On Saturday I watched a clip of Jenni Murray, radio presenter and journalist, talking about her new book. Fat Cow, Fat Chance details and investigates her life-long battle with her weight.
She's in her mid-sixties and when she was growing up, like many of us from that era, she was always told to empty her plate. 'Think of the starving children in India.' She suggests that this is partly responsible for her inability to listen to her appetite, which is perfectly capable of telling her when she is full.
I know that feeling. I am deaf to my appetite and eat even when I'm not hungry. Hence my conclusion that I'm not fat, I'm deaf.
Then on Sunday someone was talking about listening to God. I'm no good at that either. I try and after about thirty seconds I begin to think about food, or what I have to do today, or blog posts I want to write.
So I have concluded all my problems are with my ears. And they stick out enough. You'd think they'd be good at these things but it turns out flapping is all they're good for.
Righto, back to my marketing campaign.
13 comments:
Me too Liz, Me too ! To the point and succinctly put.
Well written. An enjoyable read, as always.
Love Di xxx
A big part of the "cleaning your plate" demand is also the idea of not wasting food. That's another fear we have to let go of.
Thanks, Di. xx
Yes, that's true, Debra. And to prove I've not changed I've today eaten left-over red cabbage with pasta. Anything's good with enough cheese on it.
You don't look like you have an extra ounce Liz, so I assume that your hearing isn't all that bad when it comes to food. Or maybe you just work/exercise all of those calories away.
In my 80s, I still cannot waste food. Fortunately for me, I didn't have a weight issue until I went through menopause. I think my body thought I was going to hibernate through the winter of my life. Hunky Husband tells me that I did not have to go through menopause, but I guess the alternative wasn't that attractive, either.
@Trubes,
Instead of "Me too Liz, Me too !"
you should have written "Ear, Ear!" ;-)
According to the NHS website if your weight/BMI are okay but your waistline is bigger than recommended you are at risk of certain illnesses, CopCar, hence my desire to reduce my waistline! And, no, the alternative to menopause is less than appealing.
Very good, Stu.
From a biological perspective, we are all ingrained to want to eat beyond our hunger. It is an evolutionary stable strategy that is truly helpful in times of low resources. We just happen to live in societies and times where we a) almost always have more than abundant food, and b) we have worked hard over multiple generations to condense food calories in more concentrated forms (examples.... breads or pasta are much more caloric dense per unit volume than if we were to eat whole grains (like wheat berries for instance).
Additionally, we tend to concentrate fats all over the board too. Like with frying of foods. Eating a whole potato is not the problem some suggest it is.... it is not until you cut it into smaller pieces that are then deep fried and then slathered with ketchup and/or chilie and/or cheese when it becomes a high caloric food.
So, in reality, our societal norms are really at odds against us in efforts we make to try to live up to healthy metabolic guidelines (normal BMI, normal waist-hip-chest ratios, etc.).
So, even though you may feel your ears may be deaf.... I would suggest more likely it is the voice of satiety is just so very, very quiet in comparison to the cacophony of our societal norms.... and the noisier one more easily grabs our attention. 🙂
PipeTobacco
My removed comment was the same as the above.... I just cleaned and edited it slightly for my attempt at clarity. ☺️
That's made me feel much better, pipeTobacco. My diet is pretty good with plenty of fresh veg and fruit but also quite a lot butter and cheese as well. But thta's yummy.
After the war we were brought up to clear our plates. Trouble is I still do...
Me too, Sonata.
I'm generally quite good at not eating until I'm hungry. But I do have a fatal weakness for Jenny's chocolate chip buns....
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