Hi Trish and welcome Sally, I have a terrible case of gout right now and can hardly eat it hurts so bad. At least I'm listening to hunger. ha!

Oh, I'm so sorry!

((((Carolr)))) So sorry. Prayers and thoughts coming your way and hope you are feeling better soon.

Julie and everyone else reading this.

Thanks for the warm welcome!!

Carolr, I hope you feel better soon!!

Trish, I have just ordered a copy of that you mentioned and am so excited about its arrival.

What you say about ending up eating healthy is understandable. We had friends over last night (it was one of their birthdays) and we cooked a birthday cake (cinammon, hazelnut and chocolate) and served it with vanilla ice cream. We had just pizzas and wedges first with plenty of salad. I was only a bit hungry so only had a very thin slice of pizza and a few wedges with loadsa salad, and really tried to eat it consciously although it was kinda hard since we were all laughing and joking so much.

Everyone else had the cake and ice cream straight after but since i was full from the pizza, I decided to wait and have mine a lot later on. We ate at about 7.30pm, and I actually didnt eat my dessert until around 11.30pm when I felt that I could, and again, only had half the slice that everyone else had. I was worrying though (once I had finished, not whilst eating!!) that i probably shouldn't be eating this this late at night, ill put on weight, blah blah blah..

What are peoples opinions on this and eating at particular times??

I felt kinda bad though because I wasn't eating the cake because I was hungry, just because I didn't want everyine to make a fuss about me not having any. I felt like I was drawing attention to myself..Does anyone know what i mean?


I knew that there would be cake and that I would end up eating some so I did extra at the gym- an hour and 20mins of intense cardio so I'm hoping that eating cake when not hungry won't have too much of a negative effect!!!


This morning, I wasn't hungry till about 10am and so had some apple, cinammon and grapes with some greek yogurt (low fat- thats all we ever buy!), but had it because the idea of having something stogey was grossing me out. It';s almost like my body was telling me "Right, you ate food that was high fat, and this morning, you want something lighter and more refreshing." It was nice to feel this as it makes you realise that just because you can "eat whatever you want", it doesn't always mean that you will make unhealthy food choices!!! It's actually remarkably empowering!!

Lots of love,
Sal xxxx

Sal - While we are to be centering in on learning to recognize true biological hunger, there are 3 other hungers mentioned in the book. They are called taste hunger where you simply eat because it sounds good or because the occasion calls for its such as the birthday cake. There is practical hunger where you plan ahead because you ae going to a movie or something and you won't be able to eat until later or won't be able to go by your biological hunger. You can eat a snack to hold you over or perhaps you go out to a restaurant to eat before a movie. It is recommended that you can relax and feel free to eat someting even though it isn't time to eat or you don't feel hungry. They also mention emotional eating, but I haven't got that far in the book yet to know what they recommend.

Sounds like you felt guilty about the piece of cake you ate... going to the gym and doing extra exercise and eating less the next day. This actually comes from the "diet" mentality we have accumulated from years of dieting. I actually had a hard time getting rid of that mentality and still have to fight it. When you get the book, you will learn that you can relax around food and you will be able to decide like you did with the cake without feeling like you have to pay for it because you will lose the guilt feelings. You actually did good because you ate it when "you" wanted to eat it.

Carolr - Hope you are feeling better.

Everybody else

Have a good evening.

Here is an excerpt from Gillian Hood Gabrielson's newsletter.

By now I assume you have heard about Oprah and how once again she is struggling with her weight. I don't watch Oprah very often because she has too many guests talking about diet, health, weight loss, exercise, etc., and most of it I do not agree with. In fact, one day a couple years ago I watched a show with Bob Greene who was taking on a group of people for some kind of challenge and I was disturbed by the way he was talking to them. Bottom line, our philosophies are quite different.

But I noticed on Twitter and some groups I belong to that people were talking about Oprah so I decided to investigate and saw that she had admitted that she had once again gained weight. Not to be sarcastic, but it was pretty clear quite some time ago.

I decided to pick up her magazine for the very first time to read her story hoping that maybe she had some new insight and maybe would be turning towards the non-diet approach. For a woman who spends so much of her show and I assume life being mindful and conscious, she sure isn't ready to do that with food. I think she's discussed mindful eating before, but she doesn't seem to understand what it means or how to really implement it. To say the least, I was disappointed. I don't blame Oprah, she's doing what she thinks is right and what all the "experts" that surround her tell her to do.

Instead of analyze the article and pick it apart or write an open letter to Oprah, both which have been done quite a bit since this story broke, I thought I would pick out a few things that jumped out at me and share my observations and see what we can learn from Oprah's experience.

1. Oprah said that when she hit the 160 lb mark, she thought she was done with dealing with weight issues. She says, "I was so sure, I was even cocky." She even found herself lecturing her friends on how easy it was and then would give them all the "rules". Have you ever felt this way? I know I did everytime I lost weight. Even with intuitive eating! I knew this was it, I was done trying to lose weight, no more gaining ever again. Well, as evidenced by Oprah and myself, cockiness is a sure sign that you're about to step into the world of diet deprivation backlash and weight gain all over again. Making peace with food and your body means understanding that this is a continuous process with no end point and no having to start over. It just gets easier over time and that brings the freedom and peace we all want.
2. One of Oprah's biggest questions is, "How did I let this happen again?" I'm sure most of us have considered this at least once if not many times after another failed diet attempt and weight gain. The thing that bothers me is that while Oprah says she is not going on another program, she is going to go back to "commonsense basics" like fish, fruit, etc. and less sugar and refined carbs. OK, that's pretty much what she and many of us have done before, right? Ate the "good" foods and limited the "bad". This is my definition of a diet. Sorry, Oprah.
3. I'm happy to see that she will be working on being more mindful while eating and staying in the present, I'm all for that. It enhances satisfaction and prevents non-hunger eating.
4. Oprah contributed her weight gain to a few different things. First she found out she had hyperthyroidism, which usually leads to weight loss, but not in her case. It gradually turned into hypothyroidism which does contribute to weight gain. Her doctor, much to my happy surprise, encouraged her to embrace hunger and eat when she was hungry. But it appears due to some level of depression (a common occurrence with hypothyroidism) she wasn't too interested in working on identifying hunger and responding to it. She says she felt defeated and was ready to give up. She blamed herself, mainly due to a lack of willpower. In intuitive eating, there is no place for willpower. In their book, "Intuitive Eating", Tribole & Resch, R.D.s, say willpower is an attempt to counter natural desires and replace them with outside rules. Humans are hard wired to fight rules, so willpower is a waste of time.
5. One other item I had to take note of - here Oprah is talking about making these changes, yet some of the other articles are the same old thing: "You Don't Have to Gain it All Back!" by Bob Greene (isn't he Oprah's trainer? Hmmmm......); "The Great Pantry Makeover", by Salma Abdelnour; and "The Way to Eat", by David L. Katz, MD. I will admit I didn't read this, but it found it ironic. Sounds like more rules and less mindfullness and connection with the body.

Yesterday I figured out what to do when nothing sounds good......wait. On Sun. I didn't eat most of the day because of illness and by night the food tasted so good, so-called healthy food, too. I was glad to finally make that discovery.

I sorta did that last night. I felt I needed to get started on dinner, either making it or going for food, because it was getting late, even if I wasn't very hungry yet. But really, I was tired, and I just didn't know which I wanted. So, I laid down and closed my eyes for about 15 minutes or so. Which felt really, really good. Then I felt better and got up and made eggs and veggies and put them in a wrap with some hummus and parmigiano.

Hope you're feeling better Carol!

Welcome SaneSally!

Funny you should mention this. I had previously lost weight eating intuitively and one thing that I was constantly amazed about was that I could eat late at night and the weight would keep coming off. Because I was so in-tune with my body's hunger signals my hunger became very normal and predictable. Practically every nite between 11 p.m. and midnight (I'm up late, night owl) I would get true hunger signals. One of my favorite late-nite snacks was a bagel or scone (not lean on calories!) and that's what I'd eat just before heading off to bed. But the pounds didn't creep up on me because I was actually honoring my hunger. Who knows if I would have lost even more weight had I not eaten a late nite snack, but it sure was liberating and enjoyable to answer the hunger call and not feel guilty for doing so. So, my opinion about eating times ... listen to your body. It knows what time to eat! (Tho I must say, not everyone may be comfortable eating and going to bed. I've been a late-nite eater all my life, so I'm used to it.)

Very good! Makes total sense!

Be back with another post. Wanted to quote Pattygirl and forgot to multi-quote hers ...

Thank you for the welcome. It is wonderful to find this thread. It can be difficult to explain IE to people because they get hung up on the "eat what you want" bit so it is great to find a group of folks in the know.
Right now, I am trying to figure out if I am actually hungry. This is always a stumbling block for me. I have decided to go with the wisdom that if I am not 100% sure that I am truly hungry then I need to wait to eat. But I don't want to get ravenous either and lose control.
I am still loving IE and am losing more weight than I did with any diet.
Take care,
Pennie

Hello Everyone

First I want to all the new ones here as I don't remember if I
have welcomed everyone or not.

I have to agree with you Carol, Pennie and Julie. I think when we don't know what we want to eat that we should wait. When I feel like that, I'm wondering if that is more of an "emotional" hunger or even because we are so tired. I know that times when I feel that way that I am usually bored or it is a time when I used to eat while doing something else (certain shows/programs on tv trigger false hunger) or like Julie did I need to take a break or a nap. Can anyone else recognize the same feelings when you are in that situation? I liked your idea Julie of resting for 15 minutes. What a great idea. I'm to impliment it into my way of life from now on when I am in similar situations.

Carol - I read what you said about Oprah magazine article. I agree with you 100%.

I am really having to watch that "diet" mentality. It really does try to creep in. I fight that thing all the time. I find myself eating sometime because I haven't eaten in a while and I think I should eat. I think that diets have so conditioned us to think we have to eat (especially certain meals) by diets that I end up eating sometimes more from thinking I should rather than because I need it.

Well, the chips and dip has lost its place in my desire for certain foods. The chips are in the cabinet along with my dark chocolate candy. Dip is in the fridge. They are there if I want them, but I don't want them. Cookies are the newest thing I'm working on. Not going wild with them like I thought I would. We went out to eat for a burger and fries yesterday. How wonderful and what a joy... the freedom to be able to eat it without feeling guilty. It was good, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would. Isn't it interesting that when we have the freedom of IE, all those things kind of lose their special places in our lives.

Y'all have a good day.

Blue Serenity - I too am a night owl and eat late. I usually have a snack sometime between 10 and 11 pm. It doesn't cause the scales to go up for me either.

Oprah, cocky? LOL!

Good article-- thanks for sharing.

Life is busy around here with the two little ones. I often realize I'm really hungry and look at the clock-- I've lost track of time. I guess being a new momma helps with intuitive eating!

Hi everyone!

Just checking in. I'm trying to stay focused on IE now and find you ladies in this thread so helpful. (Why do we run and hide when things go wrong?) IE has been going well for me the past several days. I'm cautiously optimistic about it right now. (I say that because I've been so fired up in the past only to fizzle out when the going got tough.) This time I've eased back into this way of eating, which seems to have had less of a "diet" impact on me than had I decided "OK, tomorrow I start over!" There was no drastic mind set (willpower) involved, just a realization that I can't keep stuffing my face forever and expect to be happy or lose weight. So, I've decided to stop feeding the fat girl. LOL I'm feeding the skinny girl!

But I was wondering what you all think about nutrition. I honestly can't remember if I read that section in the book yet. (I never did finish it.) But I have noticed (and have read about this in a diet book) that when I eat sugary or highly processed refined foods that that is all I want to eat. BUT when I eat foods that are closer to their natural form like whole grain breads and meats and fruits and veggies that I don't crave the other stuff. When I do eat the other stuff I stand in front of the pantry looking for the next "fix." When I eat the healthier stuff food loses its appeal until I'm truly hungry again. Have any of you experienced this? I don't know why I can't just remember this. I know this to be a fact for me but why in the world I let myself slip back into that way of eating time and time again is a mystery. (Hmmm, maybe it's that all or nothing way of thinking.) So I said all of that just say I'm embracing the gentle nutrition aspect of eating this way. Not because it is more righteous to eat foods dubbed "healthy" and not even because I "should" eat this way, but because I feel lousy when I eat all that garbage. But it's not all healthy and no fun stuff for me. I'll have my cake and eat it too, but just on occasion. I don't know. I'm just running on now. Think I'll read the section on gentle nutrition. Seems like I might have deliberately avoided it when reading thru the book before as I was not ready to set aside all that junk food just yet. But I really can't remember. Seems like at this stage in the process I am becoming more relaxed about eating this way. I think the food fog has finally lifted and I really think it has a lot (if not everything) to do with the amount of nutritional foods I've been eating vs. the amount of "garbage" foods I've not been eating.

Well enough of my rambling. Have a great one!