Do you eat what you want?

[shrubgreen]

Just wondering how many of you eat what you want, when you want on a regular basis - or if you tend to view food in terms of what you can/can't, should/shouldn't indulge in?

Was just wondering as I know so many people who have been on some sort of diet for most of their lives and wondering if anyone is really immune from this? Or do some people really not think twice about what they eat - I mean in terms of "guilt" and feeling like there's a right or wrong way to eat.

Yes I do. Healthy(ish) vegetarian diet but eat whatever I want. My weight hasn't fluctuated wildly since I was a teenager - I've always been on the curvy side of slim. I'm a size 12 who probably could be a 10 with a bit more care.

I have no will power and do have guilt about the extra slice of toast and jam or slice of cheese here and there - and I think if I could cut out these kinds of extras I might be happier with my weight. .... but I am not sorely tempted by crisps, fast food, biscuits, sweets etc, so I guess it all evens out.

Yes, I now eat what I want.

I used to categorise foods as “good” and “bad”. I was always very vocal about this & would comment on everything my family and friends were eating. I used to feel so superior and smug for eating a bowl of lettuce and cucumber while they were eating their actual meals.
The turning point for me was when my younger sister had started to pick up on my attitude towards food & developed a serious eating disorder leading to hospitalisation.

(We’re both healthy & happy now!)

That's my mum at 86 - weighing 6 stone in hospital after breaking her hip - when eating properly for bone health was the important thing but she was so very concerned with getting fat. She's 90 and is a size 10 now and thinks she's too fat - it's bonkers. Mind you she was never someone I looked up to but frequently someone who told me I could do with losing a few pounds.

Currently I eat what I want. I'm a size 20. I seem to have lost the ability to reign it in and eat less/more healthily somewhere between having a baby and Covid lockdowns. Unfortunately what I want is endless bread and butter, chips and chocolate, along with quite unhealthy dinners.

I'm hoping at some point my brain will start working again and I'll go back to doing 16/8 on weekdays, no snacks and limited unhealthy treats, because I have a wardrobe full of size 16 clothes I love and miss wearing. I can't below a size 16 without serious restriction.

I eat what I want. I am 59 and have a BMI of about 20. I do about 16k steps a day and a lot of stable work. In winter I struggle to keep weight on. Currently losing about 1/2 kilo a month.

I eat what I want when I want and don’t feel any guilt ever. No idea what I weigh, 5ft 7 and currently size 14, usually fluctuate over the year between a 12 and a 16. I don’t eat much over the course of the day, mainly snack, only really have one what I would consider to be a ‘proper meal’ in the evening. Yoghurt and fruit mid morning, snack in the afternoon, maybe crisps or some chocolate, another snack at about 5 and then dinner at 8ish. Suits me and I’m pretty happy with my body/shape/size. Drink alcohol but not regularly, had a couple of beers on Sunday we were out for a walk and stopped at the pub. I don’t limit myself.

Yes I do and am an average weight for my height. That is because I don't obsess about my weight or my food. Some people do.

Barring medical conditions or prescription drugs the question of whether you put on an excessive amount of weight or are excessively underweight depends on how much you want to eat and exercise to some extent. That's a personal issue for you to solve if you are not happy with your body. Comparisons to other people get you nowhere in weight or many other issues.

Yes, I do.
I enjoy most things, and love vegetables or fruit, but I eat chocolate most days (and not the good stuff!) and most likely consume way too much salt. I am petite so it doesn't show, but I know I could be so much more healthier.

Yes. I have a big appetite but feel awful if I don't eat a balanced diet so do eat a lot of fruit and veg. I lived in a country for a while where it was hard to find fresh vegetables and I really noticed it. I'm also quite routine based so tend to stick to mealtimes. But no restrictions.

Yes, I eat what I want. With very rare exception. I do have a GI issue which means I'm supposed to not eat certain foods or at least not very often/much. I still eat what I want, but sometimes I do avoid certain things when I know they will exacerbate my condition. But yes, I love food. I have a healthy relationship with food and my body. I went on a diet once about 20 years ago for maybe 2 weeks because my mum was doing it and I was living at home at the time, so I thought I would do it too. Nope, not for me.

I grew up in a house where my mum was constantly on some fad diet. We could only have boiled skinless chicken breast in our house because chicken skin was the devil and too high in fat/calories. She was constantly restricting herself, only eating 2 biscuits, but then binging on them later when no one was looking. I recognise not everyone has a choice in how they eat as ED are very real and powerful. But I don't have an ED, so I enjoy food and I don't diet or worry about my weight. I am overweight, but I don't think anyone would thing I was massively overweight. And anyway, I'm fine with how I look.

I do. Slightly overweight at present but nothing more exercise won't help. Been unwell for a while and that's why - different diet to normal in hospital and too little movement!

hmmm I eat whatever whenever, no foods are off limits and I never feel restricted.

I weigh 116lbs, I enjoy running a few times a week, i strength train 1-2 per week, I have a dog who is walked daily and a toddler who never sits on her bum.

Of course I wouldn’t weigh 116lbs if all I ate was high fat, processed food, I also wouldn’t feel well. I have a wide variety diet that includes all meats, fish, veg, not a huge fan of fruits, big lover of crisps and chocolate. But no I don’t feel I ever restrict myself on any one food.

This thread has highlighted yet again just how many have an unhealthy relationship with food.

A couple of years ago I worked with women who were all on the 5:2 diet and talked about it all the time and would get out their lunch boxes and discuss the contents and how much they were looking forward to their treat days. It was very dull.

They were all a bit fat. I think they were cheating - themselves, because I didn't give a shit what dress size they were. I suspect it was alcohol, which again i didn't care about. I like alcohol but it is high in calories or whatever you're counting.

Sometime before that I was in another office where everyone was on Atkins and some of the others were on the Cabbage Soup diet. They weren't very fat but the ones on the soup diet were grey. Again, it was all very dull if you weren't in the cult. Actually, forget that. It would have been hell to be in the cult.

Yes I probably do have an unhealthy relationship with food. I’m not sure that’s my ‘fault’ though; I don’t do it deliberately! So how do we help people (women mainly) to not have an unhealthy relationship with food? What is causing it? You seem to have a healthy relationship with food, so what insight do you have that could help us lesser mortals? 😊

So @PatientlyWaiting21 - that would put you in category B!

@WaddleAway - you move yourself to category C - woman who are so used to self control, it no longer feels like they are depriving themselves of food they want as it’s become normal.

if you work out how to do it, let me know. I’m a size 8, I miss fatty crap food.

I used to !!! Then I got diagnosed with coeliacs and a bunch of allergies lately and i can’t anymore.

I keep going to grab a snack and really having to then stop and pick something I’m allowed . It’s made me much healthier as GF alternatives are more expensive so I’m not even really having biscuits anymore (they aren’t as nice either) and having fruit instead

I'd say I eat well! I cook a lot and enjoy it

I don't like chocolate or sweet things including fruit

But I do love carbs and crisps.

52 and still a size 10 , but used to be 6-8. So I'll put that down to lack of exercise and middle aged spread

From my experience a lot seems to stem from your upbringings, we’re your parents / siblings always on a diet?

mine weren’t, I’ve been raised that food is food, nothing is off limits. But I did also get help from a nutrionist a few years ago (I have a general interest in the subject) and I wanted to better understand what I needed to fuel my body, keep me feeling fuller for longer and help myself recover after long runs (I was training for a marathon at the time) SO helpful, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.

I’ve also had friends who have had CBT to help them with their relationship with food which has been nothing short of life changing for them.

You can put my in any class you want if it makes you feel better, but my portions aren’t small, I consumed between 1500-1900 calories a day - and no I don’t calorie count!

So I'm one of the people who has said I eat mostly in the first half of the day and don't eat much after lunch. This has been misinterpreted by others to mean that I don't allow myself to eat after a certain time. Nothing could be further from the truth. There's certainly no self-control involved. I'm not forcing myself to eat when I don't want to and I'm not stopping myself from eating when I do. I just eat whatever takes my fancy at the point my brain tells me to, which happens to be in the morning. The OP 's question was "Do you eat what you want, when you want?" The answer is yes.

I do think a lot about what I eat but it's because I've learnt as I've got older just how important food is as fuel, the right fuel not just whatever you fancy, and that certain foods don't agree with me or make me feel well or have enough energy.
However that doesn't mean I don't eat things that we typically think of as indulgences, I do, just in a sensible quantity.
I don't think it's possible to just eat 'what you wan' and be really truly healthy, as what we want is connected with what is widely available and what we have been taught is normal - e.g. quite high carb, processed food, lots of dairy. It is actually an effort to choose healthy food. So if I'm out and about and hungry, it would be so easy to eat fast food, or buy a sandwich, crisps and a fruit drink as a meal deal- most of that is stuff your body doesn't need. Our bodies need useful carbs, a range of protein, some dairy (probably), some good fats, loads of vegetables, and can tolerate a small amount of unhealthy fats and sugar.
I don't think dieting is healthy, but making sure we eat as our bodies need does require a significant amount of effort and thought, in my opinion

No they weren’t actually, in fact they seemed very much like you in attitude. They weren’t particularly food motivated, ate when they were hungry and only really enjoyed healthy foods.
I put weight on after an extremely traumatic event in my life, followed my giving birth to a disabled child. Food became my only enjoyment in life really. Then I was disgusted with my weight as none of my family were ever overweight and wham, the ‘poor relationship with food’ was born.

I eat all of the foods I want, but not with the frequency and in the quanitity I would if I wasn't bothered about the consequences. I know this unpopular on here but I like being in shape, I enjoy my body feeling good and looking good more than eating what I want when i want. I never go without though, I eat enough to mean I'm never overly hungry, I don't deprive myself of anything I'm just measured about it. For example some nights I could easily sit and eat a big bar of chocolate- instead I have some chocolate but also something else like fruit with it, I make nutritious filling and tasty meals but also enjoy going out for food or getting takeaway sometimes. It's a balance and a lifestyle rather than diet.

I eat what I want in cycles. So I eat what I want for one or two weeks (holidays are just a free for all) then I weigh myself, or feel sluggish and heavy, and I rein it back in for a couple of weeks. Then the cycle restarts.

I lost a couple of stone after my first child and I am now much more aware of the calorie content of foods and how healthy things are or aren't. I wish I wasn't to be honest, sometimes it easier not to know.

I'm struggling a bit more now (mid 40s) to drop a few extra pounds, which previously would've come off no problem. Which makes me more inclined to watch what I eat in the first place