I only identify with my birth gender by default: 681, 45.3%
I’m surprised at this. Is there a special term for “only identifying with one’s gender by default” or keywords I can use to look for statistics for among the general population? (a brief googling didn’t uncover anything). I would’ve guessed this number to be much lower, and now I’m wondering whether this is signaling or whether my model of other people in this particular instance is completely wrong.
I’d like to pitch the identity angle, which worked for me very well (your mileage may vary, of course). I ate very little processed sugar foods (chocolate, cookies, etc) at various points in my life due to what I saw myself as:
“I’m not the kind of person who eats processed foods, because processed foods are yucky” is part of our family lore and works to this day
“I’m not the kind of person to waste money on things like cookies if I can make them myself for less” arose during a low-income but savvy time. It works because when you bake cookies/cakes yourself you’re free to use much less sugar.
“I’m the kind of person who enjoys simple foods/Sugary foods are an indulgence, so of course I don’t eat a lot of them”, my current one.
“I can get addicted to substances very easily, so better not overdo it” (also works for alcohol)
“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t snack between meals, because it’s uncultured”—trying to incorporate into my identity at the moment.
Once something is part of your identity, following it becomes a joyful, self-affirming activity rather than a willpower drain.
I also found that when I’m eating common supermarket sweets, I eat a lot because I try to satisfy a craving for flavour that these foods lack. If I substitute them with home-baked flavourful cakes or good chocolate, I tend to eat much less, since my craving is satisfied with the first bite. I’m not sure how making a calorie-rich food (that you don’t eat a lot of) flavourful influences your body fat setpoint though (http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.jp/2011/04/food-reward-dominant-factor-in-obesity.html).