Amy, those are very helpful tips. I have almost a fear of losing weigh sometimes because I connect it with being sick. I haven't been very hungry lately and I hope it is just the normal pattern and nothing else.

More from the Beyond Chocolate newsletter.

PRINCIPLE NO. 2: Eat when you're hungry
Remind me what this principle is about

Take five!

Hannah Bielby, from East Yorkshire, is a Beyond Chocolate success story. Since she did a workshop six months ago, she's lost a whopping five stone! But that's not all - her life has changed in all sorts of other positive ways, too. Here's Hannah's story...

1. If this was a 'before' and 'after' picture story, what would the photos of 'now' and 'then' capture of your life before and after Beyond Chocolate?

THEN: I was obsessed with food, either eating it in huge, seemingly uncontrollable quantities or trying, unsuccessfully, to diet and live on as little as I could each day. This binge-starve-binge eating pattern, my avoidance of all exercise and the feelings of failure and guilt about the diets I hadn't stuck to meant that I was unhappy with both my body and my relationship with food. I felt doomed to either limiting what I ate for the rest of my life or getting bigger year on year. It was overshadowing all aspects of my life.

NOW: Best of all is the feeling of freedom Beyond Chocolate has given me! Food no longer dominates everything and, as a result, I feel like I'm really living life to the full! I'm meeting new people now I've stopped worrying about how I look; I'm trying new tastes now I'm not worrying about calories, points or syns, or that I won't be able to stop eating once I've started; and I'm moving my body now I don't feel like I have to exhaust myself to make it 'worthwhile'. A sense of balance around my body, food and being active is the best way to describe it!


2. You've lost five stone since learning how to eat intuitively. While that's a huge achievement, you've told us there have been other, equally if not more important gains. What would you identify as your top three?

Firstly, I love food now in a way I never did before - a sticky, chocolatey éclair is delicious eaten without guilt, and a crisp, juicy apple is tasty when it's not seen as diet food! Although I'll occasionally eat something just because I fancy it, I can't believe how much more amazing it tastes when you're really hungry for it!

Secondly, I view my body quite differently - and not just because I've lost weight. Before Beyond Chocolate, I felt it was failing me by being unable to stick to a diet. I judged its success or failure by the 'numbers': the figure on the scales or the size on the dress label. Now, though, I'm fascinated by it - by how, if I tune in and listen carefully enough, it asks for a balance in the foods I eat and tells me how good it feels when I exercise!


Lastly, I don't obsess anymore. If I eat a packet of biscuits without thinking one day, it doesn't need to spiral into days, weeks or months of binging. It doesn't make me a bad or failed person - it means I ate a packet of biscuits! Nothing more, nothing less. This is how I feel life should be, and it's this reassuring sense of permanence that I love. When I was dieting, I always knew I couldn't keep it up forever but, with Beyond Chocolate, I have no doubt that, whatever wobbles I may have, this is completely right for me and the principles are there to return to day after day after day.

3. You enjoyed your first Beyond Chocolate Experience so much that you've signed up to go on another workshop! What do you hope to discover this time around?

My first workshop was a real turning point in my life. It was the first time I'd ever heard of intuitive eating and I came away feeling that things would never be the same again. Before Beyond Chocolate, I didn't trust my own judgment about food, eating and exercise - I had handed over control to the diet 'experts' and celebrity dieters! I gradually began to learn how to trust my own decisions about my body and have discovered so much about myself in the past six months that I can't wait to see how differently I'll respond in the exercises and discussions. And, besides, it's just a wonderful day - jam-packed with interesting people, ideas and inspiration, and punctuated by delicious food!

4. You joined Beyond Chocolate with a friend. How helpful has it been having a BC buddy?

It's been fantastic to share the journey with someone else. We were 'diet partners' before and the support we can give each other now is absolutely wonderful! It's also great to know that neither of us will ever need to go back to dieting again. As one of my closest friends, if we hadn't been to the workshop together, I would have begged her to sign up herself by now - I want to convert every fed-up dieter to Beyond Chocolate so they can see how life-changing it is too! And, as if having one BC buddy isn't enough, the Beyond Chocolate Forum has been an unending source of online support to us both - the fellow members on there always say exactly what you need to hear when things are going well, but, more importantly, they're still there for you when times are hard! It's the most amazing community of women - I can't emphasise enough how much I value it.

5. If you could share one piece of wisdom about weight loss with other women, what would it be?

Losing weight will not make you happy! I took the Beyond Chocolate advice to choose happiness and to care for my body irrespective of my weight. That means buying clothes that fit me whatever size I am, understanding the way I feel and act around food and learning to like - or at least accept - my body. I believe that I only lost weight because I decided to live the life I wanted there and then, rather than when I had shrunk myself to some magic size in the future! At last - I've gained the peace with myself I'd been seeking for so long.

Hi, everybody!

Carol, what a fun thing to fit into a skirt you haven't worn in so long!
I have a few outfits that I loved wearing when I was a lot smaller, and every time I go through my closet to thin it out, I debate about bringing those outfits to the thrift shop. I'm just not ready to do that yet though. It seems that tossing those outfits would take away ALL hope that I'll be able to wear them again someday.

Something struck me today...I know some people hate them, but I LOVE casseroles. As I was out in the kitchen looking around for something for lunch, I realized that if I had casserole-type dishes here in the house, I'd be SO much more satisfied, and wouldn't always be "cruising" the kitchen, looking for the taste/texture that IS going to satisfy me.

If I had stuff around and ready all the time, like goulash, macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes, even leftover stir fry dishes, I'd just take a serving (or two) and be done with it. For some reason, separate foods on the plate just don't do it for me.

This is probably very weird, but really fits for me right now. I guess I'll start making some of these dishes and put them into the freezer for later use. Fall will be here soon, and it will be time for that sort of thing anyway.

Becky, That's a interesting discovery. I like casseroles, too. Lately things I like have been varying. That's probably good as I have eaten so many salads I thought I should eat I'm glad I can let them be for the time being. I still eat one probably once a week but there is so much fruit to eat right now including fresh tomatoes, my favorite, that salads seem boring.

i must say, this IE thing is great! I'm bipolar and having body image / weight issues doesn't help at all... it's very theraputic for me to get rid of them. It's like 'where have you been all my life?'... last night I was quite high on the hunger scale, yet still took a smaller portion of spaghetti, figureing I can get more if I want to. I didn't want to. I was quite happy with what I ate. It's definately a learning thing, though.

Who'd think that I'd _want_ to exerise? I was watching the olympics and in awe of the bodies of the athletes. Not because they're fit as heck, but just what they could do with thier bodies, the strength and agility, nothign about the look of them...

The other night I had beef stroganoff. It's been years! Part of me is excited about all the foods I can let into my life again, yet I can also let a dessert sit in the fridge for weeks because I'm just not in the mood.

I'm very pleased about all this.

These are the two paragraphs that I really identify with right now. I feel like it is me talking! Except the take out Beyond Chocolate and insert IE book.

Optical Goddess--Isn't it great? I think it is so liberating.

Off to a wedding today so might not be back till Monday. Have a good weekend.

Hello all,

I was wondering how the people around you have reacted to IE? I haven't had anyone be outright negative about it, but plenty of people don't believe that you can be happy and even lose weight with out having to restrict.

One person told me that eating in moderation works well for maintainance, but not for actually trying to get to a healthy size.

I'm still really liking the whole idea. I'm getting better about portions, just realizing that the amount of food I think I need to be satisfied isn't the same as what I put on my plate initally.

Crazy to think that I'm even wanting a salad! That hasn't happenned for YEARS with out me thinking I have a duty to have the salad.

I'm also thinking of gettinga pair of inline skates from the resale shop.... just need to learn how to stop.

It still mystifies/shocks me to see how much the diet mentality influenced other parts of my life, that I thought were far from diet related.

Optical Goddess--I have talked to others about it and they have been positive about IE. Regardless of if they are or not...I don't care. I know a lot about losing weight because I've done it a million times its the keeping it off that's an issue for me. I know I can keep it off this way so forget the rest.

Back from a minivacation that included a wedding but mostly to go to see my Dh's parents. His mom has dementia but stiill remembers us. So sad. Eating went really well and I'm wearing clothes that I haven't worn for 3 yr., praise the Lord.

Shay, I'm impressed--you've gone from a 26 to an 18. Did you do that all with intuitive eating?

I wear a rather tight 26 right now, and have for a few years now. If I could even get back into roomy 24s, I'd be very happy, but I'm thinking that would probably require a 30lb weight loss, which is a LOT.

I know it's not going to happen through "dieting" for me though. It certainly hasn't yet.

Keep at it Becky, it does happen. My Dh is finally starting to notice. A new perk of I'E is that he saw me eating a piece of cake and didn't say anything.

Today I fixed 2 ears of corn and one smokie sausage for my lunch and could only eat half. I saved room for a little cake and was plenty satisfied. It is kind of interesting how some days are so different and you can't eat much. I heard the news about Michael Phelps eating 12,000 calories a day and wonder how he does it. Now that is IE at its max.

Today I've been really hungry, ravenous... this has been a test for me to avoid diet thinking.

I slept for a long time last night but am still damn tired,I think I'm trying to use food to wake me up.

I can't be too horrible on myself, normally I don't eat that much food... perhaps it's just a balance?

Unfortunately I was made aware of the Food Police voice.... but hey, it's a learning experience.

Becky--Not fully through IE. I would say I got from a size 20 to 18 through IE. I've been doing IE for less than 6 months. Prior to that it was a combination of many diets and a lot of exercise basically. I'm a reluctant exerciser but I do need variety and the ones I can tolerate really take off the inches and pounds. Jogging, kickboxing, pilates, and strength training. Exercise has always been a huge factor in my weight loss.