Just don’t tell me, okay?
April 2, 2008 by angelique
Filed under Women's Health
Let me just start by saying that I love my hubby dearly. He’s dealt with a ton of craziness due to my disordered eating, and he’s still by my side. (Well, actually he’s upstairs snoring right now because it’s after midnight here in Pennsylvania… but that’s beside the point… you get what I mean…)
However, he often doesn’t remember that I think differently than he when it comes to food. This means he makes some missteps, such as telling me how many calories are in a package. “Wow, honey! Only ten of these crackers are 150 calories!”
Then, he doesn’t understand why I cannot bring myself to ever eat them again.
See, I view food as a pile of numbers, but only if I know what those numbers are. Therefore, I deliberately avoid reading any calorie charts because I’ll remember them forever. (I have never forgotten that one chart I read when I was about 14 said a medium-sized orange was around 60-80 calories. Guess what I think about whenever I eat one now?)
So to all the folks living or dining or shopping with a disordered eater, please don’t talk about those numbers. (But know that we still love you even if you make mistakes because we’re all human!)
I have never counted calories! I feel a mixture of guilt and relief over this — guilt at my laziness and lack of interest in monitoring what I’m consuming; relief that by not doing this, I’m not creating a bigger problem.
My eldest daughter — a wonderfully healthy eater — is now packing on the pounds and I try to find ways she and I can exercise together. My youngest is still a beanpole who can eat for Scotland and not put on an ounce. Imagine what a balancing act I have to perform…
You hit the nail on the head! Its frustrating beyond belief when someone close to you mentions the caloric count or any other count for that matter. Even if I know what the item contains, having someone audibly announce what they have just read ruins it.
The other day my borther made a point to tell me that i used 6 sprays of my “salad spritzer” and then went into how may calories were in each sprtiz. he thought he was being funny…I…tossed the spritzer.