To think you can't be 'greedy' if you're not overweight

[LaurieFairyCake]

Seems simple to me

If you're not overweight then no matter what you consume you can't be 'greedy'

As you are a healthy weight and BMI and you're just eating to maintain that

@PattyPan

Cheese is also usually high in salt regardless of the fat issue

They've given salt a bad name, too.

in this instance is 'greed' a euphemism for having a large appetite for food, or is it to do with selfishness?

[quote PattyPan]@Haffiana when I see people calling others greedy on MN it’s usually because their DH or DS has eaten all the food meant for everybody to share, it’s not abnormal or indicative of any issue to care about that [/quote]
Yes, fair enough. However the 100s of posts after that are often the ones that are filled with pathology.

My DH is a very healthy weight. He will take the last biscuit, last piece of cake, last bit of dinner, last bar of chocolate (and the first, and everything invetween). He consumes whole packets of biscuits while gaming. He sticks his head in the fridge and cupboard and eats just standing there like a 14 year old boy. He is so lucky I am not bothered about chocolate. He has very little control. He also runs 10k 3 times a week. It's the only way he isnt 500lbs.

greed is an excessive DESIRE for something.
You can be 'greedy' and still only eat an appropriate amount.

I''m greedy.. i definitely WANT all the food, but i control myself/use willpower.

ACTUALLY eating an excessive/inappropriate amount is probably more gluttony.

@LaurieFairyCake

EXACTLY my point - people are using 'greedy' for 'eating lots'

My point is that some people (often teenagers, not exclusively boys) NEED to eat lots

Yes, but they also need good proportions of fat, protein and carbs.

I am not overweight. BMI 22. I am absolutely greedy when I finish lunch with 2 almond slices. By that point I'm not satisfying hunger, I'm just eating goodies.

Similarly morning snack or afternoon snack - I'm not hungry at those times, I just think 'it would be nice...'

So I am being greedy, but because I hold at a healthy weight, it isn't seen as that.

Ah yes so of course skinny people couldn’t possibly be associated with a negative word.

This. OP, you’re equating skinniness with healthiness/maintaining weight and that’s wrong.

Skinny people can have elevated blood sugar, leading to heart disease. You may not see it on their body but it’s there.

Greediness is not good for anybody.

I wouldn’t say skinny teens that can eat for England are greedy I’d assume they are hungry as they are growing. Some people are greedy and naturally skinny so I don’t agree the two things preclude each other.

Yabu. Of course they can. Some people just have better matabolisms. I went away with a friend for two weeks. Ate all the exact same things except she had desserts every meal and alcohol and I had neither. I also went to the gym every day whereas she sunbathed. I gained 4lbs and she lost 2lb. She just eats and eats and stays stick thin no matter what.

‘Greed’ is subjective.

I am really greedy (I’m not proud of this) but I’m not overweight. I exercise a lot and although I’m greedy, it’s not just crap that I eat.

Sorry but no - I know some really fat bastard thin people!! I'm talking all the courses and can polish off a share pud!

I've also known think people who have eaten so much shite they've managed to be rake thin with the cholesterol levels of Pavarotti!

Some fat people don't eat as much as thin people.

I do think they're usually more sedentary, though.

of course you can be greedy and slim

It doesn't mean you have 0 self-control and are sedentary.
It's not ideal but being greedy doesn't mean stuffing your face constantly.

@ktp100

Sorry but no - I know some really fat bastard thin people!! I'm talking all the courses and can polish off a share pud!

I've also known think people who have eaten so much shite they've managed to be rake thin with the cholesterol levels of Pavarotti!

Some fat people don't eat as much as thin people.

I do think they're usually more sedentary, though.

But they might eat really small portions when they're at home.

The pavarottis are called TOFIs. Thin on the outside, fat on the inside.

Ekhart - that was an interesting report.

Am I right in thinking that they say a low fat diet is 37% fat and the “high-fat” Med diet they recommend is only 4% higher at 41%?

They also still only recommend “moderate” amounts of dairy without specifying what that looks like.

It also looks like sugar is a big no-no because of inflammation which I have heard before and am trying to cut down on.

Just not sure if I’ve misunderstood report and/or if this could be misleading people to eat loads of saturated fats when they are actually saying eat fish, 4 tablespoons of olive oil and some nuts.

I am currently trying to overhaul my diet but this fat debate is hard for me as I was a teen in the 80s with the whole low-fat message

@stampsurprise

Sugar (and carbs, which are sugar) are a no-no, indeed. If you're overhauling your diet, give half an hour to this

The low fat message that you and I and many others were raised with is damaging. Many adhere to it now, still. Many who are struggling and failing with losing weight. Harcombe did another good one

In fact she's done many. But I'd recommend those two.

Am I right in thinking that they say a low fat diet is 37% fat and the “high-fat” Med diet they recommend is only 4% higher at 41%

Yes, this is right. 30% reduction of CVEs. Eating 'lots of saturated fats' is hard. If you gave people discs of butter, crisps, and chocolate buttons, they'd eat all the crisps and buttons, but with the butter, they'd say 'Have you got any bread or crackers..?' If you cut out the carbs, you can't eat very much fat. We self regulate, mostly. Nobody with an over eating problem drinks glasses of olive oil.

Good luck with your overhaul, and I hope there's something of interest here!

I am extremely greedy, I will eat food for the sake of eating food, I emotional eat.
I'm slim and people are often amazed and digested at the amount of food I can eat.
Do I exercise to burn of these calories, do I fuck, I'm just extremely fortunate that I don't put on weight

That should be disgusted, I obvs digest food quite well

"Are you sure? I'm a size 6. Yesterday i had a miserable day, i went to Tesco and bought a HUGE chocolate birthday cake and ate 3/4 of it by myself. Like, 12 people's worth. Does that not make me greedy?"

Sounds like you undereat, or at least eat a normal amount, the rest of the time so, no.

I bought a pack of 4 baklavas today and eat them all in one go before dinner. Was that greedy? Probably, yes. Does that make me a greedy person in general? No, I was hungry (hormones I think) so I eat them. Not a big deal unless I do it every day.

"when I see people calling others greedy on MN it’s usually because their DH or DS has eaten all the food meant for everybody to share, it’s not abnormal or indicative of any issue to care about that hmm"

But this is only an issue if you're extremely poor or you live in a very isolated place. Anybody else can just go to the shop to get more food, surely.
And OP is also talking about people who buy food for their own consumption so there is no issue of stealing someone else's food.

@Eckhart

So, I'm a healthy weight. I just went to a team meeting with 5 other members of staff. There were 6 doughnuts. I ate them. What are my colleagues going to call me?

Did the others want them, but you took tem first, or did you wait to see if everyone else wanted some? Depends, doesnt it?

[quote Eckhart]@stampsurprise

Sugar (and carbs, which are sugar) are a no-no, indeed. If you're overhauling your diet, give half an hour to this

The low fat message that you and I and many others were raised with is damaging. Many adhere to it now, still. Many who are struggling and failing with losing weight. Harcombe did another good one

In fact she's done many. But I'd recommend those two.

Am I right in thinking that they say a low fat diet is 37% fat and the “high-fat” Med diet they recommend is only 4% higher at 41%

Yes, this is right. 30% reduction of CVEs. Eating 'lots of saturated fats' is hard. If you gave people discs of butter, crisps, and chocolate buttons, they'd eat all the crisps and buttons, but with the butter, they'd say 'Have you got any bread or crackers..?' If you cut out the carbs, you can't eat very much fat. We self regulate, mostly. Nobody with an over eating problem drinks glasses of olive oil.

Good luck with your overhaul, and I hope there's something of interest here![/quote]
Thank you so much for kindly supplying all this information!

I will certainly work my way through it all. It certainly makes sense what you say about the butter and crackers

It is very hard to give up the low-fat message. I recently started eating eggs again after not eating them for many years only to read yet another report in the press just the other day saying they contain dangerous levels of cholesterol

I am slim (BMI 21) and very low cholesterol (doc thought I was on statins!). I was obese a few years ago.

Trouble is I am eating way too much refined carbs and have blood sugar swings. Also have an autoimmune condition so I am certainly not healthy. I only dog walk for exercise.

I really need to sort my entire lifestyle and diet out - So thank you so much for your assistance with this.

Someone upthread mentioned the word 'gluttonous'. I think instead of 'greedy', that's the word we should use. Gluttonous implies that one 'simply' eats too much. Greedy implies you are depriving others to have for yourself. I know I'm splitting hairs here, but I'd say gluttonous is a more accurate word to use when people post that they 'ate 48 creme eggs', unless those 48 creme eggs were supposed to be for 24 people. That would indeed be greedy (as well as gluttonous).

A skinny person can be just as much of a glutton as a fat person. Overweight does not automatically equal gluttony.

A recovering alcoholic isn’t a ‘dry drunk.’ Rude.