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?
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.
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.
I don’t snack and I only occasionally give in when the office orders take-out.
If anything I undereat most days.
Option A
I regularly overeat, because I live in fear of not cooking myself enough food and ending up not feeling satisfied. Pathetic excuse, I know.
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.
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.
Option A. But when I do, it feels like Option C.
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.
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.
Option © 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.
I used to be b), with occasional gusts of c), now I’m definitely e). That’s the beauty of a gastric bypass.
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.
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.
Raises Hand… Yes I am an over eater.
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.
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.
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.
d) I’m an over-eater extraordinaire. Portion control is not my strong suit.