us and to be eaten when hungry or when convenient. Yes, I’m a good cook and I enjoy presenting a good meal, but just in the same way as I’d clean the house, take the dog for a walk or weed the garden. I quite enjoy all these and feel as sense of satisfaction when I’ve done them.

I can see how difficult life must get for those with ‘emotional responses’ to food. It’s an alien concept.

I’m reading all posts with interest looking for clues. My dad was the one who threatened to keep leftovers for breakfast or to make us sit until we ate everything but I’ve never insisted on that myself. As an adult I’ve always considered food something you give with love to others, or give as a treat or to cheer someone/myself up. Now we celebrate or commiserate with food at every opportunity. Food is a treat and a comfort and essential. I have stopped baking, reduced portions and changed how and what I cook but I still feel panic set in if the cupboard/fridge gets close to empty or the weather is threatening so I won’t be able to get out to shop. I know I spend more than I need to on my supermarket shop because I can and limiting my budget won’t work, unfortunately. This is the one area where I’m out of control but I no longer overeat and get full and feel uncomfortable easily so that’s a great limiter for consumption. When I’ve tried to treat food as fuel and ignore all the rest I’ve noticed how much we are bombarded with ‘food! Food! Food’ ads, food programmes and articles. Annoying! I’d take the pills if they also stopped my emotional responses to food. Anyone else know what I mean and have any suggestions?

I'm eat to live, but I'm quite fond of chocolate

I live to eat, considering in my 20 s I was anorexic long before the term was in useage I was then under 6stone and unhappy and lost all interest in food for a few years but since then it reversed and I love my food I eat if I m happy unhappy, bored, busy, sociable, lonely Thankfully only at top end of my perfect weight but have to be really strict every few months to keep on the straight and narrow

MissAdventure yes, I've read this and heard it discussed. It comes under the heading of 'brainwashing'. Eating is not about feeling hungry or feeling full. It is, or can partly be, a form of cultural conditioning. You can hear them. Eat it all up, I spent a long time making it. Or worse, you can't have any pudding until...Or, you'll sit here until you've eaten it all. I've even read of Victorian parents who would bring out the same uneaten food for successive meals, until it was all eaten.

As an adult people have tried a similar game with me. 'Oh I made it specially for you, try a little bit, have just another small slice...'

It's brainwashing!

I read a theory that the 'clear your plate' issue creates people who then aren't able to recognise when they are full. My sister and I both struggle with our weight, so we place the blame on poor old mums shoulders.

I enjoy what I eat but eat far less than I used to, and smaller portions too ( still put weight on, but that’s another story.)
Feel better generally when I eat very little.
Yes, we are lucky not to go hungry, but I do think English people ( rather than British) feel guilty about food and taking pleasure in it, which is a great shame.

I'm becoming less and less interested in food, so you can put me down as 'eat to live', definitely not 'eat to live'.

I grew up in a time of rationing and in a very poor family, but I never remember being forced to 'clear my plate'. Either I ate all up without question or it was never an issue. We were very active in those days, a 2 mile walk to school, always on the go. My husband, same age, recalls this 'clear your plate' mantra but he puts it down as a 'cultural' i.e. Jewish, thing. He too was always very active but he didn't like his gran putting extra food on to his plate before he'd finished what he was eating.

We were out to lunch Christmas Day with a single dad and his 8 year old son. I was glad to see the little lad wsn't given a hard time and forced to clear his plate. I didn't clear mine!

Prescription meds caused me to over eat couples with the fact that as a long standing Type 2 diabetic I no longer make the gut hormone which makes one feel full. I am so happy that my GP has now prescribed me a synthetic version of said hormone and reduced my tablets by 28 every WEEK! I couldn’t lose weight despite running and other exercise but am delighted to be steadily doing so now simply because I am less hungry. Portion control is easy now

Since I hit seventy and have contracted Atrial Fibrillation my appetite has done a nose dive. Sitting down to a full plate is daunting , I never finish and have been known to take six bites and no more. If I eat between meals , it's a small snack like one biscuit . I've lost nearly a stone in the past two years.

Eat to live. I no longer enjoy cooking. Started when I was 7 and expected to help in the kitchen. Been doing it for 60 years and I’m done!
I like breakfast, then can happily go most of the day without thinking about food. Mr. Finn, however, has other ideas!

Simple, easy and quick is my mantra.

oldmeg you cannot just say "grate ginger, pour in water and leave to steep" I need amounts, length of steeping time, etc please

I don’t live to eat though I like my food. Can’t eat so much now I am older, don’t have a starter or if I do no pudding.
I was born after the war 1945, we still had rationing then.
There is more of a choice now I know but I try to eat sensibly although I do go off the rails sometimes. Especially now Christmas but I soon get back on track. Think what comes health wise with older age people and ask your self if it’s worth it.

Another vote for the Eat to live brigade. I've done it the other way and it wasn't a lot of fun and I was pretty unhealthy and unfit. Happily resolved now but it did take a couple of years to achieve. I'm continuing easily and successfully now but I adhere to Jane10's 8:16 regime and it's working so perfectly for me. I wouldn't mind losing more weight but I certainly don't want to put any back on.

I eat to live and have type 2 diabetes. What would I be like if I lived to eat ??

Yes, worrying tendency to live to eat too much of the time. After a lovely Christmas meal, goose, several veg, etc. I was ready for second helpings while noticing that everyone else was content. Now I've started thinking about it I could just go for another slow cooked goose leg ...

I agree with that starbird - not eating before bedtime.

I love food and I enjoy cooking it and sharing it with friends and family. I echo Maw’s thoughts & and am very grateful for being in a position not only to have enough to eat, but to have the amazing choice available today that just wasn’t there in a 50’s childhood (when I dreaded meal times and being forced to ‘leave a clean plate’.)
But I have rules.
Number 1 is portion control.
Number 2 is controlling the amount of non-milk extrinsic sugars in my diet. In practice this means 1 sweet thing a day.
Number 3 is 3 meals a day plus one snack a day.
Enjoying my meals is my reward for sticking to my rules

I have always been a live to eat type but have found that eating more slowly helps you to feel full sooner so you are less likely to overeat and feel uncomfortable. Works most of the time but some things are hard to resist even when full!

I am a compulsive eater, if there is such a thing.
If there is food in front of me I eat it if not I don’t.
I usually eat porridge when I get up and then it’s if and when I feel hungry or if I have to cook for family. Or if it’s there and it somehow finds it’s way into my mouth regardless of what it is!

I think I eat to live but apparently I'm a bit of an emotional eater. I started putting on a bit of weight before Christmas and I'm blaming feeling too unwell to go out for my daily walk and having to take so much cough mixture, etc.
Plus, oh dear I've over-indulged with biscuits and chocolates over the last few days (both were gifts) so I've got some work to do to regain my previous weight loss.

I hope this is meant lightheartedly.
Because

1) jealousy is an emotion unworthy of a mature adult
2) there are far too many people in the world living/barely existing way below the minimum calories needed for healthy life
3) his metabolism may be his business, but have you tried upping yours?
4) good food is a blessing and should not be the topic of jealousy. The AMOUNT you eat is down to you
5) there are worse things out there to feel guilty about let alone “jealous” Try thinking of those who NEED to increase their calorie intake because of chronic illness or medication.
6)