Obie - doing a kind of "hybrid" eating plan has occured to me, but I think with a little fine tuning I'll do that naturally anyway. I still tend to pick low fat varieties of everything I eat and I'm mindful of what I'm eating. I'll see how I go I guess!

Ulapie - You're probably more experienced at IE than I am, but when I'm trying to get myself into the right frame of mind to succeed at this, I remind myself that I don't have to finish what I'm eating, I can have more later, or another day. I think I have to remember that I'm an adult who can go out anytime and buy whatever delicious food I like, so why am I so intent on stuffing myself all day? I'm still getting the hang of this. Like, when there's something good on offer I feel like eating it even when I'm not hungry. But you're so right, we're all only human, and we need to give ourselves time to evolve and learn.

Hi everyone. Long time since I stuck my head in here.

Well, April was my first full month of trying IE. Well, actually I kind of do what I’d call “modified” IE. I am trying to honor my body’s hungry/full signals, but I won’t just eat anything. The nutritionist in my head still tells me to run screaming from refined white flour and sugar products and other “nutritionally devoid” items. I find that if I really listen though, most of the time what I really want is healthy food. Last night I was thinking I wanted something sweet, so I considered a 100 cal pack or oreo crisps (those packs are the only junk food I allow in the house, df really likes them and I have to admit, if I’m having a sugar/junk food craving one of those packs does the trick nicely). Then I thought about it, and a bowl of fruit actually sounded much better, so that’s what I had.

Weight loss for the month was a little underwhelming to say the least. One pound. I’ll keep moving along with this through May and see if things don’t pick up a bit. I totally understand the urge to go back to the “diet” mentality, it’s frustrating when the pounds don’t come off as fast as you might like. I could be doing a lot more lifting too. I’ve become a bit distracted by the running, which I’m still quite new to and it seems to have dominated my workout priorities lately. Can’t forget the strength training though, it’s just as important!

Ulapie – Glad to hear the physical therapy is going so well! Personally I’m not a huge fan of doing squats, but what they do to lift the buns makes them totally worth it. That is so nice of you to walk your friend’s dog, and super sweet of you to consider helping out shelter dogs. I’ve wanted to spend some time volunteering for an animal rescue group since that’s how we got our dog, but with my weekends being so consumed by wedding and house buying stuff lately and trying to spend a little quality time with my own pooch I don’t think I’ll have any time for that soon.

Hello hello, yesterday was a good IE day for me. We went out for dinner, and I'm finding that it really REALLY helps at those times, because they used to be my danger times. Now I haven't overeaten when we've been out for dinner since I started IE.

I have started comfort eating a little bit sometimes, but I figure that's mainly when I'm tired and distressed with myself. I think if I get plenty of naps in I'll be fine.

Thanks Diana! I'm not very experienced at this at all! I'm definitely still learning the ropes. Those are great suggestions about what to think about. I think I'm going to write them down.

Shananigans - I know losing one pound in a month seems pretty slow compared to crash dieting, but at least you'll be able to keep that pound off, right? Not so with dieting!

That's cool that you adopted your dog! I'd love to adopt a dog, but my cat wouldn't approve. I'm going to the shelter orientation on Saturday, so I'm pretty excited! The place is only like 5 minutes from where I live, so I figure it'll be a good way to stay motivated to exercise.

Hi everybody. I'm new to this thread so I wanted to introduce myself. For now I'll forego the factoids like what I do, how old, etc. I most need to talk about how I came to this board and this thread.

Years ago I read Geneen Roth's Feeding the Hungry Heart and When Food Is Love. Also read Fat Is a Feminist Issue by ????. The problem is I never really internalized what I read there.

I did throw away my scale and long ago gave myself permission to eat the foods I love. But my weight has been steadily creeping up all these years because I cannot seem to stop eating when I'm full. I LOOOOve the flavors of foods. I'm a good cook, some even say a gourmet cook. I don't like to use fake ingredients like "reduced fat" and try to stick with organics whenever possible. I know a lot about nutrition and whole foods and all that but I still love junk food. Sometimes I just have to have a BigMac, that's the only thing that will satisfy. My cooking motto has always been, why use one dairy product when you could use 3 or 4!

I've lost weight on Atkins several times but my best dieting success was something I invented for myself that I called the "bracelet diet". I wore a bunch (9) of those stretchy beaded bracelets on one wrist and as the day wore on whenever I ate a fruit or veggie (1/2 C. serving) I switched it to the other wrist. This wasn't my original idea - I saw a headline in a woman's magazine at the checkout and just made up my own thing. I felt better than I had in years and was nearly to my goal weight when a couple of crummy things happened in my life and I just stopped doing it. I was depressed for months and gained all the weight back and now, two years later, I am at the heaviest I've ever been.

Lately I've been reading Intuitive Eating and The Food and Feelings Workbook and yesterday I read reviews of The Overfed Head and went to the Thintuition website(s). I'd have joined that, mainly because of the online support, but when I went to their forums, most of the messages were really old and someone had posted a bunch of porn links.

BUT

I don't know what it feels like to be hungry anymore. For years I haven't allowed myself to get hungry. I can't tell when I'm full. I rarely REALLY taste the things I eat. I'm always doing something else when I'm eating. Reading, on the computer, watching a movie. I've come to realize that I'm eating unconsciously about 99% of the time.

So....when I googled "intuitive eating" I saw the 3fatchicks webaddress and ended up on this thread. Actually it wasn't THIS thread it was the first one with IE in the name.

I guess my question is how do I get started? My attitude about food is so black and white. I'm either on a drastic diet or I'm eating everything in sight. I'm so tired of it. I'm so self-concious about how I look, it has become hard for me to leave the house.

What's the first step?

neen

What do y'all think are the best books on IE?

Hi neen - I think the best first step is to "tune in". Listen to what your body is telling you. You don't have to take action right away, but just notice when you're a little bit hungry, a little bit full, overfull, why you eat when you're not hungry. Just notice things. I would also recommend journalling about the things you notice.

rubberlegs - I think neen went through just about all the best IE books in her post. However I love Beyond Chocolate, which is a UK book. I think that's why I love it.

I had a lovely day yesterday, DH and I are celebrating 6 months of married life, so we checked out a new pub. We had green beans in sesame and ginger to start, a really thin and crispy veggie and goat's cheese pizza, and brownies and ice cream. We shared everything and I ate just a little bit more than enough. Not enough to make me feel ill, or like I'd overeaten, but I knew it was enough because I got my satisfaction moment when I was eating pizza! I did finish eating pizza then, but later on we got the brownies and I had a white russian cocktail. I don't normally drink, but I fancied a cocktail and I was quite merry after that!

Hi again and thanks for responding to my posts.

I noticed the "cookies" at the bottom of 2frustrated's posts - at least I think they're cookies -- or maybe blueberry muffins.

Tune In
Eat When You're Hungry
Eat Whatever You Want
Sit Down, Put It On A Plate And Focus
Enjoy!
Stop When You're Satisfied
Own Your Body
Move
Support Yourself
Be Your Own Guru

Is this from IE? I haven't read the whole book yet.

I tried to do this yesterday and just couldn't stop thinking about food. The "eat when you're hungry" thing is so much harder than it seems it should be. I know that naturally slender people don't fixate on food this way. It's like quitting smoking. The thoughts just keep up the bombardment.

Especially sweets. I confess I'm addicted to sugar. Is it necessary to break this addiction or will it go away on its own as I start hearing my body's signals?

And it just feels so boring to do nothing while eating.

Can someone describe for me what hunger feels like?

neen

It's the principles from Beyond Chocolate.

Hunger feels like, empty. It feels like there's nothing in the tank and my tummy gets rumbly. If I leave it a little bit longer I get shakey, I get SUPREMELY grumpy. I am 3 headed she-devil if I don't eat soon enough and Dh knows it I can also get faint/headachey and lack concentration.

I think the best thing to breaking into eating when you're hungry is every time you reach for food, ask yourself why, are you bored? Tired? Stressed? Happy? Sad? Need a hug? If you realise WHY you are eating, then it will be a little bit easier to figure out if you really need it or not.

For example, I like chocolate cookies, and I often eat at work out of boredom. I ask myself what I'm feeling before I reach for them, and I'm usually bored, so I find something else to do, or I just have a cuppa

Hi Neen!

I'm new here too, just wanted to say hi! I'm feeling quite liberated about my eating thanks to IE. I still have a lot to get a grip on (like stopping when I'm satisfied), but hopefully we'll learn together. I think it's really hard eating "freely" and not following a list of rules. But psychologically it feels so good!! Good luck with it. Trust your body to tell you and listen closely to what it wants. I really hope you get something out of it.

Hi ladies haven't posted in a while. Lots of emotional upheavel with the ex. Tried to cut him off completely and ended up with lots of crying messages about him being afraid he is going to die in Iraq and wanting to spend time with me until he leaves and accept the other chick he is also seeing blah....

IE has saved me from blowing everything completely. I have eaten once when I wasn't hungry, but just don't have it in me to over indulge like I used to. Now I just save it for later. I haven't eaten the healthiest foods, but I am back on track.

Hi to all the new people.

OK, for the last three days I've waited (and waited and waited) until I felt hungry to eat. It only seems to happen once a day. But since I live alone and only have myself to cook for, that hasn't been a problem. I've made things I really like (Pasta Alfredo w/ broccoli), sat down to eat w/ no TV, book, music or other distractions. I put a fist-sized portion on the plate and only added a bit more if I still felt hungry.

The food was incredibly delicious!! Everyone knows that things taste better when you're hungry, but it has been so long since I experienced this personally, I was really surprised at the intensity of the flavors.

I am still obsessed with food. My anxieties are showing up in other ways. (More on this later.) But so far, I've learned a lot.

I've eaten some sugar but I'm not going to beat myself up for that. I'm trying to be forgiving and accepting.

Why does it take me so long to get hungry? Is my brain just not connected to the feeling or am I always going to be eating just once a day?

One thing I do like is the absence of the feeling of being overfull. I didn't realize how much time I spent feeling sluggish and sleepy. My activity level has increased some - still not what I would like it to be but we'll see what happens as we go on.

Thanks to everyone for bearing with me in my ignorance!

later,

neen

Hello!

Well I've been doing pretty well with IE at the moment, but I did "discover" something yesterday. I used myself as the dustbin.... I finished off this bowl of brownies and marshmallows and ice cream when I wasn't hungry "because it tasted nice" but in reality it didn't taste nice at all because I wasn't hungry for it and it was making me feel sick, but I still kept eating. I didn't want to waste it... Well it was wasted stuffing it into me instead of putting it in the fridge for today.

Well I've learned from that.

Hi girls!

I had a rough weekend IE-wise. I'm starting to really get the hang of eating properly when I'm on my own, on a day-to-day basis, and can really address what I want and focus on the food. This weekend I went down to Kansas City to visit my guy, and starting with the drive down I was out of focus when it comes to food.

I have a bad habit of eating just to have something to do while driving, and there are certain foods I never eat unless I'm on the road (Gardetto's snack mix, to be exact - the crunchy garlicy mix is completely tied to "road trip" in my mind!) Before I hit the road, I washed and packed up some berries in a cooler, mainly because they were starting to get old and I wanted to have them on hand if I didn't want to stop on the road. I was only about an hour on the road when I started to get droopy, and stopped for coffee, an energy drink, and some gardettos. I ate a few and then wrapped up the bag, but found myself reaching for them again and again when I was getting bored and wanting somethiing to do. Eventually, I pushed them to the far side of the seat, and they ended up falling on the floor and spilling. Somehow seeing a few pieces on the floor of the car made it a lot less tempting to pick up the half-empty bag and start eating again!

Eating once I got to KC was hit and miss - I didn't really eat a whole lot on Friday night since I'd munched in the car, when I normally would have just eaten what was being served because it was there. Saturday morning I woke hungry and was really glad I'd packed my blackberries and strawberries - my guy and his roommate just moved and had NO food in the house! Saturday night was a pizza-and-beer fest with the gang, where I ate to "full" rather than "satisfied," but at least stopped short of "stuffed." Wish I could say the same for Sunday morning - I was starving by the time we went out for breakfast around 11, and just plowed through a plate of fried eggs and hashbrowns. Too much food, and the grease made me queasy before long.

Well, every experience is one I can learn from - I can still see where I'm making progress in eating for hunger (not just eating the whole bag of chips because it's there, etc). I'm making major strides in avoiding mindless munching just because I'm working on my thesis - sitting at a computer has always been linked with mindless eating in my past.

Neen - I found myself not getting hungry at all when I first started trying to eat properly, too. I'd been so out of touch with my hunger that I couldn't really tell unless I was really starving. Add on the fact that my body expected a huge amount of food any time I ate, and I didn't get hungry that often. Once I started tuning in and eating properly, I found my body adjusted - once I wasn't stuffing myself to capacity at dinner, I now find I wake up hungry and ready for a small meal, and so forth.


One more bit of insanity from the weekend - my guy finally talked me into going to a jeweler on Saturday and making the arrangements for the custom ring I want (we're using stones from his grandmother's engagement ring and re-setting them). I suppose I have to face the fact that we're "officially" engaged - I really struggle with all the expectations and overkill of weddings, and have been putting off any planning since Christmas.

So, now we're looking at Sept 08 to make it official. I don't know why I'm so skittish about all this - I know we're good together and I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else, but I'd rather just sign the paperwork and get on with life.

Thanks for responding to this, RCC.

This is the - what? - 5th day, I think, that I've been doing this IE thing. I'm still not getting hungry at "normal" times like "normal" people. On Sunday, I went all day without eating because I couldn't discern any real hunger, then went to some friends' for dinner. I helped cook and by the time we (six of us)were ready to eat I was starving. And of course, I ate too much. When I got home around midnight I still felt stuffed and sick and a little annoyed with myself.

If this is gonna work it has to work not just when I'm alone. Somehow I have to internalize the self-questioning while I'm eating. Am I full? Am I satisfied? Those kinds of questions. I love eating with other people but the conversation is so distracting. Naturally slim people don't have to remind themselves that they're full and it's time to stop eating! I hope this eventually becomes instinctive or I guess I should say, Intuitive.

But I have the habits of many years of overeating, of mindless eating. I especially appreciated your point, RCC, about night eating. No wonder I never feel hungry in the morning. I always eat at night. I have to distract myself at night with a book on tape or something to fall asleep to just to keep my mind off what's in the kitchen.

Anyway, I don't think I've lost any weight yet. As I said before, I tossed my scale years ago and only weigh in when I see a doctor. But I feel "intuitively" that this is the right course for me.

I'm also feeling the urge to MOVE more often. My little dog has been getting extra walks. The weather has been gorgeous and lures me outdoors.

Overall, I feel better. I'm not sluggish food-drunk. The depression is lifting because I'm doing something to make a change. That helps.

Thanks to all for listening. I really appreciate being able to come here and check in.

neen