The Greedy Gene.

Bronnie

I've just found, and eaten half a small bar of Thornton's choccie, I bought for my daughter yesterday.

She ate half and put the rest in the fridge and didn't think about it at all today. Where did she learn such behaviour?? Not from me! The only reason I didn't eat it earlier is because I didn't know it was there . There's another bar there too and it's only a modicum of shame and sense of decency that prevents me from scoffing that.

I think I have a greedy gene. My dad had it and his mother. My mum didn't. My elder daughter does, my younger daughter doesn't, even though they are close in age and brought up together, primarily by me and similarly subjected to my influence.

It's not just chocolate. I find it hard not to polish off a bag of grapes or a box of cherries. I want half a bottle of wine, not just a glass or else I don't want any! I've never bought into the idea of having just one and saving the rest for later and yet the most successful way for me to lose weight is to follow a strict regime. There is a security in the" rules", that doesn't exist in the free-for-all of everyday life!


My weight is in the healthy BMI range, but only because I mostly keep tabs on it and the urge to look good at a healthy weight is in the main quite strong, but I'm definitely an all-or-nothing person.

Do you recognise the greedy gene?

jenniewb

I don't think greed comes from genes, I think its a learnt behaviour, but rest assued you didn't grow up with my father:
Any birthdays, christmas, easter times? both myself and my sister had to hide our gifts because he'd eat them. If they were in the fridge they were gone. Things got to a head when I hit my 16th birthday and asked for a carrot cake as my birthday cake. On my birthday I was unwell so I allowed everyone else (my sister and father) to have a slice but would they save me some whe I felt better the next day.
The cake was all gone. The entire 16 portion sized cake gone. No birthday cake (it was my SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY CAKE!) he ate the entire thing in one evening.

At the moment he still refuses to admit he overeats despite regular occurances such as:
If offered a yogurt or buying a yogurt, he must have two (one sitting) this includes Mullerlights.
If eating out picnic style his meal of choice is an entire 8 pack of either pork pies or scotch eggs (or both).
On one visit to see him a month ago, he was eating his dinner: an entire quiche.

He currently believes he has a 25" waist. I offered him a tape measure, measured in at somewhere over 40" (can't quite remember) he then said it was a "joke tape measure" and seriously believes this was me playing a joke on him.

My mother is a weightwatchers leader, she guestimates his weight at around 17 stone. He says he weighed himself last week and is 11 stone....my mum weighs more then 11 stone !!!!!!! (They are now divorced btw).

Though his favorite claim is "I don't eat anything" when I asked if he was concerned about his weight. He refuses to eat any vegetables and water is traded in for orange juice.

Just the polar opposite to me in many ways although I have had bulimia and anorexia and still have some traits left over, apparently eating disorders can be genetic (his mother had bulimia- died before I was born, I only found this out when I was in recovery) but I take what I eat so seriously- worry overly about it and rethink things over and over.... its almost like I am the antidote!

glowgirl_2

I recognise that gene:DDD can leave one biscuit in a packet and put it back in the cupboard, that seems really odd to me, one biscuit? just eat it! I bought us both a bar of choclate yesterday, she didnt want it cos it had raisens in and I had (?) to eat both bars:rotfl:I'm not overweight, officially I'm underweight so I do have some control but one bite is never enough;)

glowgirl_2

I was just thinking about this thread and remembered a book I read years ago about carb addiction, it said carb addicts are never satisfied and cant help but overeat, hungry or not, some of you may know I follow a low carb diet now but didnt always and can see the difference in my eating and cravings, I still have my moments though;)

mizzbiz

I did do low carb for a while this year and I lost a lot of weight, well, virtually no carb, but I found it so difficult to think what to eat after the first week and was so sick of ham, cheese and meat after only a week. I have cut right down on bread and that seems ot be helping.

jenniewb

glowgirl wrote: »

I recognise that gene:DDD can leave one biscuit in a packet and put it back in the cupboard, that seems really odd to me, one biscuit? just eat it! I bought us both a bar of choclate yesterday, she didnt want it cos it had raisens in and I had (?) to eat both bars:rotfl:I'm not overweight, officially I'm underweight so I do have some control but one bite is never enough;)

Thats a refined sugar addiction, its a chemical thing and completely natural- your not greedy if this is your main offence!

Thing is, I don't know if anyone ever watched the BBC show on dieting (think it was called '10 things you need to know about dieting' or the 'Truth About Dieting' or something like that). It explained really well that as a species, we are relativly newly developed and actually have spent far longer as cave people or like wild animals. As a result our intellect has grown far faster then our biological status.

This is why we find it very hard to stop eating once we start. Because we are all still genetically programmed to eat and eat more then we need- because in ancient times it was not so easy to find food and we could easily starve to death. Our biological side knows this and makes it easy for us to eat without stopping on a purely physical level.

We are programmed to eat more then we require- its how we survived the big bad world when it was all 'survival of the fittest' and its such an important factor in our existance (without it, we'd have all starved to death) that its going to take many generations yet to stop that part of our biology.

Magpye

Interesting discussion. I recommend anyone dealing with what they see as 'greed' to read Linda Bacon's Health at Every Size or some of Ellyn Satter's family feeding books. Overeating, and seeing some foods as 'treats' or 'bad' are undoubtedly learned behaviours and the guilt which goes along with this goes a long way in undermining not only our self-confidence but also our ability to listen to our body's wants and needs. Consciously eating what we 'think' we need is rarely a good stratagem, since there is so much misinformation about nutrition.

I don't believe that if left to our own devices humans are natural over-eaters. Animals adapt quickly if given a regular food source and there is no reason to think humans are any different. It rather seems that the more we fight our urge to eat to satiety, the more 'disordered' (ie not eating in a natural manner) our eating habits become.

When watching a rerun of QI the other night, Escoffier's Service a la Russe was mentioned, and it rang a bell with me since it introduced the concept of 'courses' - food served in a set pattern, rather than all at once buffet-style. Satter's feeding competence model actually suggests serving all foods at once - dessert along with the main - and picking out what is wanted in the order desired. The idea is that by removing the mystique and allure of a certain food there is less liklihood of overindulgence in said food. (How many of us were told "you won't get pudding/treat until you've eaten up your main" - reinforcing the idea that the main foods are to be 'slogged through' to get to the good stuff!)

glowgirl_2

Interesting post magpye I never thought of it like that:)

beautyscientist

jenniewb wrote: »

Thats a refined sugar addiction, its a chemical thing and completely natural- your not greedy if this is your main offence!

Thing is, I don't know if anyone ever watched the BBC show on dieting (think it was called '10 things you need to know about dieting' or the 'Truth About Dieting' or something like that). It explained really well that as a species, we are relativly newly developed and actually have spent far longer as cave people or like wild animals. As a result our intellect has grown far faster then our biological status.

This is why we find it very hard to stop eating once we start. Because we are all still genetically programmed to eat and eat more then we need- because in ancient times it was not so easy to find food and we could easily starve to death. Our biological side knows this and makes it easy for us to eat without stopping on a purely physical level.

We are programmed to eat more then we require- its how we survived the big bad world when it was all 'survival of the fittest' and its such an important factor in our existance (without it, we'd have all starved to death) that its going to take many generations yet to stop that part of our biology.

That was an extremely good programme wasn't it. I took some notes on it and stuck them on my blog. They are a bit of a mess, I have been waiting for them to repeat it so I can tidy them up a bit. But here they are for what they are worth:

http://colinsbeautypages.co.uk/ten-things-you-need-to-know-about-losing-weight-bbc1-wednesday-27th-may-2009/

ellay864

I do like the idea of having a gene to blame it on Can totally relate to OP and am really wishing I had some willpower now as I really do want to lose weight. I still think the most meaningless thing in this world is the 'best before' date on chocolate....don't think any chocolate near me has ever got close:rotfl::rotfl:

Bronnie

It was a link to some research that is a couple of years old that I had come across.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6547891.stm

My post was a little tongue in cheek and I still uphold the belief that controlling ones weight in most cases is firmly is one's own hands with regard to eating healthily and sensibly and leading an active lifestyle.

However what brings my thoughts about this into sharp relief is the marked difference between my younger daughter's attitude to eating (eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full, don't eat for the sake of eating or just because the clock says it's time, eat to live not live to eat etc etc) and my own greedy tendencies. She has always had this attitude to eating, it's the way she is. I don't think it is learned or taught behaviour, it's always been just how she is, unlike me or her sister, but like my mum!

It's particularly noticeable now as there's just us two living together. This attitude is the way she's always been and I'm very glad she doesn't have to keep thinking about reining in her greediness the way I do! I can and do modify my behaviour, much of the time, but this is always something I have to do consciously, it doesn't come naturally to me the way it does to her.