Oh, I have read Intuitive Eating by Tribole and Resch. It's not quiet so concise as the The Overfed Head but it is good. You can tell she's a nutritionist. That was one of the neat things about Weigh Down. Gwen Shamblin is a nutritionist, too, but she has rejected lot of that type of mentality.

I've been doing IE for I guess about a week. It's funny some days I feel myself slipping into that diet mentatlity of (I have to count everything) but then I think ok, I did "X" plan and lost X amount of weight then what happened when I stopped being so stricked? I gained it all back plus. It's almost like you're addicted to dieting and just have to go cold turkey with that mentatlity. I actually found a tape set that I bought YEARS and YEARS ago called Beyond Dieting The Bonius Plan. I don't know if anyone has ever heard of that one. But it's a whole tape set about stopping dieting and re-learning how to eat like a naturally thin person. Same concept as IE. When I tried to follow it all that time ago I think I wasn't ready to trust myself and tryed to make it a diet and of course I failed at it. But now doing this I feel like it is achievable and I can be successful at it.

You really have to be mentally ready to take this challenge on and give up dieting to relearn how your body works. So, I've made a commitment to myself to see this through until it's second nature and not go back to dieting.

It's definately worth it.

Yowza! Gone for a few days and ya'll have been posting away!

I have this fancy wedding tomorrow evening and have been shopping like a nut for the last few days. It has been very frustrating and exhausting. I don't know about ya'll, but I have a large chest and trying to find shirts to fit it is irritating to say the least. I have made a decision to lose my weight and next year get a reduction. I am done with these things!
I think my outfit will work. Black jacket, black skirt, silk sparkly chartreusse tank underneath...oh, and I have to wear heels. Haven't had heels on in 10 yrs. woohoo!

I have not read all the posts, but I really do hope everyone is doing well. I have been so busy that food has not been on my mind that much, but when I sit down to relax in front of the tv I find myself thinking about wandering around in the pantry. I need to realize I am just tired and go on to bed.

I think I will weigh in the morning and see if I can move the pig.

Take care all! I will try to keep up with everyone next week. I am having surgery Monday so I will have time to sit and read.

I started some of the basics of IE in April after I started going to a nutritionist. She didn't say it was IE, in fact I didn't know what IE was until I read a people magazine in July about that American Idol girl and I was like, "Hey, that's what I'm doing!" I got excited to have a name, ran back to this forum, and Carol had put in the first post about IE that day!!! Since then I bought the book and have really taken on the lifestyle.
When I first started going to the nutritionist my thinking was so warped. Once I told her that I had a tuna sandwich for lunch even though I don't really like tuna. I ate it because it is healthy. When said asked me what I would really like, I said peanut butter and jelly. She said, "Then eat it." I almost fainted! I can't eat that crap! It actually took several weeks for me to be willing to allow myself to eat food I wanted without the guilt. I still sometimes wonder, "Shouldn't I feel guilty?" I see how forcing myself to eat food I hated led to my secret binges. I have to say that had I just picked up the book and read it without any help before hand, I might not have been ready to do this. It is such a huge difference from my old lifestyle.

Isn't it funny what we'll do to lose weight. I cringe when I think about how many rice cakes, etc. I've eaten, all in the name of losing weight.

I imagine it will take a while to get rid of the feelings that something I'm eating is "wrong". But I just keep telling myself that nothing is wrong anymore. I can eat whatever I want and not feel guilty. I can't wait until that is a natural instinct for me.

Anyway, I've been eating oatmeal for breakfast this week. I put brown sugar and butter in it, and it's delicious. I've been enjoying a fairly large bowl every day. Yesterday, I only ate about half of it, cause I didn't want anymore. And then I didn't feel hungry for lunch until about 2 p.m., which is weird. For dinner we made pizza, and I ate more than I was hungry for, but I was aware that I was eating it and enjoying it. I wasn't just eating it because it was there.

I love this!!

It is so good to hear everyone's experiences. Kay, have you read The Overfed Head or is the book you are talking about Intuitive Eating? The first book is my favorite. I still find myself eating for reasons other than hunger but they are getting less. I still have a hang up about the scale, too. I am so afraid I will gain and not realize it. Really, I'd like to never weigh again. There have been times when I have avoided it but then regretted it when I got on months later and had gained. Recently (in the last year) most of my weight gain coincided with taking prednisone. I had lost a lot of weight before that due to illness. Now my dose is low so I don't think it is causing me to be over hungry. But when I was on 40mg the hunger was unbelievable.

I can relate with eating "bad/yummy" foods and thinking there is no way you can lose wt that way. It is alot to take in because we have been told for so long that anything that tastes good has got to be bad for us. That is why losing weight is so difficult. Too much information!!!!! When I first got turned onto IE I tried it for a bit and it was working. I lost my focus and then kept hearing about other diets and thought, hey, those might work better. Well, they didn't. IE is definitely the most simple plan I could follow and I really like simple.

Gotta run get my nails done for the wedding, but I did step on the scale and lost 2 more pounds, so that is 4 total...I will take it!

See ya later!

Since I have been doing IE I decided to only weigh myself once a month since I just get too emotional with the fluctuations in weight from day to day. I know when I am eating badly and I know when I am eating correctly.

I also work out and this week has been down the drain because of work and coming to visit the BF, but the IE seems to be going ok. One thing I realize is not to let the hunger go to long, so now I carry around low fat string cheese in my bag with me. So this morning I wasn't hungry. When I finally wanted something I ate the string cheese and I should be ok for later. We're going to a BBQ at his fathers house (who I am meeting for the first time and may be my FIL).

I am assuming there will be lots of food so I am trying to balance things out so I am not ravenous when I get there, but I still have some room for the yummy stuff.

Ah something that happened at work this week. I was talking to my co-workers daughter (she's 15 I think) who I think is absolutely gorgeous (think beyonce) and she was telling me how she was going to go on a diet of about 1200 calories and try and eat just toast for breakfast and so on.....I told her before she tried that to try and add more excercise, more fruit and more vegetables and get back to me in 2 weeks.

So we'll see how it goes.

Hey, I love McDonalds. You always know what you are getting!!! After 10 kids .........well McDonalds is kind of like an old friend. I like the big and tasty no mayo or cheese, fries and ice tea. I love ice tea but caffeine seems to bother me.

McDonalds Wow I haven't had that in years. And to be honest I don't really miss it. I had Wendy's the other day now that's a good hamburger.

I love Wendy's and Burger King Burgers and the fries from McDonalds. Since I've been on IE though not so excited about eating it as I once was.

I've been gone awhile. In that time, unfortunately, I've fallen off the IE wagon. All due to the stress of having my hours at work cut from F/T to P/T. With that comes the financial worries, etc. I'm a stress eater, anyway, and guess what? I'm pouring the food in!

How do you guys deal with stress and eating?

My husband and I went out last night for our anniversary. Oh boy - I'm defninatley not use to eating like that anymore. Let's just say on a hunger chart level I crossed the line of buffet full and went straight for food coma lol. The food was outstanding but we definately ate too much. This morning I woke up and boy did I feel awful. I think I finally felt like eating something small a little while ago and I did. I realized how much more I enjoy my food when I follow IE instead of going hog wild. I definately didn't beat myself up for it becuase it's not something that happens all the time - but I'll remember next time not to overload like that. Lesson learned!

Hope you're all doing well !!