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How much of your time is spent thinking about food?
In an ideal situation, we want to think about food just enough so that we are sure that we’re having adequate meals and snacks that satisfy and satiate us. We want to think about food when we’re hungry and then eat until we are full enough to go about our life and do all the other things that are on our plate (so to speak).
We don’t want to think so little of food that we have no idea when, where, or what we will be eating throughout the day. That can lead to extreme overeating and discomfort once we finally do eat something.
We also want to be aware if we are thinking about food constantly. People with eating disorders tend to think about food more often than the average person. Most non-disordered eating people think about food about 15% of their day. People with anorexia nervosa think about food up to 115% of their day. How is that even possible? It’s because people who may hardly eat anything at all during the day are actually so obsessed with food that they dream about it.
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
This was possibly first described in the Ancel Keys study: The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, which I’ve talked about here before. The men in the study were given about 50% of the calories their body used to maintain their usual weight. It was still about 1600 calories, which in our dieting world, isn’t even so low. It might seem like a normal amount of calories for someone to eat. During this “semi-starvation” period, the men became obsessed with food. They would save recipes (even if they didn’t cook), talk about food constantly, and were noted to have dreamed about food.
I’m not here to say that if you think about food a lot that you have an eating disorder. But, if this video seems to hit a little too close to home, you may want to take a deeper look at your relationship with food. I’ve seen first-hand how extreme dieting (without a diagnosed eating disorder) can impact so many aspects of life.
When I got married, a long-time family friend said she was unable to attend the reception. She had been on a very calorie-restricted diet and she did not want to be tempted by the food at the reception. That is not “having willpower” or being in control with food. In fact, that is food being in control of you.
Luckily, help is available. If this post hits a little too close to home, please reach out. We can work toward eating in a way that fuels and frees you.