pinkhippie You know I noticed that if someone just says "you really are looking good" I seem to handle better than I do if they say "you have really lost weight. you are looking good". While I know they are talking about my weight loss when they just say you look good, I seem to have no problem with that. The problem when they speak of the weight is that I noticed that it was like a trigger for me to binge. I think it goes back to something Geneen mentions in her book about how we perceive our self. I don't know if I think "I've earned" the right to eat all this food or if I think I deserve to be punished by eating this food. I'm not quite sure what I am really thinking when that happens. Hopefully it won't happen again, but if it does, maybe I should think more in line with "what am I feeling?" Or Who am I doing this for? I read in the book today about who we are doing this for our parents, a teacher etc because they said something to us that makes us think we have to do because of something they said to us. I probably didn't express that right. It comes down to the fact that "the person I think I am" is not the person I really am. And I have a choice to make when I fact those situations.

Palestrina My Mother was always dieting. She never was obese, but she had to work at keeping her weight down. I can remember how one of her DB and his wife would treat her. When she would lose and looked really good, they would say she was too thin. If she gained a little they would put her down for the weight. The interesting this is that they were always over weight my his wife was very obese. I personally think they were just jealous of my Mama for being able to lose.

Sorry to hear how you are feeling. I hope you get some answers from your doctor. I do IE to the best of my ability although I do have to work toward controlling T2 diabetes.

My baby sister who has never been obese, but has had to work to keep from over weight like my other sister and I are. Last year she was put on a lowfat diet because she had high blood pressure. She is good at following a diet plan and got her weight and bp under control. Last fall her doctor told her to stop losing weight. She told me yesterday that she had gone to the doctor she had lost 5 more lbs. She told the nurse that she hoped the doctor wasn't going to be mad at her because she didn't lose that 5 lbs on purpose. She said that she really isn't dieting any more. She is just use to eating this way and she likes the way she eats. The doctor told her to start eating more fat. Boy would I love to lose enough that the doctor would tell me it was time to stop losing.

Any way she told me how she eats. She said that she eats most of fruit and veggies during the day and then they eat one really good meal in the evening. I was sharing with her how I am trying to get back to eating "Intuitively" where I eat only when I'm hungry and not eat when I'm not and eat only as much as I need. She said that she likes to wait until she is really hungry before she eats because if she is really hungry when she sits down to eat that the food tastes better and she enjoys it better than she does if she eats when not hungry. I find it interesting that while she does have to eat a certain way for keeping blood pressure down, she actually does it Intuitively. It helps me see that I can do the same thing and still get and keep my blood sugar under control.

I'm feeling better today. I've made some changes that are making my body start to feel good and I hope it keeps moving in that direction. These past couple of days I've woken up WITH energy! I'm paying attention to some very basic things right now:

1. Getting better sleep - this is crucial for improving health. My sleep hygiene has been poor even though I get adequate hours of sleep. I installed a program on my computer called Flux which gradually converts the blue light of my screen to warm light in the evening hours. I adjusted the settings on my iPhone to do the same. Already my sleep has gotten much better!

2. Stress management - I'm being very consistent with meditation and taking care to not get unsettled over little things. Taking moments during my day to breathe rest and laugh.

3. Hydration - I've cut down on coffee. I was getting a little mindless with it and drinking it without really needing it. Also making sure to drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning.

4. Green juice everyday. I'm trying to flood my system with nutrients.

5. Smaller more frequent meals. Although IF has worked for me in the past, these hormonal imbalances have done a number on my blood sugar. Skipping breakfast and Waiting to be really hungry before I eat is makijg my body very unhappy. So I eat a small breakfast, and have a small snack before lunch. I feel more even keeled.

6. Gentle exercise. No hate cardio. Weightlifting mostly and HIIT within that. My strength is improving. I've been doing this for a while now, but significantly reducing the amount of sustained cardio I was doing before.

7. No sugar. This is the only non negotiable food in my plan for now. My gut health has been poor and I need to clear and reduce the strain that my digestion has been putting on my adrenal system.

I know this may seem regimented but my food intake is pretty healthy aside from some junk food that hasn't been serving me well. I don't need to cut out any food groups. I'm feeling more in tune with my body and with my hunger. In fact none of this would work for me if I wasn't doing it through the lense of IE.

That makes sense about the complimenting Palestrina. I think I tend to compliment mostly strangers so I mostly compliment their appearance or something cool that they have, since I don't know much else about them. With my kids I actually work very hard to compliment things about them that are not appearance and sometimes I worry I go too far the other way. My mom pretty much only complimented my appearance as a kid and I grew up believing it was the only worthy thing I had to offer. But, I know the very few times I tell my 13 year old she looks pretty, her whole face lights up and she is surprised because I pretty much never ever comment on her appearance and I worry that that is damaging as well. It is all so complex!

I have noticed more weight gain in my midsection than I had when I was younger as well. Im sorry you have been feeling so bad.

That is a good idea about the complimenting, I like that. It does seem like it would be less triggering. I think for me my trigger is that like I mentioned above, it triggers my old feelings of the only worth I hold is in my appearance and this just confirms it, therefore I am angry and I will show them, I will EAT. Or something like that.

Im glad you are feeling better! Sleep has been SO crucial for me, I was sleep deprived for several years until I started working evenings and now my husband gets up at 7 am to get the kids to school and I sleep in until 9! Glorious 9! I get about 8-9 hours of sleep every night and I feel MUCH better. Im glad you are getting enough sleep now.

Im glad you realize you don't need to cut out any food groups. I have cut down on my sugar as well, and it really does make a difference in my energy and how I feel. It's kind of scary to notice the difference really.

Sounds like you are making great positive changes and taking care of yourself.

Hello, everyone! It has been so long since I've posted and I'm sorry for that. It seems like folks are doing well again, even after some struggles, and I'm glad to see it.

I'm amidst a big struggle myself.

I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and it threw me into a tailspin. Somehow, all the progress I made with IE has gone totally out the window. I had been doing so well. My doctor wants me to start on Metformin, but has agreed to wait a few months to see if I can gain better blood sugar control with "diet and exercise".

I've been basically binging ever since.

I really, really thought I was doing well w/my IE. The binging was gone, I was actually WANTING to exercise. I was feeling stronger, healthier. There were no more mental gymnastics about food. The diagnosis was a slap in the face.

Now, all I can think about is that I must lose weight and have the perfect eating plan/dare I say......DIET.

For the first time, in a long time, I feel totally lost.

I read my signature and feel like such a fraud.

What in the world do I do now?

Beginme............I know the feeling. My problem is high blood pressure and I feel compeled to lose weight and must go on a diet. But I can't do that any more............too many years doing IE.

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.

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.