@Jen

One pound is two glasses of water. You've been feeling great and are having increased fitness at the gym. I would take it in stride. NSV sharing is a good idea as I've had a few recently:

1) Joint pain is greatly diminished. When I started IE in February I was taking NSAIDs (pain medication) every day because my ankles hurt so bad. Since then I've stopped taking pain medications and for the most part my joints feel really good. I walked for several miles last weekend and I was a little stiff and sore but it went away within 24 hours.

2) My fitness has improved. The walk from the bus station to work used to take me 15 minutes and now it only takes me 10. I can walk more quickly and am less out of breath. I can walk up a flight of stairs and not be quite so winded as I was before. I have more muscling in my legs and greater stability/balance.

3) I haven't had a serious binge in months. Sometimes I still eat too much but it's not on the same level as it was before. I used to eat so much that I was very uncomfortable most of the time.

4) I can enjoy food in public and with family and friends. I'm no longer worried as much about what people will think of me if I eat a certain kind of food. Since I don't diet I'm more relaxed with food in general.

5) I can keep food around the house- Tasty, delicious food- and I don't have to worry about eating it all in one sitting. I can save money and buy big size bags of chocolates or a quart of ice cream. They last for months now, instead of getting wolfed down in a binge that same weekend. I don't have to practice portion control or buy 100 calorie packs. I fill my plate full of food and I eat until I'm satisfied. Last night I cooked spaghetti and salad. I ate the salad and I was full- no room for spaghetti. I put the leftovers away and did something else.

6) I have much more self control about eating out. I used to order delivery compulsively ($50 worth of chinese food every weekend just for me), or I'd get hamburgers/ fast food all the time. It was expensive and I wasn't even enjoying it because I would just hork it down. Now I maybe eat out once a week. I don't crave restaurant food. This morning I had the notion to get a bagel sandwich for breakfast but I thought I'd rather save my money and just eat peanut butter and toast like usual.

All of this is thanks to IE. I haven't lost loads of weight, maybe 20 pounds in total, but I'm losing about 5 pounds a month at this rate. It seems to be picking up. The important thing for me is to really, truly eat what I want. I would not have been able to resist eating a bagel sandwich today if I had not let myself eat a bagel sandwich every day for breakfast in April. I wouldn't have ice cream in the freezer that is getting frostburned if I didn't let myself have ice cream for a few meals. Sometimes I still do, even.

I feel like this really is a permanent solution. I am not worried that the weight I have lost will come back because I'm not forcing myself to eat a certain way. I'm not worried that I will lose control one day and *eat all the things*. The fear of going off the wagon is nonexistent because there is no wagon. I couldn't go back to stuffing myself because I'm so much more connected with my body now. This way feels good, and natural. I'm just coming back home to a way of feeding myself that I was born with.

I'm fuming mad right now! Sorry ladies I really want to read and respond to the recent posts but I need a vent!! One of my colleagues just went on fakebook and trashed me and my business. She said mean awful things and put them out for all my clients, colleagues, friends and family to see. I never experienced anything like that and I'm so pissed off!!! I just ate a whole bag of chips.

@wannabeskinny: that is awful and 100% immature of your colleague to do. I'm so sorry that happened. no guilt about the chips, ok? crap happens and everyone emotionally eats. Have you tried the 1 minute mediation or going to the pocket hunger coach to see how it can help you through this moment or moments?? you hang in there - people see through those who are not real.

@Locke: that was a great great list and I am so happy for you. After reading your list, I agree this is the only way to be. I do not obsess about food and it feels right. I'm so proud of you!!!

oh no Wannabe! That is terrible! I would be mad too. Can you remove it or untag your business?

I just experienced a bad situation with my mom and I came home and ate 3 bowls of cereal for lunch. I didn't eat until I was stuffed so I guess thats something. I was mad and sad as usual.

Locke, wow that is so awesome. you have come such a long way! I love being able to have all the foods in the house and not feel like I have to eat them just because they are there. One of the biggest victories of IE for me.

Wannabe, some people's immaturity astounds me. That's awful and I'm sorry you're hurting from their idiocy.

Locke, I'm jealous of all of those NSVs. I ache all over all the time right now. I can't wait to get more of this bulk off of my frame to hopefully get some relief!

Thanks for the support. I had a good night sleep but I still woke up angry and frustrated. I do not want to engage in a Facebook fight or say anything that I will regret later. She did not name any names or my business but I know that it was about me because she quoted thanks for my website. She quoted things that took me a very long time to write and edit and publish, she quoted words that I was anguished over while I was writing them. People I know liked her status simply because they didn't even know that she was talking about me. Part of me wants to be the bigger person and ignore it but another part of me wants to cut her down a notch. I'm a grown woman I am not one for petty fights and I'm not in high school anymore I don't like this type of behavior and I don't like being put in the position where I have to engage in this type of behavior.

Anyway I am glad to read about everyone's non-scale victories. My non-scale victory is that I did not step on the scale yet. I'm truly honoring my hunger.

@Locke that's a great list! 5 pounds a month is a nice rate, but more importantly you're able to enjoy life without obsessing over food.

@Wannabe

I would be raging, too. I wonder why she would do that.

Well, yesterday there was a story in an industry magazine in which I was featured for a recent achievement. Something I wrote was quoted which she then required anonymously and trashed. My guess is that she doesn't believe I deserve the recognition or success I am having. The weird thing is she's been in the business longer and has accumulated quite a bit of success, eat more than I have yet. So it's almost senseless to even pay attention to the crumbs I'm getting. She has plenty going on in her career, where does she find the joy in raining on my parade? I've always been kind to her, we've worked together lots and she's always been a bit of a nutter but I've done nothing to her. I'm not looking for support from her, but dang do you have to drag my name through the mud for sport?

Special needs wannabe, special needs......

Y'all, I'm STRUGGLING these past couple of days. I don't know what triggered it but I'm just RAVENOUS-- all I can think about it food, food, food. I haven't binged and I'm really fighting the urge to do so. I thought maybe a little treat would help so last night I did eat a package of peanut butter cups (2)-- always my candy of choice-- but the chocolate have me HORRIBLE reflex which I'm still feeling today. NOT worth it and it didn't help with my cravings. And today, even while I'm enjoying my food and being careful and could clearly feel I was full, I was just wanting to shovel all of my lunch into mouth. I didn't, but even as I was putting the leftovers away I was half thinking about just bingeing on it. I didn't *need* it but I felt like I did! Ugh.

Just struggling. Not ruining myself, but just not feeling that awesome contentment I had all week. Any ideas?

So true ha ha!

BamaGal i've been there too. Especially in the beginning. The problem with IE is that it seems so natural and she comes so easy because of the sturdy logic. However if you've been using food to cope with emotions for a long time your body doesn't have much reason to go along with your plans, especially since eating is so effective at coping. When you start to feel this discontentment it means that something is up. You're stressing out about something and it's important to name it and address it. You don't have to solv all your problems in one sitting but for example lets say that I'm unusually hungry and reaching for more food than usuall AND feeling dissatisfied with it. I see that as a golden opportunity to figure out what's eating me. Let's say after careful consideration I realize that I'm feeling upset about a fight I just had with my husband. Bingo, there's the source of my anxiety. Now ican set out to address this issue in a REAL way rather than eating peanut butter cups. It helps to make a list of options and it may look like this:

- speak to my husband about it
- write in my journal
- call a friend or therapist
- go for a walk to clear my head
- do something nice for my husband
- meditate
- allow myself to really sit and wallow on the feeling for 10 minutes
- distract myself with a movie, nap, or shopping trip
- have a good cry
- binge

See, when there are real options you may not reach for food. My rule of thumb though is that if my level of anxiety is above a 7 on a scale of 1-10 I go ahead and eat without guilt. It's the most compassionate thing to do. The whole point of this is to have eating as an option but not let it be the go to option. Even normal eaters comfort eat sometimes, they just do it rarely and without guilt.

@Bama,

I second what Wannabe said. If you're not hungry then you're wanting to eat because of something else. You need to figure out what that something is and address it.
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I had a great IE weekend. I think calorie counting last week opened my eyes to how it feels to be really hungry so I've been letting myself get a bit more hungry between meals. I feel better now. I also dropped four pounds over the past week. I walked for several miles on Sunday morning. It was such a pleasure. Thank goodness my joints are getting better these days. I wanted to go further but my ankles started to hurt. It was about 3 miles total. I'm hoping to work up to 6 miles and walk all the way to the lake in downtown Oakland. It's such a pleasure to walk and enjoy the weather and my city. W00t!

holy crap Locke - that is AWESOME!!! so proud of your accomplishments and renewed commitment to IE. You go girl!!!

Well as long as YOU believe that you deserve the recognition don't worry about her. Some people just cannot handle others getting recognition, just know that the problem lies within her and NOT you. Don't let your emotions make you overeat, that is giving her more attention in your life than she deserves. Hold your head up and be proud of yourself!!!