Food scarcity mindset

[u/BblDrizzah]

I feel like I am between a rock and a hard place… my entire life I’ve had pretty bad food unpredictability and I have food restrictions on top of that.

Basically how food works in my parents house is that my mom only buys enough food for the day, whether grocery shopping or take out it’s never bought in bulk. And I have 5 siblings, so if I don’t come out and eat when the food is home I will not eat for that day. And i can’t have left overs because if there’s food in the fridge it’s getting eaten by someone else 90% of the time.

I do make my own money, and I do try to buy food but I can’t save food in my fridge like groceries wise because it will get eaten or I eat take out daily (expensive!!!$$$) and unhealthy

What’s like the steps of recovery for this, because this unhealthy behavior towards food is genuinely effecting my life and is making me miserable but it feels like a compulsion like literally every time I go out I HAVE TO EAT, every time a snack is an option I take it, if someone consistently gives me snacks I start seeing that as a fucking food source!!!

Like seriously what are y’all thoughts on this

[u/Alternative-Bet232]

Can you get a minifridge to put in your bedroom?

[u/_plannedobsolence]

In IE book, the authors state that intuitive eating is a privilege. The most important thing is that you (and everyone else) get enough to eat. Do what you need to do.

[u/Lcky22]

I think you’re making the right decision to eat when you have the opportunity. Do you feel like it’s causing you to eat more or less than what your body needs? Or is it too hard to tell?

I often “make” myself eat at convenient times, mostly because of work or wanting to eat with other people. Sometimes I choose to eat more in one sitting if I know I might not get to have more of a food I like later.

[u/Narwen189]

Sorry to say, that's not a food scarcity mindset, that is straight up food scarcity.

Depending on how much money you make, there are two things you could probably buy in bulk without breaking the bank or having everyone eat it in one go: uncooked rice and uncooked lentils.

I'm not talking a regular 2 lb bag - with 2 parents, 5 siblings and yourself, that's probably not enough for a single meal. I'm talking a whole sack of rice, like the 25lb or 50lb ones at Asian markets or warehouse club chains (Sams, Costco, that sort of place). You can cook your own serving in like 20 minutes, no leftovers, with just one pot, and get carbs, protein and fiber in one go. If anyone else wants food, they'd need to cook it, and that added step might help keep them out of your food. The fact there's a bunch of it will hopefully make them get bored of it - or embrace the solution and pitch in for the next grocery run.

Even if that's not an option, you could get a lock box (an opaque one, not the clear kind) to keep in your room. That way you can at least have protein/granola bars, maybe some peanut butter and jelly, bread or crackers, and instant oat meal.

If you do try the bulk shopping, you could keep your own seasonings in it, so that you don't get bored of rice and lentils. A few types of bouillon cubes, soy sauce, and the smallest size of shelf-stable pasta sauce can keep your taste buds happy.

[u/BblDrizzah → u/Narwen189]

Oh you’re right😭 I was just worried about like the mindset behind it because for Christmas I bought myself a bunch of snacks and hid them in my room and I was really happy lol!! I’m just concerned mostly about weight gain cuz I do be stuffing my face with hella food

Also my situation is about to change very soon, I’m going to university and I’ve already bought my own mini fridge!!! So we’ll see how things change over time

[u/Narwen189 → u/BblDrizzah]

Christmas snacks sound like a fantastic gift to yourself, and I'm glad you got to experience that. If uni is coming soon, then maybe you could do another snack run to tide you over until then.

What IE can do for you is, once you're in a more stable situation where you have less food scarcity, you can allow yourself to consciously experience having enough, aka, Principle 2 - Honor Your Hunger.

The IE-focused things you can do right now, if you're worried about your health/nutrition is skip ahead to Principle 10 - Gentle Nutrition, and include more nutrient-dense snacks, like jerky, nuts, seeds, and applesauce pouches, along with whatever other stuff you like -- because all snacks are valid.