I have always wondered whether my eating habits are learned, genetic or psychological. Have I really made myself this way or do I eat the way I eat due to unresolved issues? Where does my lack of willpower stem from?
One of the things I have done since living with my now wife is keep a stash. A private collection of junk food that I enjoy. Not only because she would eat half of whatever I had, but also because I didn’t want to disappoint her. She has high hopes for me with regards to getting in shape, and I just couldn’t face her when it came to buying junk food. I would store it away, and eat it while she was gone. Even worse, I would binge on it in hopes of finishing it all so that there wouldn’t be any evidence.
At my worst, I was stashing away around twenty dollars worth of junk food every month. Chips, chocolate, pop, licorice, and other candies all hidden away in a tote in my office closet.
I don’t know why I did it, and I don’t know why I couldn’t stop. A while back my wife found some wrappers I had hidden away while she was looking for some paperwork in my office. Suffice to say, she wasn’t impressed. I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I was being so ridiculous.
She wasn’t stopping me from having junk food, but I felt like I would be letting her down if she knew I was eating some. Slowly we have worked on that one issue, and now I let her know what I am getting, and we discuss such things. She even sometimes offers to buy me some in hopes that being open, honest, and keeping proper track will stop any of the binge eating when cravings get bad, and stop the need I have to hide away my own surplus of junk food.
All of this leads me back to my introductory point but doesn’t answer the question. Do I have psychological issues that are related to my eating habits? Is this really something that people have or not? And if it does exist, and I do have it, will I be unsuccessful in attaining my goals until I somehow work it all out? Just some food for thought.
Tags: eating disorder, hiding food, psychological, stress eating, Week Three
I think all of us are influenced by genetics, habit, and psychology in just about everything we do. Eating is no exception.
You mentioned in one of your first posts that your mother’s side of the family was overweight. There’s the genetic part of the equation. Over the years you have established certain habits related to eating. Changing a habit takes time but it can be done. As for the psychological part, you are acknowledging you have issues with food and that means you are being realistic.
You have been focusing on losing weight and getting in shape for three weeks. That’s not very long compared to the years and years it has taken to get you to this point. Give it some time, focus on doing a little bit each day and be realistic about the process. Eventually you will be able to establish new patterns that will hopefully benefit you for the rest of your life.
Mark is quite right. I lost a bit over one hundred pounds - and have crept up again - so I have to get back on the horse and count my calories and my exercise - because it seems that this is the only way for me to not over do it.
I have a white board on the fridge with my allowed intake for the day and as I eat, I have to subtract the calories from the total. Let me tell you - it is painful to remove 250 calories for a bag of M&Ms or a box of smarties - especially since that is enough calories for two and a half apples.
So, I’m back on, and l started publishing the exercise I do as incentive to myself and to empower my friends to chew me out if they see me slacking off (right side panel of my blog a few blocks down). Once I have enough data, I might toss up a page to track trends and such.
Anyway, you *can* change your eating habits.