I saw an ad for Applebee’s last night advertising “NEW” three course meals for $11.99! I ranted to my husband that people probably aren’t noticing that this idea is not new for their restaurant or any chain restaurant in their category (O’Charley’s, etc). I remember when this idea was mostly NEW for these restaurants and that was back during the economic downturn in 2008/2009. All the restaurants started doing it then to get people out and spending money again. But here it is…still…and with enough music and enthusiasm it’s new!
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And I once made reference at least twice daily to Pizza Hut’s Family Feeding Frenzy slogan. For almost 3 years. Made quite an impression, that slogan. It’s quite gross.
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That was fascinating. The human psyche is full of surprises.
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Pizza Hut is also the one that has the robot server named Pepper.
I don’t need you people anymore. I will get along fine without you. Just my robots and me.
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This truly is interesting… and I keep thinking about this…personally, I think saying to yourself “I can eat ice cream, but right now I’m going to choose not to” is probably an even healthier and more empowering approach. Except in the case of something like alcohol addiction or something, I kind of don’t like the idea of forbidden “I can’t/I don’t” foods. All things in moderation!
(Maybe it was just using ice cream as an example that got me feeling obstinate about it!)
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This is actually starting to sound pretty good. It cooks? Or just feeds you? And doesn’t need anything? Can it talk? Or at least just listen?
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See Carol S. Dweck’s book on self-mastery, Self-Theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press, 2000.
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Yes! This is exactly what I do all the time. I love Belgian chocolates, but I don’t feel any need to eat them frequently or to eat more than one at a time. In fact a box can sit on the counter for ages before I decide that yes, now is the time I would enjoy eating a chocolate.
Before I eat, I decide what is going to satisfy me. Therefore what I eat is satisfying and enjoyable, and the choice is free of guilt or self-recrimination or any other judgment. I found when I stopped thinking about food in terms of good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, reward/treat, then it all settled to the same level and found its own balance. If everything I eat is satisfying and enjoyable at that moment, then one choice is no better or worse than another; there’s no need to “cheat” or “indulge” when every food choice is satisfying; and my “poor” choices are vastly outweighed by the “good” ones.
I’d say just stop at “That’s a lot of balanced, nutritious meals.” You can be happy with that. From where I sit, you’re being unnecessarily hard on yourself. Overall it sounds like you eat a good diet. But you also recognize what it’s not healthy to eat too much of, you’re aware of when you eat out of boredom, you’re aware when you don’t enjoy eating something but eat it anyway, and you’re aware of what the alternative behaviours are. And because you’re aware of all that, you know where to begin in making different choices so that all those “once a month” things do not add up to a crappy diet. (Not that changing behaviours is easy …)
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I’m not sure what I said that might be taken as incendiary, but I never meant it that way, and I apologize.
I’ve heard this argument about cheap food a lot, but who is forcing people to eat those large portions? The obesity problem is as much about quality as quantity, sure, but people can still choose how much to eat. Pointing the finger at the availability of cheap food absolves people of personal responsibility, ignores the role of self-control.
Anyway, this was all supposed to be about challenges of eating with diabetes. I don’t think my diabetes influences my decisions very much. If I steer clear of something, it’s because I’m just not interested in eating it (e.g., fast food), not because I have diabetes. I don’t make a point of limiting carbs, but I don’t frequently go overboard either, not because it effs with my BG but because I simply don’t eat that way. And anyway, that’s what insulin is for. “Big inputs make for big mistakes” they warn, but that assumes big mistakes are a given. With practice and experimenting, it’s possible to reduce the frequency and size of mistakes. Usually. Hopefully.
None taken! I hope I don’t come across as saying people don’t have legitimately conflicted relationships with food, often culturally ingrained, or that the solutions are easy-peasy. I’m married to a compulsive eater whose lizard brain cannot see food without saying “Food. Mouth,” so I know how hard it can be.
There should be a badge for anyone who made it this far.
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This has turned into a very interesting thread to read. Thanks everyone for contributing. You never know what is going to pop up on FUD.
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Sorry, should have added the /sarc.
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I feel like you are some mysterious robot from a land of higher beings. I generally eat what I feel like eating but I would be lying if I said I never felt guilty and only ate “what is satisfying and enjoyable” “free of guilt or self-recrimination or any other judgment.” Honestly, a lot of the time I eat solely to fill my belly so I can keep on doing something else that I care about. And sometimes I eat random stuff out of convenience.
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The obesity problem is as much about quality as quantity, sure, but people can still choose how much to eat. Pointing the finger at the availability of cheap food absolves people of personal responsibility, ignores the role of self-control.
I feel like there have been quite a few studies in recent years showing that the notion of self-control is really incomplete w/r/t obesity. I think our understanding of hunger and satiety in people who are obese is still not very good, but the more we’re learning about it, the more it seems people who are quite overweight are not just “not exercising willpower.” There are systemic brain changes and long-term reductions in metabolism that may occur which will fight every lost pound like it’s a death match.
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ha ha ha - I was reading it over a couple times trying to figure out what was the incendiary part.
lol
Then I got down to this post.
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So I do not have a problem with obesity, and I rarely even cross over into overweight… Problematic overweight… I don’t know. It’s not that I can’t put on a few pounds from time to time, but weight has not been a huge problem for me in my life. However, I think trying to separate those two categories up there is kind of … not entirely appropriate. Cheap often lends itself to overeating. This is how I see it anyway. I can’t overeat apples. I love them, I think they’re delicious, I can certainly enjoy one almost any time of day, but I have no problem cutting myself off at just the one. Chips, on the other hand, can be hard to put away. Carrots? Nah. I know when I’ve reached my limit… Even some chicken and really delicious broccoli? I might have a second serving, but I’m not going to stuff myself. When I start on the processed stuff, I can’t do the same. I eat when I’m not hungry. I eat to make myself feel better. I eat because I’m tired and would really like to get in bed, but that’s not an option yet. I don’t eat a plate of chicken and broccoli for any other reason than hunger. I swear I think some of this stuff is addictive. It is the reason behind my I can’t proclamations. It’s because I can’t. I also can’t smoke a cigarette. It just so happens I don’t smoke them, but that comes from a long history of knowing I can’t. (Sorry to mention such absolutely filth in here…)
I’m not passing off responsibility, but self-control is a tricky thing. Sometimes I have it in abundance, and sometimes I would give anything to find an ounce. And not everything after but is bulldoodoo. That’s not bulldoodoo right there in that sentence. I just don’t know what I’m bringing on a given day… how much determination or focus or whatever. Some days, in the absence of these things, making a good decision is just not easy.
And we won’t tell your partner of the “lizard brain” reference… unless someone comes around asking.
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This is admirable. For me, it’s the guilt that is the real problem, and I wish I could stop the I shouldn’t have from occurring in my mind. It’s not just the burden of feeling like I’ve done something wrong or that I am weak that is unpleasant but the fact it’s ushering me onto my next failure. After I shouldn’t have comes *but I did, so I might as well”…
I used to do this with my blood sugar. There are too many things to describe that would lead to the ultimate action, but I used to apply that very thinking to my blood sugar… I’m already a 300 so I might as well…
I’m talking away about all of this, but I’m galaxies away from what I used to do. I’m still stuck with the fear I will somehow slip back into it, but I don’t think I really could. It’s good to get some of the thoughts out though. I’m not sure I ever have.
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I wonder about the effects of food additives, too. Both directly in obesity and whether they may make food more addictive. I do notice larger restaurant serving sizes in the US compared to Canada, but i thought we were about the same when it came to adding junk to our food.
Then I went on a trip to the US this summer and trying to buy something as simple as tuna fish was so difficult. Here something like that often has three ingredients—tuna, water (or maybe oil), and salt. Maybe some flavours added. In the US, every one I looked at had all sorts of chemicals and broth and other stuff added. It took 15 minutes of reading the ingredients on every can on the shelf before we found one that just had tuna, water, and salt. I had the same issue when trying to buy peanut butter. The peanut butter that’s just peanuts and salt and perhaps sugar was nowhere to be found. I ended up settling on some “natural” brand of Jif peanut butter that still had five ingredients… I’m sure I would have found better selections in Whole Foods, but here (at least in my city) you can find decent tuna fish and peanut butter without other stuff added to it in regular grocery stores.
Anyway, not to say we Canadians are better—we have our own obesity problems, too—but trying to eat healthy in the US seems like it would be so difficult with all these foods that would seem so basic but have a ton of extra additives and calories added.
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I’ve heard that the US has drive-through pharmacies. Is that true? I have never seen such a thing here in Canada, and I thought it sounded so odd…
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That is a riot.
We need to do some exchange trips to find out what other surprises there are that we would not generally think of.
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I believe this.
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