I recently joined intuitiveeating.com just so I could read it but I haven't posted yet. Prolly won't for the same reasons yall have stated. Too many triggers. I'll just stay right here for as long as yall will have me.
I was having one of those days yesterday. Not gonna call it "bad" just difficult. I had a bout with depression that I couldn't seem to shake. I did overindulge, a couple of times, but i'm not gonna beat myself up about it. My depression is better today and I think I'm back on track.
I have this thread bookmarked and it's the only thing I visit here. At worst the rest of the forum is triggering and at best it just makes me feel so sad for people.
As long as I have been a student of IE I have still resisted the concept of eating something - ANYTHING - to keep me from getting too hungry. I don't know why, but I have. Yet I watch thin people do this sort of thing ALL THE TIME. They are hungry, they don't have time to eat a meal, but they know they have to eat something or else they will be miserable until they can eat. And they don't think twice about it.
Because of my experience yesterday, and because I am just so tired of worrying about my weight and what I should do, I made a vow that henceforth and forevermore I will live my life as a naturally thin person, regardless of what the scale says, the mirror shows, or the clothes indicate. I will not think about what I am going to have to eat until it is time to eat. I will eat something that satisfies my physical hunger, regardless of what it is. And I will eat only enough to stop me from being hungry, because I am a naturally thin person and that is what naturally thin people do.
I know what you mean about not eating something to offset impending hunger. I do believe that this is a trust issue with oneself. Sometimes we IEers can get carried away with one principle or the other and not eating when we're not hungry is a big one. I can tell you that it's only been recently that I've been able to effectively pull this off and I usually do so with a snack such as nuts, hummus with veggies, an apple with nut butter, or a slice of bread with ham. It has to be something I grab and go, can't think too much about it otherwise it ends up being a whole meal. But even if it does end up being more than I intended I just go with it and let me hunger/fullness dictate whether I want the later impending meal.
@Pinkhippie, I'm so sorry you feel alone in this. For what it's worth I don't believe that you are being disloyal to your mother by speaking to your people about this. Schizophrenia is an illness and does not stem from a person's character, there is nothing to feel shame about. It's great that you're reaching out to other members of your family, do not deny your own needs just because your mother denies herself. We all have to draw our strength from somewhere.
@TamTam, I know what you mean about almonds - I've done that forever and I don't even know if I like almonds. I've been getting raw almonds and cashews for so long that I finally said to heck with that! All that did was drive me to unhealthy salty snacks like chips and cheetos. So a few months ago I stocked up on roasted SALTED almonds and cashews and I couldn't be happier. Ok so I like a salty snack, at least I'm not hoarding up on raw almonds just for show and secretely reaching for the cheetos anymore. Every food has its own journey of making peace with it.
For me I've been feeling better lately, I'm back home now and getting in my groove again with dance classes. I've missed it so much and exercise is the only way that I feel totally and completely connected to my body. I made my husband hide the scale because I was gravitating back towards it and told him it's only allowed out on the first of every month. I feel much better already not judging my weight daily. I'm handling my eating calmly and feel fine about it. I try to keep in mind that when I feel like overeating it's because there is some stressor I do not wish to feel and tackle that stressor instead. Easier said than done but I'm well into this IE journey and I realize I have an arsenal of special tricks to handle these situations. I'm not happy with my weight but as long as I am moving and staying positive about what my body can do I realize that I've done really well with fixing my relationship with food.
@Pinkhippie, I'm so sorry you feel alone in this. For what it's worth I don't believe that you are being disloyal to your mother by speaking to your people about this. Schizophrenia is an illness and does not stem from a person's character, there is nothing to feel shame about. It's great that you're reaching out to other members of your family, do not deny your own needs just because your mother denies herself. We all have to draw our strength from somewhere.
@TamTam, I know what you mean about almonds - I've done that forever and I don't even know if I like almonds. I've been getting raw almonds and cashews for so long that I finally said to heck with that! All that did was drive me to unhealthy salty snacks like chips and cheetos. So a few months ago I stocked up on roasted SALTED almonds and cashews and I couldn't be happier. Ok so I like a salty snack, at least I'm not hoarding up on raw almonds just for show and secretely reaching for the cheetos anymore. Every food has its own journey of making peace with it.
For me I've been feeling better lately, I'm back home now and getting in my groove again with dance classes. I've missed it so much and exercise is the only way that I feel totally and completely connected to my body. I made my husband hide the scale because I was gravitating back towards it and told him it's only allowed out on the first of every month. I feel much better already not judging my weight daily. I'm handling my eating calmly and feel fine about it. I try to keep in mind that when I feel like overeating it's because there is some stressor I do not wish to feel and tackle that stressor instead. Easier said than done but I'm well into this IE journey and I realize I have an arsenal of special tricks to handle these situations. I'm not happy with my weight but as long as I am moving and staying positive about what my body can do I realize that I've done really well with fixing my relationship with food.
I am still reading Overcoming Overeating. They recommend a "food bag". YOUR choice of what you want. So I went and go cashews and small bags of trail mix (with M & M's in it) and these little containers of olives and 100 calorie granola bars. I will go to WalMart ( in the morning to complete my bag. One problem is if I eat when hungry in the afternoon it may be too close to supper time and so I don't eat and then I am starving by supper time, but with my food bag I can pick up something to hold me up until supper time. ALso the book says that if you KNOW you have food then you won't worry about not having food available for when you are hungry. Don't know. But I have had problems that I have not had enough food at work and leaving once there is not a option. Anyway have a blessed afternoon!
I'm going through the OO process again. Tonight I'm going to load up on goodies at the store. It truly is important to know that you have stuff to eat available at all times. It sounds silly to me but this stuff is really important for getting your head right around food.
For me I've been feeling better lately, I'm back home now and getting in my groove again with dance classes. I've missed it so much and exercise is the only way that I feel totally and completely connected to my body. I made my husband hide the scale because I was gravitating back towards it and told him it's only allowed out on the first of every month. I feel much better already not judging my weight daily. I'm handling my eating calmly and feel fine about it. I try to keep in mind that when I feel like overeating it's because there is some stressor I do not wish to feel and tackle that stressor instead. Easier said than done but I'm well into this IE journey and I realize I have an arsenal of special tricks to handle these situations. I'm not happy with my weight but as long as I am moving and staying positive about what my body can do I realize that I've done really well with fixing my relationship with food.
I'm so glad to hear that. I was thinking about you on my way to work this morning. It can be so hard to accept my body. For me I've started repeating the mantra "mental health first". I spend so much time stressing about food. Even if I do eat less healthy when I follow IE it will probably be better for me in the long run than the constant obsession with dieting.
I'm going through the OO process again. Tonight I'm going to load up on goodies at the store. It truly is important to know that you have stuff to eat available at all times. It sounds silly to me but this stuff is really important for getting your head right around food.
Not silly at all! I am hungry at the moment, but it is Gumbo night and I want to be hungry for that! So I just went in my food bag and choose a Special K 100 Calorie bar because it was what I wanted and ate it and enjoyed it. I should hold me up until supper time.
Palestrina, thank you for your words of wisdom. I have been realizing I need to focus on my needs even when I can't give my mom what she needs. I am glad to hear that you are doing better and focusing on tackling your stressor when you feel the need to overeat. That is sort of what I have been doing as well.
How is everyone doing? I have been doing pretty well. I have once again come to the realization that I tend to be very anxious and I use food to manage it. The thing I realized this weekend though, thanks to a sort of friendly IE book but too structured with a food plan called Runaway Eating, is that I also restrict to deal with anxiety as well. Basically food is what I use to help with my anxiety be it not eating or eating. Hard to get in touch with natural hunger that way. So, I have been kind of not focusing on the food and focusing on me and my anxiety instead. I have started writing in my journal again, not food related just me and how I feel. I have started making myself a big pot of chamomile tea and sipping cups through out my day, that really helps. I have been working on cognitive behavior therapy where I take my negative anxiety producing thoughts and look at them and break them down to see if they are realistic and work through them. It has really been helping me.
Today I had eaten lunch about an hour ago and was comfortably satisfied. I had a phone call that was making yet another appointment for next week. As soon as I hung up the phone I was like, wow Im hungry. And then shortly after that I realized I was not hungry, I was just feeling anxious and overwhelmed about all that I had to get done next week. I said it out loud. " I am feeling hungry because I feel anxious and overwhelmed about all the stuff I have to do next week. " Then I wrote in my journal and tried to think about things I could do to help my anxiety. I did some cognitive behaviour stuff, poured myself some tea, and I really did feel better and not "hungry" anymore. So... baby steps of improvement.
Last edited by Pinkhippie; 09-10-2015 at 08:47 PM.
Welcome to our new members and a welcome back to Tam Tam!
I have mentioned before that I am really struggling with the diet mentality. The primary reason for this is that I had some blood work done about two months ago and discovered that I am pre-diabetic. My A1C is at 5.7 and it has been told to me that that is in the pre-diabetic range, so of course I reacted as many would and the doctors recommend - diet time!
I started counting calories again and did well for about 5 days, then once again fell off the wagon. I am not a binge eater but I just started eating for reasons other than hunger. I haven't gained any weight but I haven't lost any other. I go by how my clothes fit because I just can't bring myself to get on the scale.
I have been struggling mightily, knowing that I do need to lose some weight but also knowing that dieting is now an impossibility for me. So then I find myself deciding to restrict certain types of food, and of course that ends badly as well.
So I woke up this morning and decided that today is the day that I am going to truly eat ONLY when I am hungry, as I am now pretty doggone good at determining when that is. I have learned over the last few years that hunger is not an emergency - probably the most important lesson that IE has taught me - but I have also learned that I simply cannot allow myself to get TOO hungry as that always leads to me overeating.
Yesterday I decided to have a nice breakfast around 9:30 am - two eggs scrambled, 3 pieces of bacon, and two slices of wheat bread. As usual, that held me for a very long time, and I really did not think about eating until I started getting really hungry around 4:00 pm. Here was the problem; I was going to Mass at 5:00 pm and I didn't want to eat supper before then but I knew I would be ravenous by the time I got out and got back home. So I grabbed one of the 100 calorie granola bars my husband gets for his lunches and ate it right before leaving. Sure enough, it quelled my hunger quite a bit and I didn't eat supper until around 7:00 - hungry, but not terribly so.
As long as I have been a student of IE I have still resisted the concept of eating something - ANYTHING - to keep me from getting too hungry. I don't know why, but I have. Yet I watch thin people do this sort of thing ALL THE TIME. They are hungry, they don't have time to eat a meal, but they know they have to eat something or else they will be miserable until they can eat. And they don't think twice about it.
Because of my experience yesterday, and because I am just so tired of worrying about my weight and what I should do, I made a vow that henceforth and forevermore I will live my life as a naturally thin person, regardless of what the scale says, the mirror shows, or the clothes indicate. I will not think about what I am going to have to eat until it is time to eat. I will eat something that satisfies my physical hunger, regardless of what it is. And I will eat only enough to stop me from being hungry, because I am a naturally thin person and that is what naturally thin people do.
I'm sorry you got that news. DH found out a couple of years ago he had an A1C of twelve! We felt blindsided. But I just wanted to share that he brought his numbers back to a healthy level, with no medication, by just giving up white flour and white sugar. I don't want to be simplistic, because there are several other factors, including the fact that he gets a lot of exercise. When his sugar is over 150, he drinks water and fasts until it comes down, which is usually about two or three hours.
It took almost a year, but he was glad he did not give up. What motivates him is that he doesn't want to lose hands and/or feet, or his eyesight. It's a scary disease, but can be reversed. I hope I'm not being too forward sharing this, and hope it helps. He really eats what he wants besides leaving out the white sugar and white flour, though he quits eating at about six p. m. each night. I would guess this helps because the pancreas can only process so many calories, but he consumes a LOT of calories throughout the day, including nuts, fat bombs, meat, vegetables, berries and cream, eggs, bacon, and other low carb foods. I actually get jealous sometimes, because he seems to eat nonstop!
Been doing good with eating from stomach hunger and not mouth hunger. I have been eating supper on salad plates and the other night hubby ate off one too (which is huge because his portions tend to be too big). Last night we went eat out and I had ordered a cup of seafood gumbo and an order of 6 fried shrimp. The waitress misunderstood and bought a bowl of gumbo, side of potato salad and the shrimp. I ate most of the gumbo, a few bites of potato salad and took the shrimp home for lunch today. Usually I would have eaten it all. Could not go walk this morning because it was raining. It has rained ALL day! Just got a used book called "The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim People". Has anyone here read it? Will let you know if it is good. Have a blessed evening.
Just a quick check in. Doing good. It was nice to walk in cool weather but now the muggies are back!! Have a blessed day all.
Things are going well here too, glad to see everyone feeling good. I'm having an amazing time in my dance class and feeling really good about my body. I admit I want to hop on the scale sometimes but I don't know where it is since I asked hubs to hide it from me lol.
I think I'm eating a lot less these days. This morning I picked up a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery for dinner. It was a crusty loaf of white bread, fresh and hot from the oven. This doesn't happen often so I thought for sure I'd want to devour it at home with a jar full of Nutella. That never happened, I really didn't feel like eating bread at all and stuck to my scrambled eggs. Now the bread has cooled and the opportunity has passed. And I'm fine!! This is why I love IE.
My body confidence is shooting through the roof lately. Not looking at the scale frees me up to just enjoy being in my skin. It feels amazing. And don't judge me but I've been getting hit on a lot lately. I used to get hit on a lot in my 20s but in the last 10 yrs I've felt ugly and unattractive. I'm happily married and have no interest in flirting back but I gotta tell ha, it is nice to be noticed by guys in their mid 20s.
Honestly lately I've been feeling "skinny" although that's not the right word. I guess body confident would be a better way to describe it. Then last night I went to a zumba class, one I go to often. I'm always the largest person in the room. There are a lot of mirrors and watching myself try to do aerobic dance in a mirror is not easy sometimes. It does not deter me from going and trying my best. But for some reason last night I felt really fat. I felt like my stomach was sticking out, that my cellulite could be seen through my spandex and that my leg fat and belly fat jiggled as I jumped around. It was very distracting as I tried to battle those thoughts. I kept telling myself that I'm here, I'm giving 100% and I deserve to be here just as much as the thinner women in the class, that I too can move gracefully despite my fat, and I was afraid that people were repulsed by me. It was an ugly feeling and not one I know how to handle. I've been at this dance and exercise thing for months now and I'm really proud of how well I'm doing in terms of learning the routines and loosening up and expressing myself physically. But once in a while I get gripped by body consciousness. How do you all deal with that feeling?
For the past couple of weeks something strange has been happening to me. I'm not really hungry. I mean I physically feel the need to eat and I respond to it but the sensation goes away very quickly with a very small amount of food. I can't finish a sandwich, I can't finish a salad. I'm so used to overeating but I'm not able to do it now. I've never been this removed emotionally from food before. I wonder if it's a passing phase or am I finally coming into a new level of proficiency in hunger directed eating?
If this was at a time in my life when I was on vacation and feeling carefree I would think of this as a passing phase. But right now I'm in the thick of it in terms of stress. It's at an all time high, and I've never been a person who loses weight and stops eating in response to stress. Stress is my biggest trigger in overeating. So this is a confusing plot twist!
in the morning to complete my bag. One problem is if I eat when hungry in the afternoon it may be too close to supper time and so I don't eat and then I am starving by supper time, but with my food bag I can pick up something to hold me up until supper time. ALso the book says that if you KNOW you have food then you won't worry about not having food available for when you are hungry. Don't know. But I have had problems that I have not had enough food at work and leaving once there is not a option. Anyway have a blessed afternoon!
