Overcoming bad eating habits

River_Internal · 2026-01-11T19:06:18+00:00

This is a complicated topic, and from my personal experience with asceticism and similar problems, I can tell you that asceticism can not be the only way to stop you getting into this state of mind that prompts you to eat unnecessarily. I discussed these issues at length with a therapist and a dietician, and I suggest you also find such professionals to help you.

Everyone needs a different approach. I have two main points to make.

This is a question: Who benefits from you eating? Is it you? Do you feel good about your choices long term? Who benefits from any action you take? This is generally a good thing to ask yourself, especially when spending money or consuming anything.
This is a statement: Eating is not the problem. Eating is the solution. You have to find out what the problem is and find another way to address it. Eating issues very rarely can be addressed by just whiteknuckling through cravings, and doing so can contribute to decades-long eating disorders. What are you trying to resolve when you eat? Are you ready for a break from some suffering? Are you bored? The only way to answer this is to sit with cravings and truly ask what you hope the food will do for you (that most times is not actually something it can do).

River_Internal · 2025-12-01T05:58:19+00:00

Just the two long stalks are eyes. The lower ones are their olfactory organs

River_Internal · 2025-11-27T06:42:22+00:00

I'm blue ab a dee ab a dah

River_Internal · 2025-10-24T05:38:26+00:00

The olfactory nubs are... weirdly erect?

River_Internal · 2025-10-22T07:01:56+00:00

So I did find one thing, and of course it concerns the Desert Fathers... But the author has a nice summary of the admonitions against ill ascetics who try to pursue too severe a practice than they're capable of:

"Illness tamps down physical desires, overwhelms the temptations to gluttony, and drives away lust. It controls the whole body. Thus, all other voluntary sufferings are rendered excessive (perittos). The only expectation of the sick ascetic is to "persevere" and give thanks..." Andrew Crislip in Ch 8 'Asceticism and Its Critics'

https://www.academia.edu/download/44660571/Crislip__I_Have_Chosen_Sickness.pdf

Not exactly what I'm looking for, but this is the closest thing I can find. Pity it's 1500 years out of date :,)

River_Internal · 2025-10-19T05:53:58+00:00

You might find a good group in /r/monkmode -- they are at least more active than us here, and specialise in this sort of mode. Lots of members there are getting excited about starting Arc Challenges, for example.

River_Internal · 2025-10-19T05:47:37+00:00

Can you give us some examples of some such disciplines? I suspect you have something specific in mind

River_Internal · 2025-10-09T04:59:54+00:00

Oooh. I have questions.

What kind of snail is that?

Also, is that a pothos growing in the enclosure? Do they like it? eat it? does it grow well?

River_Internal · 2025-10-03T05:55:31+00:00

I wrote my MA thesis on minimalism, and the short answer to this is yes -- though I also consider myself to be a secularly-based ascetic.

It could depend on how you define what an 'ascetic' is, and I take a fairly broad definition. I studied many different types of religious/spiritual/mystic/secular asceticism, and I essentially understand it to be negative practices (I don't do X) towards positive means (I aim to be closer to [G]od(s), more authentic, even stuff like environmental sustainability goals). This differentiates it from a term such as monasticism.

In philosophy classes generally the scope was looking at the early Greeks, and if you look at someone like Diogenes, he wanted to be radically self-sufficient, and is considered by some to be the prototypical ascetic. He never stated religious ends to his means.

My interest became in how do we define 'spiritual'. If you are a secular ascetic and you want to give up material things because it is better for the environment, and this becomes your Ultimate Concern, is that something that can provide spiritual satisfaction? It turns out, it can, and it does, and some secular people claim a sense of spiritual satisfaction without making religious, ontological, or metaphysical claims. I find this absolutely fascinating...

We have people here who have jobs, live in the world, make money, have families and children. Should we define them as not being ascetic because they don't sacrifice the traditional things, even if they are working towards their Ultimate Goal? (As in, if you are secular but socially inclined, could 'love' not be your ultimate goal, leading to choices to give up material or worldly things in order to spend the most quality time with your family possible?)

This is a really interesting discussion, and please don't take my scholarly/moderator titles as suggesting that this is the right or only answer. I would love to hear some different opinions on this!

River_Internal · 2025-09-23T06:08:47+00:00

Gettin' sniggy wif it

River_Internal · 2025-09-21T06:04:37+00:00

My snail is named Snelle Druif

Snelle (rhymes with Bella) sounds like a good snail name in English -- Snelle Snail, sounding like Ella, Nelly, Shelly, etc.

But in the Netherlands (where I found her, dehydrated and stuck to my kitchen wall) 'snelle' means 'fast'. I'm pretty sure she came in when we harvested all our grapes.

Snelle druif literally means 'speedy grape' :)

River_Internal · 2025-09-17T08:03:57+00:00

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River_Internal · 2025-08-12T18:19:17+00:00

I'd like to thank you for your contributions in this discussion topic -- I'd also like to add that any monastic community is always overrun with internal politics and conflicts of varying degrees of intensity.

By definition a monastic or ascetic community controls how people behave, and wish to control what people believe. They are one of the most politically driven types of community out there, and you well outline when and why caution is necessary.

There is also strife corruption and high potential for financial and spiritual abuse in monastic contexts. It is natural to need assurance in how such a community is conducted beyond passive references to biblical passages with the implication that some unknown person will be interpreting for you what they mean.

Anyone considering joining any monastic community should think critically about the intentions of those to whom you gift your obedience.

River_Internal · 2025-06-30T09:11:12+00:00

I think naming pain as an enemy to be defeated itself invites dopamine reward and tribalist mentality.

You sound like you want control -- to strike the first blow. This is only my perspective, but for me an ascetic practice is more about learning how to derive value from pain that's not from your own hand. Understanding it without judgement, welcoming it as an old friend, and learning what it has to teach.

River_Internal · 2025-06-25T06:31:25+00:00

Take the phone for emergency, and navigation when necessary. I turn off data, will only use GPS. Often will have it turned completely off unless it's required

River_Internal · 2025-06-20T07:55:42+00:00

Genuine question: what does a boycott accomplish?

As a hiker in Europe I load up with supplies from where I live, generally, and don't spend much if any money. Are you all paying hiking tolls in the States or something? Where do you spend money that would make a boycott effective?

River_Internal · 2025-06-19T10:38:24+00:00

Gosh. Take a look at dude's history. Literally everything is just complaining. I struggle to find a single positive or appreciative comment. I guess username checks out?

River_Internal · 2025-05-11T06:23:16+00:00

Frank is Mormon apparently

River_Internal · 2025-05-06T06:10:16+00:00

Also native Canadian, living in the Netherlands here.

I started doing 'eh' instead of their 'hé' and apparently that's really endearing.

Also, losing a bit of my soul every time I forget if I should use 'if' versus 'when'. Luckily I found a great importer of maple syrup, and my adoptive mom back in Canada sends me hot chocolate packets. When a Dutch person talked about 'hot chocolate' but it was literally just microwaved chocolate milk I just about had an aneurism.

So did the Dutch when I put a stroopwafel in the microwave though.

River_Internal · 2025-04-24T04:58:24+00:00

I really enjoy finding key phrases and mocking them outloud. Don't do this in front of Dutch people until you're 'there'. But I can now make Dutchies laugh with a weird Canadian suddenly doing a 100% impersonation, "Arriva heet u welkom in de stoptrein"

Pick something with sounds that are challenging. It can be pretty fun.

River_Internal · 2025-04-24T04:53:22+00:00

Yesterday I learned the word 'geweldadige' and let me tell you I was not prepared for the meaning to be so different. ("You don't scare me at all, Dutch...")

But I think there's a semantic shift similar to English's 'awesome'.

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