body_positive: quick diet-talk poll...

keryx (

keryx) wrote in

body_positive,
@ 2004-09-28 10:12:00

quick diet-talk poll...
Out of curiosity and to help us choose discussion subjects better, I bring you a poll about diet talk.

It'd be swell if all of us would answer this one.

Poll #357480
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

I think dieting is...

View Answers

usually bad for your health
10 (30.3%)

a problem, but acceptable in certain very limited circumstances
13 (39.4%)

a useful way to develop healthy eating habits
10 (30.3%)

an evil tool of The Man/the media/whatever
8 (24.2%)

something else I'll explain in comments
3 (9.1%)

I am currently...

View Answers

eating moderately healthily
16 (48.5%)

not paying much attention to what I eat
6 (18.2%)

eating complete crap
4 (12.1%)

on a self-devised diet of some sort
2 (6.1%)

on a diet program of some sort
2 (6.1%)

struggling with a pattern of disordered eating
9 (27.3%)

eating in some other way I'll explain in comments
4 (12.1%)

Talking about diets or diet programs...

View Answers

can upset and/or trigger me
9 (27.3%)

bothers me, unless the topic is how much diets suck
16 (48.5%)

would help me make more informed choices
6 (18.2%)

affects me not one bit either way
7 (21.2%)

affects me in some other way I'll explain in comments
3 (9.1%)

(Post a new comment)

peregrin8
2004-09-28 07:25 am UTC (link)

I was going to paste in the words "eating in some other way I'll explain in comments" here, but my clipboard had failed to pick it up, so what I pasted was the previous piece of text I'd clipped: "how to kick a charging badger." Should we try to make that into some useful analogy for dieting?

Anyway I am currently swinging wildly between "eating very healthily" and "eating complete crap." I suppose it balances out somewhat.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	keryx 2004-09-28 07:33 am UTC (link)
	I'm really curious how you ended up talking about kicking a charging badger in the first place. I'm with you on the swinging. I'll have a day of ick food now and then, but it balances out to a reasonably healthy diet in the long run. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: kicking a charging badger peregrin8 2004-09-28 07:39 am UTC (link)
	It was over here. I know what I should be eating, but during the week it's easier and faster to just, like, grab a breakfast bar and another cup of coffee... (Reply to this)(Parent)

cavlec
2004-09-28 07:45 am UTC (link)

I'll toss my preferences and personal triggers out there, just for grins:

I don't mind talking about food and eating. I'm interested in the latest nutrition science (when it's not the usual fatbashing, anyway). I do mind when value judgments get applied to a person based on what or how much they eat ("I was good/bad today; I ate...").

The same applies to exercise, actually. I don't mind hearing "I did X and it felt good!" I do mind "I was sooooooo good today!"

And don't tell me how much weight you lost. Just don't. Thanks.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	keryx 2004-09-28 08:16 am UTC (link)
	Ditto what you said - I struggle a lot to not define my behavior as good/bad, and loathe hearing other people do it. Is it always bad to hear how much weight someone has lost? Or is it only if it's viewed with a value judgement (vs. simple statement of fact)? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cavlec 2004-09-28 09:47 am UTC (link)
	I have to admit that even the simple statements of fact send me hunting for subtext. This is very likely my problem rather than the speaker's. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mickle 2004-09-28 09:43 pm UTC (link)
	I do mind when value judgments get applied to a person based on what or how much they eat ("I was good/bad today; I ate..."). I agree. And any use of the concept of sin applied to food and eating really, really annoys me. (Reply to this)(Parent)

la_directora
2004-09-28 08:05 am UTC (link)

For "I think dieting is..."

The word "diet" is one of my personal pet peeves, because it has come to mean, "deprive yourself of food in order to lose weight." The truth of the matter is that EVERYONE has a diet. Some people have a normal, healthy diet. Some people have a gluttonous diet. Some people have a restricted diet. Some people have a diet ruled by philoshopical ideals (kosher, vegetarian, etc.). But we ALL have a diet.

So when you think about the word "diet", why not try to think about what KIND of diet you'd like to have? Me, personally, I like to have an enjoyable diet that celebrates my love of food in which I try to eat a balanced set of nutrition and try not to eat to console or comfort myself to an excessive degree. (Which is the "struggling with a pattern of disordered eating" that I'm currently working on in therapy.)

(Reply to this)(Thread)

keryx
2004-09-28 08:13 am UTC (link)

Yes, the semantics of "diet" = annoying. In my mind, there is difference between eating a diet of whatever variety and either dieting or being "on" a diet (that word choice was quite deliberate in the poll, but still vague, giving the semantics problem). The former is simply a description of what you eat. The latter implies a greater involvement in food control or restriction - where you don't just eat the diet, you do it (or sit on it? hmm...); it's not necessarily weightloss focused, though that's the most common.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cavlec 2004-09-28 09:44 am UTC (link)
	I'm up with this. It's sort of what I was trying to get at when I said I don't mind discussing what people actually eat. But diets-for-weight-loss = sending Dorothea whimpering into corners. (Reply to this)(Parent)

soulwatcher
2004-09-28 09:52 am UTC (link)

I'd like to elaborate on my response for question 2. I don't think of the word 'diet' as in depriving myself of food, as per exactly what la_directora describes it as.

Thus the thought process behind my response of 'on a self-devised diet of some sort' means I'm trying to eat more healthily but also realise that man, I love eating sugary foods. The key is realising that eating a lot of that food means I'll have a lot of energy and if I don't burn it up it'll make me feel sluggish and irritable later on. Also that due to my work hours and being out of the house a couple of nights a week means that I miss the dinners with the vegies and am eating other 'fast food' type stuff more often than I'd prefer. Yes if circumstances permit I tend to make my own meals to work. But the point being made there is that if I know I'm going to miss my vegies at dinner I'll make an extra effort to eat some fruit during the day. After many, many occaisions where I've missed fruit or vegies for a few days and having my body show me how much it feels ill, I try to get some of either in each day.

It bothers me that too many people let food run their life as well as failing to realise that if losing weight through selective eating is their goal then they need to be almost constantly grazing to do good things for metabolism. I think it's a similar deal if you're working on fitness too. Can someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you a) can't exercise on a completely empty stomach (think 3+ hours since you last ate) and b) it's better to take small regular drinks of water to rehydrate than to gulp a lot at once.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

firecat
2004-09-28 10:41 am UTC (link)

a) can't exercise on a completely empty stomach (think 3+ hours since you last ate) and b) it's better to take small regular drinks of water to rehydrate than to gulp a lot at once.

I wouldn't want to make blanket statements about these; I think some people can exercise on an empty stomach, depending on what kind of exercise and so on. But I suspect that for anyone with any difficulty with blood sugar regulation (which is a huge number of people; I'm not talking only people with diabetes here), and anyone who is not getting enough nourishment on a regular basis (which is a lot of people, because a lot of people are always trying to 'cut calories') exercising on an empty stomach is likely to be less effective than exercising after having recently eaten something - you're likely to feel more tired and get less out of the exercise. Of course if you eat something heavy, you'll feel tired too.

As for water, there are a lot of myths about water drinking, and I don't think it's dangerous to gulp a lot at once (although gulping more than, say, half a gallon at once might cause electrolyte imbalances), but gulping a lot at once is likely to make me feel sloshy. If I don't want to feel sloshy then sipping regularly is better for me.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

keryx
2004-09-28 10:58 am UTC (link)

I'll piggyback on what

firecat said about the exercise and water things.

I generally exercise at least an hour or so after eating, and I don't have a problem doing it on an empty stomach; I am, however, uncomfortable exercising on a full stomach. I would guess that the type of exercise you do plays a big role here, too.

With water, it's easier to stay hydrated throughout the day than to superhydrate for exercise, but I'm also pretty sure gulping won't hurt you.

In generally (this goes for the question of grazing as a better weightloss strategy, too), there doesn't seem to be one set of rules that everyone should abide by for fitness - it makes things a heck of a lot more complicated than the average diet or exercise book would imply, but it's kinda fun to do your own experiential research and testing.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

firecat
2004-09-28 10:32 am UTC (link)

I think dieting is... *An obsession for a great many people. *Not necessarily terrible for your physical health (if it were, then more people would be dropping dead from it, since most people are doing it), but usually not good for your physical health either, and certainly not as good for your physical health as most people believe. *A sad way that people who otherwise might have a lot to contribute to making the world a better place waste their energy and focus.

I am currently... eating what I want when I want it, and paying attention in the sense that I am sometimes noting how that makes me feel physically and mentally for the next little while, but not paying attention in the sense that I question myself about whether I "should" have what I want, or whether I "should" have another bite of what I am eating. I think what I eat usually works out as fairly balanced over a period of several days. If that's not true, I don't care, because I can't be super-watchful of what I eat without feeling like I'm going crazy.

Talking about diets or diet programs... tends to piss me off for the reason that it's one of the few acceptable things for women to talk about, and I wish it were acceptable for women to talk about a much larger range of subjects.

(Reply to this)

hex_venus
2004-09-28 04:13 pm UTC (link)

I wasn't surprised to see the majority of people thinking "diet" is predominantly evil.
I see it is as a useful tool to develop healthy eating patterns - providing your doing it right.
My eating habits aren't great, but I dont eat crap. My biggest issue is the size of my meals (normally enough to feed two of me) and the fact that I eat too much pasta, rice and other carb-rich foods without doing the activity to burn off the energy.

I like talking "healthy eating" with others, its a great opportunity to swap tips, recipes and excerise routines with others who are on the same path.
:)

(Reply to this)

	snidegrrl 2004-09-29 06:19 pm UTC (link)
	Damn. I am the only person eating complete crap. I don't mind though, so long as no one tells me not to but myself. :D (Reply to this)(Thread)

	keryx 2004-09-30 06:44 am UTC (link)
	Hey, I thought I checked that, too. Guess I just contemplated it. But yeah, I periodically eat crap (like whenever I'm around my parents). And I'm not half dead yet. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

puzzlement
2004-10-04 09:54 am UTC (link)

So I think "dieting" in the sense of "deliberately, consciously rearranging your eating patterns" is acceptable when the eating patterns themselves are disordered. I am trying at the moment, for example, to eat less fatty processed foods and more fruits and vegetables. In some ways this means I'm "on a diet" because I have to consciously choose to do this, if I eat exactly what I want when I want I'll eat far more chocolate.

Dieting for weight loss, well, people can do it if they want I suppose, but my impression of it is that it's very difficult to do unless you're committed to a regime that changes your metabolism (which can be either healthy or unhealthy, but it's always a big step) -- and in some cases metabolic changes or fitness changes don't correlate anyway.

I always go through a disordered phase while travelling, I think the only real way I can deal with it is to start cooking my own food most of the time, and that won't happen on holiday.

(Reply to this)

	oper8nchknlitle 2005-11-01 10:00 pm UTC (link)
	Diet is what you eat......as far as dieting to lose weight, if you can do it and stick to it, be my guest-I've attempted and I can't follow through with it, so I have learned to watch what I eat and set reasonable limits for myself. I let myself eat enough so that it's healthy, but I don't restrict myself from foods because I think they will make me fat (I just moderate them). (Reply to this)

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