I would like to loose 10 more pounds. Any suggestions?
I know this sounds like dieting but if you want to manipulate your weight you have to manipulate your eating. But simple things should do the trick if you want to lose a few pounds. Cutting back on sugar, not snacking after dinner, and maybe making a few substitutions will help.
And of course you have to get moving more. Whatever you're doing for exercise, build the intensity, add more miles or reps or distance.
I got my IE workbook and also the Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes. I read the 1st part of the book and amazingly I am able to use it along with the workbook. Because of dealing with health issues with my Dad right now. I didn't get to start the discussion group, but that isn't a problem for me since I want to do the work book at my own pace.
Although Michelle May's book is an IE book, I get the feeling that the goal with it is to learn to eat for health because I'm dealing with bs issues. However, she explains things so simply that it is easy to understand why, when and how a diabetic must eat while eating Intuitively. I didn't get to read anything today, but I do believe it is going to be very helpful.
For the 1st few days to a week, I ate anything and everything, but my eating is actually calming down. I hope to draw on the way I ate when I was young growing up and the times I have eaten Intuitively before. The know so much more these days than they used to know because of research. Example, I was once told that you could not go more than 5 hrs without eating. Now there are those who eat OMAD because that is what works for them. Where even some IE people thought this was a bad thing, we now know that it is a good thing for those who are able to do it. I grew up eating only 1 or 2 meals a day until I had people say I had to eat more. I hope I might get back to that again someday.
I honestly don't believe manipulating how we eat is a bad thing to lose weight as long as you don't let it become too restricting like a diet. However, I do believe that what I'm going to learn for this diabetic IE book by May is that sometimes we may have to manipulate some of our Intuitive way of Eating because of our medical situations. I believe this because she mentions how losing just a small amount of weight helps with getting blood sugar under control. She says instead of looking to control diabetes to think of it as taking charge of diabetes. I'm looking forward to see if I'm right. I will let you know what I learn from it.
I thought I would share some of what I'm learning from the Michelle Maye's book Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes in my own words so that I can follow the rules so I can share it here and of course I am sharing it in regards for taking charge of diabetes. She says to think of the goal as "taking charge" of diabetes rather than controlling.
In the section of how hunger helps us to eat less she says... If we eat when we are not hungry, how will we know when we are satisfied? This is why we should eat when we are actually physically hungry. Plus food tastes better when we eat because we are hungry and we are more likely to choose foods that nourish us. We will feel more satisfied because food is better for taking care of hunger, but does nothing for boredom, stress or other triggers. Think about the fact that when we are hungry because we are sad, mad or glad we want things like chocolate, cookies, chips etc.
As a diabetic there are symptoms that overlap our hunger which means we need to learn the differences such as low blood glucose and high glucose because we have to learn how to deal with both. Noticing and responding before the extreme will prevent hypoglycemia.
This may sound easy, but there are external and internal influences that may have caused our natural ability to regulate our food intake to go haywire. There may be times we think we are hungry and we are not. They are symptoms we misinterpret as hunger such as tired, thirsty, or our blood glucose is high. I have experienced all three of these especially since I’ve been going through all these things since I've been going through so much stress with my Daddy's health issues. Sometimes I know I need to eat, but then this morning I thought I needed to eat because I thought my bs was low, but then when I checked it, it was high. I assume that has to do more with stress.
She says if we never feel hungry that it could be due to the fact it has food so readily that it does not have to tell us we are hungry. Or we get so busy and distracted that we never recognize the hunger until it gets to an extreme. I also like the fact that the body will tell us to eat because we need “fuel”.
[QUOTE=carolr3639;5309716]Trish, I have a diabetic friend whose dr. says just eat less of everything. He has lost a lot of weight.[/QUOTE
I think that is basically what Michelle May is saying although she also says to learn the signals for when you are either hungry or you need to prevent the glucose from going too low. Also since I've lost the ability through the years to know the difference, sometimes a diabetics glucose can go up and the symptoms seems the same as when too low and I have had mornings when I would have eaten before I needed to because my fasting blood sugar is still too high.
My experience of higher fasting blood glucose in the mornings is showing me the reason that I never HAD to eat breakfast when I was growing up because I had enough energy "fuel" as Michelle May calls it to get me through the morning. I once read of a man who said he ate toward his diabetic testing meter. Michelle May talks in her book about Curiosity. This info makes me curious enough to start my own experiment to see what would happen if I did that and only ate when my glucose is low. I might find that to be the way IE actually works for a diabetic.
My step-sister's DH learned how to control/manage his diabetes by using his meter to see what foods raised his bg and what did not. Thanks Carolr you got me thinking.
I've been reading IE books and the Meaningful eating for diabetes. To me there is still has to be structure/rules for me with some IE, but mostly IF. So today I a decided to use IF to learn to manage my diabetes. As much as I like the idea of IE, I cannot think of myself as it "not being about the weight". I saw people on FB IE who have been doing IE for years and never lost a lb. They speak of getting comfortable in their body. I'm sure that is important for someone who doesn't have a health problem and have eating disorders. I did not see anyone who was losing weight or even trying to on the site I saw.
One of the keys for diabetic management is losing a minimum of 7% of their weight. I think it is great that many of you do this and live happily with it. I've tried it for years, suddenly realized that I cannot do it. Good luck on y'all's journey. I admire you for being able to IE and wish I had known when I was a young girl that there was nothing wrong with me eating that way. Maybe I would not be in the condition I am today.
If your fasting BS is high, you can eat, you just have to be mindful of what you eat.
I've been using IE to eat to my BS meter. With all the books in the world, nobody can tell us exactly what will impact our BS. But, the meter can give us that information and we can use it.
I could never do OMAD. I exercise and my body needs fuel more than just once a day. That's what food is in its purest form. Fuel. I haven't binged in a couple of weeks now.
I stripped my IE back down to:. 1. Eat when hungry until satisfied. 2. Eat what you're craving in the context of #1. This, along with my meter, is teaching me what to do.
I expect bumps along the way. I do find myself a bit anxious when I want something, but am not hungry. But, I feel so much better mentally and physically. My BS isn't exactly where I want it, but it is improving each week. That's good enough for me.
Yeah, losing weight helps with BS, but you can improve your BS even before you lose weight.
beginme - Thanks for sharing your story. I appreciate it. Actually, I am still using my meter to decide if I need to eat or not. With all that is going on in my life right now, I haven't been able to do it to the extent that I want to, but what I am able to do really has helped.
One of the things I did like in Dr. May's book is the thought that you used... food is fuel. Some of us need more fuel than others and not all foods work as fuel for me. I am learning that some of the foods I like seems to sedate me rather than give me energy. My meter has a tendency to show me that as well.
Hi! I wanted to pop in and see if this (or any other intuitive eating) thread was still active I have just started IE myself and it has blown my mind! Can't believe it was this simple all along. I am eating whatever i like, i have learnt to feel true hunger (don't think i ever knew what that felt like before), and i am naturally eating less than i ever thought i could!
I lost 3 stone previously through calorie counting, which was necessary (the weight loss i mean) as i am T1 diabetic. I would still like to lose another 2 or 3 stone, or at least just get down to a natural weight, but i was totally burnt out by calorie counting. I had developed a restriction/binge cycle and i realised this wasn't sustainable. So glad to have found IE!
Hi! I wanted to pop in and see if this (or any other intuitive eating) thread was still active I have just started IE myself and it has blown my mind! Can't believe it was this simple all along. I am eating whatever i like, i have learnt to feel true hunger (don't think i ever knew what that felt like before), and i am naturally eating less than i ever thought i could!
I lost 3 stone previously through calorie counting, which was necessary (the weight loss i mean) as i am T1 diabetic. I would still like to lose another 2 or 3 stone, or at least just get down to a natural weight, but i was totally burnt out by calorie counting. I had developed a restriction/binge cycle and i realised this wasn't sustainable. So glad to have found IE!
I imagine a lot of us are still checking the thread for new activity. Welcome. IE is truly life changing. Learning how to make peace with my body has bee one of the greatest things I've done for myself. Good luck
Thanks Palestrina, i do hope it's active, as i am probably doing my boyfriend's head in with all my IE talk lately I need an outlet to let out my excitement! Haha.
The last 3 days i have waited until i am 100% sure i am feeling real hunger before i eat. I have realised now that if i'm not sure, i am not truly hungry. It's very obvious when i am ready to eat! I was definitely eating because of mouth hunger for most of my life, i believe.
Today I got hungry at about 10am, and i fancied porridge but also pastries. I made some porridge and bought a vanilla cream crown. I ate half of both and for the first time, stopped slightly before i was full. I have been leaving myself a tiny bit too full after my meals so it was great to stop when i was satisfied instead of going that 1 or 2 bites too far! I enjoyed not having any discomfort in my stomach.
It took until 2pm for me to be hungry again, and i made the most amazing sandwich. We have the luxury of freedom with break times at my work, so i have access to plenty of shops and food places so i can get just what i crave. I had chilli king prawns on warm, buttered olive bread and marie rose sauce. It was, genuinely, the best sandwich i have made myself, and i even left a bite as i was full. It was only a small sandwich to begin with, too. I definitely get full way faster than i had anticipated.
I will probably eat once more today now, and i know i won't have had more than about 1300 calories overall (I'm still not past quickly adding them up in my head, but only after i have eaten). And it took zero restriction, overthinking, stress or effort. I am so happy
Palestrina, you are correct when you say it is life changing. 2 weeks ago i was extremely down, thinking i would have to count calories for life as i just couldn't be trusted around food. So glad i came across forums like this one! The Overfed Head was a great, great read, too.
I need an outlet to let out my excitement! Haha.