Food and Psychology

[blueberry]

I really enjoyed the SOTT radio show this past Sunday and was very inspired by the topics discussed and questions and comments shared by callers. I was only able to catch the second hour and will be listening to the full show today.

I was triggered (in a good way) on Sunday after listening to the radio show on the Paleo diet, food and health. I want to start by saying I have over the past year gone Paleo after being vegetarian for 10 years. I have felt the personal benefits of this new way of eating. I feel more grounded, more energy, more clarity, more presence and I am less pre-occupied with food, to name a few of the 'many' benefits. I am speaking from my personal process as I am aware of the deeper benefits of eating Paleo/Ketogenic on a global, environmental and cosmic scale.

I would like to address an issue that I have not yet come across in detail on the forum, that is food and the psychology behind food/eating.

One of the questions that came up for me after listening to the radio show, when and why did the shift happen from the 'Marilyn Monore' body type (that Laura spoke of) to the 'coat hanger" body type as the desired body image in western society? It came to me that the pathological powers that be may have implemented this thin body image in the media/society with a purpose. Is it possible that this thin body image was put in place as another form of control, more specifically to control women and keep women dumbed down by being pre-consumed with a desiring and maintaining a body that for the most part makes us sick, dumb and keeps us asleep. It is not natural for most women to be a size 0. I know from experience that when I was thin, this desired body type that we see in the media and advertising, I was sick, asleep and had no energy to have a voice and speak my truth. I realize we have been brainwashed by a sixty-billion dollar a year diet industry and that it is all about power, control, greed and money. I feel it would help me to further understand how it came to be this way and history behind this shift. I would appreciate any references so I can do some research as I am not sure where to start.

I feel that I am not alone but in contrast feel very lonely out there in the Matrix. I feel especially alone when I am aware of the millions of people that don't question the pathology of the control system and the powers that be. How has this been accepted by society when it is so evident that so many people are sick with eating disorders and not fully living? I sit here and write this and know that I have been one of them and how deeply I want to work through this program so I can help others.

I just finished reading the book "Women, Food and God" by Geneen Roth.

"Food was/is my Drug of Choice," It feels sad to admit that but I know I have to be honest with myself to make the darkness conscious as I still tend to hide behind food, whether it be eating or not eating. I have struggled with Body Image issues and eating disorders ever since I can remember. It has been within the last 5-7 years that I have become conscious of these issues I struggle with. I was aware I had a problem when at 21 I went into treatment for Anorexia. But it was more that others acknowledged I had a problem than me truly letting myself feel deeply that there was something sick about how I was living my life. The great thing (sarcastic) is that I always had something to do.

"As long as you are striving and pushing hard to do something that can never be done, you know who you are: someone with a weight problem who is working hard to be thin. You don't have to feel lost or helpless because you always have a goal and that goal can never be reached." - Geneen Roth

Prior to being aware of these issues I believed I had 'self control' that others in my life just didn't have. I now realize that I was out of control and can see the amount of projecting I had on other people in my life. I soon discovered that the world felt like a hostile place and that I needed control. The control manifested over my body (and food) in order to feel I safe in my own little world of starvation, over-exercise and my good or bad food lists. I see now I was hiding from myself, from allowing any trauma or past hurts to surface by having obsessive thoughts about food and my body. I was also doing what I could to stay asleep and to ignore what my experience of life really felt like and what I really saw. It was all too scary at the time to admit to myself the imbalance I saw in society so I took it on internally and started to become sick myself.

Instead of using food or no food to avoid discomfort I am now trying to tolerate what I believed was intolerable. I am extremely over-identified with my body. I am looking at how I have allowed myself to be brainwashed by the media and diet industry and how deeply ingrained these programs are for me. The Matrix is powerful and a part of me wants to avoid it all together, but I can't. I know I have to face my lessons and constantly check in with who I truly am, which I intellectually and spiritually get is not my body. But I am still having obsessive thoughts, I hear them all the time. I use food at times to manage my feelings and realize it is an addiction. From my understanding addiction is a manifestation of trauma and past unprocessed pain and hurt.

I am reading Peter Levine's book, "In an Unspoken Voice" and it has been very insightful so far. A part of me becomes very scared to learn more about trauma as I see the correlation between past trauma I have experienced and that I need to look at how to release myself from the hold past trauma has on me. I see clearly that there are so many factors that come into play with eating disorders, trauma being a major player as well as what I have mentioned above. Peter Levine states in his book that the phrase, 'time heals all wounds' does not apply to trauma. I will continue to read this book as I am only 1/3 of the way through it. I know it will help me to learn how to process trauma which I hope will heal my eating disorders and body image issues. I know it's not just about food.

There is so much more I could say but I wanted to leave it at that for now...

Any insights about psychology relating to food and social programming in regards to body image are greatly appreciated.

 

[Palinurus]

One of the questions that came up for me after listening to the radio show, when and why did the shift happen from the 'Marilyn Monore' body type (that Laura spoke of) to the 'coat hanger" body type as the desired body image in western society?

Hi blueberry,

I'm convinced you meant Marilyn Monroe (nice typo!).

From the top of my head I'm quite sure the first person ever to be pushed for this specific 'look' went under the nickname Twiggy.

She can be found here: _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twiggy

and here: _https://www.google.nl/search?q=twiggy&hl=nl&client=firefox-a&hs=P5V&rls=org.mozilla:nl:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=D38_UbHqJozXPLf-gdgI&ved=0CEIQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=756

Google can find more if you might wish.

As to the why, I resign for now. Have to think about that first. ;)

 

[Laura]

Sure wish you had called in with your comments; I think we could have squeezed in a bit more on this topic which is so important.

 

[Oxajil]

Hi blueberry,

One of the questions that came up for me after listening to the radio show, when and why did the shift happen from the 'Marilyn Monore' body type (that Laura spoke of) to the 'coat hanger" body type as the desired body image in western society? It came to me that the pathological powers that be may have implemented this thin body image in the media/society with a purpose. Is it possible that this thin body image was put in place as another form of control, more specifically to control women and keep women dumbed down by being pre-consumed with a desiring and maintaining a body that for the most part makes us sick, dumb and keeps us asleep. It is not natural for most women to be a size 0.

Based on what I've seen and read, I think the results of glamorizing such a body type leads to depression and unsatisfaction among women of which that body type is pretty much an impossible goal to ever reach. The societies put up that image as being succesful, pretty, and so on. Just imagine when the mind sees a body type in the mirror that is beyond that which is advertised as beautiful. So yea, I think it affects the majority of women negatively on some kind of level. Like you said, if people are consumed trying to reach that body and/or to maintain it, it can make them very sick, dangerously so. And it's not just women either who are affected this way, the same goes for some men.

Most models vary from age 16-24 (or younger...), because that's the age when some of them are skinny enough to pass through. Once they increase in weight, they're out of the business. So, as you can see, the women we see on billboards are young girls who have gone through very strict and very superficial and pathocratic ''auditions'' in order to be picked, and thrown out a couple of years later (I wonder whether this ties into perverted psychopaths preferring a more younger and less-full-body-Type to be presented/exploited etc...). The whole industry is glamorized as well, with ''Next Top Model'' shows and the like.

And then there are the touch-up's with the ''magic'' of Photoshop etc... It basically comes down to I think that the pictures we see on billboards and pretty much everywhere are not quite realistic and do not represent what absolutely ''is and should be''. In reality, people change, people vary, people are different, and everyone is beautiful in their own way (exl. psychopaths), however, the message they get across is ''this is it, and if you're not it, you're not it''.

I remember seeing statistics of eating disorders growing in numbers once the governments did exactly this kind of advertisement, the glamorization of the skinny body type. That is not to say that being skinny is wrong per se (some people are just born that way), it's more that it isn't as black as white as we are programmed to think.

"Food was/is my Drug of Choice," It feels sad to admit that but I know I have to be honest with myself to make the darkness conscious as I still tend to hide behind food, whether it be eating or not eating. I have struggled with Body Image issues and eating disorders ever since I can remember. It has been within the last 5-7 years that I have become conscious of these issues I struggle with. I was aware I had a problem when at 21 I went into treatment for Anorexia. But it was more that others acknowledged I had a problem than me truly letting myself feel deeply that there was something sick about how I was living my life. The great thing (sarcastic) is that I always had something to do.

I think that going into therapy with a psychologist that perhaps has experience and expertise in this area could be very helpful. I think that perhaps family dynamics could play a role in this as well, besides the influence that the society has on us.

Well, just thought I'd share some thoughts, for what it's worth! Thank you for sharing blueberry

 

[Laura]

As usual, I think that acquiring as much knowledge about something is a path to dealing with it. Of course it takes more than just theoretical understanding, but it's a start. I've just finished reading Becker's "Denial of Death" and "Escape From Evil." The latter book references other works that utilize the concepts in "Denial of Death" in the context of anorexia. So that might be a place to begin.

Then, there are these:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1098-108X%28198607%295:5%3C821::AID-EAT2260050504%3E3.0.CO;2-9/abstract

http://www.eatingdisordersreview.com/nl/nl_edr_16_4_1.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/200910/overcoming-the-fear-death

I think that knowledge brings in light and strength so the more you learn about the issue, the better prepared you are to make a maneuver. Just like changing from vegetarian to eating paleo. Once you learn, then you are better able to DO. And there's no end to the learning and ability to DO.

 

[Alana]

One of the questions that came up for me after listening to the radio show, when and why did the shift happen from the 'Marilyn Monore' body type (that Laura spoke of) to the 'coat hanger" body type as the desired body image in western society? It came to me that the pathological powers that be may have implemented this thin body image in the media/society with a purpose. Is it possible that this thin body image was put in place as another form of control, more specifically to control women and keep women dumbed down by being pre-consumed with a desiring and maintaining a body that for the most part makes us sick, dumb and keeps us asleep. It is not natural for most women to be a size 0. I know from experience that when I was thin, this desired body type that we see in the media and advertising, I was sick, asleep and had no energy to have a voice and speak my truth. I realize we have been brainwashed by a sixty-billion dollar a year diet industry and that it is all about power, control, greed and money. I feel it would help me to further understand how it came to be this way and history behind this shift. I would appreciate any references so I can do some research as I am not sure where to start.

Have you ever come across the book The Beauty Myth, by Naomi Wolf? Here's a little summary from the Amazon page:

In today's world, women have more power, legal recognition, and professional success than ever before. Alongside the evident progress of the women's movement, however, writer and journalist Naomi Wolf is troubled by a different kind of social control, which, she argues, may prove just as restrictive as the traditional image of homemaker and wife. It's the beauty myth, an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society's impossible definition of "the flawless beauty."

I read it many years ago and bought it for a few friends at the time too. I think it was our first awakening to how society controls us through our minds. If you decide to read it, I think you will have some answers to your questions. She wrote it as her thesis in the early 90s and though she got lots of bad criticism, it became a best seller pretty quickly. I think in the newest edition she shares that she has suffered from eating disorders herself, and writing this book, doing the research for it, has helped her tremendously to understand the root of her problem. That's why her book is at times passionate and angry. But it does answer your question "why from Marilyn to a coat hanger". It's all about control like you say, a continuation of the PTB's domination over women in a newer, subtler but as damaging way as any other oppression they experienced through history. Wolf also mentions how this Beauty Myth affects negatively men too and their possibility of having healthy intimate relationships with women. They are also victims of it.

Regarding the advice for seeing a therapist if you ever decide to go for it, I would recommend that you look for an art therapist in your area with experience in treating eating disorders. Since you are artistic I think you will enjoy the process as well, and also eating disorders have a lot to do with perception, which art therapy deals with in a practical way.

 

[Trajan]

Beauty standards have changed before and they can change again. I do know that looking at older paintings anywhere from a few hundred years ago to even farther back a lot of the time the women are more full figured.

Part of the problem may be the sheer abundance of food that parts of the world today possess.

In some cultures (those where food is more scarce) having a little junk in the trunk is considered to be desirable because it implies access to food i.e. abundance.

But with those who have access to food on a 24/7 basis this notion gets thrown out the window.