I don't think she meant the comment as anything other than a statement of fact - she was just saying she couldn't eat that much. Fair enough!
Now keep in mind - we all are at different places in this journey, have different dietary restrictions and needs, different goals, different calorie targets...what someone at 270lbs needs daily is very different to someone who is 150lbs.
Some people are Hobbits eating 6 small meals a day, others are doing Intermittent Fasting and only eat in a certain window, some eat fewer but larger meals, some only eat organics... But at the end of the day - there really is no one cookie cutter answer.
In this specific example - the plate was 1/2 salad, another 1/4 vegetables (squash and chickpeas) and finally a 1/2cup quinoa and 6oz turkey. It was plated to show the salad ingredients and spread out over the whole plate. It does look like a lot of food and how are you to know how much of something there is? Fair statement...
Having said that - there are people who are quite the opposite.
I have had comments about the quantity/volume, quality (processed vs organic etc) and product choices of my meals, both online and in person, for years.
🔹️Are you sure you should be eating that?
🔹️Wow! Are you really going to eat all that?
🔹️Can you have that on your "diet"?
🔹️You know you shouldn't be eating carbs like that right?
🔹️Why don't you try [x]?
🔹️You know you should be using [insert latest trend of shake, powder, pill]?
Stop, just stop. Thank you but back seat driving assistance is not needed at this time from anyone other than my doc. You don't like it when someone tries to give you unsolicited advice on raising your kids or the choices you make regarding money or family or your job or whatever else they comment on... same here... this is a "stay in your own lane" kinda thing.
Yes - I can "have" that.
No thanks to the pills, powders and shakes. Personal choice - I don't tell you how to work your journey and if they work for you, I'm glad... We all have to do what works for us individually...for me it is focusing on a more whole food way of life. I'm in this for the long haul #nofinishlinenation and my medical issues change the way I need to do things. So #noartificialsweeteners #nosugarfree #realfoodforlife
Yes, I have accounted for it and made the decision that it fits my #lifestyle which is #notadiet.
Carbs, especially whole grains, are not my enemy. I appreciate the advice but I'm happy with my choices regarding them. 😊
And finally - Yes - I am going to eat all that. Maybe not all at one time or in one sitting. Sometimes plating is for presentation and I will eat that plate over the course of several hours.
This is a great example of what I think is a beautiful plate. (not my picture but a recipe one) Would I eat it? Absolutely! Add a little more protein and it would likely be the majority of my day.
Some people eat more over the course of the day by grazing than I do in a my couple meals but don't realize it because they are only eating 4 crackers, a wedge of Laughing Cow and a turkey pepperoni stick at once.
But if you put all your daily food together on 2 plates - how full are they and how balanced? How much is processed and how much is fresh? How much if fruit and veg?
If that satisfies you and helps you to your goals, great! But if you're constantly feeling hangry, aren't reaching your goals (so you just further restrict your food without reevaluating its composition) or are just miserable with the whole journey - maybe there is something to be said for being open to why it isn't working for you.
I will admit to reverse food judging without even meaning to - thinking how unsatisfying 3 cubes of chicken and a handful of carrots look on a plate. How can someone possibly be full only eating that?
But see - it's not my business... and what you see is not always the full story... sometimes it's not even half of it... who knows if that person had GI surgery and was on restricted portions? Maybe this was their 4th little meal of the day?
And maybe, it doesn't matter why... eyes on your own plate!
I've been told I eat too much, don't eat enough, asked why I am still fat if I know so much...well when you and my doc figure this medical issue stuff out for me, we'll all have the answer to that one!
Food shaming/the food police are real - they are out there and when you choose to make your life choices public, you open yourself up to criticism... It just is.
Like I said, the comment that started this thought I don't think was meant to be snarky or shaming but for someone who is sensitive about their journey, about their choices or how others see them - this can be hard.
I don't mind eating alone in public but some people won't. I will go to a movie by myself or whatever else I want to do. If people are bored enough to speculate about my spinsterhood and really want to waste their time and energy being concerned over whether I ordered salad at Applebees or have Goldfish crackers in my shopping cart, that's on them.
Then there are people who are just mean girls...I was bullied enough to know that pain first hand.
I remember a shopping trip in NZ that illustrated this in a very strange but powerful way. I was doing a top up shop, by myself, had one earbud in listening to music, minding my own business and was looking at something in the frozen aisle when these two collage girls walked past a few times and then asked if I would help them with a sorority scavenger hunt item. They wanted me to hold a box of tampons and let them take a picture of me with my shopping cart.
What? What weird scavenger hunt criteria did I just meet? Fat lady holds tampons in frozen foods section? Huh?
I was embarrassed...I didn't know the why but I knew they were making fun of me. I thought about this for weeks afterwards. They probably forgot about it an hour later.
What you say - sticks... you'd be surprised how much hangs around, sometimes for years. This happened in 2005 so you can do the math...
Our experiences shape our perceptions and those perceptions shape our choices and those choices shape our lives...#itsallconnected
I don't mind the questions, or criticism, but not everyone is okay with that... and not all are on the same path... not all have the same goals or way they are willing to get there... so for me - to each their own and I only wish you the most success and fulfillment possible on the way!
To that end, and the end of this novella - be kind, keep your eyes focused forward and not on the plate of your neighbor and help each other out. We all deserve it!
#mindbodyconnection #mindfulness #nomeangirlsallowed
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