To ask if you have a normal relationship with food?

[Miajk]

And if so, what is your weight like, have you ever dieted? How often do you think about food, do you only eat when hungry and stop when full?

By normal I mean: no counting/tracking, no excluding food groups (unless for allergy or other health reasons), etc.

I do. I eat what I want, in moderation. I understand sugar free food is stuffed with nasties to simulate taste and that fat isn't the devil it can be portrayed to be. If at keeps you full and adds taste. I don't eat lots of chocolate and only drink socially. I'm size 8-10 and I don't weight myself.

I find this thread a bit strange, because so many people who say, oh yes, I'm totally normal about food, then go on to list what they've eaten today, their heaviest and lightest weight, what they like to eat as a treat and so on. To me that's still an unhealthy interest. I don't think about it at all. I make food when I need to and then I eat it. If I want to eat something I eat it. That's it. No idea how much I weigh, don't have any scales in the house. I am totally baffled by the obsession some people have with everything that they put in their mouth. That's what I think of as normal - food is just not particularly interesting?

I'm 64, never dieted. BMI 21, weight has remained similar for 45 years apart from during serious illness and pregnancy. I eat a range of healthy food, but also some rubbish. Never eat snacks between meals as I like to be hungry at mealtimes.
There are foods I eat which I don't like much but are good for me. Prunes for constipation and yoghurt for the calcium.

Nah. It's all wrapped up in guilt and self-loathing and childhood issues. I don't have any eating disorder, but I can't ever just eat whatever I fancy because I'm hungry.

I just eat what I want. I have never weighed myself (don't own any scales) and don't count calories. A doctor would probably say I'm a bit overweight, but so what? I would rather not fuss about this stuff and - given that I'm nearly 60 - it doesn't matter if I drop dead tomorrow.
I have only been ill once in my adult life, and haven't seen a GP for nearly 20 years, so nothing to complain about - a lifestyle of "benign neglect" seems fine to me.

I don’t especially enjoy feeling mega full but that doesn’t stop me absolutely stuffing my face when I am so inclined! Generally speaking I eat whatever I like.

As a teen I had severe anorexia (hospitalised etc) and then in my early twenties I think I was still trying to learn what "normal" was for me. Now in my 30s and I would like to think I am very healthy (maybe "normal"!) in my approach. I never count calories, eat when hungry, stop when full, choose full fat versions of everything etc. Am a size 8. I weigh myself a couple of times a month to check I haven't lost any weight and I've been within 2 kgs ever since my weight settled after my last child was born. Genuinely no effort in doing that which I am grateful for.

I would say I am very very intuitive now though which might mean random foods at random times. And I don't find it hard to have a bite or two of something then stop there (which my DH finds weird).

I do.

I love food and just eat what I want, when I want. If I'm hungry, I'll eat.

I would like to be a bit heavier but that doesn't affect my relationship with food.

I've been a size 8 for as long as I can remember, and a 6 at a couple of brief points.

I also only very rarely weigh myself, and when I do it is usually only from mild curiosity… as long as my clothes fit comfortably I’m happy

Yes, fairly normal I think. I do eat comfort foods but I don't feel that's out of the normal. I plan dinners but don't think much about food in between unless I'm tired and then tend to look for a sugar boost mid-afternoon. I'm a size 12, used to be smaller but metabolism has definitely slowed down. I think I am healthiest in all ways, including how I think about food, when exercising properly three+ times a week.

God, that’s a sobering question.

I grew up with an overactive thyroid so I had a tiny appetite but pushed myself to eat past being full sometimes to maintain.

Fast forward a decade or so, my lovely thyroid is now underactive. Unless I eat under 1100 kcal a day I struggle to shift a thimble.

I’ve replaced having food - which was a perfectly acceptable comforter when my thyroid was on my side - and I suppose I’ve shifted to wine.

Coupled with wine is cheese. (Crap - almost like where my username came from!?)

So, in summary, although it’s certainly not crack - I’m not entirely certain it’s all that healthy? I do know I need to push my GP for treatment for my twatting thyroid, though.

I struggle knowing when to stop. Think it stems from having to clear my plate as a child. I would never leave food on a plate even if l am stuffed. And sometimes l eat if not hungry just because it's lunchtime or breakfast time etc.

I'm trying to eat more healthy e.g. Veg, salads ect, usually my meals are yellow labels mostly, as I get to sample £££ items on a basic budget. Although it does make it a mix as to what I get, some times I buy full priced items. I'm around 17-18 stone, I'm fairly active.

I do get sugar cravens, e.g. For cakes , ect I've stopped buying biscuits as I'm terrible with them, cakes I rarely buy unless they are yellow labels due to prices and too much sugar being bad.

I take multi vitamins daily and overall I try to balance my weight via the excerising I do.

Yes but trying to change after being diagnosed with high blood pressure, my diet was awful for ages. I hate fruit but have always eaten loads of veg and salad etc, & cooked from scratch, but then snacked horrendously on top of that. Crisps, cheese, chocolate, wine… I’m 5 foot 7 and currently about 12 stone 9, down from 13 at the start of the month. I can’t diet because I just don’t stick to them, so I’ve just cut out the crap and watched portion size and tried to walk more. Seems to be working! Oh and I bought a nutribullet and now breakfast is a huge smoothie, which I’m actually enjoying now for a lifelong fruit dodger. I’m 53 and my weight is all round my middle. I know I look horrendous but I just stopped caring.

Yes, normal relationship with food. I eat 2 meals a day, I'm not hungry until noon. I'm a normal weight, not skinny. My 2 meals are quite substantial but I stop when I've had enough as I hate feeling full. I would say half my friends have issues with food, either starving themselves or bingeing, must be very difficult so I feel lucky. It helps that DH is like me. Neither of us is fussy so that helps too.

Probably not, but I'm aware of it. Growing up I ate absolute rubbish, donuts for breakfast, largely processed food diet as my mum was too poorly to cook. I have lost significant amounts of weight (3-4 stone) twice, once after pregnancy and once after an accident left me barely able to walk for 14 months (lots of takeaways as I couldn't cook). I'm not as slim now as I was pre-pregnancy, but I'm slimmer than in my late teens.
I do weigh myself often and try to keep things in check with exercise. I'm also mindful of type 2 diabetes which my mum has and will not get under control, and it was the cause of death for her mother and aunt.
I weigh 69kg and I'm 5ft4, so about 3 kg overweight. I carry most of my weight on my boobs and thighs and have a slim waist, so I'm not overly concerned, but I do keep an eye on it.

I am totally baffled by the obsession some people have with everything that they put in their mouth. That's what I think of as normal - food is just not particularly interesting?

I suffer with this issue...it totally 'baffles' (🙄) me as to why I'm obsessed with food too. Everyone is different with different upbringing/personalities. There will be reasons why people find food 'interesting' given that without it, we'd die.

@Soproudoflionesses I'm the same. My DM showed love via food/snacks throughout my childhood...looking back it was an awful guilt ridden, emotional blackmail roller coaster ride but it wasn't done maliciously. Cleaning my plate with her huge portions was a daily battle plus the eating by the clock. I can relate to that. When a habit is introduced at such an early age, it does feel an impossible feat to change it. 😔

Terrible relationship and always trying to do better!

I have a normal relationship with food I think. I like it and I enjoy it. Both eating it and cooking it but it's just 'there'.

My mother was probably the opposite of @CrackingcheeseWallace mother. She had a low focus on food. She just provided meals which we ate at the table,we sometimes had puddings and we somehow didn't.

If we had a biscuit it would be one biscuit and I remember when I was about ten one of my sister's friends being over after school and going to the biscuit tin and opening it up taking a handful of biscuits. I didn't know that was a thing that people did.

I remember not asking for food and my children were the same. But at the same time I suppose we always knew we would be fed.

I always knew that it was ok to be hungry and when my own children would tell me they were hungry I didn't feel,the need to satisfy that immediately. I think I always just took it as information rather than asking for food and I'd just say something like 'good, we are having pasta for dinner'.

Yep. I have never dieted, calorie counted etc.

I'm 5' 6" and just under 9 stone. If clothes get a bit tight I eat a bit less. If not I eat what I want. I'm eating less of my fave things for health reasons and moving more.

I used to be lighter but I had kids so sit a my that weight now.

I don't eat huge portions, often in a day will only have 2 meals. I think compared to friends though I'm not a huge amount different. A lot must be genetics as my dads side of the family are mostly the same.

This is me. Never dieted ever and I'm in my 40s now. Never counted a single calorie, never purposely chosen a low fat option. Never ever deprived myself of anything I wanted to eat.
Put on 15kg in both pregnancies, and lost it all again, returning both times to previous weight without looking at scales. Also don't own scales so only knew due to being weighed at the doctors for something.
Basically weight is never in my conscious thought, I didn't really realise others thought about it so much until I was an adult.
I don't notice other people's gaining or losing weight unless it's something major, ie obese or seriously underweight, I'd notice then.
The only thing I notice about myself is that I very much dislike feeling too full. It's only happened occasionally, probably when younger and out for a meal ( cultural differences possibly) and I've felt obliged to eat what I didn't want.

Never had a normal relationship. Obsessed with food my whole life. Been very underweight at 7 stone 11 and just into overweight BMI at 12 stone. Now a healthy bmi at 10st, wear UK 12-14 and I'm 5 ft 9.

I eat constantly even though not hungry and can continue even if I'm stuffed. Constantly over eat and get distressed about amount of food I eat.
Keeping my weight at 10 stone is a battle but if when I gain weight it goes on mid section first and 10 st is the max weight I can get away with.

Would love to feel normal around food instead of being addicted to food and being able to have food on cupboard with out wanting to gorge.

It could be anything: if no instant junk food like crisps or kids biscuit bars, I will cook pasta and grate cheese. I will eat half a loaf with marmalade, eat a half box of cereal, eat a whole packet of biscuits in one go.

Really unhealthy eating habits and I just can't break them.

I think I have a normal relationship with food - eg. I don't over eat or binge. I have a modest appetite as far as I can see comparing myself to others - I would never eat 3 courses in a restaurant. And I cannot stand the feeling of being too full, it makes me anxious as I'm an emetophobe. I eat two meals a day - lunch and dinner - and the occasional snack. No snacking after dinner, ever. I don't have a sweet tooth so very rarely eat a pudding (maybe some ice cream in the summer) and never cake or biscuits.

I'm about 30lb overweight which makes me obese as am quite short.

Sadly no. I'm overweight and have struggled with my weight for ever, although much more so since clothes sizes changed - I used to be mindful of staying in a size 14 but then sizes changed so significantly and to stay in my old 14s was a 2 stone difference to the new 14s. So I went up rather than staying down. I've now got lots of foods I can tolerate so that doesn't help either.

I would say so. The only thing I consider when I’m planning what to eat is variety. I’m pretty interested in food.
I don’t weigh myself. I did go on a diet in my mid-thirties when I was told my blood pressure was too high. I counted calories and lost over 2.5 stone - target weight was 10 stone, but it took a while to stop losing weight after that. I imagine I weigh somewhere in between now.
I think about food a lot, and plan and eat three meals a day. If I come up with a good idea for dinner, it makes my day. I think I stop eating when I’ve eaten my portion, rather than when I’m full. I don’t often feel ‘stuffed’ though.