No, you're insight is quite amazing!!!

sidhe, no way! This thread can always use more action. :D :carrot:

Something I find that helps, and is easy to forget about - when you don't know what you want, take some *time* to think about it. It doesn't always come to you instantly what you want. At least, I know I forget to do this, and then I end up eating something that's not really satisfying.

Just had dinner. Ugh! Realize I ate too much about 2 seconds too late. It was really good, though! I love eating what I want. lol
Think I'm gonna go take a walk.

Originally Posted by carolr3639:
Welcome CandEs. I'm getting close to losing 50 lb but it has taken 2 yr. It does really free you up from food obsession. Sometimes sweets really don't appeal and that never happened before.

Thanks, Carolr, I didn't see this before. I don't mind how long it takes, just that it actually works. ;) I was a year working on this before, and I didn't lose anything.

Originally Posted by theCandEs:
Thanks, Sidhe,
Yes, I am a great maintainer. In the last year or so, I stopped IE because it was so frustrating for me, and just in the last few days I realize I have been eating beyond my fullness mark. I have not gained any weight in the last 5 years. I only lost weight when I did the South Beach diet, and I have kept that off. I refuse to believe I'm meant to be this weight. I'm way too heavy for my frame and I'm only 5'2". I just feel like I need something to get my body to realize it needs to let go of the fat. I guess I need to join a gym or something.

I've been thinking about this all day, and I really think it ties into what I wrote in my last post. You're a great maintainer. What that means is that you've figured out how to give your body just the perfect amount of food/energy to stay right here. Which is fantastic! So many people in this world struggle with maintaining anything, much less their weight! :lol: Think about this from your body's perspective: you're giving it just the right amount of energy to stay at your weight right now. At your weight right now, you say you're too heavy for your frame. But from all the information/feedback you're getting, your body is pretty well balanced, at this weight. MENTALLY you may not be and you may be wanting more from your life/body/activities, but to the mechanical system that is your body, things are about right.

I'm going to make some assumptions off of that (please take no offense, and absolutely correct me if I'm wrong!!). You spend a lot of time sitting because it's too tiring or too painful to get up and move around, right? You probably do as many tasks as you can at the same time (bring in groceries as many bags as you can at a time, carry a huge load of stuff up the stairs or into the other room at at once to minimize trips back and forth, have your kids or partner carry/move/lift things for you while you take care of something else). You've said maybe you need to "join a gym or something", so I'm going to assume you don't exercise regularly since it's not a conscious, integral part of your life.

Basically what I'm trying to get at here is that there's probably a lot of downtime in your life, and your body is maintaining at this caloric level because that's as much as you are using your body. You actually weren't eating a huge amount past "full", you were eating just about right. Your "just about right" is enough for as much as you're using your body right now. So if you want that to change, the way I'm understanding this whole thing, you've got to use your body more.

One thing I've noticed for many years is that if I exercise, I hit a very definite STOP at my next meal. It's like the storehouse is depleted and is being filled back up, and the moment it gets to the top again I'm done. My body is so attuned to itself that I rarely miss STOP after a workout. It's just the stopping every other time that I'm relearning! :dizzy:

The loss may be slow. It depends on how you were eating before. What I'm thinking is that if a person was eating way past full on calorie-dense foods, then eating just barely up to full--even if it's still on calorie-dense stuff--will shave off a few calories, but not a huge amount. If your body starts asking for healthier, less calorie-dense foods, then that difference is bigger. Say I decided that what I wanted to eat was a stack of cookies. I had 600 calories worth of cookies, stopped when I was content per volume (when my tummy was full) and went on with life. At the next meal I wanted salad (hey, it's been known to happen! :D ). So I had my Asian Fusion salad, which is 280 calories. So I've just cut out 320 calories. I'm NOT saying we should count calories!! What I'm saying is that some foods fill us up for fewer calories, and (in theory) your body will ask for those when it needs them. You've just gotta be really careful you're giving your BODY what it asks for, not your MOUTH, and stop when you're full.

Also, can you pinpoint why you lost weight on SB? Were you eating less? Were you hungry a lot (meaning you were definitely getting fewer calories)? Was it the fact that your body is sensitive to carbohydrates, and cutting back on them made it easier for your body to maintain hormone/insulin/blood sugar levels? I wrote about this a little bit before...listening to your body means listening to more than "tummy full now" signals. Maybe your body is trying really hard to tell you that it can't cope well with lots of carbs, and as much as your mouth likes the taste, your body can't deal with them. How do you feel now, after you eat? Did you feel better when you were limiting carbs? That's your body sending you a message. :)

Alright, this is getting long. I'm really really not an authority of any kind, I'm just reading the book, pulling together previous experiences, and thinking a lot about this. If you think I'm blowing smoke feel free to tell me to hush. ;)

Originally Posted by sidhe:
One thing I've noticed for many years is that if I exercise, I hit a very definite STOP at my next meal. It's like the storehouse is depleted and is being filled back up, and the moment it gets to the top again I'm done. My body is so attuned to itself that I rarely miss STOP after a workout. It's just the stopping every other time that I'm relearning! :dizzy:

An interesting thought! I'm not sure I've paid attention enough to notice. I do, however, notice that when I'm exercising, I am definitely more attuned in general to when my body had had enough food. I'm just not sure I correlate specifically with each workout. Food for thought, so to speak.

Originally Posted by sidhe:
You've just gotta be really careful you're giving your BODY what it asks for, not your MOUTH, and stop when you're full.

That's what is hardest for some. I think it's also what confuses people who don't do IE and can't fathom it: "How can it work to eat anything you want? I want everything!" Actually, I suppose it's not that hard to tell the difference, it's just hard to resist the mouth hunger :o.

Originally Posted by sidhe:
If you think I'm blowing smoke feel free to tell me to hush. ;)

Keep it coming! Absolutely!

Wow, Sidhe! Thank you so much for your input. I couldn't have said it better myself. lol No, I don't exercise. I was walking at local park in the mornings, but some strange people were showing up around there, and one day a woman who was running came back to her car and found it broken into. Her purse was stolen. I live just off a major highway, so it is too dangerous to walk there. I was thinking I could go to a mall, but it is really far away (I live in the boonies). Currently, I am unemployed and looking for a job, so joining a gym would be an expense I really don't want to incur right now. My next thought was buying some exercise videos. I have a bad knee, so it would have to be low impact (blew my knee out doing step aerobics when I was in college). As far as not being active around the house, actually I am. I do all the housework and grocery shopping, but I guess it's not really enough to help me lose weight. I intensely dislike yard work, so my husband does all of that. I have 2 little boys and they keep me busy, too.
As far as the South Beach Diet goes, I did really well when there were no extra carbs. I felt better. I lost weight, but I wasn't entirely happy. I love carbs, and I have a feeling I am a bit insulin resistant. When it came time to add the carbs back in, I stopped losing weight. I had gestational diabetes when I had my son 6 years ago, and while my blood sugar has checked out okay, I still worry I could get type 2 diabetes. Anyway, I plan on exercising more and listening to what my body needs. I love vegetables, and I usually eat fairly healthy. I don't like to have a lot of junk. It makes me feel bad.
Thank you, again. Maybe with the support here, I can make this work.

Originally Posted by sidhe:
One thing I've noticed for many years is that if I exercise, I hit a very definite STOP at my next meal. ;)

Julie and sidhe, I remember this from when I did IE the last time. The first time I got a definite STOP, I was surprised and shocked. I would like for it to happen again.

Originally Posted by theCandEs:
Wow, Sidhe! Thank you so much for your input. I couldn't have said it better myself. lol No, I don't exercise. I was walking at local park in the mornings, but some strange people were showing up around there, and one day a woman who was running came back to her car and found it broken into. Her purse was stolen. I live just off a major highway, so it is too dangerous to walk there. I was thinking I could go to a mall, but it is really far away (I live in the boonies). Currently, I am unemployed and looking for a job, so joining a gym would be an expense I really don't want to incur right now. My next thought was buying some exercise videos. I have a bad knee, so it would have to be low impact (blew my knee out doing step aerobics when I was in college). As far as not being active around the house, actually I am. I do all the housework and grocery shopping, but I guess it's not really enough to help me lose weight. I intensely dislike yard work, so my husband does all of that. I have 2 little boys and they keep me busy, too.
As far as the South Beach Diet goes, I did really well when there were no extra carbs. I felt better. I lost weight, but I wasn't entirely happy. I love carbs, and I have a feeling I am a bit insulin resistant. When it came time to add the carbs back in, I stopped losing weight. I had gestational diabetes when I had my son 6 years ago, and while my blood sugar has checked out okay, I still worry I could get type 2 diabetes. Anyway, I plan on exercising more and listening to what my body needs. I love vegetables, and I usually eat fairly healthy. I don't like to have a lot of junk. It makes me feel bad.
Thank you, again. Maybe with the support here, I can make this work.

Well, I guess, think about it logically: for the calories you are consuming living the life you are, your body looks like it does right now. Your weight's not changing, right? So this is the right calories to keep your body here. So logically, either the number of calories you're consuming needs to change, or your activity level needs to change. (Can you tell I'm a scientist? ;) )

From what I've read, when your activity level increases, your body does NOT increase its demand for calories proportionately. What I mean is, if you're 500 calories more active, your body doesn't ask for 500 calories more from food. The whole "exercise makes me hungry" thing seems to be a fallacy. It goes up a little bit, but not the same amount you burn. All I really know is from my experience, but like I said before, when I exercise my body definitely tells me when to stop! :lol:

I'm sad for you that you don't have a safe place to exercise. :( I think I'd go nuts! When we got married I told my husband that the one thing I INSISTED on was that we had to have money in the budget for a gym membership for me. Non-negotiable!! I've never been challenged by the exercise component of living a healthy life. When we lived in London I actually belonged to two gyms--a regular gym, and a Pilates/yoga gym. I've been a gym goer since I was 15. Too bad I haven't had a handle on my eating that long, too! :dizzy:

I think the fact that you've experienced gestational diabetes, and you lost weight with limited carbs, and you just simple feel better with limited carbs, is your body trying to tell you something. Your mouth might not be happy about it, but your body will!! :)

Just checking in. A flyby. I had a post written and it went out in to cyberspace somewhere... lost it. Don't have time to write a new one since I have to leave for BSF in about 10 minutes.

Let me just say great posts ladies. Lots to think about. I'll try to get back here later this evening and try to remember what I was sharing.

Have a great day Everyone!

Thank you again, sidhe. Today I had my low carb breakfast and coffee with no sugar (I've kind-of gotten used to it that way). I will have some bread or fruit today, but not too much.
Now, I need to look for some activity to do. ;)

Have a great day to you, too, Trish!

I can relate to that...
 

Originally Posted by theCandEs:
Thank you again, sidhe. Today I had my low carb breakfast and coffee with no sugar (I've kind-of gotten used to it that way). I will have some bread or fruit today, but not too much.
Now, I need to look for some activity to do. ;)

About activity....isn't it strange that once you stop having food on your mind all the time and aren't really eating much, that you need to "find something to do"? It really goes to show how deep that attachment is. Wierd, eh?
:hug:

Just a quick "Hello" today, got lots to do!

Welcome Natoshial! :welcome2: We are glad to have you with us, just jump right in! This place has been very busy here the last few days with lots of good insights, feel free to share!

Well, I'm off. Have a great one! :sunny:

Originally Posted by Ryanne:
About activity....isn't it strange that once you stop having food on your mind all the time and aren't really eating much, that you need to "find something to do"? It really goes to show how deep that attachment is. Wierd, eh?
:hug:

Well, I'm a SAHM, and my kids are in school. I'm always looking for something to do. :D I've been spending a lot of time at their school helping in the library, and I'm a "room mom." The rest of the time I'm cooking, cleaning, and job hunting. I can't just sit around. It would drive me nuts.
And, yes! I DO like not having to think about food all of the time. I had lunch with a friend today, and no guilt involved! Very good, I think!

Real quick note: I was driving home from lunch with my husband today and thought, "hey, I can have some apple crisp when I get home, I'm allowed!!" (I went apple picking and made a fresh crisp last night). The next heartbeat I had the thought, "well, are you hungry yet?" I had to admit to myself that no, I wasn't hungry. I thought about how I would feel if I DID go home and eat the apple crisp anyway just because I wanted it, and I had to admit to myself that I'd feel, physically and mentally, pretty lousy. So I 'agreed' with myself to wait until I got hungry again.

DARN IT!! :tantrum: ;)

I'm off to the gym. Gotta work out and get hungry again. And if I want to, all I'll have for dinner will be apple crisp!! ;)

Very tired today. You know it's bad when your son wakes you up instead of the other way around. Having my coffee now. :)

Sidhe, the apple crisp sounds really good!

I have to say "Intuitive Eating" saved my whole weight loss journey i was afraid that i wouldn't be able to get control my eating issues. My main issue you was boredom eating or ill eat in front the t.v. and not tasting my food. smh such a dang shame it took me so long to figure it out. But my number one rule is if i am going to eat i have to eat at the table away from the t.v.
Surprisingly it works because i have a pack of mini oreo's in the freezer (i like them hard lol) and they've been there since Mon. any other time i would have easily finished them off in like 0.009 seconds lol. Does anyone else have this experience?

Originally Posted by ishatorres:
Surprisingly it works because i have a pack of mini oreo's in the freezer (i like them hard lol) and they've been there since Mon. any other time i would have easily finished them off in like 0.009 seconds lol. Does anyone else have this experience?

What experience, eating frozen Oreo's? :devil:

Ok, to be serious, I'm beginning to eat that way more than I used to. I used to eat really fast and mindlessly. Then I started eating healthy, and reading a book or using the internet while I ate helped me slow down. It really helped me to learn to recognize fullness before I ate too much. Now, I'm finally starting to find I can just eat and not necessarily do something else at the same time (I usually eat alone).

I suppose it's those snacky foods I'm least likely to sit down and focus on eating, and they're probably the ones that need that approach the most.

I think I've found yet another diet backlash symptom ... it's feeling like a failure at IE (even tho IE is not a diet). Then there's the diet thinking that "I'll try harder tomorrow to do this right." When does this stupid diet mentality go away?

As much as I'd like to believe that there are no "rules" with IE, there are. If I don't honor my hunger, I'm breaking a rule. If I don't honor my fullness, I'm breaking a rule. And because I've been lousy at honoring hunger and fullness lately, I feel like I've failed yet again. (My bloated belly reinforces this feeling of having failed.)

But interestingly, there is another side to this. As discussed much earlier in this thread, *what* I've been eating has played a major role in me not honoring hunger and fullness. The overload of carbs and overall low quality foods I've been consuming lately has totally wrecked my ability to stop eating. The "standing in front of the pantry" syndrome is back in full force.

So, I know, from past experience, that I can't count my carbs while doing IE, it backfires. And I know that I can't just cut out certain food groups because that will backfire, too, when I start craving them because they've been put on a pedestal again ... what's left to do? I've got to find a balance. I've got to find moderation.

Today I've had 2 8oz. glasses of low-sodium V8 juice for breakfast and [way too much] Greek salad for lunch [gut-busting too much]. I hope that the cravings to keep eating so much will go away if I eat better foods today. I think I'm off to a good start (eating better, that is). Ah, and then there's the political (in?)correctness of "eating better" ... there are no bad foods. Hmph.

I don't know how others respond to carbs, but overload seems to be my normal. I just need to figure out how to include them in moderation.

So I think that what I'm finding out is that even tho I would love to take the IE book at face value, as "the cure all," I have to treat it as just another program for managing weight (and sanity). Like any diet out there, the idea that you can eat a certain way and lose weight and be happy is peddled with IE. It's just packaged a little differently. The "rules" are much looser but if you stick with them, something will happen. Maybe that's true with those who are diligent with IE, but what about us slackers? Why do I just plain feel better when I eat better? Why do I feel like crap when I eat crap? Duh. There has to be some kind of restriction (better, "limitation") ... does anybody agree?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing IE. I love IE. But what I've come to realize is that I have to make certain *healthy* choices instead of "I'm gonna have my cake and eat it too, because I can." That just doesn't work for me. I have proven this again and again and it only serves to spin me further down the diet mentality spiral. What? IE is causing my diet mentality? I dunno. Maybe.

Well, I don't know why I felt the need to go on a rant today, but that's what came out! LOL! I'm still struggling with IE even tho it should be the most natural thing in the world to do. Once again, I need to open my IE book back up and just read it. Maybe I'll learn something new, but right now it's just feeling like another one of my dieting failures ...

Have a great one! :sunny:

Welcome ishatorres!

I experimented with a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups when I first started seriously following IE. I was able to take them or leave them. (Something I couldn't do in the past.) That was a good feeling.

Originally Posted by JulieJ08:
What experience, eating frozen Oreo's? :devil:

Ok, to be serious, I'm beginning to eat that way more than I used to. I used to . Then I started eating healthy, and reading a book or using the internet while I ate helped me slow down. It really helped me to learn to recognize fullness before I ate too much. Now, I'm finally starting to find I can just eat and not necessarily do something else at the same time (I usually eat alone).

I suppose it's those snacky foods I'm least likely to sit down and focus on eating, and they're probably the ones that need that approach the most.

hey love my high froctose frozen!!! lol
you really hit it on the head with "eat really fast and mindlessly". i did that often out of boredom. just writing that makes me cringe im glad im more aware and taking care of my body cause that stuff can get dangerous:dizzy:

Originally Posted by Blue Serenity:
Welcome ishatorres!

I experimented with a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups when I first started seriously following IE. I was able to take them or leave them. (Something I couldn't do in the past.) That was a good feeling.

Thanks hun
lol at the reeses cups, my real creptonite is cookies and cream ice cream im going to reintroduce it into my diet in a few weeks. if i notice any addict shakes or late night visits to the freezer i'm chucking it. lol

Originally Posted by Ryanne:
About activity....isn't it strange that once you stop having food on your mind all the time and aren't really eating much, that you need to "find something to do"? It really goes to show how deep that attachment is. Wierd, eh?
:hug:

I experiemced this when I gave up dieting. I didn't know what I wanted to do since I don't plan my meals in advance, count calories or anything. I didn't realize that diets and foods had taken up so much of my time. Now I have the time to do some of the things that I didn't think I had time to do and even some I enjoy. I remember my husband telling me one time "you are obsessed with food". I realized that he was right. I was always buying a new diet book and even recipe books that I seldom if ever used.

IE has set me free from always thinking about food. Isn't it great? I only have to do what I choose to do to make it work for me. I make the rules no one else. Feels great because I feel like I'm in control of my life again.

Originally Posted by Blue Serenity:
Why do I just plain feel better when I eat better? Why do I feel like crap when I eat crap? Duh. There has to be some kind of restriction (better, "limitation") ... does anybody agree?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing IE. I love IE. But what I've come to realize is that I have to make certain *healthy* choices instead of "I'm gonna have my cake and eat it too, because I can."

See, I just don't see mindful eating as being about having cake just because I can. I think it's about make your choices based on all the realities that are relevant. In the so-called diet mentality, listening to our hunger and even some of our cravings is not allowed, and that backfires. Because it ignores some realities. I think mindful eating is about putting things back into perspective, giving each input it's proper due - *not* about replacing a particular one-sided view with another particular one-sided view. How your food makes you feel, whether it keeps you satisfied for more than an hour, and so on - those are valid inputs too. Ignoring those will also backfire.

But the point is that you're not following some external rules. You're letting your body tell you what it needs. If your body is telling you that when you don't get enough veggies, you feel yucky, or when you eat lots of white bread you go a little nuts, that's not a rule. It's your body giving you information to work with, to correlate with all the other factors that are relevant, such as how you feel emotionally, what scheduling you have to work with, how much money you have, etc. And then you make a choice - you don't follow some rule.

I hope that makes any sense at all :dizzy:

I'm reminded of a blog post I came across yesterday. It's a guy with a book about mindful eating. He talks about mindful emotional eating. Yes, you read that right. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about his point of view, but it's definitely interesting.

Mindful Emotional Eating

Another interesting post of his was:

Counting Experiential Calories

Originally Posted by Blue Serenity:
I think I've found yet another diet backlash symptom ... it's feeling like a failure at IE (even tho IE is not a diet). Then there's the diet thinking that "I'll try harder tomorrow to do this right." When does this stupid diet mentality go away?

As much as I'd like to believe that there are no "rules" with IE, there are. If I don't honor my hunger, I'm breaking a rule. If I don't honor my fullness, I'm breaking a rule. And because I've been lousy at honoring hunger and fullness lately, I feel like I've failed yet again. (My bloated belly reinforces this feeling of having failed.)

But interestingly, there is another side to this. As discussed much earlier in this thread, *what* I've been eating has played a major role in me not honoring hunger and fullness. The overload of carbs and overall low quality foods I've been consuming lately has totally wrecked my ability to stop eating. The "standing in front of the pantry" syndrome is back in full force.

So, I know, from past experience, that I can't count my carbs while doing IE, it backfires. And I know that I can't just cut out certain food groups because that will backfire, too, when I start craving them because they've been put on a pedestal again ... what's left to do? I've got to find a balance. I've got to find moderation.

Today I've had 2 8oz. glasses of low-sodium V8 juice for breakfast and [way too much] Greek salad for lunch [gut-busting too much]. I hope that the cravings to keep eating so much will go away if I eat better foods today. I think I'm off to a good start (eating better, that is). Ah, and then there's the political (in?)correctness of "eating better" ... there are no bad foods. Hmph.

I don't know how others respond to carbs, but overload seems to be my normal. I just need to figure out how to include them in moderation.

So I think that what I'm finding out is that even tho I would love to take the IE book at face value, as "the cure all," I have to treat it as just another program for managing weight (and sanity). Like any diet out there, the idea that you can eat a certain way and lose weight and be happy is peddled with IE. It's just packaged a little differently. The "rules" are much looser but if you stick with them, something will happen. Maybe that's true with those who are diligent with IE, but what about us slackers? Why do I just plain feel better when I eat better? Why do I feel like crap when I eat crap? Duh. There has to be some kind of restriction (better, "limitation") ... does anybody agree?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing IE. I love IE. But what I've come to realize is that I have to make certain *healthy* choices instead of "I'm gonna have my cake and eat it too, because I can." That just doesn't work for me. I have proven this again and again and it only serves to spin me further down the diet mentality spiral. What? IE is causing my diet mentality? I dunno. Maybe.

Well, I don't know why I felt the need to go on a rant today, but that's what came out! LOL! I'm still struggling with IE even tho it should be the most natural thing in the world to do. Once again, I need to open my IE book back up and just read it. Maybe I'll learn something new, but right now it's just feeling like another one of my dieting failures ...

Have a great one! :sunny:

Blue Strange how we seem to always experience pretty much the same things. And it is true again.

I too have a problem with too many carbs. So I am concentrating on keeping them down, but not counting them. I decided that I would do lower carb and use what someone on a nother site named the 4 Golden IE Rules.
1. When I'm hungry, I will eat.
2. Eat what I like, not what I think I should eat.
3. Eat slow and savor every bite.
4. Stop eating when I start to feel full. (I like until I start to feel satisfied).

I can choose most of my foods from lower carb foods because I feel better when I do and I also eat only the ones that I really like. I've learned to just take the ones I either don't like or that are not so important to me and not buy them. I don't eat anything any more just because it is good for me any more, because I found out from IE that there are plenty of foods that I do like to choose from.

I do have a few "goodies" that I like from time to time which I keep on hand. And with the IE rules, I find they don't "call my name" as much as they used to.

Hope this helps a little.

Have a good day.

Originally Posted by JulieJ08:
But the point is that you're not following some external rules. You're letting your body tell you what it needs. If your body is telling you that when you don't get enough veggies, you feel yucky, or when you eat lots of white bread you go a little nuts, that's not a rule. It's your body giving you information to work with, to correlate with all the other factors that are relevant, such as how you feel emotionally, what scheduling you have to work with, how much money you have, etc. And then you make a choice - you don't follow some rule. I hope that makes any sense at all :dizzy:

Julie - Great post. I totally agree. Thanks for sharing.

Two things struck me ...

Originally Posted by pattygirl63:
I only have to do what I choose to do to make it work for me. I make the rules no one else. Feels great because I feel like I'm in control of my life again.

Hmmm. I've been so hung up on "follow this rule" or "don't follow any rules" that everything has become a "do" or a "don't" that I hear somebody else telling me ... DO honor your hunger, DON'T eat unless you are hungry ... DO eat white bread and pasta because if you don't you're not giving yourself freedom ... DON'T eat white bread and pasta because it will bloat you to no end. Your words are very empowering ... "I only have to do what I choose to do to make it work for me." Maybe I've been letting the author of books make my decisions for me. Ugh. Why do I have to be such a perfectionist?

Originally Posted by JulieJ08:
I think mindful eating is about putting things back into perspective, giving each input it's proper due - *not* about replacing a particular one-sided view with another particular one-sided view. How your food makes you feel, whether it keeps you satisfied for more than an hour, and so on - those are valid inputs too. Ignoring those will also backfire.

But the point is that you're not following some external rules. You're letting your body tell you what it needs. If your body is telling you that when you don't get enough veggies, you feel yucky, or when you eat lots of white bread you go a little nuts, that's not a rule. It's your body giving you information to work with, to correlate with all the other factors that are relevant, such as how you feel emotionally, what scheduling you have to work with, how much money you have, etc. And then you make a choice - you don't follow some rule.

I hope that makes any sense at all :dizzy:

Yes! It does make sense. As mentioned above, I think I've been getting hung up on the rules/non-rules thing. I mean, I love white pasta. If I eat too much it makes me feel blah and bloated and craving more, with no end in sight. But it *tastes* so good! I would much rather eat that than whole wheat pasta. But I feel better when I don't eat the over-processed stuff. So which do I honor? How it tastes or how it makes me feel? Maybe I should mix the two? But this is beyond pasta. You're right, I need to use the information my body's giving me to make better choices. Toss the rules (or non-rules) out the window and just listen to ME. Trust myself a little more.

Thanks guys! :grouphug:

Originally Posted by pattygirl63:
1. When I'm hungry, I will eat.
2. Eat what I like, not what I think I should eat.
3. Eat slow and savor every bite.
4. Stop eating when I start to feel full. (I like until I start to feel satisfied).

Haha! Speaking of rules! Those 4 sound a lot like the ones that worked for me when I managed to lose weight (with the help of a little regular movement).

Maybe I could get this IE thing better if I adapt the golden rules as "choices" I make rather than "rules" I follow. (I think there's a rebel in me!) lol

Oh wow, Julie ... I just had to post this real quick. I went to that link you left for us (thanks) and the first thing I read was this: Intent: to help you reclaim the eating moments of your life with meaning and moderation, and without perfectionism!

Without perfectionism. I think I need to read this.

Originally Posted by Blue Serenity:
Yes! It does make sense. As mentioned above, I think I've been getting hung up on the rules/non-rules thing. I mean, I love white pasta. If I eat too much it makes me feel blah and bloated and craving more, with no end in sight. But it *tastes* so good! I would much rather eat that than whole wheat pasta. But I feel better when I don't eat the over-processed stuff. So which do I honor? How it tastes or how it makes me feel? Maybe I should mix the two? But this is beyond pasta. You're right, I need to use the information my body's giving me to make better choices. Toss the rules (or non-rules) out the window and just listen to ME. Trust myself a little more.

Thanks guys! :grouphug:

To me, and this is just the way I'm reading the book and experiencing IE, how your BODY responds to the food is your first concern. I kinda look at it like this: I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my mouth will like anything sweet I give it. It's really nondiscriminatory, that mouth of mine. :dizzy: It'll take ice cream, it'll take cake, it'll take cookies, it'll take something that might have been a cookie 6 months ago when it was packaged but now is a blob of fake sugars and chemical additives, it'll take a lovely juicy orange. All are sweet and my mouth would be thrilled with any of them. But the wheat in the cookies and cake will make me hurt and bloat, the lactose in the ice cream will make me hurt and bloat, and the fake sugars and preservatives will make me hurt and bloat. Is it worth it? Really? To go through all that just for something sweet, when an orange would have been just as happily accepted?

I was actually standing in the grocery store today thinking about this. I stopped by for some Cool Whip, and walked through the bakery just to peek at cakes. I was actually holding one in my hand, and considered getting it. I'm "allowed", after all, now that I'm following IE, to have something if I'm hungry for it. Then I thought about how my body would react to that particular combination: cramping, bloating, pain, a sugar crash, probably a bit of weight gain because YES, my body gains weight off of even one slice of cake. I accepted that it was my choice to have the cake, and I TOTALLY could have it if I wanted it...but I didn't want it, considering what it would do to me.

Blue, if I were you I would give some thought to the idea that just because you CAN have something doesn't mean you MUST, and just because you CAN doesn't mean it's a good idea for your particular body.

All of this I've just written has actually be a long-winded, fancy way of saying I totally agree with what Julie wrote. :love: ;)

Originally Posted by sidhe:
All of this I've just written has actually be a long-winded, fancy way of saying I totally agree with what Julie wrote. :love: ;)

Haha! And I agree with you both. I'm realizing I have a long way to go.

A long time ago I used to not eat red meats for spiritual reasons. It was very easy to just say no thank you. My family respected that I did not eat red meat and would fix my standard chicken when I would visit, etc. How easy it was to just stick to my guns back then for spiritual reasons. But now, when health is a concern, I find it so hard to find a healthy balance of foods even tho certain things have such a negative effect on me.

Well, hopefully I can get this thing turned around in the right direction.

Thanks for your input. :)

Hello, Blue, and everyone!
Blue, I totally understand what you wrote. I'm just starting to get back in the swing of this IE stuff, though, and already I feel better. On SBD, there were so many restrictions, I just couldn't stand it. At the same time, now I'm getting the "did I eat too much?" message in my brain, or "Am I going to be hungry again in an hour?" I don't know. I'm trying to remember the beauty of this is there are no restrictions, and I shouldn't beat myself up for eating a bit too much, or eating something when I'm not hungry. I will say, if I don't eat too much or and I don't eat when I'm not hungry, I feel better about myself. Just trying to do that consistently is sometimes hard.
Anyway, I was curious, so I hopped on the scale this morning. I'm still the same! :D Well, what did I expect?

Good Morning Ladies,

I have a good attitude about my eating right now and just hope I can keep it. I had a Slimfast shake for breakfast this morning. Strange, but that is what I wanted. Got hungry a few minutes ago and had a few bites of Cashews. I was just thinking as I was reading what others wrote that I can remember when a "few" of cashews or anything for that mattter was not enough. There was a time when a can of Cashews wouldn't last me but a day or two if it made it through a day. So I've really changed. My meal times have become more like snacks. I love salads so I have one big salad a day with protein in it and it pretty much does away with the night munchies. I got hungry before I went to bed so I had a small cut of nuked sausage with one cheese stick just enough to take the hunger edge off. As I ate it, I thought of how there was a time that I would have wanted the whole thing and would probably eaten half.

Blue I too am a perfectionist and especially when it comes to dieting. But I also have a streak of rebellion as well. I was reading in the book last night about a woman who had been told all of her life what she should or had to eat. By the time she went to see one of the authors of the book, her first statement was "don't tell me I have to diet". Her first project of IE was to learn what foods she actually liked. She found 10 and then learned to eat those according to IE.

I too have begun to ask myself what I really like to eat. I wonder how much of my "favorites" were actually my Mama's or my Daddy's. Example, I used to love Fried chicken which I think was Mama's favorite. We went to a diet doctor together for several years. The first thing we did immediately after our WI day was go by a box of Church's chicken our favorite. When I married Tony and moved to FL and now SC, I have no access to that chain and no access to chicken cooked that way. KFC doesn't come close as far as I'm concerned which is the only chicken place here. You know what, I no long crave it like I did back home. When I go to visit my family in TX, they always buy it and have it for me at least once. However, it just doesn't taste like it did back then. I just don't think about it any more. So was it really my favorite or was it the association with my Mama. Who knows. I've experienced this with a lot of foods.

Now, I'm learning what "I" really like and I only buy those foods. I love salads with sliced ham and mayo. My favorite veggie is broccoli and brussel sprouts. DH favorite is cauliflower. So that is the only veggies I buy anymore.

I think we have to learn our preferences and then be patient with ourselves as we begin to work it into the IE plan for ourselves. Many times I put something on my grocery list that I think I would like and when I get in front of the item in the store, I might decide that I didn't want it as bad as I thought I did and I leave the store without it. I not only think IE is work for a while, and given time that it will work for me. I just have to be patient with the program and with myself. I have finally come to the place that I am not gaining. I am kind of bouncing between some numbers right now which is the way my body has worked in the past just before I start losing. So I have hopes this is starting to work for me. Carolr and some others I've read about on other sites are good examples of how this does work.

Sorry this is so long. Just thought I would share how this seems to be working for me.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend.

I got kind of behind on reading but thanks Trish for the kind words. Just lately I've been trying on old clothes that now fit and I am thankful. It's like going on a shopping spree in you own home. ha. I have been trying to get my son doing IE and I'm going to give him the CD even though I haven't finished it yet. But I've read the book at least twice. I asked him yesterday if he could lose 40lb in 2 yr. and keep it off and he agreed for the first time. I hope he can get the hang of it because it will save him years of diet distress.

Okay, now I have a worry-filled situation. I ate lunch at about 1:30pm (it was a Healthy Choice meal, so not many calories), but I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat anything else. Then, when I returned from picking up the boys from school, we all had hot dogs as a "snack." This was about 4:00pm. I'm not exactly full or hungry, but we are supposed to have dinner at a friend's house tonight. Ugh! I hope I'm hungry by then. I don't want to offend my hostess. :(

Well, I think it will be okay. Just talked to my husband and he said dinner wasn't until 7:30pm. Whew! What do you all do in situations like that?

Originally Posted by theCandEs:
Well, I think it will be okay. Just talked to my husband and he said dinner wasn't until 7:30pm. Whew! What do you all do in situations like that?

I wish someone would invite me to dinner lol! If i knew i was going to dinner at my grandmas house i would eat a light but fiber rich breakfast and then for the rest of day stick to veggie:carrot: based meals and eat every four hours until the dinner; cause grandma cooks for like 10 people and oh gosh her pork is Delicious:carrot:...... (better than frozen organic oreos)

LOL ishatorres! I know what you mean. We had spaghetti tonight and it was really good. I think I did okay. The salad was fabulous!