How to eat moderately to avoid gluttony?

[garn9173]

Originally Posted by 1ke

Posters on this thread need to be aware of the extreme level of scrupulosity the OP has in all areas of her life. The OP is truly unable to properly discern what is normal.

Th OP really needs to be under professional care, starving oneself in fear of gluttony is very extreme and dangerous.

OP, PLEASE get help from your priest.

Yeah, when I saw the OP bring up buffets, I knew she had a big issue of scrupulosity. In her eyes, eating yourself into a turkey induced coma on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas (which I do), is a sin.

[underacloud]

Originally Posted by starrygirl

How is gluttony defined? Is it merely out of pleasure?

No, it is not merely out of pleasure...it is inordinate pleasure, as per the definition provided by thistle:

Originally Posted by thistle

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

GLUTTONY. Inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or drink. This desire may become sinful in various ways: by eating or drinking far more than a person needs to maintain bodily strength; by glutting one’s taste for certain kinds of food with known detriment to health; by indulging the appetite for exquisite food or drink, especially when these are beyond one’s ability to afford a luxurious diet; by eating or drinking too avidly, i.e., ravenously; by consuming alcoholic beverages to the point of losing full control of one’s reasoning powers. Intoxication that ends in complete loss of reason is a mortal sin if brought on without justification, e.g., for medical reasons. (Etym. Latin glutire, to devour.)

Note then that if gluttony is "inordinate desire" for pleaure from eating/drinking, it follows that there is such a thing as proper desire for pleasure from food.

Note also that ice cream certainly has nutritional value, within context. Overweight people, diabetics, people with high cholesterol, etc, may do well to avoid or minimise it, but for otherwise healthy people, a bowl of ice cream every now and then can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. The fact that it is enjoyable reflects its nutritional value, rather than contradicts it. Caloric intake is essential; we cannot survive without consuming calories, and our tastes are designed towards consumption of calorie dense foods (sugars, fats, protien). It is only excessive calories that are the problem, not calories per se.

[Rence]

Originally Posted by starrygirl

How is gluttony defined? Is it merely out of pleasure? Say if I feel hungry and I want to eat some ice-cream that my dad bought me but I now it won't fill my empty stomach that much, should I eat it out of charity (because my dad bought it for the family)? What if I only wanted to choose ice-cream because it tastes better, not out of its nutrition value? Or is this not gluttony at all?

Besides, I am very confused over when I should eat. I seem to be starving myself so that I can absolutely sure I"m not over eating but I think my stomach is starting to become irritated by this. Irritated meaning that it doesn't feel comfortable, but I have no idea is that because I"ve stuffed too much stuff inside in a certain period of time because I was so hungry or is it because I didn't have enough food.

To me, your post reads like a yo-yo dieter, one who doesn't eat for long periods of time ("I am very confused over when I should eat. I seem to be starving myself") and then getting to a point of binging because you're so hungry (" I"ve stuffed too much stuff inside in a certain period of time because I was so hungry or is it because I didn't have enough food")

Ideally, you should eat three meals a day, with snacks that are separated throughout so that you're not without some food for longer than 3 hours. In this way, you keep your glucose levels even and are less likely to binge. Believe me, if you wait to eat until you're famished, you will binge, anyone would. Try following the standard food pyramid with FDA recommended portion sizes, and nutrient dense snacks. You won't be so consumed with food if you know you're going to eat if you make sure you snack on small, nutrient dense little things (like an apple and a cheesestick, or celery with peanut butter, or a handful of nuts) you won't be as hungry when you sit down to eat a meal.

BTW, ice cream can be a snack too...provided you have a cup or a half cup, and not 5 cups, and not drown it in syrup and chocolate chips, etc. A small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a handful of berries sounds awesome to me right now

[starrygirl]

Wow guys thanks for all your concern

Well, don't worry, I eat whenever I feel like I need food so I'm not starving myself anymore. An ice cream certainly feels like a great thing to me right now...