something to consider
29 Sep 2008 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaigouWas working on the db just now, and the idea of quirks in characters, and the fact that plenty of sites list "gluttony" but few list, or ask, why. I mean, there are certainly addictive personalities, and those who just don't have the off-button on their stomachs.
That reminded me of eating out with several friends, and being a bit taken-aback by one friend's almost single-minded intensity of getting as much food, as fast as possible, from the main shared dish to her plate, and then eating it just as fast. Her hand honestly moved so fast it was almost as though it barely touched her own plate before she'd swallowed it.
I watched this for several minutes, trying in vain to get my own chopsticks in to get some of the dish, before I finally said (in that half-joking, hope-I-don't-offend way), "hey, it's okay, we can always get more if you're really hungry."
She stopped, blinked, and then grinned (obviously someone mature/self-aware enough not to take it personally), and told me, "I have five brothers and sisters, and we grew up on the Rez. There was never enough food, and you learned to grab what you could before anyone else did. Meals weren't for conversation, but for competition. Guess I still do it, even when I don't have to, hunh."
I did notice that for the dish she'd ordered for herself, she also started into it with the same pattern, until something seemed to 'click' in her head that no one else was reaching for it, and then she slowed down. I should also note that she was not at all overweight, but just-right. I suppose her body had adjusted over the years to "food comes in fast"; she evidenced no reluctance in pushing away a half-eaten dish and saying she was full.
Just something to think about.
That reminded me of eating out with several friends, and being a bit taken-aback by one friend's almost single-minded intensity of getting as much food, as fast as possible, from the main shared dish to her plate, and then eating it just as fast. Her hand honestly moved so fast it was almost as though it barely touched her own plate before she'd swallowed it.
I watched this for several minutes, trying in vain to get my own chopsticks in to get some of the dish, before I finally said (in that half-joking, hope-I-don't-offend way), "hey, it's okay, we can always get more if you're really hungry."
She stopped, blinked, and then grinned (obviously someone mature/self-aware enough not to take it personally), and told me, "I have five brothers and sisters, and we grew up on the Rez. There was never enough food, and you learned to grab what you could before anyone else did. Meals weren't for conversation, but for competition. Guess I still do it, even when I don't have to, hunh."
I did notice that for the dish she'd ordered for herself, she also started into it with the same pattern, until something seemed to 'click' in her head that no one else was reaching for it, and then she slowed down. I should also note that she was not at all overweight, but just-right. I suppose her body had adjusted over the years to "food comes in fast"; she evidenced no reluctance in pushing away a half-eaten dish and saying she was full.
Just something to think about.
no subject
Date: 29 Sep 2008 09:34 pm (UTC)I'm able to eat a full meal in under 15 minutes, sometimes not even 10. Usually I just eat fast because the time I spend eating is time I'm not spending chatting over AIM. Addict much? *cough* But then I don't really have an off switch either. As long as there's food in my plate and I'm not physically uncomfortable, I eat. Comes from my grandmother who babysat me and she would always go "finish your plate! Don't waste food!" I have this idea that wasting food is disrespectful and horrible, and seeing food being thrown away makes me winces. (unless someone went spitting in it or it's anchovies or something. >_>)
And then there's growing up with two brothers and alway fighting for the right to the last whatever yummy there was in the plate, and ending up equating "being awarded the last bite" with "mom loves me best." Oh sibling rivalry.
What's really annoying is I'm trying to teach myself to take smaller servings in the first place, but there will always be some food left over in the pot/plate/whatever (mom's used to cooking for five, but my brothers have moved out) and my parents will always go "sure you don't want more?" "aw, we can't put such a small portion back in the fridge, that's pretty useless" and "here, let's share the leftovers." And even when I say no it ends up in my plate and then, well, at this point I pretty much just feel obligated to eat it. Thanks dad, thanks mom, thanks self for being so weak-willed about it. I'd ask mom to make smaller servings in the first place, but then we might not have enough and we might be hungry
for like a hour or two before getting a snack, and you have no idea how horrible that would be. Terribly horrible, that's how much. Mmh.... And then grandma and dad make noises about my being overweight and how unhealthy that is. Oh family.