Eating

[Hannah]

I saw the issue of "emotional eating" come up in the Clutter? discussion and I thought it's important enough to be a discussion of its own with things like clutter and whatever else being subcategories to approaching it. First I'd like to say that the term "emotional eating", while it has its uses, is a problem because it's my personal belief that it's a rare person who does not feel any emotions while eating and who eats only to satisfy hunger or nutritional needs.

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Mine has 18 speeds! I don't know how to use them though ... LOL

[Hannah]

P.S. I definitely believe that about the exercise! At least for those of us who do have a problem with weight control.

[Dan Goodwin]

I think you Uncle's approach makes a lot of sense. Has to be a combination of eating and exercise. People spend such time and care watching what they eat and counting every calorie, but don't do any exercise!

My friend the other day txted me to say she'd just had a Mars bar (chocolate bar) but she was aiming to burn off at least 5 Mars bar's worth that evening when we went out dancing. And we probably did! : )

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

No getting around the fact that being sedentary is one of the big factors. I move for four to five hours a day doing my job, but I don't get my heart rate going fast enough. And the work isn't strenuous enough to build muscle. Especially in the midsection!

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

These links sound good, I'll check them out! Thanks, Denise :)

[Dan Goodwin]

Hannah,

I can't generalise about the whole of the UK population, and there's certainly a huge surge in awareness about healthy lifestyle, and a move towards organic, local produce. I would say, as with many things, there's the class/income factor, and people who eat most healthily are those who have most money, on the whole.

The masses who live in the inner cities on council estates for example have far more limited diets and yes you'd be amazed at what people live on in the way of junk food. I don't think portions are as big here, anyone I know who's come back from holiday in the US is usually stunned that a large portion there is enough to feed a family of four here! Our obesity rates are certainly lower, but like that previous link said, worryingly on the rise.

Saying there aren't many US TV shows on the BBC is largely true. But the BBC is one channel! The majority of people have cable or satellite TV with hundreds of channels, the bulk of them from the US. Hence the huge influence on British culture...

[Hannah]

So is it that these masses have more income for food nowadays, or food got cheaper, or there's just more junk food choices available than there used to be?

Ah, get it now about the TV. Yes, didn't account for the rise in the popularity of cable.

[Dan Goodwin]

I don't know how it starts Hannah. The masses on lower incomes feel they have no option but to buy cheap lower quality "junk" food, of which there is way more available than ever. There's a lack of knowledge/education about cooking food, and we've had a series of TV programmes here where it's been shown that actually preparing simple, healthy meals with natural organic food is healthier and cheaper than the prepackaged junk options. People just don't think about buying quality chicken for example, making it last a few days (maybe roast one day, then for in a salad, then the carcass for soup) when they can so easily buy chicken (Mc) nuggets, shove them in the oven for 15 mins with chips (fries) and be done with it.

You see the streets today, a shopping mall spilling over with junk food outlets and people eating in the streets, and in my childhood even that didn't really happen, people sat down to eat together. Now it's all takeaway fast food, eat while you're doing something else because there's no time...

Depressing...

[Hannah]

Okay, so it's not a question of money. It's just that people would rather eat out than cook. Yeah, that scene you describe about shopping malls full of fast food with people eating in the streets, that's definitely not the Europe I knew.

[Hannah]

"Food is an important part of a balanced diet." - Fran Lebowitz