Beginme, I generally don't post here any more as I am currently following OMAD (one meal a day), so I don't feel that I have anything to add. But I do read over the posts from time to time, because I still believe that IE is a goal that all should aspire to.

That said, I've posted very similar concerns here before, and your post spoke to me as someone who had absolutely no choice but to do something different in order to lose weight. That's when I decided that Intermittent Fasting of some description would probably be the best thing for me, and I finally settled on OMAD.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your A1C? My last reading was 5.8, considered pre-diabetic. I am 65 years old and my weight problem is simply post-menopausal weight gain, not a result of an eating disorder. My doctor hasn't even discussed Metformin at this point, but I have no intention of getting on that drug.

I am not here to try and sway you away from IE - as I said, it is my ultimate goal. But at some point each individual has to make a decision, and for me, the health issues are paramount.

I am a huge fan of Jason Fung and his methods, and although I still follow the IE dictum of not weighing myself, I know that I have lost inches. I only get weighed at the doctor's office but haven't been there in a while, but when I do go again I know the scale will show a weight loss and it is also likely that my A1C will be lower.

It took me a while to finally accept the fact that IE wasn't going to work for me in my efforts to improve my health.

OMAD is as close as I can get right now to being able to eat somewhat intuitively, because I REFUSE to count calories, carbs, macros, or any of that other nonsense that people get totally obsessive over. I just use common sense to limit my carb intake without forbidding any type of food. I have moved completely away from processed foods of any kind, but I have also listened to my body when it tells me I need more carbs, and I get those from whole foods.

It really hasn't been easy, I have to admit. I've had some slips along the way. But I keep plugging along, knowing I'm doing the right thing for my health.

This is IN NO WAY a criticism of anyone practicing IE; we all simply have to do what is best for us in our current situations.

SM, I do appreciate your reply. OMAD isn't an option for me, but I am glad that it works for you.


I just came across this inspiring blog. Sounds a lot like IE in some ways.

https://medium.com/gethealthy/i-just...4a7#.qo5o9mblf

Oh I hope I didn't leave you with the impression that I was trying to influence you in any way to change your WOE! That was not my intention at all.

You just seemed lost, and since I've been there as well, I just wanted to offer support.

I don't think it's at all necessary for you to go on a "diet," especially since you seemed to really be doing well with IE. But if I understood you correctly, you were concerned because even though you felt IE was really beneficial for you in many ways, one of those ways was not weight loss. And because of your diagnosis of diabetes, you seem very conflicted about changing your WOE in order to lose weight.

What I did find a bit concerning is your comment "I've been basically binging ever since." I think we can agree that that is not a good thing. I know it's precisely because of your very real conflict that this is happening. But I also know that you will ultimately make a decision that is right for you.

I wish you well in your journey.

I am new here, but I have read every word of this thread. So much of this has spoken to me - the lifelong eating disorders, habits picked up from parents, the emotional distress, etc. I am at the place now where I really want to work through all of the psychological stress behind my disordered eating, and I want to honor both my body and mind. While I will still continue to weigh myself, I hope it is okay if I hang out in here as I am looking to implement other tenets of IE.

:welcome2:brd88

First, welcome brd88!! This is a wonderful group of supportive folks.

SM, you are right! I have been feeling conflicted and I didn't take your post the wrong way at all. I really do appreciate your posts and comments. Lot's of things to consider.

Actually, since I posted back to this thread, the binging has improved. I think that the diagnosis was such a shock that I entered my "pre-diet farewell tour" from years gone by. Even after all the IE, the diet mentality can come back in a flash and transport my to the worst of my diet years. It almost feels like some sort of PTSD. Just amazing what we can do to ourselves.

I'm starting from scratch with IE, knowing that my body seeks good health and that I will get to good health by listening.

Thank you, beginme! I'm right here with you starting from scratch!

Question for everyone: what hunger cue(s) do you find yourself relying on most often? I guess I am one of those people that just doesn't get the stomach growl (mine has never growled), so I don't seem to realize I am truly hungry until the headache comes. I would definitely like to avoid waiting that long, if possible. I do get that empty stomach feeling, but then I never know if that's true hunger or if it's gas. In the past, I have gotten the feeling and then burped and it goes away. And then other times, it just feels empty and stays that way, but I don't address it in time and end up getting a headache. Any advice here would be great!

I've heard other people say they get headaches.

I was hoping to avoid this if at all possible. I REALLY hate headaches. :(


Since that empty stomach feeling persisted all morning without any gas, I decided to go ahead and eat, and I think that was the right thing to do. I was satisfied after very little, which was definitely interesting. I ordered a full footlong veggie sub because it made more financial sense to buy that and have leftovers than to buy the 6", but I was definitely afraid that I would binge, especially because I had been restricting via bite counting for the past week. Surprisingly, I got the full feeling after about 2" of sub and half my cookie. No wonder naturally thin eaters are thin! In the past, I could've easily put away a 6", a bag of chips, 2 cookies, and a drink! I would've been miserably full, of course, but it definitely wouldn't have been a struggle to shovel it in.
I feel so much more in control now that I know I am feeding myself when I'm hungry and listening to my body for its natural stopping point. What an empowering feeling!

Totally just overate and I am DEATHLY afraid of gaining. :(
I don't think I'm as ready as I thought I was for IE. I think I will try again in a few weeks, but for now, I am definitely still stuck in the diet mindset.

After a month of IE you'll never go back. I only lost 40lb and never go below 150 but I can't diet anymore.

I definitely want to adopt IE as my WOE forever. I think I still need to do a lot of mental work, though. I'm not at the place now where I feel like I am okay with gaining and not feeling like a failure if I overeat.

IE is a great process to start eliminating that mentality, though. The goal of IE is a good relationship with food and peace of mind. The body usually finds a healthy size if we listen to what it really needs.

If nothing else, just be kind to yourself.

Beginme: Im glad you are feeling a little better now. I think being diagnosed as diabetic and told I have to diet and exercise would throw me into a tailspin too.

Welcome brd88: IE has been and continues to be a long journey with many steps forward and many steps back, but if you don't give up, and stay open to learning new things about yourself and trying to remain aware, I think it can make a huge difference.

I had to think about how I know I am hungry now and I realized I can't put it into words so well. Sometimes my stomach growls but not always. I have been eating based on hunger for so long now, that I realized that my hunger cue now is, if food doesn't sound good to me,I am not really hungry. I do get a little emptiness but I notice that when Im hungry is when I start thinking about food. I now very rarely eat when Im not physically hungry because it feels awful! Like, stuffing food into my body when I don't want or need it, its hard to do and it doesn't taste good and I almost never do it anymore unless I need to take medicine and need food with it, or Im not going to be able to eat for 7 hours so I eat something proactively.

I still sometimes eat something just because it is "there" but if Im not hungry, it just doesn't taste good to me at all anymore. Last night I had this idea that I really wanted a piece of toast before bed. I didn't think I felt hungry but the idea wouldn't go away so I eventually made the toast. I took a few bites and realized I was so not hungry and the toast didn't taste good at all. I threw it away. The way I got to that point is by having lots of eating experiences when I am physically hungry, and less and less eating experiences when I am not hungry.

I have been sick all week and not had much of an appetite. In the past, I would have tried to capitalize on that for weight loss or started obsessing about food. This time I barely even thought about it. I just didn't eat much and didn't worry about it. I have finally learned that hunger really isn't an emergency. I know if I do get hungry, that I will feed myself.

One thing that has helped me is having a busy job that takes place with no break and during typical mealtimes, so I have had to learn to go 6 or 7 hours without food. That has also helped me learn what hunger REALLY is. I don't know, it took a long time to get here and I still have learning and growing to do, but lately I feel like I have really begun to overcome some major IE hurdles and finally begun intuitive eating as a way of life for the most part. I am still working on it though. :)

Thanks for the encouragement, beginme and Pinkhippie!
I definitely want to get there. For now, I am practicing OMAD for a while, which is a lot more intuitive than counting bites like I have been in the past. I have my meal whenever I am hungry and eat, though it's not IE in that I don't necessarily stop before I'm full since I know I'm not eating again until the next day. I have only been eating a plate's worth of food with a glass of wine, so I am definitely not gorging, but I'm not eating so little that I can't make it the rest of the day. So far, I have not experienced any true hunger until the next day, so I think I am on the right track.

brd88: glad OMAD is helping you! I imagine that eating only one meal a day definitely helps you understand what hunger really feels like. I have tried to do OMAD. and the many different methods of intermittent fasting, or just two times a day of eating in the past but find it really makes me feel crummy, so I stopped. What I started doing that really helped me was to stop snacking and just eat meals. Usually 3 a day, but sometimes 4 if I was hungry. That helped me take my food seriously, eat only when I was hungry, sit down and eat it, and stopped mindless eating. I'm glad there are so many ways to get in tune with our bodies true hunger signals, since we are all so different. Good luck to you! :)

Pinkhippie, are you where you want to be weight wise?

Pinkhippie: that makes a lot of sense! You definitely have to do what works for you. For whatever reason, I am always more successful when I implement some type of IF. I don't know why, but whenever I follow one of the protocols, I never binge, and I usually lose weight slowly but steadily without feeling hungry. It really can't get much better than that in terms of "dieting," I guess. I just always get so impatient. I need to work on being more patient with weight loss. Only weighing once a week has seemed to be helpful for that so far. I also need to do a bit more work on mindless eating. Maybe I will make monthly goals for myself. Like April will be all about mindful eating, taking my time and focusing on my meal. And then May can be a focus on another tenet of IE - maybe the rejecting diet mentality component. I know I need A LOT of work with that, so that might take a few months actually...

Carolr: I pretty much am where I want to be weight wise. I haven't weighed myself in a while, but every time I do, I have been holding about 5 pounds above where I was before I had kids. My BMI is in the mid 23 range, all my old clothes from my 20's fit, and I am wearing a size 10. I have noticed in pictures of myself recently that I am looking smaller then I have in a long time and more like I looked before kids. My face in pictures looks a lot more defined than it did even a few months ago. Of course I think to myself that just 5 pounds more would be nice, but honestly I am pretty happy with how I look right now. I know if I exercised regularly, I would probably be completely satisfied with how I look. I just seem to have a real issue with exercise. Luckily my job is pretty active.

brd88:

I think the most important thing in the IE process is just to be patient with yourself and experiment. Regard each "non success" as a learning opportunity and keep on trucking. I am still working on the mindful eating. I find it hard to not read and eat at the same time as they are two of my favorite activities. :) I found once I stopped weighing myself and focusing on my appearance and more started focusing on how I felt that things worked out a lot better for me. Have you read any IE books that you find helpful? That non dieting mentality is tough! Reading a diet book used to be one of my favorite things to do, and now I don't even want to read them. If I try, I find them boring and pointless. It's a pretty big change. I know for a long time I tried to not read diet books even when I really wanted to, but now I just don't have the desire.

The authors of Intuitive Eating book have come out with a workbook on sale at Amazon.com. I just ordered it. Since I lean so much toward IE and diets just do not work for me, I hope this will help me to be a better Intuitive Eater.

I looked it up, it looks really interesting! Please come back and let us know what you think of it when you get it. :)

Hi, Pinkhippie:
Thanks for those points! I haven't read the original IE book, though I participated in a religious IE program back in middle school, which has many of the same tenets. I should probably read the book, though, since I am no longer religious and can't really use too much more of that program.

I have decided to try to work on small things each month like I mentioned before. I ended up binging on Monday, so I tried to loosen the reins some on what I was doing. OMAD definitely is working for me since I only seem to get true hunger once a day, but I was also heavily restricting what I ate in that meal to try to accelerate weight loss. What do you all think about this for my April goals (I started yesterday)?

Eat what you want during your meal when you experience true hunger.
Eat until you are satisfied, even if that means eating a larger portion than you "think" you should have to lose weight.
Give yourself permission to do this, and don't feel guilty about it.
Weigh only once a week.
Go for a long walk at least once a week.

I realize that I may maintain or gain next week since I am going to stop restricting so much, and that is okay. The trend is still downward, and I know my body will adjust and appreciate that I am not focusing so much on eating the bare minimum to avoid headaches. I know I will eventually adjust to smaller portion sizes. I think the biggest thing is that I need to be consistent. So this month, I am just focusing on eating once a day without worrying about calories and getting in one long walk a week since I truly enjoy long walks. I figure these are enough to get me started for now.

brd88 Hi. I don't think I've seen you before. I'm just getting back on here so welcome.

I don't think you have to worry too much about portions when eating OMAD. I personally believe as long as you are listening to your body and going by how you feel. If you can tell when you are satisfied, I think that would be the signal you would need that says "I've had enough". I used to know that feeling, but I've eaten by the clock so long that I'm trying to get back in touch with those feelings again.

Pinkhippie I'm so glad you shared about how you know when you are hungry. I don't always feel actual hunger. In fact, I have eaten at times when I just felt like I needed to eat, but no stomach signals. I am on Trulicity injections once a week for diabetes and sometimes I get the hypoglycemic feelings before I even realize that I am hungry. I'm slowly learning that I actually have this feeling that I should eat something just before I get to that point, but I didn't recognize it. After reading what you wrote, maybe I don't get the hunger pangs so much as I just get the feeling that it is time for me to eat something.

Actually the blood sugar isn't so low that it is dangerous, it is just coming down to where it should be and I can actually go a little longer while I prepare a meal or whatever with no danger of passing out which I have learned is a good thing not a bad thing. It is just good to know what my body is trying to tell me as it adjusts to getting back to normal.

My IE workbook is supposed to be here tomorrow so I'm going to start reading the book again so I'll be ready to start the workbook when it does get here. I'm looking forward to that.

Hi, Patty!
I am new around here :)
Yep, I am trying to follow that eating until satisfied signal from now on. Before, I was really restricting what I ate in that meal, trying to eat the least possible amount. I need to get away from that thinking.

Just learned of a book by Michelle May titled Eat What you Love Love what you Eat with diabetes for diabetic or pre-diabetes. Will get it Saturday. It will be nice to have an IE book for diabetics.

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.

Thanks.

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”.

Trish, I have a diabetic friend whose dr. says just eat less of everything. He has lost a lot of weight.

[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.

It really is amazing how our bodies can vary so much in what they need, what works, and what doesn't.

I'm starting to get a good feel for mine, but I still have so much more to learn!

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.

If you're looking for more support there is also the IE website, lots of posters there. http://intuitiveeatingcommunity.org/...ty.org%2Fforum