One of the most enjoyable experiences at a camp is eating.  Most of the time, I am not exactly the most sociable of eaters.  I enjoy eating around other people but, in my regular existence, I seldom interact with others aside from those immediately nearby or the serving staff.  This has its benefits, in that I often get to know people who are working regular and tend to talk with them and enjoy their company and see that they learn my habits and ways and can let me know when menu items are changing and I have to order something different than normal.  One time, recently, I was informed that likely for cost cutting purposes, at one of my regular restaurants, the two lemon pepper chicken pieces would be reduced to one.

At the preteen camp where I have helped out for a few years now, alternative means of portion control are practiced.  As someone who tends to eat a bit slowly, especially when I am interacting with others, one of the most notable ways to control the portion size I eat is to control the time I have to eat, and this is done in a rather clever way at preteen camp.  In terms of the order of eating, smaller kids eat first, generally older kids eat later, and the activity staff eats last of all.  I have always been involved in activity staff, and so this has meant in practice that by the time I arrive at my table or shortly afterwards, the call for seconds is made, and by the time that I have finished eating my plate, it is often time for me to walk back to the classrooms where I have Christian living as well as my classrooms.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.  There are many ways that portion control can be exercised.  For some people, they can tell very easily that they are full and stop eating.  I have always had a difficult time with this, and recently I found out that I have a genetic disposition for my stomach to grow as I eat, thus allowing me to eat more before my body sends its “full” signal to my brain, which is definitely a liability at times.  One does not take very much food to no longer be hungry for the time, but when one eats to this low level, I find myself frequently feeling hungry during the day.  When I eat to the level at which my stomach can hold, I can eat one major meal a day and be satisfied after it for many hours, but the amount of food that is required to get to that level requires a substantial investment of time and food, and this can be an issue.  For those who wish to control their portions to small amounts, some people even adopt drastic means like stapling their stomach to reduce the size that can be filled, which has at times resulted in complications even including death, all in the effort at maintaining portion control, a risk that is excessive even with the negative effects of overeating.

I have never personally considered myself to be a glutton.  I do not tend to graze, I have frequently found myself able to fast for a day at a time without any trouble and frequently have engaged in intermittent fasting where I will eat breakfast and then dinner and nothing in between, so I know that I have a good deal of discipline control when it comes to my eating habits, as little as that may be aware to those who see my somewhat portly belly and assume that I eat a great deal and way too often.  Still, I am often amused at the way in which efforts to control one’s eating can be affected by the environment one finds oneself in, and that the setup of meal arrangements can itself be an aid in getting someone to eat reasonable and proper amounts of food rather than the much larger amounts one would eat if one was unrestrained in such a fashion.  Perhaps other people can relate, as the issue of controlling one’s eating is a common concern in our times.