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Why do you eat?

(101 Posts)
vampirequeen Thu 28-Dec-17 07:52:23

I am so jealous of my nine year old stepson. He is the only person I know who eats to live rather than lives to eat. I wish I could stop when I'm full and not feel the need to have the dessert even if it makes my stomach uncomfortable [embarrassed]

Do you eat to live or live to eat?

NfkDumpling Thu 28-Dec-17 07:57:35

I come into the Live to Eat bracket I'm afraid. A Glutton. The trouble is that now I have a hiatus hernia I really suffer if I eat too much. And too much isn't very much!

Apparently we don't feel full until 15-20 minutes after actually being full! Big problem that.

OldMeg Thu 28-Dec-17 08:22:51

I’m lucky as all our family find it quite easy to say ‘that’s enough’. The only one who doesn’t is my co-grandparent, my DiL’s mother, and consequently she has type 2 diabetes and all the health issues that go with it.

I do think it’s harder for some to stop eating.

Baggs Thu 28-Dec-17 08:35:00

I eat to live but I do enjoy treats so I factor them in. Sometimes a meal is a slab of cake or a banana and a slab of chocolate (which also, as it happens, seems to be good for my gut, which is a fussy blighter (codeine for arthritis is to blame)).

Greyduster Thu 28-Dec-17 09:09:43

I have to be in the mood for food, and can sometimes go all day on a bit of fruit without being the slightest bit interested in eating, but when the mood is right I can eat for England and don’t know when to stop! Yesterday was a case in point and I shall draw a veil over it! I sense that today will be different.

Anniebach Thu 28-Dec-17 09:11:53

I eat to live but it is still a battle

Christinefrance Thu 28-Dec-17 09:17:34

I eat when I'm happy, sad, lonely, with company , and so on. Must try for a little restraint in 2018. So much of our social life here revolves around food, perhaps we should look at changing that. I hope I can keep up the effort past January !!

harrigran Thu 28-Dec-17 09:19:12

Eat to live, if I pigged out I would be seriously sick.
Hiatus hernia causes many to adjust their eating habits, me included. I just wish I had the body shape that goes with a restrained diet.

tickertape Thu 28-Dec-17 09:23:49

I find pleasure in food so want cake with my coffee etc I think I am losing my sweet tooth as I get olderr though. I don't eat puddings much. I do graze and it all adds up. I have lost my waistline and have given up hope of finding it again.

Baggs Thu 28-Dec-17 09:23:58

I think the sociability of eating is very important. When my GS1 was a toddler he was very shy at my house but if I was eating something he would come over, sometimes repeatedly, for a bite. To me this showed how important in establishing relationships eating together is. I was clearly a trusted source of food even though he didn't want me to pick him up if he fell. Only mum or dad would do for that.

NanaandGrampy Thu 28-Dec-17 09:32:53

I eat .

No matter the emotion - I can still eat.

I eat to be social , I eat to celebrate , I eat to commiserate .

I eat as a reward.

I just eat grin

chicken Thu 28-Dec-17 10:02:59

I eat when I'm bored. If I'm doing something really interesting, I can go on all day then suddenly realise that I've totally forgotten about eating.

Nannylovesshopping Thu 28-Dec-17 10:52:10

I love everything about food, shopping for it (obviously) cooking and feeding everybody, don't even mind the clearing up! I eat loads of good stuff, veggies salads and proteins, rarely any junk food, apart from crisps, BUT TOO MUCH, I really need to sticky tape my mouth up, it doesn't help that I can never remember ever losing my appetite grin

mollie Thu 28-Dec-17 11:52:13

I eat out of habit and because I’m head cook and bottle-washer and am feeding others. I was married to someone who wasn’t interested in food - at the time it was annoying and frustrating as I wanted to be a domestic goddess and he wasn’t impressed with my efforts. Current husband loves everything I cook but it’s a lethal combination (the cook and the glutton) and we’ve had to change our habits. If I was an eat to live sort imagine how much money and time I’d save!!!

luluaugust Thu 28-Dec-17 11:55:36

Never had a big appetite until I was put on large dose of Vitamin D now seem to be hungry all the time, hence the extra stone I now carry around! Just received healthy eating recipe book for Christmas lets hope I open it.

MinniesMum Thu 28-Dec-17 11:57:20

Oh Baggs ... I am sooo with you on the codeine. Funnily enough I can eat chocolate, cake and bananas too with no problem. It is eating that last couple of mouthfuls that is the problem leading to heartburn and walking around at 3.00am mainlining Gaviscon, and if that doesn't work, warm water followed by a spoonful of honey. I take Omeprazole but it doesn't seem to have the effect that it used to. I have heard that cider vinegar can help but who feels like swigging cider vinegar in the middle of the nigh!
Do you have any other cures - all suggestions welcome.
I managed OK over Christmas but kept the portions very small and only had one bad night.

Penelopa024 Thu 28-Dec-17 11:57:48

I am eat to live kind of person. If they invented a pill that would satisfy all the body's needs for nutrition I would be first in line to try it.
Not sure why that is - I just think eating is a chore.

wildswan16 Thu 28-Dec-17 11:59:31

I definitely eat to live. Maybe I am just lucky, but I have never thought of food as anything but a necessary to keep me functioning. I can happily stop eating when I am full. I can't imagine why anyone would eat when they are not hungry !

I think food has become an industry people make a lot of money out of. Encouraging others to stuff doughnuts in their mouths. Encouraging people to think food is the most important thing in their lives. They manufacture plates and bowls which are twice as large as they need to be. They print thousands of ridiculous cookery books which people buy and never read. They think up all sorts of gadgets which people buy and never use.

But it all comes down to a matter of individual choice.

vampirequeen Thu 28-Dec-17 12:05:47

Food is my best friend and my worst enemy.

Diddy1 Thu 28-Dec-17 12:18:20

I eat to live, DH lives to eat, cant stop, in other words a Glutton.

MissAdventure Thu 28-Dec-17 12:22:20

The same for me. I have a pretty unhealthy relationship around food. I just love eating!

NannyTee Thu 28-Dec-17 12:30:15

I too am eat to live and have always gone with the pill idea . Would be great to take a pill 3 times a day. My medication gives me permanent morning sickness feelings. Force myself though .

OldMeg Thu 28-Dec-17 12:35:00

MinniesMum when my sister in law was visiting she suffers from heartburn. I made her some ginger tea (grate ginger, pour in water and leave to steep) then I added a teaspoon of cider vinegar and a teaspoon of honey. It did the trick.

She still suffers from it at home though and prefers to pop the pills.

grandtanteJE65 Thu 28-Dec-17 12:40:32

We both love food and cooking, but manage only to overeat at Christmas.

I think this is the only really good result of years and years on an income that was decidedly slender, so our food budget like everything else we spent money on had to be stretched thin.

If you really want to change your eating habits, it might help (but I don't know if it will) if you fix a firm amount of housekeeping money for buying food each week or month and force yourself to stick to it.

starbird Thu 28-Dec-17 12:58:09

MinniesMum. It might help to have your last meal four hours before you go to bed. If ginger tea doesn’t help, you could try a couple of rich tea biscuits with some warm water.