Conditioned to Eat

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about eating! You might be thinking it has something to do with being hungry and stuffing my face but it really doesn’t, let me clear the air. If we are conditioned with eating habits from any early age, is it really our fault we overeat? I’ll dig a little deeper into this in my post, but keep this question in your mind’s eye.

My sister and friend taught me eating (but I didn’t get it)

When I was younger, we had a terrible time getting my sister to eat. My mother and I tried everything to get her to eat and she would sit right there in front of the plate and stare at us like “ya’ll expect me to eat all this food?” This went on for a long time when she was about 3 or 4 years old. When we finally gave up on getting her to eat, she started eating. A strange thing happened once she started, my mom would force her to finish the whole plate. I wonder if my little sister somehow instinctively knew to stop eating. Was my mother pushing her beyond her eating threshold to force her to finish that plate? I have heard many parents in restaurants shout at their kids something like this,“finish your food”! I look over at the kid’s food and there is a mammoth sized portion an elephant would have a problem eating! I have observed kids and it seems kids have it right because they know when to eat and when to stop eating. Most adults don’t, but maybe a few do.

I have a friend who I have known for years and to this day, I have never seen this guy finish a plate of food. I use to think this was odd, but I am beginning to think Chris is a pure unadulterated genius! In a world, where adults “scarf” down food at alarming rates my buddy always “chicken pecks” through his food and never finishes it and guess what? He has never had a problem with his weight and the guy is damn fit at 40. I know he never gave any thought to it but he has pretty much cracked the code to maintaining a healthy weight. Could it be all so simple?

Does it have to be a struggle?

Are you struggling with your weight right now? Is it because you were forced to clean your plate and then “conditioned” to eat large portions? Here’s another question for you. Do you eat to satisfy your hunger or do you eat to get full? The majority of us eat to get full and it shows in our waistlines. I’ll tell you why I think this is true. I read a book called “Food Rules” and it stated the best part of your food is the first bite! I tested this theory myself and sure enough it held true. I didn’t really taste my food after the first bite so it made it that much easier to stop the “stuffing” after eating a very small amount . So why can’t everyone do what I did? In actuality, everyone can do what I did, but it begins in the mind. In most cases, it is your mind controlling the body. If we all listened to our bodies, it wouldn’t be such a struggle.

Undoing what’s done

How do you undo what’s done? When I speak to people, I suggest some ways to control eating but the suggestions always fall on deaf ears. People are creatures of habit, but aren’t your present habits the reason for your demise? I know breaking bad habits are easier said then done, but most people never commit out of fear of missing out on something. You’re not missing out on anything and you’ll take your health back in the process! If you really want to change your eating habits just do what kids do: stop eating when you feel the hunger subside then go out and play! It is just that simple!

Darren McDuffie
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified Nutrition and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist