How many of us over-eat?

[Cat Whisperer]

This is a poll, not a debate. I would like to get an idea of how many respondents over-eat on a regular basis (not simply getting stuffed at Thanksgiving dinner).
Do you over-eat:

a) A small amount occasionally (about once a week) - for example, having an extra dessert or sandwich?
b) A small amount daily?
c) A large amount occasionally (about once a week) - for example, doubling your ideal calorie intake for the day?
d) A large amount daily?
e) Never?

[Cat Whisperer]

Sorry, forgot to mention that this is a just a very rough idea of how much we think we're eating, not a scientific measurement down to the last calorie.

[romansperson]

I overeat whenever there's free food in the office, which lately has been all too often, due to the start of school and the welcome-back events <burp>. If it's not waved in front of my face, then I'm pretty good about just eating what I'm supposed to.

[Lobsang]

I don't snack and I only occasionally give in when the office orders take-out.

If anything I undereat most days.

[Sattua]

Option A

[GorillaMan]

I regularly overeat, because I live in fear of not cooking myself enough food and ending up not feeling satisfied. Pathetic excuse, I know.

[Hey, It's That Guy!]

I overeat regularly because I skip breakfast, pack a small lunch for work, come home ravenous and start snacking, and then cook a lot in the evening so I have leftovers for lunches to come. I like to eat -- I don't do much else that's fun, so it's something I look forward to and derive a lot of pleasure from. That, unfortunately, leads to overindulgence.

[OrangeJumpsuit]

a) A small amount occasionally (about once a week)
Not really. Sometimes (once a week? Once every other week?) I'll eat a little more than usual, but most likely it's because I'd skipped a meal earlier and am really hungry. Or because dessert is looking really damn good.

b) A small amount daily?
No.

c) A large amount occasionally (about once a week)
Doubling? Jesus, never. Once in a great while, I'll go out to eat and order the biggest, fattiest, most oil drippingest thing they have. But that's only if I'm starving. I really don't like to eat extremely large meals. Overeating makes me really full, and being really full is uncomfortable.

d) A large amount daily?
No.

e) Never?
Of course not, everyone overeats sometimes, even if only by a little and very rarely. Even supermodels, but they just throw it up afterward.

[QuickSilver]

Option A. But when I do, it feels like Option C.

[Podkayne]

b) Before I started counting calories, probably every day I'd have at least one of the following: a snack that I wasn't really hungry for, or a larger snack than I needed, an extra serving at dinner, or a poor choice for a meal. I overeat because I like the feeling of being full. Because I'm bored. Because I'm frustrated or unhappy and I want to distract myself with something pleasant. Because food is tasty and I can't resist snitching just one more bite.

Now that I'm tracking what I eat, I'm more "a" than "b". When I do overeat, I can instantly see the chunk it's taken out of my calorie allowance for the day. If I have eaten an unwise amount of junk food, can see that I'm going to have a hard time getting all my nutrient requirements.

While this has been an excellent way for me to lose weight, I don't relish the notion of entering everything I eat for the rest of my life into my computer. Yet I don't know if I will have the willpower to eat sensibly without hard numbers to show me the results of overindulging.

[alice_in_wonderland]

Well, I guess never (according to your criteria), but mostly it's because I get full fast.

Occasionally (once every 6 months) I'll have a Cinnabon and then feel sick for the rest of the day. Thats about it.

[pinkfreud]

Option (c) best describes my typical eating pattern. I go on a binge about once every two weeks. Then I make a conscientious effort to eat less than usual for a few days.

I used to be obese. I've managed to maintain my weight at a reasonable level for more than twenty years, but it's always an effort. I envy people who don't have to think about their food intake, but who can just eat what they want.

[VunderBob]

I used to be b), with occasional gusts of c), now I'm definitely e). That's the beauty of a gastric bypass.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

I overeat often. Several times a week. But not by a lot, as far as I can tell.

I go crazy and eat until I'm sick once in a while.

[kimera]

I love eating, I would snack all day if I could. As for over-eating, it depends on how you define it. Is overeating taking in more of the needed calories per day? I don't count my calories and I eat whatever I feel like, when I can, so I have no idea where I am on the scale. I could be over- or undereating every day.

Is it eating so much that you start to feel sick? When I go to buffets or encounter vast amonts of free food, I eat until I don't feel like eating anymore or start to feel sick and then stop. I go to buffets about once every two weeks.

[Phlosphr]

Raises Hand..... Yes I am an over eater.

[ErinPuff]

Option B, I guess. I don't eat a disgusting amount of food, but most of what I eat is evil food like... bread, oh my God, so therefore I am fat. And I do eat bad-for-me snacks more than I should, although I try not to go crazy.

[Waenara]

b) Before I started counting calories, probably every day I'd have at least one of the following: a snack that I wasn't really hungry for, or a larger snack than I needed, an extra serving at dinner, or a poor choice for a meal. I overeat because I like the feeling of being full. Because I'm bored. Because I'm frustrated or unhappy and I want to distract myself with something pleasant. Because food is tasty and I can't resist snitching just one more bite.

Now that I'm tracking what I eat, I'm more "a" than "b". When I do overeat, I can instantly see the chunk it's taken out of my calorie allowance for the day. If I have eaten an unwise amount of junk food, can see that I'm going to have a hard time getting all my nutrient requirements.

While this has been an excellent way for me to lose weight, I don't relish the notion of entering everything I eat for the rest of my life into my computer. Yet I don't know if I will have the willpower to eat sensibly without hard numbers to show me the results of overindulging.This is me exactly. Are you my long-lost twin?

Up until this April I'd have an extra snack once or twice per day - so count that as B. In addition, I'd probably have a large amount (often, but not always as high double my ideal intake) probably twice per week.

I've had excellent weight loss success (so far!), and my weight loss numbers are tracking very well with my calorie counting.

But I don't know what I do when I finish losing weight. I am training myself somewhat to need smaller portions. But I don't know if that will work over the long haul, if I don't do calorie-counting as well.

Probably the only reason it wasn't double my ideal intake is because my "ideal" intake at my highest weight was about 2800kcal per day.

[monica]

I'm a college student, and the food here isn't all that great. So I never overeat on campus. I do sometimes on the occasional excursion out, but not normally.

[Ruby]

d) I'm an over-eater extraordinaire. Portion control is not my strong suit.

[Cat Whisperer]

Very interesting - we have the "Never" group coming out as very small. Maybe "Never" is too strict - perhaps I should soften that to "Rarely" to get a more accurate sampling.

[Glory]

Very rarely. I worked hard to lose 54 lbs and it's hard work to keep it off. I track calories every day and am a total health food nut. Fast food, fried foods, packaged baked goods - 0 in over a year. I don't really miss it and I loooove being thin.

[Ellis Dee]

Very interesting - we have the "Never" group coming out as very small. Maybe "Never" is too strict - perhaps I should soften that to "Rarely" to get a more accurate sampling.I never over-eat. Never ever; not even on Thanksgiving.

I do occasionally under-eat out of sheer laziness.

[irishgirl]

A) a small amount occasionally,

with

B) a large amount occasionally (christmas, big meals out), but much less than once a week. Maybe once every two or three months.


If I have eaten more the day before I will usually eat less the next day. For example, on Boxing day (day after Xmas) in my family we skip breakfast and lunch and have leftover cold meat (ham and turkey) and pickles for dinner. The next day we have Turkey curry for dinner, and the day after that is Turkey soup, no other full meals.

If I've been out for a meal I'll usually skip lunch that day and the next, if I have icecream for pudding one night I'll skip lunch the next day. This is because I feel less hungry, not a conscious thing.

[Sarah Woodruff]

This is a poll, not a debate. I would like to get an idea of how many respondents over-eat on a regular basis (not simply getting stuffed at Thanksgiving dinner).
Do you over-eat:

a) A small amount occasionally (about once a week) - for example, having an extra dessert or sandwich?
b) A small amount daily?
c) A large amount occasionally (about once a week) - for example, doubling your ideal calorie intake for the day?
d) A large amount daily?
e) Never?

If you count about 20 grams dark choccie a day overeating, then (b). However, I'm more than willing to have sushi and a mandarin instead of a cheese sandwich for lunch because I know I'll probably have my little chocolate fix after dinner. So I sort of make room for it in my caloric intake.

Don't get between me and the 75% cocoa chocolate, baby!

[Trunk]

A medium amount occasionally. That's usually because I went to a restaurant and they gave me the amount of food that they give to everybody else. Or, I had lunch and went to a matinee and got popcorn.

I don't snack. Well, a little. If I'm going to have a late lunch, I'll have a snack to get me there. I'll have some pretzels or nuts between lunch and dinner, but I'm not a "sit on the couch and gotta stuff my face" kind of guy.

[xbuckeye]

I'm somewhere between A and B, I think, but I really, logically, I can't be since I would be gaining weight and I am not, so I must really be closer to E on a long-term average. Like kimera and Trunk, I eat more when I go out than when I eat at home.

[susan_foster]

Somewhere between a and c. The occasionally is not every week, though - more like once or twice a month. Basically, whenever people come to visit me, I eat more than I usually do. But considering the fact that I am constantly aware of what I am eating (somewhat over-obsessed sometimes), I may be overestimating how much I eat when I do let go.

Susan

[auntie em]

I'd say a large amount occasionally. Maybe more often than I'd like to admit.

I say this because when I'm consciously trying to lose a few pounds (and thus watching what I eat), I am always aware of how pleasant it is not to feel like Ms. Bloaty "Toot Toot" McTightPants on a regular basis. And it's not really about buying bigger pants (although I suppose I could - I love an excuse to shop); it's merely about not eating until I'm absolutely stuffed, and then continuing to eat just because it's there (and in my office, it's ALWAYS there), until I feel really . . . gross. And then eating some more.

Funny, though--I don't tend to recognize the gross feeling as much as I tend to recognize when it's gone.

Does that make sense?

[scout1222]

Why yes, it makes perfect sense. That's probably where I am, with a little susan foster sprinkled in there (naturally).

[fishbicycle]

I very rarely overeat. I suffered a very long stretch of poverty, and was a walking stick for years. In the seven years I've been married, I put on 20 pounds from just eating well once a day, and it seems to be staying there, not increasing. Now I look healthy. I can eat anything, and have never counted a calorie, or looked on the package to find out how many calories are in a kind of food. When we eat at restaurants, the portions are so large that I nearly always come home with a box of leftovers. I just have no more room to finish them at the time, and can't force myself to do it. I can't think of why I'd want to, if I was stuffed already.

[Rhiannon8404]

At the end of last year, when I finally realized I actually had an eating disorder, my answer was D. But I was puking a lot of it up. Not enough to keep me from gaining weight though. (Not all EDs are about being skinny.)

Earlier this year, when I though I had a handle on things, my answer was C. I let myself binge once a week or so (yes, vomitting afterward). Hah! I thought I was doing so well! I was still gaining, though more slowly.

Since May, I when I joined Weight Watchers, the answer is between A and E. It's more like, a small amount once a month or so. It's not easy, but seeing 21lbs (so far) come off is a great incentive.

[GingerOfTheNorth]

Never overeat. I lost a bunch of weight and then gained some back while pregnant, and I'm trying to lose it. I would overeat if I wanted to spend longer dieting.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

In Fran Drescher's book, there's a conversation she has with her mother, in which her mother says (to paraphrase): "I eat until I feel sick, and then I stop. Sometimes."

I really strongly identify with that.

[Sleel]

A) Occasionally, a small amount, but probably less often than once a week.

I never gorge. I have, on a very few occasions, been uncomfortably full, but that was rare before --and never after-- I started to lose weight about a year ago. I've always been a healthy eater (sweets make me sick to my stomach, and I loathed white bread even as a kid) and never really overate. I didn't get fat from food indulgence but from a combination of lack of exercise and getting older while not scaling my diet back to fit those conditions. It's not really overeating when your portions were healthy portions in the past, but that does tend to catch up with you and slowly increase your weight.

I got back into exercising again, which made me realize how far I'd let myself slide, and slightly adjusted my diet, and I lost basically all the fat I'd gained.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Once a month, when the hormones kick in and I'm in "this chair looks delicious!" mode. I have snacks built into my diet (one midafternoon and one before bed), so I'm hardly ever hungry enough to realize I'm not hungry any more, if that makes sense. I do generally lose about ten pounds every semester when I'm at school, since the food sucks*and sometimes it's too much work to leave my room. Then I have oatmeal for dinner.

*They don't salt their mashed potatoes and you have to ask for butter. I live in Wisconsin for god's sake. I feel like my cultural identity's been betrayed.

[overlyverbose]

Option A, but modified to be about once every other week.

If I'm feeling bored or upset, I'll often find myself headed toward the kitchen. This normally happens just once or twice a week, and most of the time as I'm reaching for a snack to soothe my boredom or jangled feelings, I'll note it, make an effort to figure out if I'm actually hungry or am eating from boredom or upset-ness and I can stop. I'll put the food down and go for a walk, fold the laundry or, if I feel really compelled to consume, drink an enormous glass of water so I at least feel full.

But sometimes I'll willfully let myself overeat. In other words, I'll walk into the kitchen, think, "I'm doing this because I'm bored, not because I'm hungry." Then I'll think, "You know what? I don't care. I'm doing it anyway. Bring on the cookies!" Fortunately, after a minute or so I'll catch myself and stop, so I rarely wind up overeating much more than the equivalent of an extra piece of cake or something similar, but it's still overeating and it has caught up to me. I'm working on shedding the extra weight of my mini-indulgences - my husband and I hope to start a family soon and I'd like to be in as good a shape as possible when I get pregnant.

[Malacandra]

Slightly too much on an almost continual basis. Savoury snacks such as chips'n'dips are the killer. Portion sizes are a tad too big at evening meal time. Don't often binge, but it would be a fool who stood between me and a barbecue; fresh scorched meat has an unlimited "oh, just one more then" appeal to it. But I never get sick on it, though eating to the point of goat-stuffed-python torpitude isn't unknown.

[Kalhoun]

I almost never over-eat. Even on Thanksgiving. It is one of the worst feelings, so I try to avoid it. I gained weight due to middle-age and inactivity. But I'm changing my ways.

[Bimble]

I have a tendency to binge-eat to bursting point and then feel terrible for doing it...

I will eat and eat and eat until I'm full and carry on eating if food is available. So I keep a minimum amount of "food stock" in the house which means I CAN'T over eat.

Seriously, if there was a packet of biscuits in the house, I'd eat the lot in one sitting. Wierdly, if food is available, I will actually get panicky about it and eat it ANYWAY which gets rid of the panicky feeling but is replaced with MASSIVE guilt.

:(

(I used to weigh 225lbs... Very strict dieting has got me to 133lbs. I intend to remain there!!!)

:D

[Tuco]

I tend to graze throughout the day when I'm at work and have a few lunches instead of a larger lunch which I have at the weekends. If someone offers me food I pretty much always take it, so probably option B.

For the record, I weigh 148lbs, I don't think I've changed more than 2lbs either side of that for the past 6 years.

[Giant_Spongess]

I don't know...I eat until I'm not hungry. However, cafeteria food isn't all that appetising so sometimes I'm not hungry before I start eating!
If I have food lying around, I'll snack while doing homework (hard work, that, need to keep my energy up). I generally only eat two meals a day since that's my meal plan and I rarely get up for breakfast anyway. There is that whole college thing of getting a pizza in the middle of the night, but that doesn't happen too often. Generally the only time I overeat is when I go out to dinner and the food is good, but that doesn't happen too often while I'm in school. I inevitably lose weight during the semester, then gain it back during break after eating real, actual food that hasn't been prepared for a thousand people at a time.
Of course, during finals I buy a massive amount of junk food and eat it continuously. It's definitely a comfort eating sort of habit.

[FilmGeek]

I used to overeat every day. I was never ever full, or I'd be full for 20 minutes and then hungry again, stomach rumbling, gonna starve hungry.

Changing my diet to healthier foods (33 pounds down since May) changed a lot of that for me. I overindulge sometimes (I had way too much cheese last night) but I don't overeat on a regular basis anymore. Now that I'm eating better, I'm eating less. It's been a real eye opener for me, because I'm not hungry 24 hours a day like I used to be, and my stomach no longer wakes me up in the middle of the night.

I do miss really huge plates of pasta though.

[Wesley Clark]

A large amount occasionally. Whenever I go to AYCE buffets I always try to overeat.

[Cat Whisperer]

Thanks for all your responses. I think I'll bookmark this thread for the next round of fat threads.

[vix]

Both B and C. According to my very skinny and overly zealous doctor, I should lose 20 pounds. I am trying to lose 10-15.

[Incubus]

Well, since earning very little money and no longer being able to afford to go out to eat all the time, I have appreciated a 'free lunch' much more. So if my best friend takes me out to eat, or my family goes out to eat at a nice restaurant, since the food is A. Free and B. Yummy I have a bad tendency to gorge myself. I also overeat at buffets (because I'd feel guilty if someone shelled out $15 for me only to wind up eating a little salad).

The other condition for me is when I have to be at work for a long time. I mistakenly eat a big meal, thinking it will 'tide me over'. Usually all this does is make me very lethargic (overloading my digestive system) through the whole day. I keep forgetting this happens :smack: I really really REALLY need to remind myself to bring healthy snacks with me to much on if I get hungry, so I don't eat sporadic huge meals.

[Ellis Dee]

Thanks for all your responses. I think I'll bookmark this thread for the next round of fat threads.???

That would be an uncool ambush tactic, IMO.

[GingerOfTheNorth]

Both B and C. According to my very skinny and overly zealous doctor, I should lose 20 pounds. I am trying to lose 10-15.I think your doctor's crazy. Unless you've gained 20 since I last saw you, you haven't got any to lose.

[Rhiannon8404]

???

That would be an uncool ambush tactic, IMO.

That's what I thought when I read it, too.

featherlou, can you explain what you meant?

[Rushgeekgirl]

I eat too much probably every day. I never really tracked it, but that empty box of apple spice cupcakes I bought two days ago tells me I should. :o

When I was on Atkins (don't give me grief) I never craved sugar, never ate too much and generally felt better about myself healthwise.

Then I got pregnant!

:eats the last cupcake:

[vix]

I think your doctor's crazy. Unless you've gained 20 since I last saw you, you haven't got any to lose.

I do think she's wrong about the 20 pounds, but I could stand to lose a few. Mostly, though, I'd just like to firm up a bit and be in better shape.

[EnginNerd]

Well, what do you mean by overeat?

I probably eat about 1,000 to 2,000 calories a day extra than would be recommened for someone my size (6'1", 195 pounds), but I burn them off with very intensive exercise almost every day. (That would be or or two hours of ice hockey, or a 7 mile run, or a strenuous uphill hike). In terms if calories in compared to calories burned, I'm about even since I'm not gaining or losing weight in spite of my 3,500 to 4,000 daily calories.

[Ellis Dee]

I probably eat about 1,000 to 2,000 calories a day extra than would be recommened for someone my size (6'1", 195 pounds), but I burn them off with very intensive exercise almost every day. (That would be or or two hours of ice hockey, or a 7 mile run, or a strenuous uphill hike). In terms if calories in compared to calories burned, I'm about even since I'm not gaining or losing weight in spite of my 3,500 to 4,000 daily calories.Reminds me of the history channel show about loggers. Back in the day, when it was all done with human muscle, those guys ate about 8000 calories a day, and were typically around 5'7" and maybe a buck fifty.

Neither they nor you were/are overeaters.

[Jackmannii]

Are you going to eat those potatoes?

[FairyChatMom]

I used to overeat all the time. But after my Dr told me how high my cholesterol was, I decided to take action. I've started eating better, and after the first few days, I got past the over-eating hunger pangs. Plus I'm feeling better and sleeping better. Why the heck was I overindulging before??

Oddly enough, we went out for breakfast this morning, and I left about a third of my meal on my plate - I just didn't want any more. I'm no longer a member of the clean plate club! Go ME!! :D

[Cat Whisperer]

The results of this totally non-scientific sampling shows, in my opinion, that over-eating is common in North America. I see no reason to not link to this thread next time we go-round on the fat issue. What makes that an ambush tactic? Having bothered to do some research?

[Sarah Woodruff]

Take into account the fact that several contributers to this thread, including myself, aren't from North America.

[irishgirl]

Also, that the "overeating" is completely subjective.
One person's huge meal is another person's light snack.

Some people may be eating more calories than they should be every day but in small portions of calorie heavy food, while others are eating huge plates of brown rice and steamed vegetables, and stuffing themselves to the gills with food that still contains less calories than they need for the day.

[Cat Whisperer]

Take into account the fact that several contributers to this thread, including myself, aren't from North America.
Good point.

Dang it, irishgirl, why'd you have to ruin my perfectly good plan with facts?

[Khadaji]

Basically I no longer can. They took my stomach out when it perferated last June. My esophagas is now directly attached to my small intestine and so that limits how much I can eat.

Before that though...

[Amaranta]

I don't overeat, and as someone else said, I usually end up undereating due to laziness/lack of time. Student here, so fitting in real meals while rushing from class to work and back again doesn't happen very often. Plus, I'm kind of broke, so my food budget is quite strict. I know that that box of cereal has to last me a week, and that frozen pizza's gotta be good for 4 or 5 meals, and beer isn't free, y'know. So I don't have the time or money to overeat.

As for holidays, I'm the only vegetarian in a family of major carnivores. So, there will be a few nice side dishes for me and I'll make up a nice big salad, but I'll eat an average size meal.