A question from marlena spieler
I'm wondering how you feel about your mother and your relationship with her vis a vis food/dieting? your relationship sounds affectionate, and i like that, but am curious.
also, do you still swim?
lots more questions, prob most will be addressed in rest of the book, but how do you feel about the relationship between eating, and throwing up....i could never become bulemic because of this. but still, how often have i not wanted to feel full and yet i do feel so full? do you feel that your weight struggle is a think of the past? do you feel haunted, or ambivilant about your relationship with food? do you feel joyous and wonderful when faced with something utterly delicious?
do you LOVE eating in public? (i do). did you ever not love it (i didn't).
it seems like feeding should be the least encumbered of life needs, and yet...and yet....so very complicated for some of us.
i hate the fact that such a lovely thing as eating, the thing that keeps us alive and healthy, has also been turned into a source of aggrevation and self-despair.
why do we want to be slim? i have been asking myself that...why do i want to? its very difficult. is it worth it? do i look better slim? do you? are we healthier? is it important?
the most important thing in my relationship with food to be honest is: eating only what I LOVE, respecting it, marvelling at it, and being sure to NOT EAT WHAT I DON"T LOVE OR NEED. stopping before i'm full. and god is that hard. what do you think about this?
your little boy round face is adorable!
Answer:
I do hope you'll read the book, because most of these questions, or many of them, are answered there. And they're answered BETTER there than they could be here, because it's the product of quiet contemplation, carefully ordered thoughts, etc. I love the way you've put your finger on a central irony or oddity of life: eating is fundamental, a matter and engine of SURVIVAL, and yet becomes, among those of us living in times and lands of plenty, such a fraught endeavor/recreation, and the source of so much anxiety.
In the book I say the major difference between me now (healthy weight) and me then (roller coaster) is, indeed, honesty, a word you focus on as well.
But it's hard to be honest. So I'm honest about that: I recognize that many days are minor struggles. And I make peace with it, which is half the battle. OK, maybe just a quarter!
