Anonymous wrote:Growing up, good food was scarce. I don’t remember vegetables or fruit. What my mom did cook we got very little of, because my dad needed leftovers for his lunch. If we got a treat from the store, say Oreos, we could only have one each, to make them last as long as possible. We’d get pizza but could only have one slice. I was often left hungry.
When I got a job in my teens, my problems started. I had a reception-type job and there were always cookies and chocolates. I gorged myself with them. The coffee machine often spit out freebies, and I would suck down hot chocolates.
Once I moved out and had actual money, I went hog wild. I’d get soda AND dessert if we went out to eat. A whole pizza just for myself. A candy bar and soda at the grocery checkout, just because. A whole pack of Oreos, because I could.
I gained about 60lb. before I snapped out of it. I’ve kept the weight off, but I do struggle. My baseline is always to eat it if it’s there. Everyday things like grocery shopping still tempt me to “treat myself”, because I can. I am prone to overindulging, though conscious about what I’m doing and always in moderation.
Is this because of the depravity I experienced in childhood? Exacerbated by the gluttonous freedom of my young adulthood?
It could play a role, obv, but I know quite a few people who had food insecurity/were hungry as kids who are thin adults at various life stages. One does clothes shop a lot, always had handmedowns.