All great achievements require time...I second that Maya!
 

Tonia...That is my motto everyday that I have to tell myself. I have lost alot, but intuitive eating really takes time. I started June 1st of 04 reading The Weigh Down Diet by Gwen Shamblin..this is where working your way to feeling TRUE hunger clicked for me. I literally ate whatever I wanted from June until Jan. I mean if I wanted Oreos for lunch..that is what I had. I went from 366.2 to 331.8 Jan. 1st 05 eating this way. I ate only when I felt hungry and I learned a basic number scale..one to ten...When I eat, I ask myself (yes I STILL do this today...and yes it gets old) How are you feeling? When I feel like I am a 5..I stop. I made a pack with myself..the very few times I get to 5.5/6..I will VERBALLY announce it to my husband. It helps keep me accountable. So the key is to learn what your 5/5.5 is..where you FEEL the food in your stomach...but you can still deep inhale breath and you don't feel the liquid when you drink. Another little thing I discovered when you are TRUELY hunger..or when your stomach is empty..you will feel a splash when you drink. Sounds a litte quirky..but was all about looking for signs to help me judge true hunger.

In Jan. 05 I started incorping more whole foods, vegs. and fruits..as I know eating Oreos for lunch was not healthy....but it was part of the process for me. This was the key that helped me break the deprivation feeling. If I knew when I waited for TRUE hunger..I could eat whatever my heart desired..it calmed me. It was very crucial for me. So as you can see...it has really slowed down....70 pounds in three years. But...it is a HUGE accomplishment for me because I have not gained it back. I attribute that to lishening to my body.

I finally joined a gym this month...so I am beginning to strength training and looking into maybe doing a protein shake for lunch to push me on to my goal of 199. I am almost 5'9"....so I look pretty good at 199.

Thanks for the :carrot:!!!! I am a little modest about it..I think it has been awhile...but I have done good..I keep telling myself..even though it has been awhile..I am NOT gaining..I am in control on what I put in my mouth..food no longer controls me. A b-day party no longer revolves around the cake at the end and how much COMFORT it can bring me. It revolves around the family members I have not seen in awhile...and if I have enough room left over to not push me over a 6...then great...if not..then I don't think cake is leaving the planet any time soon.:D

I tend to do the same thing if I dont eat... get ravenous and feel almost panicked until I eat. Then I tend to overeat all the wrong things. So, if I DO forget to eat, and get ravenous, what works for me is to eat just a bite of something and wait 5 minutes. Maybe a bite of banana, or 3 almonds, or a swig of skim milk. Then wait for the ol' blood sugar to go up a little and I feel better and can make a rational choice.

Skinny4baby - how funny is it that when I first recognized the fact that I needed to lose weight/be healthy that i picked up The Weigh Down Diet. They were offering classes at our church at the time (I was struggling financially at the time so didn't go to the classes). That must be where I got that idea ~ I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it!

I think it is fabulous how you have evolved with the process - you are obviously doing fabulous and should be proud of yourself! I think it is working better for me just to simply not get hungry, though. Like others (including Lyn :) ) if I get that hungry I am ravenous and tend to eat waaayyyy too much. I do like your solutions, Lyn, they certainly seem reasonable.

Teaching means I am totally on a schedule (which mostly I like) and if I am not hungry at 9:30 (or break) but get hungry at 10:15 I have to wait until at least 11:30 to eat - by then I am starving and eat poorly. I can solve that simply by eating at that first break, ya know? Maybe at some point in this venture I will be more in tune to my body and better be able to handle this but for now this is working (or, hopefully it is, I don't weigh in until Monday :dizzy:)

btw and totally off topic, Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey are my favorite people to quote - they say things so well!

Unfortunately, intuitive eating doesn't work for me. I tried the Weigh-down program, but my internal triggers are all messed up. Maybe years of overeating and eating for all of the wrong reasons has messed up my internal signals. Afterall, if I my signals did work, why am I overweight now?