Food

[juliet]

I have lost the link to the person suggesting this (I think the username began with an F), but am joining in in the 'post (unedited!) what you eat' thing. Will update further later in the day.


- scrambled tofu (with veg: lazy-garlic, half a carrot (diced), half a big mushroom (diced), pak choi leaf, handful of sprouts) on sourdough toast
- glass of OJ
- tea + soya milk
- handful of grapes
- tea + soya milk + honey
- square of G&B dark choc
- 2 marmite & vegan cream cheese sandwiches, sourdough bread
- 4 ginger nuts
- another cup tea + soya milk + honey
- banana
- water (I think 1.5-2l)
- 1.5 slices leftover pizza
- 1 bourbon biscuit
- 2 helpings of rice with ?leek, lentil & spinach stuff, little roast spiced potatoes, couple of bits of bread (all at Kake's) (all v tasty!)
- lots of soy-roasted sunflower seeds
- 3 glasses white wine
- 4 pieces G&B ginger chocolate



Primarily I'm doing this because I felt slightly uncomfortable about doing it, & I wondered why that was. I think I'm doing better on body image etc than I was for a while; but maybe there's still bits of me worrying about what I am/should be eating. These days that's more to do with 'healthy eating' than with weight, per se, but that's still something that can turn into something to beat yourself up about if you're not careful. I don't think it's a good idea for me to eat stacks of junk food - too much sugar actually gives me a headache, for example - but I am actively trying to pay attention to what my body wants at any given moment, & to accept that sometimes it wants biscuits & that's OK too :-) I've noticed that if I'm eating well, I crave the biscuits/chocolate/crisps a lot less; not quite sure what that's about. More than anything, I'm aware that food can turn very easily into something that has more mental power than it should, & I don't like that.

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

This could be an interesting experiment! I suppose by looking at what you'd rather not have written on the list (whether through guilt or some other reason) then it will get you thinking about what you *would* like to appear on the list. My list is a bit rubbish:

2 slices toast + lurpak
1 cup lady grey tea + milk
corned beef hash + green beans from werk canteen (CBH was a bit minging but looked better than the pie on offer)
mars bar
1 tankard english breakfast + milk
1/2 litre water (not enough: I am currently THIRSTY and will rectify this shortly)

So for example looking at that I would go "sh1te, didn't eat any fruit today" whereas normally I wouldn't care...

[ajva.livejournal.com]

I suppose by looking at what you'd rather not have written on the list (whether through guilt or some other reason) then it will get you thinking about what you *would* like to appear on the list.

That's no doubt true, and also quite an interesting response, as I believe the originator of this meme had the absolute opposite intention! That by writing it all down and having one's eating habits out in the open, it would enable people to eat what they like without guilt. Yea even unto 4,500 calories of cakeness. In fact, especially so. :o)

[juliet]

See below: I am trying to work out where (& why? & whether it's valid...) the difference lies between being aware that there's good-for-you stuff you're not eating, & not being guilty about what you *are* eating.

I mean, if I sat down & ate the packet of biscuits in my desk drawer, I might or might not feel bad *about* it, but I sure as hell would feel physically bad *for* it, as it were :-) OTOH, I can get a better result in the 'not feeling like shite' department, whilst also getting some tasty sugar, by eating a banana.

Um.

[jhg.livejournal.com]

I find it much easier - in every way - to concentrate on what I *should* be eating. That way, I'm not inappropriately hungry, or panged by cravings so much, which means that junk food remains what it should be: a treat!


J

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I never thought about it like that! Oh dear, my long-buried food obsessiveness thing is coming out... I would say 4500 calories of cake = far more reassuring than realising there isn't anything on the list at all so far today apart from coffee...

[ajva.livejournal.com]

No worries! You can bet you're not alone in your reaction to the meme. I just find it interesting that its purpose is quite easily lost, simply because if the context of its origin isn't pointed out to people explicitly, most will assume it's a diet aid. :o)

On the whole, I think we worry too much about what we eat full stop.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

On the whole, I think we worry too much about what we eat full stop.

I agree. Until recently in the UK we've never had much of an emphasis on cooking/eating good food as a culture, but plenty of emphasis on looking skinny/fashionable. I'm lucky that I have time to spend on cooking a proper meal at least a couple of days a week but women (and men as well, I guess) these days seems to be expected to juggle social life/career/family as well as being pressured to look like a supermodel AND eat properly... Arrgh we're not superwoman! I could go on but this point has been made many times before ;-)

[juliet]

Hah, have found link to original suggestion via cunning use of address bar autofill thingy: http://fearfuloptimist.livejournal.com/163042.html

So her aim is more about avoiding/fighting against/denying the guilt that a lot of women experience (& I certainly think that women tend to be encouraged to think by Western society) about what they do/don't eat.

I am eating *scads* of fruit today (P keeps telling me off when he buys fruit & I don't eat it!).

I kind of feel that noticing a lack of (e.g.) fruit, or veg, or other Good Things in your diet is probably useful. But I think there's a reasonably fine line between that, & moving to the "eating such-&-such is Bad", or not eating it is Bad, or whatever. And I think that's where we start getting to issues with social expectations and the body image problems that a significant number of women in particular (though men are by no means immune) have. Um. [waves hands around a bit vaguely]

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

As I said above - my inital thoughts were totally the opposite! Definitely to look out for missing good things rather than feeling bad about bad things (and much more constructive, eg if you see you haven't had a banana yet then you can still eat one! I am all for guilt-free eating and think it is a Good Thing. In fact I think ppl should be able to eat whatever they damn well like, but balance it out with exercise. Eat lots, exercise lots. Eat some, exercise some. No problems there, just listen to your body and look after it.

[juliet]

Yes, indeed. (see above re paying attention to my body's firm conviction that sugar in excess = Bad. Although sadly this doesn't always match with what it fancies. My body is not always 100% clear at any given moment about what it really wants ;-) ).

I am finding my reactions (& other people's!) to writing this down interesting!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It is interesting! I'm quite fascinated by people's eating habits, having had two experienced two v different types of extreme diets myself (though not opposites: vvv high carb yet nutritionally poor diet for swimming, and er not eating v much at all during times of High Stress) and consciously realising that my brain flips into a certain 'mode' for both. The way the brain reacts/interacts with diet/appetite is something I would like to know more about. Perhaps I should read up on it!

[jhg.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

I find my appetite* goes up and down according to how much exercise I'm doing anyway.

And being properly hungry for your evening meal, having actually done some that day, makes the meal *far* more enjoyable!

J
*from gigantic to merely huge, of course...

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was suprised at how difficult it was to write, even though obviously I eat too much (or else I wouldn't be fat!) it was still much more difficult than i thought it would be, I looked at all the sugar on it and felt really awful even though I haven't eaten that much really in terms of saturated fat or calories (for someone my size anyway)

Porridge with semi skimmed milk and honey

Green tea

Black Tea with s-s milk

Two satsumas

Fresh mushroom soup and three wholemeal pitta breads

Some jelly tots and a small bar dark chocolate (this made me feel sick, next time one or the other)

Tea with sugar and milk

500ml bottle of water (probably have another in a min)

I'm going to have some fruit in a little while that was left over from the meeting. I really do consume too much sugar though. :S Also I appear to be addicted to tea. I will probably have one or two more cups when I get in and one more whilst at work.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Apart from the jelly tots that doesn't seem like an excessive amount of sugar to me. I wonder how much sugar there is in an Mars Bar :-/

[(Anonymous)]

Ooh, can boys play too?

A plum
Bowl of full-sugar Alpen, with semi-scum milk.
Mug coffee.
Handful mixed salted nuts
Mug decaff
Handful pistachios
Oxford's Largest Sandwich (olive ciabatta with chicken, cheese and avocado, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, rather over 1lb weight)
Glass orange juice
Mug stronger coffee
Mug peppermint tea.
Clementine.
Slab chocolate cake with chocolate icing.
Water+paracetamol to taste.

Must be comfortably above the 2.5kCal mark already. Probably more nuts; bread, butter, fish, tonight, maybe crisps or biscuits after badminton. HTFB

[(Anonymous)]

only been up five hours:

cup of peppermint tea
one chunk of dark chocolate
2 lightly toasted wholemeal pittas
small portion of baked beans
wife's version of hash browns
cup of pg tips

[kake]

Rice thing had leeks and mushrooms and was made using brown rice.

Lentil & spinach stuff - the spinach was actually chard, and it had pumpkin in as well.

Bread was 2/3 "Canadian brown" flour, 1/3 rye flour. If you care about that. (I'm still trying to work out what Canadian brown flour is.) It toasts very well. Today's loaf is 100% rye (not gone in yet, but rising more impressively than I'd expected).

[juliet]

Rye bread! Cor!

I am a big fan of rye bread. Especially the variety with seeds in that the De Gustibus people do.

Pumpkin: aha, that explains the extra-squidginess which I didn't think could be entirely due to lentils. It was v nice.

[i-ludicrous.livejournal.com]

My project has decided to improve moral by giving us free chocolate and crisps... I think I might leave logging what I eat until that stops!

[kake]

Mm, I think that's missing the point slightly.

[i-ludicrous.livejournal.com]

It certainly is! ;-)