This question, which has been on my mind lately about food, is now on my mind about every subject. Why do I still want to eat too much, when I know the food my stomach will take, when I know that overeating bothers me, and when I complain about my excess weight? Even though I am aware of everything, I want 1 spoon more when portioning the food. Even if I feel full while eating, I want there to be no food left on my plate. I’m deceiving myself by saying I’ll eat more now or I won’t eat again tomorrow. When I run out of junk food I buy at home, I say I won’t buy any more, but these are forgotten the next day.
I wonder if the situation mentioned above may have something to do with the Turkish-Muslim family structure. To give an example from myself, I grew up in a family of 7 people. Being 5 siblings close to each other, it was necessary to be cautious about both food and junk food. As my mother used to say, “If you open your mouth like that, they will eat your food” and it always came true. There was a 12 a.m. rule when someone wanted to save their meal for the next day. After 12 o’clock at night, that food is considered common property and the first one who finds it can eat it. This culture brings with it this and that; You either eat your food that day or someone else eats it at night. Even this ban makes it tempting to get up at 12 at night and eat that food.
When we grew up in a house with 5 siblings, even the junk food we ate and bought always had to be the largest size. Because when we share it at home, most of it goes to sharing. For this reason, the portions of everything we eat are getting bigger. Especially if the food in the sharing section is not shared, you will have to eat all the junk food. You have to finish it immediately to avoid being destroyed by the 12 a.m. rule. Once we get used to this situation, our portions get bigger. When we take a step to reduce the portion size, our Muslim culture comes to the fore and circumcision comes into play. We eat whatever we have in order to avoid feeling guilty with the sentences “Don’t let it go to waste, it’s a sin“, “There are people who can’t find it in Africa“.
“Eat bread, you will be full“, “Eat this, there will be no food for dinner“; Sentences that echo frequently in our house. I’m sure these sentences are often heard in middle and low-income families. Either there is little food, or mothers cannot cook for dinner because they are tired, or other reasons. These reasons actually direct us to bread. In addition, with the culture of circumcision, we thoroughly scrape the plate with bread. The person with the cleanest plate is said well done and we say with great pride, “This plate does not need to be washed.” Due to the economic structure and Turkish food culture, we eat mostly carbohydrates. Sometimes we even see people around me who say they can’t get enough without bread. Almost all dishes are available in wraps.
Of course, I no longer think that the sole reason for this is a carbohydrate-based diet. Because when we went to Italy, I think I was the heaviest person around. Even though I wasn’t very overweight, I felt overweight there. People were very fit, even though their most famous food and almost all their traditional dishes were pastries. We were very surprised that they were so fit despite eating pizza, pasta, croissants, tiramisu, sandwiches and sugary foods every day. I don’t know if it was the balance or the quality of the food, but the food I ate there did not bother me at all. Another reason for this fitness may be that they walk a lot. Because there are almost no cars in city centers and everyone walks. Considering that we even go to the market by car in Istanbul, this could also be a reason.
My weight problem continues, along with the culture from the past and greed. In fact, we should not think about this only in terms of weight, we can say that my greed continues. I have been married for 1 year, I pay attention to my nutrition, there is no 12 at night rule, but I feel like I have to finish everything I eat. I feel like I still need to circumcise my plate.
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