Hi there! I've been reading your thread for the last day or so and I think this might be the place for me.

Years ago I read the book "Intuitive Eating" and another older book "When Women stop hating their bodies" which is similar. I (of course) and a chronic dieter and am like many of you....wishing I'd never dieted in the first place. I'm 5'9" and would kill for the 140 pounds I was in high school (when I thought I was sooo fat!)

I've had a couple of periods in my life when I was really not thinking about food constantly and (ta-da!) those were the periods in my life when my weight went down steadily. Imagine that?

Right now I'm just trying to focus on honoring my body...listening to it, making healthy choices and not punishing myself. What I find now though is that I've been so out of whack for so long that I don't recognize any of my body's signals. :(

Agreed!

Welcome flmom23! I hear ya about the high school flash back! Oh how fat I thought I was. Insanity! LOL My thighs were just a little bigger than the rest of the girls I hung out with so I thought I was fat. *sigh* I know what you mean!!! But you sound like you've got a good grip on IE, so you should be well on your way! The more you listen, the more you'll hear the signals, just may take a little time.

I'm digging my book back out T-O-D-A-Y! (Not only that, but I'm gonna read it too! hehehe!)

Have a great weekend everyone! :sunny:

[QUOTE=Danni;2852230]Patty - what is the book that you are referring to?QUOTE]

The book is Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole, M.S.,R.D. and Elyse Resch, M.S.,R.D.,F.A.D.A.

flmom:welcome3: to the group. I know exactly what you are saying. What a weird thing to learn that we have done what is right for us in the past and didn't know it? We listened to the wrong people and slipped into the "dieting" cycle and caused us a lot of problem that we now have to unlearn all the wrong things so we can learn to do what was "normal" again. I too am having to learn to recognize my body's signals too.

Have a good day.

Well, today I learned that I love oatmeal with fruit and yogurt. I had it for breakfast not because it is good for me, but just because I like it. I don't like the texture of instant or quick oats which is all I have at the moment. My favorite is old fashioned oats.

I'm having fish sticks for dinner today. Was my favorite growing up so it will be interesting to see if it still is.

I'm also into fruit -- melons, bananas and strawberries to name a few. I am also loving cooked carrots. Interesting. huh No junk in there.:D

carolr, Blue and everyone else - Have a great day!

Made a new chocolate cookie recipe today but my favorite was the tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden. YUM!

Ok....so this morning I got up and was trying to decide if a) I was hungry for breakfast and b) what I'd like to eat if I was. I couldn't figure out if I was hungry. No hunger pangs and nothing sounded good so I figured I'd just wait to see how I felt later. Soooo....I sit down and play on the computer for a few minutes and drink my coffee and I realize that I'm getting upset/nervous.....like I'm not going to feel better unless I find something to eat NOW! What's that about? :?: I finally decided that I'd make grits, and as soon as I'd made that decision I felt better. Sheesh....talk about emotional eating!:rolleyes:

I think it is about learning the biological signals and that takes time. It will come just give yourself time. If you are like me, you have learned all these "diet" rules of when and how to eat so that you haven't had to listen to when your body is hungry. Now you are having to learn to stop the rules and listen to when your body says it is hungry. I go through that some time too. I don't always recognize when I'm hungry and until I get the shakes. Not so much now as I did in the beginning of this. Now I have the problem of recognizing "real" hunger and I "think" I'm hungry. IE is a process and we just have to go through it. Carolr is a real inspiration to me that this actually works and look forward to the time when I can be join her in the success zone.

IE is process of learning experiences. We learn why we do certain things and make corrections where needed. Trust your instincts.

Good Morning,

Things are going good for me. I'm starting to understand how I like to feel when I eat. I have known this before, but it is sinking in again. I hate feeling stuffed and overfed. Now I feel that I'm starting to explore how I feel when I eat certain foods. I actually like the feeling that eating light foods gives me. The only way I know how to explain it.

The fish sticks were good, but not as good as when Mama fixed it. I find that true about a lot of things. I never thought I could give up potatoes when dieting, so had a baked potato the other day. It was good, but not as great as I thought. I'm learning that some foods are good once in a while, but not all the time. Today, it is hot dogs that I've been hungry for so will test them to see how they measure up. It is interesting when you find that the foods you missed when "dieting" were probably missed just because the were "forbidden" on a diet.

carolr I went through a time when I just had to have chocolate chip cookies. I bought a bag and got tired of them before they were finished. Now I hesitate to buy things like that because I end up not wanting it like I thought I would. Like you, I'm learning that I like the healthier foods more than the "play" foods. But I am in a stage of learning what I really like and what I don't so it all depends on how I feel about it when I get to the store to buy it. Sometimes I get to the item and look at it and then say "I don't want that" and walk away without it. It is a whole 'New" experience for me.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

flmom23, hunger feels different to different people. You'll figure it out. Patty, sounds like you are figuring it out. After all these years it's kind of a neat feeling. My hubby got me a new side by side frig. I have wanted one for a long time but his mom didn't like hers so he never would buy one. After 40 yr. of marriage he gave in. ha! Praise the Lord! I ordered a dress for my son's wedding Aug 21st but is was a little tight. When I looked at the website that night the size I needed was there. Whew. I considered going on a drastic diet to fit into the first one and am I ever thankful that it is not needed. Not that I could do that anymore.

Help!
 

Hello, all,
My name is Chavonne and I was wondering if I could join this thread. A few days ago, I woke up and realized that, even if I lost the weight I hope to lose, I don't want to be obsessively watching what I eat for the rest of my life. I've heard about IE before and am really intrigued. The idea of not being a slave to my scale sounds like a miracle. I bought Intuitive Eating (the book) this morning and plan to read it as soon as possible. I'm terrified by the idea of not dieting because I've been doing so for most of my life! I would appreciate any and all support and tips. Thanks!

HiChavonne:welcome3: to the thread. We are glad you are here. Just jump in and ask any questions. Hopefully someone will be able help find the answers for you. We all understand your fears as well as we have all been there and had them. I still battle with it at times. I am 66 yrs old this month and have dieted for most of 46 of those years. I think the hardest thing for me was giving up "diet" thinking. In fact I tried IE before and the biggest fear I had and still do sometimes is that I would gain too much weight while getting back to eating normal. I finally decided that I have to give this a chance since I was gaining weight any way from the dieting. At least with IE, I have a chance to lose. My advice would be give it a good chance and don't expect "overnight" changes as IE is a slower process. From what I've read, it is worth it. Good luck with your journey.

carolr-Glad you finally got the refrig you wanted. DH doesn't like ours, but I do except I wish I had gotten white instead of silver which was the in thing when we bought it. I hate trying to keep it clean and we don't have kids little hands on it all thetime. I know you are glad you don't have to do a "diet". You've come so far with IE. Haven't told you lately, but thanks for being an inspiration to the rest of us.

When You can't Recognize Hunger
 

flmom I read today in the book that if you have a difficult time recognizing true hunger to ask yourself how long it has been since you ate last. They recommend not going more than 4 or 5 hours without eating while eating. It seems that the liver dumps carbs every 3 hours and needs to be replenished every 5 hours. This must be true since I read something similar by another dietician's diet book.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Patty. Actually they make a nonfingerprint stainless steel now. That's what I got. Not sure what is is called but you get the idea. ha!

Hi girls my two mile walks are getting painful, I have blisters on the bottom of my feet, any suggestions on how to get rid of them! Never had them on the bottom of my feet!