I've suddenly remembered a part of my childhood which may have resulted in my weight gain. It's quite eye-opening.

I've struggled with my weight on-and-off since I was a teen. I wasn't overweight as a kid, but looking back, I think that's just because I was really active. I'm pretty sure I've had 'bad food habits' all my life.

My main problem with food is that I have this overwhelming need to clean my plate at meal times. Even when I'm no longer hungry and my body doesn't need anymore food, I continue eating until it's all gone, even if it puts me past full and I feel bloated and stuffed. Also, I always have this overwhelming urge to eat something sweet after I've finished a savoury meal, even if I am full.

I know a lot of people have bad food habits because of their family situation growing up, whether it's because they grew up in poverty so they'd eat as much as they could whenever they got the chance, or because their parents were obese and they picked up their eating habits for example. But nothing like that applies to me.

So I've been kind of racking my brains thinking about why I have these problems listening to my body. And then all of a sudden it came to me: my grandparents. As a kid, I used to go round my grandparents' house at least a couple of times a week for lunch or dinner.

I distinctly remember a few things about these meals:

• Before deciding how much food to serve me, they would ask me: "How hungry are you?" So obviously, I'd say "I'm really hungry!" so that they would give me a bigger portion. I know now, thanks to a post on here, that how hungry you are is only an indicator of how soon you should eat, not how much you should eat. But asking me this question all the time taught me to associate how hungry I am with how much I should eat, and ignore what a healthy portion looks like.

• After I would put my knife and fork down and say "I'm finished", if there was still any food left on my plate, my grandparents would say "Just sit there for a while and let your food go down, and after a few minutes you might find you can fit some more in." They never forced me to clean my plate. But this was teaching me to ignore my body's signals telling me that I'm full. Just to keep pushing on, and if I'm able to fit any more in, then I should eat it without a second's thought.

• There would always be some form of dessert after lunch or dinner. Usually some sort of meringue roulade, cake, or cheesecake. And it was unheard of to not eat any of it. Nobody ever said, "I've had enough to eat just now, so I won't have dessert". Instead everyone said, "Ooh, go on then, let's treat ourselves." But it wasn't a treat if it was every day!

My grandparents are both overweight. I know I only ate with them a couple times per week, but I think this was enough to teach me to ignore my body's signals, eat as much as I could fit in until my plate is clean, and to always crave something sweet after a meal.

I am not blaming them, at all. I know that they never had any bad intentions and just wanted me to be well-fed and healthy. But it is quite eye-opening.

What about you guys? Have any of you been able to link anything in your past to your eating habits today?

submitted by /u/fernshanks
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/mfdery/ive_suddenly_remembered_a_part_of_my_childhood/