Intuitive Eating #15

[pattygirl63]

Originally Posted by Beach Patrol

I REALLY want to try this!!!!...but I'm afraid to do it. I've yo-yo'd so much in my life... and now I've lost 37 lb (this time) by counting calories, and currently on a 3-month plateau.... can't seem to lose that last 15 lb to reach goal weight. I would LOVE to be able to not "think" about my "diet" anymore. Love to just let food be food & nothing else.




THIS is what I want. I want ^^THAT^^ accomplishment, on a regular basis. Very scared to try this, but really, really want to.

Beach - I think when we decide to become IEers that we have realize that while it isn't a diet, it is also not an excuse to binge it either. I think I have fallen into that trap. I would recommend 2 books to read if you decide to do this The Overfed Head by Rob Stevens and Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. You get a lot of good info from both books and IE book has Principles to follow. I admit that I also use IE with WW Points Plus so it is possible to use IE with your calorie counting. The reason I decided to do it this way was to see how much I do eat. I don't eat until I am ready to eat and then I count the pts in what I'm eating. In fact, I'm a member of WW online and we have a thread called Learning to eat Intuitively which I just joined. I think they said that we discuss one principle a week from the IE book. We discussed Principle #10 Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition. I find this all very helpful and works together nicely. I believe you could do that with counting calories as well. Good luck on your journey whatever you decide. I am one who believes that we all have to find what works for us. We are individuals and one size way of eating or dieting fits all.

[pattygirl63]

Originally Posted by TallGirl

Yes, any sort of prepackaged chocolate candy does not appeal to me anymore. I still eat some semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed with nuts when I want chocolate. I was eating this daily but the portion size has decreased and I'm eating it only 4-5 times a week instead of 7 days a week.

Well, I've realized that I don't have coping strategies to deal with feeling mad, sad, depressed, etc. OTHER than eating. That kind of stinks, LOL. I guess I've been using food for comfort for as long as I can remember. So, right now my alternative is tea with honey in it, sleep, or putting myself in Time Out. The time out thing really throws my 3 year old for a loop.

Have a nice day everyone!

June

I allow myself myself 1 or 2 pcs of Dove dark chocolate each day. I don't always eat it but I know I can if I want it.

I love the Time Out thingee. My young DGD would love seeing her Nannie put herself in Time Out and then she would have a really good laugh. I can see how that would work though. I heard somewhere you put a child in TO 1 minute for each yr the child is. TO for me would be 1 hr and 8 minutes. Sure would give me time to find out if I was really hungy or just think I am. LOL

[Rainy Day]

This thread is great. I've been a believer in intuitive eating for a while. I feel life is too short to plan every morsel that crosses my lips. And there are so many things I would rather do than plan my schedule around what and how many times I have to do today. Sure my weight loss is slow but at least I'm not stressing over each calorie. I love that the only thing I have to worry about is eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm satisfied.

At the moment there's a half eaten bar of white chocolate with macadamia nuts that I'm not even tempted to finish. Just saving it for when I'm hungry and craving it at the same time.

I haven't been at piece with food for a long time. It feels good to feel "normal" for a change, if you know what I mean.

For exercise, I do kettle bell swings. I'm trying to build up to where I can do 10,000 swings a month but this is mostly for endurance. The only other thing I try to do is stay as active as I can in general.

[TallGirl]

Originally Posted by pattygirl63

I allow myself myself 1 or 2 pcs of Dove dark chocolate each day. I don't always eat it but I know I can if I want it.

I love the Time Out thingee. My young DGD would love seeing her Nannie put herself in Time Out and then she would have a really good laugh. I can see how that would work though. I heard somewhere you put a child in TO 1 minute for each yr the child is. TO for me would be 1 hr and 8 minutes. Sure would give me time to find out if I was really hungy or just think I am. LOL

My DD will come over and ask me if I wasnt being a good listener when I'm sitting in Time out, LOL. I use it less for deciding if I'm really hungry and more to get my emotions in check. Emotional eating is complete autopilot for me so the time out does help with this.

[CatholicCajun]

Hello all. I am re-reading the Eden Diet and I just got my order in that has another copy of the Overfed Head in it, so I will be re-reading that also. Today was one of those crazy days. Didn't eat breakfast ate nuts for lunch and just finished eating crawfish for supper-YUM! I did not when hungry, was too busy getting things done at work. I know it's not a good thing to do, but sometimes you can only do what you can do. Have a blessed evening all.

[Truffle]

Hi, ladies...I've stopped in here to read several times, but didn't post. The last few months have been a challenge. Without going into too much detail, my daughter and her family moved back here from out of state, and were promptly abandoned by her husband. They've lived here in our home for the last several months while my daughter got back on her feet, and now they've found their own place to live, so I'll have time to focus on other things again.

At the beginning of 2012, I decided that once my daughter and grandchildren had moved out, that I'd make myself my "project" for awhile, and see if I could make further improvements in my weight/health.

I managed to lose 10 pounds in 2011, and am quite happy that, even with all the sadness and turmoil of the last few months, I've only regained 3-5 pounds. In a normal winter, it's easy for me to gain 10-15 pounds, so I've made SOME progress.

My perpetually-dieting sister is once again gung-ho with her dieting and weight loss efforts, and I had joined in at one point, but as always, can't stick with it, and know that I do better when I do my own thing.

Carol, thanks for re-posting the article at the beginning of this thread. It just reinforces what my mind already knows, and is good for inspiration.

Trish, I find it strange that people are trying to do WW and IE together. I wonder if they're so stuck in "diet head", or just so scared that they can't eat and lose without a specific "plan", that they don't dare to let it all go?

I wouldn't be able to get near WW with a ten-foot pole, because even if I *said* I was going to do it with IE, the overwhelming "diet-ness" of it would win out and I'd start eating out of rebellion to the diet.

I'm always better off to let food be a very small part of daily life, something that I'm not constantly thinking or worrying about, because once I start focusing on it, that's the end of progress and the beginning of regain.

I'm glad this thread has gotten more active again. It's the best IE thread I've found, and I look forward to participating more here.

Enjoy your Saturday!

[carolr3639]

It's the best IE thread I've found, and I look forward to participating more here.

There is a yahoo one but I just don't enjoy it. One reason is they don't talk much about losing.

[kakeJ]

I am a big beleiver in this sentiment. I will always say to myself when I'm hungry , "what is it I would like to eat". If there is free pizza around and I'm hungry, I won't neccesarily eat it just because it's there or free or I am hungry but only if that's what I want, I may go out and have fish or chicken.
It wasn't always so. I would just eat it and not stop and listen to my body, and it was sometimes very unsatisfying, the crave goes unsatisfied though you may not be hungry anymore. Even when you're too busy and you just gotta eat something, it's good to get make sure you eat what your body wants. If you can take a moment to figure out what that is.

[Telorida]

Originally Posted by Truffle

Trish, I find it strange that people are trying to do WW and IE together. I wonder if they're so stuck in "diet head", or just so scared that they can't eat and lose without a specific "plan", that they don't dare to let it all go?

I wouldn't be able to get near WW with a ten-foot pole, because even if I *said* I was going to do it with IE, the overwhelming "diet-ness" of it would win out and I'd start eating out of rebellion to the diet.

This is right where I am struggling right now. I have told myself that I need to really, honestly try IE for a good while and see what happens, but the impulse to track, to measure, to count, and to obsess is honestly mind-blowing.

I think it's more of that "instant gratification" mindset that I need to escape. I keep thinking if I just do something else, I will reach my goal sooner. In reality, I know it doesn't work like that.

[Truffle]

Originally Posted by Telorida

This is right where I am struggling right now. I have told myself that I need to really, honestly try IE for a good while and see what happens, but the impulse to track, to measure, to count, and to obsess is honestly mind-blowing.

I think tracking, measuring, counting, and obsessing are just things we've gotten into the habit of doing because that's what we've been told "works".

Well, I hate to differ with them, but that's part of the reason I got up to nearly 300 pounds--dieting, counting, tracking, trying to get rid of whole categories of food, trying to follow "rules" created by somebody else...

I'm tired of all that, and really cannot face another "diet" (and, no, just because they call it a "lifestyle change" doesn't fool me either--it's still a diet).

One would think that at 55, I can make my own choices about what to eat, when to exercise, etc., etc., etc.

One of the hardest things for me still is to not get sucked into dieting just because one of my sisters is, but I'm finally learning that if I give it enough time, my sister will get tired of the dieting effort and give up, then I won't hear about it for awhile.

[Truffle]

I just read something about weighing: Somebody said that weighing never prevented her from gaining weight.

Speaking as a daily/for many years weigh-er, I can say that there is a lot of truth in that statement.

I'm now considering whether or not I'd like to weigh a little less often than I have been.

[pattygirl63]

I'm diabetic and have to watch my blood sugar. I don't want to do low carb any more. At the same time, I HAVE TO LOSE THE WEIGHT if I don't want the diabetic complications DH 1st wife died from. If I'm taking WW and using it with IE and it works for me and it does. That is all that matters. For the first time in 11 yrs, I'm losing weight and eating the way I did back then. I didn't know about IE back then, but I know it works. It didn't come off fast but 75 lbs came off and I had the diabetes under control in 2003. I have control again. It didn't work a few yrs ago because I listened to an IEer on the yahoo IE thread that told me that I could not go more than 5 hrs without eating. This time using the WW/IE combination... I eat exactly what I want and as much as I want but I eat only when I am hungry. I find it very easy to stop when I am satisfied and I find it doesn't take as much as I always thought it would to satisfy me. Regardless of what anyone wants to call it... this works for me. As I stated earlier, everyone has to find their own path to health as ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. I hope each one of us finds our way. Those who know me on this thread knows that I have really struggled to find my way. I believe that God has led me to this way and I am so thankful that I have found it. If I have offended anyone or upset anyone for that, I do apologize. But I have found the way I can and will eat the rest of my life. It's not even a lifestyle for me because this is the way I ate until I was 20 yrs old so for me it is going back to eating normal.

Y'all have a great weekend.

[carolr3639]

Trish, can you explain about IE and WW. I'm curious. And yes, whatever works.

[Truffle]

Originally Posted by pattygirl63

I'm diabetic and have to watch my blood sugar. I don't want to do low carb any more. At the same time, I HAVE TO LOSE THE WEIGHT if I don't want the diabetic complications DH 1st wife died from. If I'm taking WW and using it with IE and it works for me and it does. That is all that matters. For the first time in 11 yrs, I'm losing weight and eating the way I did back then. I didn't know about IE back then, but I know it works. It didn't come off fast but 75 lbs came off and I had the diabetes under control in 2003. I have control again. It didn't work a few yrs ago because I listened to an IEer on the yahoo IE thread that told me that I could not go more than 5 hrs without eating. This time using the WW/IE combination... I eat exactly what I want and as much as I want but I eat only when I am hungry. I find it very easy to stop when I am satisfied and I find it doesn't take as much as I always thought it would to satisfy me. Regardless of what anyone wants to call it... this works for me. As I stated earlier, everyone has to find their own path to health as ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. I hope each one of us finds our way. Those who know me on this thread knows that I have really struggled to find my way. I believe that God has led me to this way and I am so thankful that I have found it. If I have offended anyone or upset anyone for that, I do apologize. But I have found the way I can and will eat the rest of my life. It's not even a lifestyle for me because this is the way I ate until I was 20 yrs old so for me it is going back to eating normal.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Trish, I didn't mean you when I wrote about the WW/IE combo. I meant that, in general, it seems like a bit of an oxymoron to say one is intuitively eating when one is also following WW points.

Yes, we absolutely each have to find what works for us, and I'm glad the combo is working for you. I hope you find much success with it, and enjoy many health benefits along the way.

[pattygirl63]

Thanks Becky. I wasn't upset, just explaining my way of using both.

Carolr WW used to have a plan called Core where you didn't count points. They had certain foods that were to be used on Core which I think they now call filling foods. There were 3 Rules 1. Eat as much of the Core foods as you need to feel satisfied. 2. If you wanted to eat foods that were not on the core list you used weekly points. and 3. You were to follow the same healthy guidelines as the Flex pt people were to follow. They had what they called Learning your Comfort Zone which was on a scale of 0 - 5. 0 was to be Very hungry/starving, 1 hungry, 2 Getting hungy, 3 Satisfied/Comfortable, 4 Full/Not hungry at all and 5 Very full/Stuffed. I think the goal was to learn to keep your comfort zone between 2 and 4. Back then many of us combines Flex pts and Core and people in both those groups got upset with us. However, it worked very well for me. I had forgotten that until recently. Except for some of the rules being a little different, Core is not much different than IE because the goal is to only eat when hungry and stop when satisfied. Knowing this and all the information I have learned with the Dukan Diet and the Fasting diet, I decided why not do WW and IE together. This is how it works for me...

If Dukan can guide people to alternate days of eating 1 day is to eat whatever you want and the next day eat around 500 calories. In the fasting diet can't remember the name they fast 2 days a week. Then I decided in my opinion that I don't have to eat only 26 pts nor do I have to eat all the 26 pts that WW says I should be eating. I like knowing how many pts/calories I am eating each day and I test blood sugar after some foods. But the way do all this is that I follow those 4 IE Golden Rules. 1. If I feel hungry, I check myself to see if I'm really hungry. If I can't find anything or think of anything that I want to eat, I decided that I'm not really hungry so I wait until I am. When I am really hungry, I usually know what I want to eat. 2. I eat what I really want not what I think I should eat. 3. I totally thoroughly enjoy what I eat. 4. I stop when I am satisfied. Some times it may only take a few bites of the food and some time it takes more. I read some where that every point is equal to 40 calories. With that in mind, I find that while I do go over the 26 pts sometimes, I don't go very far over and 1 day last week and today, I ate around 12 pts. But I was not hungry for more. I don't eat a meal example I don't eat breakfast just because WW says I should eat it.

For the first time, I am free from actually dieting. I eat exactly what I want and as much or as little as I want. I don't know if you remember me going to that website that used to see themselves as the experts of IE and telling them that I was not hungry. She wrote back and told me that I could not go over 5 hrs without eating. Now I don't believe this is true. If people can eat every 24 hrs fasting, I can wait until I am hungry. I am learning that a lot of the foods that I used to eat because it was healthy, I don't want to eat any more just because it is healthy. There are some of the healthy foods that I love and enjoy and I do eat them and enjoy them but only when I want them.

I have lost 3 lbs since I have started eating this way. I'm not hungry or craving anything any more. Tonight I would have loved to have had cheese nachos during the game, but I didn't really want it. How do I know I didn't really want it as bad as I thought I did? I didn't want it bad enough to go buy it and bring it home and make it. LOL

BBL