Hi All,
I wanted to post this as a different topic due to so many meanings behind it.
1.Naturally, we eat when we are hungry. It is how our bodies are supposed to work.
2.Many people have learned to eat due to an emotion. No matter what the emotion. Anger,Sad,Excited,Happy,Bored etc… Emotions can control us; unless we learn to control them. Our emotions are natural; until something comes along around the age of learning that “if we cry; we get picked up and cuddled” or our diapers get changed" or…
well… you get the idea.
In many countries around the world; food means "Love"
Or “I care for you” Our families become insulted if we don’t eat a special food that has been made for a special occasion or “because I love you, I slaved in the kitchen for you.”
I think this one is the hardest. Fear. We eat because at some point in our lives we did not have food available.
Yes, even here in America some of us have gone more than a "little hungry."
sigh… I have experienced being homeless. I’ve watched thru a window at a restaurant and to see people leave food on their plate. I’ve begged to sweep a parking lot for an exchange of a meal. I’ve been so hungry that when finally food came my way… I got sick and vomited after eating… It was too much,too fast.
Now, no longer living that life. I panic if there is not a certain amount of food in a refrigerator, the freezer and the cupboards.Now I feel rich. I have a roof over my head. I have a family. I need to change. I need to feed myself and my family the healthy way. I need to not give my children candy “because it is their favorite,because I love them, etc…” I don’t have to fix a celebration dinner for every meal. I don’t have to fix a celebration dinner just because it is a "holiday."
I can still show and tell them that I love them. I can say “I love me without food.” ( I think this one is the hardest. )
I still have many fears over food.
I think learning why we eat and how amazing our bodies are. What they do to keep us going. How they struggle to
process each bite of food we put in our mouths. How often our body over works because it does not reject what we give it. Our bodies “love us.”
Let us work to feed them well. To love them without over feeding them. To give them motion that helps them to process what we do give them.
I guess with this “Diabetes” we need to thank our bodies and encourage them to keep going for us. Because no matter what our bodies care for us.
ahh… Thankyou Andreina for sharing with me today. for helping me to express things I need to bring to the front of my mind.
MeadowLark
Wow, Meadowlark - that was very moving - with a lot of depth and insight. I have never been homeless and never not had enough to eat, but, I have many of the same issues. I call it “disordered” eating and deal with it daily.
I would give a lot just to be able to look at food in a “normal” way, whatever that may be - to enjoy a little bit of something and then be satisfied - to eat until I’m full and then put the fork down - to not have food at the forefront of my day - what am I gonna eat next? Should I or shouldn’t I? Is it bad or good? blah blah blah. Food has a very big place in my life now and I amd really trying to get over it.
This was a great piece of writing. You are a strong, determined woman. I wish you the best.
MeadowLark,
I can relate to the eating fast b/c we may not have it in 3 days been there done that. I finally figured out I had to feed my kids and I came in 2nd. Now that one lives on her own and 1 will graduate this year I can finally put myself 1st again. You will get the hang just hang on and it will all work out it just takes time!!! Seems like your trying and with that and family support you will go far!!!
That was very moving, and also motivating. It’s good to look at WHY we do things rather than just go with the flow. Celebration meals always bothered me - why pig out just because it’s Christmas? It took me a while but a few years ago I gave that up. I still go to dinner with my family, but I don’t eat as much and I pass on dessert. I actually enjoy the day MORE because of that! Instead of feeling tired and fat, I feel just fine I’ve carried that on to other ‘celebration’ meals too, and I feel so much better for it.
That doesn’t mean I have resolved all my issues with food though! It’s a tough one, and always hard to get through when you’ve grown up having food as a treat, and when you’re a diabetic who has to eat sometimes, and has to avoid eating at other times.
But we’ll get there, eh? Thanks for sharing this, ML - this was wonderful to read.
We also eat because strongly fluctuating blood sugars after the previous meal cause hunger.
And if we get insulin resistant, and start secreting a lot of insulin after meals, that seems to make it worse.
I am convinced after 9 years of observing my own hunger patterns that physiological hunger if we are eating enough is always a SYMPTOM. If we treat it as a symptom, and not a moral failing, it is a lot easier to find a way of curing it besides that bag of Fritos.
Thank YOU for sharing…Meadowlark, sometimes I come to this site, and learn a bit of all of you… it is amazing that we are able to share our experiences, just like that… I will come tomorrow for my post here , today I am too sleepy. Thank you
Andreina
our bodies care for us.
I’ve carried that on to other ‘celebration’ meals too, and I feel so much better for it.