[QUOTE=SouthernMaven;4662689]Right now I'm having a bit of a struggle trying to recognize "true" hunger, and again, it is no doubt different for different people. Which makes it even harder to describe what it is, as we are all unique. Years ago I had a (very thin) friend who only knew she was hungry when she got a splitting headache. She was so disinterested in food that she would go very long periods of time between meals. When she would finally stop to get something to eat I would marvel at how slowly she would eat. And she was also amazingly picky about what she ate - had a very limited diet. Didn't like to eat out; would eat pretty much the same thing over and over again. She literally "ate to live" and that was pretty much it. Always fascinated me, and I was pretty thin myself at the time. But I know I always took a LOT more pleasure in food than she did!
The prices on Amazon for the book are ridiculously high. I can post the website where you can buy it but not sure if I'm supposed to. Or I can just send you a PM and give it to you. If I can post the website, let me know.[QUOTE]
The way you describe how your friend ate is the way I ate growing up. I just was not interested in food. It was just another one of those necessities like breathing. Oh, how I wish I could feel that way again.
You are right that Amazon's price for the book is way too much. I found Suzanna's website and blog. I copied what she had on the blog and am reading it now. Thanks.
Glad y'all were able to find Suzanna's website. I noticed she's not keeping up the blog very well. I think she does a lot of one-on-one counseling.
Is anyone here a member of Rob Steven's program? It's very pricey, but I don't mind paying it if it's worth it. Would love feedback from anyone who is or has been a member. Thanks!
My next-door neighbor is on medical leave after surgery, and she called this morning and asked if I wanted to meet her for breakfast. Now, in the past, this would have sent me into a tailspin - what can I eat? How do I fit it into my daily carb/calorie/point/whatever allotment? I'd have stressed and stressed, to the point I might have actually made up an excuse why I couldn't go.
But not today! No sirree! I said "sure!"
We decided to go to a local chain which serves a menu which can best be described as brunch food. I wasn't particularly hungry but could certainly eat, and it actually worked out well as I promised my husband I'd cook his favorite tonight (pork chops) and knew I'd have to eat something at some point during the day. So I asked her for her recommendations as I haven't been to this particular restaurant in about five years, mainly because I think of it as being somewhat "heavy" food.
She recommended the Eggs Benedict, and that sounded as good as anything, so I got the same. But it was so amazing; I knew I could get anything on the menu I wanted, but I just wanted...whatever. Before I'd have either gotten something "healthy" (but not necessarily what I wanted) OR I would have said "okay, I'm blowing it on this meal, so I'm going to get the worst/most fattening/most calorie laden/most forbidden item on the menu." I think y'all know what I'm saying.
Not today. NOT today.
Today I ate like a thin person.
So the server brings us our meals and we begin to eat. Even though I'm having a very nice visit with my neighbor, I am consciously paying attention to what I'm eating. I'm enjoying the richness of the Hollandaise sauce over a poached egg, the saltiness of the Canadian Bacon, and just the general yumminess of that wonderful English muffin. It was really good!
We each had two Eggs Benedict on our plate as well as some potatoes. Didn't care for the potatoes and ate maybe a fork full of them; just really played with them, actually. And I only ate one of the two Eggs Benedict; that was plenty.
So we talked some more and she said "Is that all you're going to eat?" She's a pretty small person but does watch her weight very carefully. We are both middle-aged, she just a couple of years younger than me. I looked at my plate and said "yes, that's it. I'm satisfied." She knows I've been trying to lose weight and she asked how that was going. I told her that I'd been low-carbing it for several weeks, took off about six pounds, and that I was now doing IE. I then looked at HER plate and like me, she'd pretty much ignored the potatoes, and she had eaten both poached eggs and canadian bacon slices but had completely ignored the English muffin.
She was in NO way being judgmental, she was just curious - so she asks "Why did you eat what you did? You ate one whole Eggs Benedict, with the muffin, rather than eat the two eggs & leave the muffin (as she had)? Wouldn't you have been more satisfied that way? I try to avoid the carbs as much as I can. Didn't that work for you?" Again, understand - not being judgmental, but truly curious. I said "I ate the English Muffin because I wanted it! And if I was really, really hungry, I'd have eaten everything on my plate. But I was completely satisfied after what I ate, so that's enough." I could tell she was still confused, but she seemed to accept what I was saying at face value.
What was the most satisfying element of the entire experience, however, was the complete and total lack of guilt I felt about eating what I did. It is so liberating.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that about IE. I can eat whatever I want. So far, 9 times out of 10 what I want isn't junky. Doesn't mean what I want isn't high fat or high calorie or high carb it may be all of those things - but it isn't junky. Not to say I haven't had a couple of junky meals here and there.
SouthernMaven - it is soooo liberating. I also find that food not controlling ME has been liberating. I'm not driven to eat. It's ok to be hungry. But it's also ok to feed yourself when you are hungry.
I've noticed I've been eating slightly past satiety lately or not been really, really hungry before I eat - so I need to watch it! I'm grateful that's all I need to worry about. Of course, it's a massively important thing to worry about!
I'm also supremely grateful that I don't need to 'transition into maintenance' or change my eating again. Nope. This is every day for the rest of my life. And no suffering. Because I'm eating better, tastier food and enjoying it more.
I've noticed I've been eating slightly past satiety lately or not been really, really hungry before I eat - so I need to watch it! I'm grateful that's all I need to worry about. Of course, it's a massively important thing to worry about!
This brings up a question for me - do we need to be really hungry before we eat? I've been wondering that. I wasn't super hungry when I ate this morning, and I really wasn't hungry when I ate supper either (eight hours after brunch). No stomach growling, maybe just a *very* slight empty feeling. Is that where I need to be before I eat? I'm afraid of getting TOO hungry for fear of overeating.
I lost 40lb about 3 yr. ago but have gained some back and haven't figure out what's wrong. I did start exercising about 2 yr. ago and things seem to get worse after that. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I'm back after my calorie counting holiday and have got shot of my 8lb regain and stabilised for a few days at 196 (stupid plateau weight!)
My 30DS DVD just arrived, so I'm getting stuck into that, hopefully I'll have the courage to start tomorrow. As they say, in a month's time you'll be glad you started... a month ago. I definitely want to be listening closely to what my body wants to be fed now I'm ramping up the exercise, because I don't know what to expect.
Debating what to do with the scale. I've been weighing daily to look at trends and see how my weight reacts to certain foods and activities. It's been really helpful, now I know what to expect from the scale at TOM and, say, if I eat a pizza or something. I don't freak out nearly as much about what the scale says. Call it exposure therapy if you like. But if it starts going over 200 over the next month it's getting put in the cupboard where it can't annoy me! Maybe
Basically I'm in a hurry to get to 175, and I don't want to do it by undoing all the good work I've done mentally. The calorie counting thing worked for me for a fortnight, and now I can't be bothered with it any more, so back to what I was doing. I never went off IE anyway, just became more mindful if I was about to stuff cookies in my mouth because of stress. That kind of restriction I am more than ok with, as it's forced me to change my behaviour for the better, and find other ways of dealing with things
Soooo... Scary exercise starting tomorrow, not sure what to do with the scale, desperate to ditch the next 21lbs and also to break this plateau, and looking forward to what my body tells me it wants to be fed in connection to said exercise, the experiment continues.
SouthernMaven, I love your eggs benedict story!! That's the first thing that made me fall in love with IE - that once you change your mindset around food, it's amazing how quickly you really can begin acting and eating like a naturally small person
I think at the beginning it's really hard to understand when you're hungry and when you're not. Personally, I'd rather wait until I know I'm hungry. That being said... I'm hungry now and it's too late to eat before spin class (15 minutes). But I'm not gonna die in the next hour.
It's very hard to avoid eating at social occasions and family meal times when not hungry. That is one of the downsides of IE. But I have found it is possible to eat a small amount of food - not enough to truly satisfy hunger - but enough to numb it and tide me over until a planned meal.
But I have found it is possible to eat a small amount of food - not enough to truly satisfy hunger - but enough to numb it and tide me over until a planned meal.
Shiv - as you know, I do a lot of intense exercise and I sustain a lot of minor injuries (knock on wood so far that's all it is!) that cause swelling. I have a lot of ups and downs in my daily weight. If you're committed to the 30DS, then you're going to have to accept some fluctuations, particularly in the first week or so.
You may find it helpful to be really 'treat' yourself with some good healthy meals. Complex carbs from a variety of plant foods, protein and good quality fats that will help you crave sugar less. Make sure the food you're eating is really delicious. Your body really doesn't want cookies, but it does want to be full of energy and well-nourished. If it isn't, then it will crave cookies because that's easy energy.
If you haven't been taking body measurements, then you might want to before starting the 30DS (or if you've already started today, then measure asap). I wish I had.
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(stupid plateau weight!)
