When eating healthy becomes an unhealthy obsession.

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Old 03-15-2013, 04:06 PM
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I didn't think I would ever say this but that was a good post. It held my interest and parts of it even made me laugh. You mentioned how people would say "there's nothing here I can eat" when actually there was plenty to choose from. Well, I think those people are being somewhat rude and thoughtless to the host who went to a lot of trouble. I haven't been to a wedding reception for several decades but if I did get invited I would not complain about the food. I can't see doing that. It's just plain rude.

I told how I went to the birthday party of a man who was 100 years old. It was free and open to the public. I ate chicken because it was at KFC. And, don't tell anyone, I even had a piece of birthday cake. Having a piece of birthday cake once every 10 years is what I call "moderation".
Well, you are invited if and when I end up in TV and I assure you I can cook anything vegetarian and/or vegan.

KFC is tasty but has "Accent" in it.....monosodium glutamate.
If you take the skin off the chicken......you save that unhealthy part.

What I'd like to know is what you eat when you go to the GOLDEN CORRAL???? The salad bar? Make sure there are no sulfites on it.

Glad you had a chuckle.......I also have a sense of humor.....but somtimes you come across as a bit rigid.........if truth be told.

As far as the wedding receptions......I'd say that finally all of the neices, nephews, adult children, adult neighbors children, etc. are married.....

The next round of weddings will be the grandchildren........but not for awhile yet.

I also would host large holiday parties for our employees and neighbors, friends, etc. There was the bunch that would partake of everything and enjoy it .........and then there were the fussiest of the fussy.

You know, because I've told you, about the vegetarians and vegans who are (or were, as they are dead now) avid cyclists and sports enthusiasts, who were quite fussy also........regarding their food.........all stick thin.
Unfortunately, they all died of cancer. It's the truth. Not an anecdote as you like to call these remembrances. They ate so sparingly with no "fats" at all added to their food........even their salads were raw and unadulterated with salad dressing.......not even plain wine vinegar and olive oil. Plain eating.......and yet they are dead.

I'd say, indulge yourself occasionally and you will live a happier longer life.
I'm sure you are basically a healthy person by nature and will achieve your goal of a long life. More power to you.
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Old 03-15-2013, 04:13 PM
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I do find this an interesting topic. Google has many hits and articles about said subject, including MayoClinic.com which recognizes the symtoms as potentially falling into the mental health realm.
It bears reading and surely will continue to be a topic of study.
By any chance does the Mayo Clinic offer mental health counseling? Ca-ching! ($$$$) Industry, including healthcare, wants in on this lucrative venture.

Orthorexia is not even a disorder. It makes me think that this has all been dreamed up by the food industry. In case anyone hasn't noticed there's a food war going on between health advocates and the food industry.

It's already known that the food industry hires dietitions and nutritionists to plead their case that "there's no such thing as bad food". There's a doctor of nutrition in central Florida that speaks out over the airwaves to say exactly that. And, by the way, she forgets to tell people that she works for a major supermarket chain.

And I went to a lecture given by a dietition, back when I belonged to The Wellness Center. She worked for the same supermarket chain and she also said "there's no such thing as bad food".

So what is to stop the food industry from coming up with the idea of orthorexia and having someone like a dietition or nutritionist write about it and post it on the internet? The idea being that if anyone tries too hard to support good eating habits, that person can be called orthorexic.
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Old 03-15-2013, 04:18 PM
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Old 03-16-2013, 08:23 AM
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My viewpoint is that we should all eat in moderation with moderation being defined as portion control and maintaining a healthy weight. Some people have medical considerations that require eating certain foods or some people like to eat healthy.

I agree that breaking down and eating some foods outside of what is considered healthy sd good for us psychologically. With that being said, an occasional treat is not the end of the world, as we know it.

The article says that some people will not go out to eat with friends and that's a little extreme for me.

Just sayin.........
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Old 03-16-2013, 09:15 AM
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If you'd ever lived with somebody who is addicted to their rituals of righteous grocery shopping, food storage, cooking, picky eating, and droning that implies everyone else is an ignorant slob who doesn't know how to eat, you would know that orthorexia is a real mental illness, regardless of whether it is classified in the DSM (Diagnosis & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) for getting bills paid by insurance or government.

Worse yet is living with, or seeing next door, parents who inflict this disordered thinking and jail-like lifestyle on their innocent little kids in their most formative years.

We actually had neighbors whose kids would roam the (upscale) neighborhood, looking for food from other moms who allowed their kids to eat normally (which means allowed them to have a snack when they got home from school instead of forcing "no snacking" on them).

In the DSM, the other main eating disorders described here encompass much of what orthorexic behavior is:

Eating Disorders | psychiatry.org
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Old 03-16-2013, 10:57 AM
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Originally Posted by ilovetv View Post
If you'd ever lived with somebody who is addicted to their rituals of righteous grocery shopping, food storage, cooking, picky eating, and droning that implies everyone else is an ignorant slob who doesn't know how to eat, you would know that orthorexia is a real mental illness, regardless of whether it is classified in the DSM (Diagnosis & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) for getting bills paid by insurance or government.

Worse yet is living with, or seeing next door, parents who inflict this disordered thinking and jail-like lifestyle on their innocent little kids in their most formative years.

We actually had neighbors whose kids would roam the (upscale) neighborhood, looking for food from other moms who allowed their kids to eat normally (which means allowed them to have a snack when they got home from school instead of forcing "no snacking" on them).

In the DSM, the other main eating disorders described here encompass much of what orthorexic behavior is:

Eating Disorders | psychiatry.org
That's a great post. Another aspect of carrying things too far with regard to perceived healthy eating.

We've known people who limit their kids to plain water rather than milk or juice. Chocolate milk is poison in their minds. One family belonged to a Chiropractor in town who just happened to buy a home next door to us. They had seven children who were severely limited in what they could eat. My daughter, 16, at the time....was an occasional babysitter.
The mom, college educated like the dad, would write a list of what she could and could not give the children.........only beverages to be had: water. No snacks at all. They were vegetarians and I believe adopted the B'hai faith........eventually moved to Uraguay? South America.

Whether or not cows milk is popular today or not, ours had milk, juices and an occasional chocolate milk. Lemonade in the summertime. Water was not the "in thing" then.

I never ever rationed food. We had ice cream in the freezer for them and their friends. Big bowls of fruit on the kitchen island....to take as they pleased. Never rationed a thing. Both were thin healthy kids, thin healthy teens and now thin healthy adults.

Whereas I had another neighbor who also rationed food and her kids are all seriously obese........as they felt deprived. Go figure.

We also served all different types of ethnic meals.

I even made Mushu Pork in the little pancakes after we enjoyed it in Washington, D.C. Always tried various cousines and both still enjoy exotic foods............where other kids we know grew up to be picky eaters.

It's when a BIG DEAL is made out of eating or not eating.
I think people should just eat when they are hungry.
They say 6 "small" meals a day is ideal to keep one's blood sugar up.
They are not saying to gorge six times a day......but a healthy snack here and there.

But, GREAT POST ABOVE..........it's probably easier to do the righteous grocery shopping if one is single, never married and never had children.
Then you can eat what you alone desire. But, when you have a family and the children bring home friends.......you want to have kid friendly snacks around. I was one of those cookie baking moms.....so when they came home from school, always with friends in tow........they had fresh cookies. It didn't kill them and I used oatmeal and raisins and nuts.
Plus chocolate chips. Ginger, etc. Molasses, etc. I had the luxury of being a stay at home mom...........and our house was always open to the friends...........they all turned out well, thankfully.

Rigidity in any form is not healthy.......especially as you say, for the person living with them or near them.

I may have been five years old but I still remember those years at my Italian grandmother's dining table......with many generations of inlaws and outlaws........never once heard anyone say "I can't eat that" or "I have this or that ailment"........they just were jolly and ate with gusto and all lived into their 90's. Anyone that remembers all the dishes and plates on top of plates plus all the "various courses" of an Italian family dinner, will know what I'm talking about.............the miracle in my mind is how they did it from those tiny kitchens??? Must have been that home made Italian vino.
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Old 03-16-2013, 11:50 AM
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Originally Posted by 2BNTV View Post
My viewpoint is that we should all eat in moderation with moderation being defined as portion control and maintaining a healthy weight. Some people have medical considerations that require eating certain foods or some people like to eat healthy.
I think your definition is fine as far as it goes. I would just add this: For most people, especially the elderly, the foods to be eaten (in moderation) should be non-processed foods. That's because the older we get the harder it is to "cheat" and maintain a healthy weight. And the older we get the harder it is for our digestive system to absorb nutrients. So we need the maximum nutrients possible from healthy whole foods.

As most of us know, there's no shortage of overweight seniors (about 70%) and no shortage of seniors taking multiple medications (about 9 out of 10). And yet the average senior will claim to eat a balanced diet in moderation. So something doesn't add up. I think most people are addicted to processed foods and are in denial. After eating processed foods for several decades throughout their lives, it ends up looking normal. Therefore, careful eaters, to them, look abnormal (orthorexic).

Last edited by Villages PL; 03-17-2013 at 06:11 PM.
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Old 04-04-2013, 02:47 PM
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Old 04-04-2013, 03:28 PM
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I can't catch orthoexia I grew up with an Italian mother
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Old 04-04-2013, 03:54 PM
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I can't catch orthoexia I grew up with an Italian mother
Since I have moved to the villages and have been exposed to REAL Italian cooking by REAL Italian cooks..THIS German descendant is feeling a little bit of ethnic origin envy. What yummy stuff Italians know how to fix!

Tonight we are having one Italian inspired side. Fresh spinach wilted in hot olive oil that has sauteed garlic in it. Yum.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:27 PM
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That's a great post. Another aspect of carrying things too far with regard to perceived healthy eating.

We've known people who limit their kids to plain water rather than milk or juice. Chocolate milk is poison in their minds. One family belonged to a Chiropractor in town who just happened to buy a home next door to us. They had seven children who were severely limited in what they could eat. My daughter, 16, at the time....was an occasional babysitter.
The mom, college educated like the dad, would write a list of what she could and could not give the children.........only beverages to be had: water. No snacks at all. They were vegetarians and I believe adopted the B'hai faith........eventually moved to Uraguay? South America.

Whether or not cows milk is popular today or not, ours had milk, juices and an occasional chocolate milk. Lemonade in the summertime. Water was not the "in thing" then.

I never ever rationed food. We had ice cream in the freezer for them and their friends. Big bowls of fruit on the kitchen island....to take as they pleased. Never rationed a thing. Both were thin healthy kids, thin healthy teens and now thin healthy adults.

Whereas I had another neighbor who also rationed food and her kids are all seriously obese........as they felt deprived. Go figure.

We also served all different types of ethnic meals.

I even made Mushu Pork in the little pancakes after we enjoyed it in Washington, D.C. Always tried various cousines and both still enjoy exotic foods............where other kids we know grew up to be picky eaters.

It's when a BIG DEAL is made out of eating or not eating.
I think people should just eat when they are hungry.
They say 6 "small" meals a day is ideal to keep one's blood sugar up.
They are not saying to gorge six times a day......but a healthy snack here and there.

But, GREAT POST ABOVE..........it's probably easier to do the righteous grocery shopping if one is single, never married and never had children.
Then you can eat what you alone desire. But, when you have a family and the children bring home friends.......you want to have kid friendly snacks around. I was one of those cookie baking moms.....so when they came home from school, always with friends in tow........they had fresh cookies. It didn't kill them and I used oatmeal and raisins and nuts.
Plus chocolate chips. Ginger, etc. Molasses, etc. I had the luxury of being a stay at home mom...........and our house was always open to the friends...........they all turned out well, thankfully.

Rigidity in any form is not healthy.......especially as you say, for the person living with them or near them.

I may have been five years old but I still remember those years at my Italian grandmother's dining table......with many generations of inlaws and outlaws........never once heard anyone say "I can't eat that" or "I have this or that ailment"........they just were jolly and ate with gusto and all lived into their 90's. Anyone that remembers all the dishes and plates on top of plates plus all the "various courses" of an Italian family dinner, will know what I'm talking about.............the miracle in my mind is how they did it from those tiny kitchens??? Must have been that home made Italian vino.
The problem with anecdotes is: There are always plenty of anecdotes that can "prove" the exact opposite. Here's a real life example:

My aunt Lucy felt like she had been deprived of candy when she was a child, but she never became overweight as an adult. However, she made up her mind at an early age that she didn't want her children to grow up feeling deprived. So she made it a point to always keep a large bowl of candy in the kitchen and told her children that they could take as much as they wanted at any time of the day.

She had four boys and one, who was a controlled drinker, died at age 60 of liver cancer. The other three are drinkers as well and sport large waistlines. They grew up with poor eating habits because, without proper supervision, they often ate candy right before meals. She, for example, would make a salad and her boys would typically take only a tablespoon of salad with their meals. In addition to the one with liver cancer, another one had thyroid cancer and had his thyroid removed at sometime around his early 20s.

So, in that case, I don't see anything that was gained by being permissive. If anything, they were harmed by the fact that they didn't learn good eating habits as they were growing up.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:39 PM
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........The other three are drinkers as well and sport large waistlines. They grew up with poor eating habits because, without proper supervision, they often ate candy right before meals. She, for example, would make a salad and her boys would typically take only a tablespoon of salad with their meals. In addition to the one with liver cancer, another one had thyroid cancer and had his thyroid removed at sometime around his early 20s.

So, in that case, I don't see anything that was gained by being permissive. If anything, they were harmed by the fact that they didn't learn good eating habits as they were growing up.
So then you'd have a scenario where--as it was with my neighbors who deprived their kids of everything they had a taste for--if the mom had kept candy hidden from plain sight or never bought any, the kids would get it from neighbors or buy it, and then hide it under their mattress.....where they could eat 3 lbs. of it in the dark before sleeping....and rot their teeth besides getting obese.

The lesson of "forbidden fruit" has many other lessons to be learned in it.
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Old 04-05-2013, 01:13 PM
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So then you'd have a scenario where--as it was with my neighbors who deprived their kids of everything they had a taste for--if the mom had kept candy hidden from plain sight or never bought any, the kids would get it from neighbors or buy it, and then hide it under their mattress.....where they could eat 3 lbs. of it in the dark before sleeping....and rot their teeth besides getting obese.

The lesson of "forbidden fruit" has many other lessons to be learned in it.
I like your active imagination where you see them getting candy from their neighbors. That's assuming that the neighbors are permissive and have loads of candy just waiting to be distributed, on a regular basis, to anyone who's going through withdrawl. It makes sugar look like a serious drug addiction.

The kid says to the neighbor: "Please, please, do you have any candy for me today? I can't stand being without it, I need it.." In that case, if the neighbor has a backbone, she would say, "NO, go home and eat your lunch."

As far as buying it: 1) I don't recall them having money at a young age and 2) there were no nearby stores.

What do they do today when a kid doesn't get any candy, or not enough candy? Do they report it to the state as child abuse?
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Old 04-05-2013, 02:56 PM
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I like your active imagination where you see them getting candy from their neighbors. That's assuming that the neighbors are permissive and have loads of candy just waiting to be distributed, on a regular basis, to anyone who's going through withdrawl. It makes sugar look like a serious drug addiction.

The kid says to the neighbor: "Please, please, do you have any candy for me today? I can't stand being without it, I need it.." In that case, if the neighbor has a backbone, she would say, "NO, go home and eat your lunch."

As far as buying it: 1) I don't recall them having money at a young age and 2) there were no nearby stores.

What do they do today when a kid doesn't get any candy, or not enough candy? Do they report it to the state as child abuse?
I often wonder if you have children.

When I taught we would have what I called "food moms" who would not allow their child to have sweets when they were sent in for holiday parties. or requested...STRONGLY that holiday parties have snacks like carrots or fruit.

I always knew the food moms loved their children deeply but I always thought that if they allowed a child an occasional sugar treat it would not kill them. Obviously for children with juvenile diabetes, it was a much easier plan. We just didn't have sugary treats EVER...and the same for peanut allergies.

I was faced with deciding if we should not have any food treats at parties, or have only healthy ones which aren't all that ....um...festive.

When I had a food mom which was not every year....I would just say no treats. It was too hard to watch the child who couldn't have the iced pumpkin cookie eat his packet of raisins. Remember, I taught five and six year olds.

We all survived. I wonder what happened to the little ones whose moms were so strict about food?

Were you young enough to be in my class Villages Pl?
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Old 04-06-2013, 05:54 AM
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Since I have moved to the villages and have been exposed to REAL Italian cooking by REAL Italian cooks..THIS German descendant is feeling a little bit of ethnic origin envy. What yummy stuff Italians know how to fix!

Tonight we are having one Italian inspired side. Fresh spinach wilted in hot olive oil that has sauteed garlic in it. Yum.
Love it. Gracie, I grew up on that and I always ate my spinach....whereas in public school cafeteria, kids would turn up their noses at the spinach on the lunch trays.

Try the garlic sauteed in olive oil over steamed broccoli.
Another great way to enjoy your vegetables.

Garlic is a natural antibiotic.......plus, garlic keeps the vampires away.
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