Hello, all! I just signed up for Thintuition yesterday on the recommendation of a friend. I also read The Overfed Head the other day. It's a very good book, and a quick read, I read it in one sitting. I'm still learning about the whole concept and will read through this thread. I'm glad there's others here who are doing something similar.
Hi all. Here is some good information I found about IE.
• Cope with your emotions without food, don’t use food to bury your feelings. An emotional eater learns early on that food is a great way to cope. Here are some reasons why you may eat other than for physical hunger:
Cope with your emotions by developing healthy coping mechanisms. Do activities that will help you keep your mind off of food or the emotional feelings that are triggering you to eat? Try the following:
o Increase physical activity. Exercise can help clear your mind and decrease your frustration or stress.
�� Do a few sit ups or push ups
�� Take a walk or a jog
o Plan activities that are not centered around eating or food. Try to actively think of things that you can do when you are bored or have some extra time on your hands.
�� Play cards
�� Crossword puzzles
�� Write a letter
�� Read a book
Lisa -
There is some great information here - thanks so much for sharing. The one area where I have a problem is in the paragraphs above. Keep your mind off your emotions by doing crossword puzzles so you don't overeat ?? Please, anyone, let me know if this works for you!
IMHO, what is suggested here are distractions from our desire to eat when what is needed is identifying and dealing with why we eat/overeat to handle our emotions. I agree that we need to find other ways of coping than eating, and exercise and other enjoyable activities may ultimately be the way to do this, but until we get at ther root of why we've engaged in this destructive behavior for so long, it will be very hard to be successful w/ intuitive or mindful eating.
I would restate it this way:
Learn to cope with our emotions around food by:
- Reading all we can about emotional eating*
- Consider therapy to explore why we use food to handle our emotions
- Join groups like this! or other support groups
- Consider attending workshops related to emotional eating
* even if we can't/don't want to do the others on the list, everyone can do this one if they want.
THEN we can choose to use other activities as healthy emotional outlets.
As you can see, I feel very strongly about this! This has been my process and, of course, may not work for you .
I agree with you. We do have to deal with our emotions and how that plays a part in emotional eating. I think the article is just trying to give alternatives to eating.
I see you are in Chicago. Are you actually attending the Thintuition workshops in Chicago? Also is your friend doing it or had success with the process.
Lisa, Mary, Kay, 4thefuture, and everyone! What a lot of good info you have given. I have another problem....eating out. Last night we went to Dubuque for my granson's birthday. We were waiting on my son to get home from work so we could go out to eat. We were all starving so picking at chips. I was trying to be really careful but by the time we got to dinner I was not very hungry. So I thought I would order and just eat a little. I did take some home but not enough. Maybe this kind of thing will come with time.......getting used to not eating when everyone else is. Seems like there are so many situations to figure out.
I see you are in Chicago. Are you actually attending the Thintuition workshops in Chicago? Also is your friend doing it or had success with the process.
I'm not, but my friend is doing the workshops, she's in some sort of study. She's been doing it for a little more than a week I think and has lost about 3 lbs so far. She lives in Lincoln Park so going to the workshops for her is easy. I'm wayyyyy up in the northern burbs near the border so it's not convenient to me. I know another gal that did the online program too, I forget how much she lost. I'll have to go look it up.
Lisa, I hear what you say about your son being good at IE eating. I think that most younger children are really in tune to their bodies and use IE until society tells them to ignore their bodies and join the norm. It's great that he's been able to keep that mentality for so long. What a great working example to learn from. Who said that we can't learn something from our children?
I really enjoyed the information about the development of food thoughts as it pertains to human development. I have to admit that I am terrified that I will pass on my diet mentality to my 4 year old daughter. That is one reason why I switched to IE. I really wanted my thoughts on food to be positive. She picks up on so much - much more than I would think possible for such a little one.
Carol - Eating out is such a major problem, but something that I really enjoy. First there's the problem of picking someplace that has healthy but tasty food that the whole family can agree on. Then the portions they serve are generally outrageous! And going to a restaurant hungry is torture with the bread/chips they have out on the table. My mom taught me to eat an apple before I go to a restaurant to take the edge off. I like going to places that have their menu on-line (or ones where I have the little take-home paper menus if we've been before). That way I can choose what I'm going to eat while I'm munching on my apple and before I'm starving smelling all of the great food surrounding me.
I find eating out really difficult as well. I don't cook that much -- I don't really like it. So, when I go out I usually feel like "Oh, I'll never be able to eat this again". That is so hard! When I'm out to dinner I love to talk and I'm usually completely clueless about how much I'm eating. I think for me it's just getting into the habit of stopping during the meal at least once to determine how full I feel. What I'm learning so far is that it's a process, it's going to take time, and it's not a quick fix. There is no failure either. There are times when I'm not eating when I'm hungry, I'm eating for other reasons so I just make a note of it. I'll try to determine what my motivation for eating was -- was it emotional, was it pressure at a party, was I bored? This is where putting the scale away has helped. Instead of thinking, "Oh no, I have to answer to the scale tomorrow morning", I look at it as more of a bigger picture. One night of overindulgence isn't going to ruin everything. This big picture thinking has really helped me to stop bingeing.
Hi ladies!!! Argh eating out!!! When I am with my dh and kids I am fine. We don't talk too much and I can be mindful of what I am eating. Today I went to lunch with some of my girlfriends and we were so busy talking that I ate without paying attention. By the time I noticed what was going on I was overly full! That was a bit of a disappoiontment. On a positive note, when I realized what I had done, I quit eating with food still left on my plate evenly though a little voice in my head said, "There isn't much left, you might as well finish it." I am also happy to say that it has been a while since I had had that full miserable feeling. I don't miss it!!!!!
I think eating out may take more practice than eating at home for all of us. Living under the "Diet mentality" you could never go out to eat without major guilt or temptation.
Mary, I agree about addressing the emotional struggles. I do puzzles to distract myself when I want to eat from boredom. Sometimes I want to eat because I am tired and stressed from work, and doing a puzzle is a way to "check out" for a while. Puzzles are definately not for avoiding important emotional issues.
It is so nice to see everyone posting! I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts and learning.
Lisa, I am also doing Turbo Jam! I really enjoy it. Thank you so much for all of the information you posted. That's awesome!
Emotional eating can be the pits, but I think just letting ourselves feel those emotions is an important thing. It's better than stuffing our feelings down with food. (I'll need this reminder later for myself I'm sure--ha!).
Going out to eat can be more of a temptation with overeating. What I try to keep in mind that I can take what I don't finish home with me. Order what you really want and you will be satisfied. You can do it!
One thing I struggle with is that I don't always "want" to stop eating even though I'm satisfied.
I have a couple more situations to think about. Last night we prepared and froze about 90 qt of sweet corn. It took hrs and I was so tired that I wasn't even paying attention to fullness. We had supper in the midst of all that and then there were cookies, etc. I think I kept eating because I was so tired and trying to keep going. It took about 7 hr even with the help of some of our kids........from 5pm to 1am. The other thing is that my youngest son is expecting a girlfriend to come visit that we have never met. She is flying in on Aug 28th. All I can think about is, "I have got to start starving to get some of this weight off. What will she think of me?" Anyone ever had things like that happen. Linda, how did the meeting go?
After I wrote that last note I was rereading some of the posts and I noticed that about a week ago all was well in IE land and now it seems I am not doing too good. Oh, the ups and downs of life!
Carol, Don't get down!! Put the "downs" in the learning column and move on. You are learning! You were exactly right seeing yourself eating because you were tired. Don't let the diet mentality suck you in! If this girlfriend doesn't like you for who you are, then she can pack her bags and walk home! If you are nervous and want a little confidance get yourself a pretty new shirt or outfit to wear. Remember, she is probably just as worried as you are! Maybe she doesn't have a weight issue, but there will be something that she thinks will keep you from liking her. Approach her with the obvious warmth you share here. I haven't seen you in person, but I already know your beautiful! It's the internal beauty that really makes you care for someone and builds a relationship.
Thanks, Kay, I needed that. Today is much better. I'm really tired because of 2 late nights but I took a nap and feel better. The grandkids are here so that is always fun. My youngest daughter just got her lisence and took them to the swimming pool.
Hi All! It's nice to see this thread really take off! I made it thru my week in a hotel and eating out every meal. I had one night I was so hungry, physically hungry so I ate a second supper and felt much better. I felt ok about it because I knew it was physical, not emotional. I found that being away from home made it easier. I think it helped not to be in a routine. At home I mindlessly eat whenever something emotional gets too heavy for me. By being away, I had to make a conscious effort to go get the food and unless I was truly stomach hungry, it just wasn't worth it. I have one more week of eating out every meal and then next Sunday, August 20th, I'm down to only traveling 3-4 days a week until May. I also walked for an hour 4 out of 6 days this week and a couple of those days I walked for 3 or 4 hours total. That's good for my presidential fitness points!
I'm glad there's others here who are doing something similar.
?? Please, anyone, let me know if this works for you!
