Hi everyone,
Just checking in. I am still working on waiting till I'm hungry and eating till satisfied,(not stuffed). Fun except, I would like to see the scale go down too. Many of us seem to be in that boat.
Does anyone seem to be naturally going to a regular eating style? Such as meals in certain time frames, or types of foods, or snacking certain foods? Or are you more random?
For me it seems I'm gravitating to a eating window. Granted the window is big and the choices extreme, but I am getting comfortably into this.
Last edited by FinallyFree; 02-21-2015 at 08:57 PM.
Hi everyone,
Just checking in. I am still working on waiting till I'm hungry and eating till satisfied,(not stuffed). Fun except, I would like to see the scale go down too. Many of us seem to be in that boat.
Does anyone seem to be naturally going to a regular eating style? Such as meals in certain time frames, or types of foods, or snacking certain foods? Or are you more random?
For me it seems I'm gravitating to a eating window. Granted the window is big and the choices extreme, but I am getting comfortably into this.
I notice patterns for long periods of time but then they start to change. For example I was eating 3 solid meals a day, no snacks for a good long while. Now I've noticed that I'm eating 2 meals a day only, sometimes with a snack but mostly not. I try not to question it too much, just being observant and flexible.
@finallyfree most of the time I naturally eat 3 large meals a day without snacking. I notice that a couple times each month I will only be hungry for 2 small meals per day. I don't pay attention to the type of foods that I eat.
I tend to go through phases where I'll eat a lot of one particular kind of food. I just passed through a "toast and hummus" phase, where two meals a day I was eating two pieces of toasted bread with hummus and hot sauce. I was eating it with fruit and milk, sometimes a bit of cheese, but it was the backbone of a lot of meals. Now I've moved on. What will I pick up next? I don't know. I usually eat three meals a day, and sometimes get hungry for snacks, but that depends on how big the meals are or how hungry I am. I'm not really monitoring all that much, though. I just eat when food sounds good and I eat stuff that sounds appealing.
Thanks for the responses. You all sound pretty free form in your styles.
I'm still very much baby steps with this. I am trying to get more honest with myself about when I'm really hungry. That's actually trickier than I thought. Also, when I'm actually full enough isn't that easy either. But my binging has been greatly reduced, and I'm happy about that.
IE has been such a game changer for me. At first, I ate everything in sight, but slowly I have been able to realize that since I can eat anything I want, I don't have to do it every day.
I have actually lost some weight now, but I only weigh myself every month or two and don't obsess over it. I know it will take care of itself in time. For the very first time in years, I am more focused on meeting my daily needs than losing weight. And I have a lot of weight to lose. The better I get at meeting all my needs, the easier it gets.
There are still days of struggle and days I binge, but they get fewer all the time. And I am so grateful.
I was a yo-yo dieter for years.....like about 20; including a visit to anorexia and even a dabble with exercise bulimia - guess you could call me an extremist. If there was a diet I did it, if there was a diet pill I swallowed it....gosh, I was even a Weight Watchers lecturer at one stage which apparently meant 'I'd made it!'. But once I'd reached my goal weight, off I went yet again, and as you have to maintain your goal weight to stay a lecturer - I was basically living one big fat lie... bingeing like crazy after weigh-ins and then starving myself for 3 days before and not drinking anything on any day I had to weigh in. And, not only did I feel huge guilt that I was saying one thing to my group but living a false life, I still feel ashamed that I used to actually read (as prescribed back then - don't know if that's still the case now) everyone's weight loss and weight gain out aloud to the whole class every week and give them those little lectures designed to make them feel ashamed of their less than perfect sticking to the prescribed plan. How shaming and how diminishing of people. Just wanted to post a public apology to all those beautiful people who I did that too and send them an ehug. Thank goodness I discovered authors like Bob Schwartz, Geneen Roth, Karen Keonig and IE, they really changed my life.
Beginme I'm loving the freedom. I tend to eat low carb now, just because it make me feel better, but I'm throwing in carbs I've been craving when I crave them. So the scale won't be moving to fast. Tonight it's potatoes and green beans cooked in bacon grease. I think I'll throw in an egg on toast too.
Hi Cari,
Thanks for sharing your testimony. I was also a professional dieter, but I never got skinny enough to be anorexic. I wasn't actually a big time yo yoer, because I only lost all my weight a few times in my many years of dieting. Then up ten down 10 was about the biggest swings lately. I do want to lose all the extra weight, but I will be doing it the IE way...
Hi FinallyFree
I just love eating what i really feel like and over time I've realized that many of the processed foods that i thought i loved (like bakery stuff and cookies and candy and savourites like crisps and pretzels), are really not as nice as I once thought they were. Pretty incredible to discover that. I've found that slowly over time the proportion of processed foods I eat has change dramatically - it used to be about 75% of my diet when i was in my binge mode.... and slowly, slowly I've noticed it changing as my body literally asks for things like vegetables (never happened when I was on a diet - ever!)...and now I eat them if I really feel like it, but now it's more like about 5% of the time. I never would have believed that dieting WAS the problem - I always thought it was that I had no willpower.
Hi FinallyFree
I just love eating what i really feel like and over time I've realized that many of the processed foods that i thought i loved (like bakery stuff and cookies and candy and savourites like crisps and pretzels), are really not as nice as I once thought they were. Pretty incredible to discover that. I've found that slowly over time the proportion of processed foods I eat has change dramatically - it used to be about 75% of my diet when i was in my binge mode.... and slowly, slowly I've noticed it changing as my body literally asks for things like vegetables (never happened when I was on a diet - ever!)...and now I eat them if I really feel like it, but now it's more like about 5% of the time. I never would have believed that dieting WAS the problem - I always thought it was that I had no willpower.
Yes, the fact that the diet is the problem has blown me away too! I do have a health situation that requires me to stay clear of some foods. But when I started this I gave myself the liberty to eat whatever, figuring I could tolerate a little while. Then I went for my blood work and it was all up a little, but not to bad. My doctor is very against processed foods. So she told me the plan looks good, but just be a food snob. Even with her requirements, the fact that I am not dieting anymore I still can have soooo many foods that I usually didn't eat. I used to go on mostly LC diets. After a while of indulging, I too have just been mostly craving healthy food. Just plain weird how that works that way.
I've found I rarely crave processed snack foods and sweets. Potato chips, pretzels, cookies, cupcakes, etc. from the store aren't very good tasting to me. At work we have cake once a month to celebrate birthdays. They order it from a very upscale bakery and it's so rich and delicious. Most of them have buttercream frosting so it's impossible to eat more than a small slice because of the richness. Sometimes I'm in the mood for it and sometimes I'm not. I had a chocolate obsession for a while but I realized it was the *caffeine* and not the chocolate per se that I wanted. I don't partake of caffeine because it makes my anxiety go through the roof. I didn't think it was a problem until I ate a chocolate bar and had a panic attack. Now I'm not so into chocolate bars- a small piece of chocolate or chocolate cake is okay.
Another weird thing I've fallen out of love with is meat. I used to love meat so much! Now when I eat it it's got a weird taste, or it's salty, or has an unpleasant texture. Same with fish/seafood and eggs. Right now I eat a lot of beans, whole grains, fruit, salads, potatoes, veggies, avocados, and olive oil. Oh and spaghetti- so good with homemade red sauce or pesto. IE has guided me towards the Mediterranean diet apparently. Weird!
I've had a paradigm shift in the last few days. I've been learning positive coping strategies for dealing with emotional disregulation. What I've found is that when I'm actually taking care of myself and I'm not caught up in my emotions and thoughts it really doesn't matter what I eat. It doesn't matter at all. This means I can eat really healthy or a whole lot of sugary, processed snacks. There's no emotional weight to any of it. I'm not good for eating healthy and I'm not bad for eating junk food. However, because I'm working on separating my urges/feelings/thoughts from my actions I find that I can eat in a way that's complete separate from my body's "wants".
This seems counterintuitive to IE but let me explain- your body's needs are signals. When I feel like eating a cupcake, it's usually not because I *need* a cupcake biologically. It's because I'm bored, or I'm sad, or otherwise in need of distraction. I can meet those needs in non-cupcake ways. This allows me to eat in accord with my values- eating healthy foods that support optimal functioning, and I know that this is the case because I feel so much better. So I can truly go by feel and not by "want". Does this make any sense?
So I've been eating healthy foods and eating when I'm hungry/stopping when I'm satisfied. I feel amazing in my body and mind. I'm really relaxed and my moods are positive. We all know that progress isn't linear so maybe this won't last for very long but I hope it does. Also, this is not to say that anyone else should be trying to eat all healthy food or anything like that- IE is a practice that has to be cultivated. At this moment I couldn't care less about food or hunger. It's just what it is- a small part of my daily existence.
well Ladies, my scale is going down, and I'm feeling better. One part of IE that makes good sense to me is listening to your body signals about the foods you eat. During the phase where I just ate whatever I craved, I certainly did stop craving some of the foods because they made me get heavier and feel horrible. So now I'm back to the foods that make me feel good and eating in an eating window. 16/8. 16 hours no food and 8 hours of eating IE. This is making me feel good and lose weight. I will go off this if it stops making me feel good. So I don't feel any rules on me at all. Just compliance to a new lifestyle for now.
Last edited by FinallyFree; 02-28-2015 at 05:54 PM.
That's why I don't post much. I lost 40 and then stopped but I know I would feel a lot better at 120. can't get below 150 and usually stay at 155. Lately I haven't been weighing ..............what's the point?
Thank goodness I discovered authors like Bob Schwartz, Geneen Roth, Karen Keonig and IE, they really changed my life.
