I took one of Weight Watchers' quizzes yesterday about what kind of overeater I am (as if it were a question), and the answer came back (unsurprisingly) hedonist. I'm a headonist overeater. Well duh. I'm pretty much a hedonist in my every day life. Basically, I eat because I really like food. I don't eat alone, I don't eat because I'm upset, and I don't eat to reduce stress or bad feelings. I eat because food tastes really good and I really like it. I'd rather eat with a big group of people, having fun. I'm not a social drinker, I'm a social eater. Again, this is not a surprise.
Unfortunately, WW suggestion for overcoming hedonistic eating patterns is to find other things you enjoy as much. Done and done. I love a lot of things. I'm definitely a hedonist in general. I just love "sensual pleasures" (as the online dictionary defines it), and I'll admit that I do seek out pretty things, tasty things, sumptuous things. I primarily chose this computer (as opposed to the iBook) because it was pretty. I describe things as pretty all the time. Part of the reason I love S is that he's able to create images that create within me that feeling of pleasure. That picture of my eye, I love it. I would say that on the whole, 98% of the time, S takes pictures that I think are beautiful.
So how do I find things to love better than eating? I do love some things better than eating. Reading, for instance. Or travelling. I already do those things to the maximum of my ability to do them, so I'm done there. WW suggests learning to enjoy taking walks to stop the urge to eat. Well, hey, I already work out almost every day, so done! I'm just not sure at this point, that I can learn to love something to replace my love of food. More like I'll just have to subvert my love of eating, and make it the kind of pleasure that you deny yourself because you....just....have....to. That's it. Maybe it's just me, but if you eat a lot of rich food because you're a hedonist, doesn't that suggest that you already have a healthy appreciation for life. And things? I think it kind of does. So the suggestions at WW are ridiculous, I think.
The truth is, if you're a hedonist, you can either have a naturally fast metabolism and be skinny, or have a really fucking slow metabolism and a body inclined to be rounded. There's no way around it. I will never be able, ever, to eat the rich foods I want to eat and be skinny. And it's too bad for WW, but that's a fact you can't gloss over with a fucking walk. Instead of eating because I like it, now I'm simply eating to be alive. It's a disheartening change, and one that I simply can't erase by learning to love other things. Unfortunately for me. That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop the diet, Katrink, or that I regret what I'm doing, but that WW might have some unrealistic suggestions. But then again, half of their recipes call for reduced-fat mayonnaise, which as we all know, without eggs and without oil, isn't mayonnaise.
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