I found an app on my iphone called Recovery Record that is actually very helpful with intuitive eating. For those who like to log things this one is very compatible with IE, it asks you questions like the ones prompted in the IE book, are you hungry, how hungry are you, do you feel anxious, are you tired, do you feel any pain, are you full etc. I don't know if this will be much help to me but I'll be using it for the next few days and see if it lends any support to IE.
I love recovery record. I should probably be using it more right now. I'll download it again. I like how it also tracks feelings and has little positive affirmations and rewards when you track your food.
I used it for the past 2 days and I love how you can customize some of the questions. It is making me stop and reflect on how I feel a little more diligently than I've been lately. It would also be helpful if one of the questions asked "did you eat secretly?" which seems to be a particular habit I can't shake entirely.
I know what you mean. It's like intellectually I know that I can eat whatever I want and it's no one's business but mine... BUT, I have been eating secretly since I was a little girl. It's totally a habit. For example, I'll be hungry and want a snack at work. I'll go the the fridge but if I hear someone walking down the stairs towards the kitchen I'll have the impulse to hide whatever it is I'm grabbing, even if it's something as innocuous as a piece of fruit. Because I guess I still suffer from the deeply held belief that "fat people shouldn't eat". Also if I'm cooking dinner and my roommate comes out of her room and into the kitchen I'll wait until she goes back to sit down and eat my food. I still have a lot of shame around eating.
P.S.- I submitted feedback to the app developers asking for a "did you eat secretly" question to be added to the meal log.
I did the same thing, I wrote to them suggesting that very same thing.
I've been doing IE for a full year now and eventhough I see so much improvement in my life and my relationship with food I still have a long ways to go. For me secret eating is not only about shame but about true enjoyment. Sometimes I feel like I can't really enjoy what I'm eating unless I'm by myself. And for me it's not about being out of sight, it's more about eating private meals away from my husband/friends/family/coworkers. I often have gone out to restaurants on my own in full public view but I'll keep it secret from my husband. For no real reason, at least not a reason that I can understand yet.
Do you think that the alone time and the ability to focus on yourself is important to you? It sounds like you just want some privacy in your life. With your family maybe that's something you're not getting enough of? I think everyone enjoys doing things on their own; food is important to you so it may be important that you have time to enjoy meals with yourself. That doesn't seem to crazy to me.
I'm still working out how to eat what I need when I need to. I started IE at just about this time last year myself but apparently there's a learning curve (hehe). I find there is an amount of food that can fill my stomach nicely so that I'm satisfied but not too full, however, I find that I need to eat these meals more frequently than I think is "appropriate". If I don't eat frequently enough then I will have to fill my stomach extra at the next meal, leaving me too full. Every time I've been trying to eat intuitively I get too hungry and it's because I'm not eating a meal every time I get hungry for one. I'm kind of excited that I discovered this. I'm really learning alot about my body now that I've recommitted to IE.
It's interesting what role fullness plays for each of us. I enjoy being full mainly because it limits my meals. I'm eating about 2 meals a day plus a snack sometimes and I enjoy not having to think about food otherwise.
Alone time - yeah super guilty about how selfish that makes me feel. I no longer feel guilt about the types of food that I eat but self care can make me feel selfish. I'm still judging myself about eating and I'm working on it. Progress not perfection.
I'd love to eat two biggish meals a day and not have to think about eating all the time but if I eat enough to do that my stomach feels big and full and I don't like that feeling. I like feeling not hungry but still light, like there's nothing in my stomach.
I'd love to eat two biggish meals a day and not have to think about eating all the time but if I eat enough to do that my stomach feels big and full and I don't like that feeling. I like feeling not hungry but still light, like there's nothing in my stomach.
Locke, I agree with your post. I am noticing since I've been (for the most part) eating without getting to the full point that I feel so much better. I accidentally ate too much at one point yesterday and felt yucky and lathargic afterward. I was glad to again experience that fullness for a little while because it strengthened my resolve to do my best to not eat my way to that point in the future.
Fullness is such a funny thing. It's like my stomach has extra give to it when I'm more hungry. Two nights ago I was hiking and I became famished- like, low blood sugar and feeling dizzy kind of hunger. I finished up and drove to a restaurant for dinner. They had a glazed chicken with broccoli and potatoes that sounded delicious. I ate the whole plate and was still a bit peckish so I ordered dessert. On a normal night I would have felt full before finishing the plate, like my stomach didn't have any more stretch left. I was able to eat about half the dessert before my stomach signaled that I had eaten enough. I didn't feel heavy or stuffed even though I had just eaten more than usual. I felt light and energized. I freaking love intuitive eating (and my body!) haha. My stomach isn't just a container. It's an organ that senses the energy values of food against what my body needs. I have grown such an appreciation for my body since starting IE- it truly is an amazing thing.
@ Locke, There needs to be a like button for your post.
The strange thing about learning to honor my body is that I'm finding that I don't need to have that "over-full" feeling any more to come to the conclusion that I've eaten enough.
And there are times I need more food than usual, just as you said, before I ever reach satisfaction. But I am honoring my hunger without regret. I'm also not worrying about weight gain on the days my body craves more food and too, enjoying what I once considered "bad foods". Such as yesterday I craved chocolate to beat the band, so I made a pan of chocolate brownies with fudge frosting and ate all I wanted. It sure was nice to do that without beating myself up for it later! I figure the days I'm less hungry and crave healthier foods will make things even out in the end.
Such good post to read from you all. I am reading my book slowly and will read it again. I was definitely in the professional dieter group...plus the group that can't waste free food....
So here I am now. I am actually eating low carb for the second day, with the knowledge that I can have a sandwich at anytime if I want it. I'm feeling better. I have realized my body just doesn't like to many carbs over all, but it is so nice to know I can have them whenever I want them.....I am
feeling free.
This week-end I did have potato salad and a hot dog. These were on my bad food list,,,,but I totally loved them. So now on my second day of low carb,,,,well I just feel better...
Those brownies sound delicious! I find that my stomach gives me immediate feedback as to whether or not I can handle sweets. Sometimes I will take a bite or two of a rich dessert and my stomach will start hurting. I know that it's not the right time, and if I continue eating I will be sick. I remember plowing through desserts like a woodchipper when I was a kid without any intestinal agitation. I read somewhere that children tolerate and want sugar because their growing bodies need it.
@FinallyThin
That "freedom" feeling really is great. It can be very scary at first because you do want to eat all the foods that you've denied yourself. Rest assured if you eat all you really want of the foods you've restricted you will not "lose control" and binge eat forever. I had to get through a couple of weeks of restriction rebound eating before settling back into a nice pattern. If you really are craving something, carby or not, and you're hungry then eat it! You really do have to give yourself unconditional permission to eat what you want.
@ Locke, I remember when I was a teenager, I could eat a whole batch of the nobake chocolate oatmeal cookies. Those were the days! The only time I want chocolate like that now is once a month.
Today I haven't even craved a sweet, but if I do later, it's nice to know I can have it and guilt free to boot!
Locke,
I've really indulged many times since starting this new lifestyle. I gained 8 pounds at first. But now I'm on my way down again. I am actually eating the healthiest possible way right now, without feeling at all deprived. I know at any time I could eat anything I want and just knowing that has completely taken the glamour out of certain forbidden foods. I feel like Bob on what about Bob, when he overcame his fear of sailing,,,,,,I'm sailing!
