Cindy, I just read your intro and would never have guessed by your picture that you were in your 50's like me! And later you said you had been married 30 some years. I have been married 37 yr and have 10 kids. My dh is a veterinarian. Sounds like your job keeps you busy. Write often if you can!

Hi all, and welcome to Cindy!

I have a couple of questions for you who have read more than me.

First, I see some of you concerned with whether or not a food is healthy. When I read Overcoming Overeating, I took from that that I shouldn't be too concerned with if something was healthy or not. So with the actual Intuitive Eating approach, are you supposed to go ahead and eat all those things you wanted but had told yourself you couldn't have? Because that is how I gained the weight I expected to gain by starting this (and may be losing some now, according to my wedding rings - I do not weigh). So ice cream and burgers were so "bad" for so many years so I legalized them by permitting myself to eat them at will, while learning to listen to my body signals.

So is that the same as with Intuitive Eating (the book)?

Also, how have you all handled alcohol? I read a discussion long ago where some people felt that alcohol should be avoided because it can make one eat more, but then normal people drink alcohol and overeat from time to time, so why not?

Anyway, I guess I have legalized alcohol rather recently and really had too much of it. I actually determined how much would give me a headache (I am prone to migraines). Now it is not such a thrill and if anything I enjoy being away from it. Not to say that I won't have more from time to time! But to just have it whenever I felt like it and not explain it to anyone was very interesting. I will be starting a short term job soon and so it was good timing to get the whole alcohol "legalization" thing out of the way.

Lately I have been on a vegetable kick. We've been making whole juices: carrots, apples, bananas, cabbage, oranges, limes and the like (all together no less!) and adding a scoop of protein powder, or some yogurt and a little honey into the "superblender". Also I've been back at the Turbo Jam and did a whole 40 minute "cardio party" yesterday.

So has anyone else here gained a substantial amount of weight since starting Intuitive Eating or similar, that they attribute to the program? I cannot imagine trying to do this with a less than supportive mate. My husband has actually gained some weight with me on this but has wholeheartedly encouraged me.

Just one thought.......I've noticed since eating this way that foods I once thought of as irresistable have lost their pull. I have chocolate candy bars but they aren't very enticing anymore which REALLY baffles me. On the other hand what some people call healthy food really tastes great! Most IE books don't want you to put foods in catagoies which is totally opposite of most diet programs.

Ok, kinda busy at work and don't want to lose this post, will follow up later

I still have problems throwing food away.......grew up not doing that and it has stuck. Like today.....I ate a long john and from the first bite I knew I didn't want it. Guess I'm learning not to take that first bite because my tastes have changed.

Wiffle- are you saying because you've been eating all your forbidden foods that you've gained weight with IE? I can see that happening for me, too, but I think once I know I really have permission to eat what I want then hopefully the weight will come off.

Here's my nickel/dime on some of this.

I really find that mustly I want good for me food - I have been going out for dinner a lot with work and it's interesting to watch what appeals to people. This gal I really like just wants different things than me - I honestly love simpler preparations and am not into the cheesy sauces and stuff that just draws her. I am ordering what I want and it just isn't that gunky stuff.

BUT, I do want it sometimes and then I just have some. Especially at first I think you have to really pay attention to how much you are really enjoying it and how much is the thrill of decadent behavior and just doing it.

I drink wine and enjoy martinis - the wine is ok in moderation, but the martini thing is just empty calories. But what the heck when that's what I want, I just do it. And it's true that like overeating and the miserable too full feeling, drinking too much isn't enjoyable later either (but kindof fun at the moment - LOL).

You just have to give up the good/bad categories, although for most of us our intellectual knowledge tells us which are whole foods and which are sugary/fatty things and so we know it anyway.

Aim for the good, not the perfect as the IE book says and know that's the way it should be to be working.

"Aim for the good, not the perfect as the IE book says and know that's the way it should be to be working."
I agree, Cindy, but it's just hard to except mistakes when you have been dieting for 30yr. My biggest problem right now is hunger....the stomach ache kind of hunger mostly at night and early in the morning. Fiddler says she eats a piece of fruit and drinks water in the night when she gets hungry. Some may say I'm not eating enough during the day but I have gained some weight so I don't think that's it. Also I have found that I really don't like to eat out maybe because I was raised in a farming community in NE and we nearly always ate at home. I just liked my mom's cooking (I wasn't overweight then either) and that's the way I cook now, nothing gourmet. One other thing: I get so frustrated when I eat even though hungry and it really isn't good but I have no choice maybe because I'm away from home or just eating someone else's food. I never know what to do when I'm hungry but nothing looks good. I don't have that problem at home. I wonder, too, if you have only 20lb to lose like Snowbunny, that you can relax a little more. I know I have only 60 to lose and not 100 but it feels like 100 sometimes and I feel like I might get up to that if I keep going the way I am.

Oh, by the way, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Maybe good and bad are the wrong words, but i like to be concious of what I am eating, not in a restrictive way, just in a.....I want something to eat, I don't have a preference so I'll choose the apple over the donut. When I want the donut I eat it. Most times I tend toward healthy things. I think even "skinny" people eat badly and have high blood pressure and other issues. So I want to lose weight and be healthy.

Carol, why not see if you can find something that fills you up and maybe eat later at night? Are you anxious about something, could be something emotional manifesting as hunger? Or just eat something and go back to bed, doesn't matter what it is, just eat something and see how you feel?

When you talk about eating out, do you mean restaurants or just out and about and your hungry?

Work calling, more posting later.

I pass on food in that situation. I NEVER eat anything that doesn't look good to me. I figure being hungry for a while is not going to kill me, and if I really WERE in danger of starving any kind of food would look good to me.

Thanks, Fiddler. The hunger I'm speaking of is the ravenous kind associated with prednisone but my dose is so low now I hardly think that is it. But that's what it feels like. When I'm stessed or worried I lose my appetite. Yes, it is restaraunt eating I am talking about but it could be applied to eating at other peoples houses, too. Oh, and I just hate eating in the night. Then I feel like I need to brush my teeth. ha! Oh, Fiddler, when I get really hungry I feel nauseous and my stomach hurts......it's pretty uncomfortable. This morning when I woke up I drank some water and that helped a little.

Carol. I have hardly been home for several days and just skimmed through these posts quickly but wanted to let you know I've been thinking about what you said.

You do need to eat when you're hungry and if you're not, you're really breaking the major premise of intuitive eating. Are you getting enough protein? That makes a big difference for me - if you're ravenous like that, get up and fix some eggs or something or better yet just have them before you go to bed as part of a routine (or whatever something that sounds good to you). It's amazing to me if I have eggs and toast for breakfast, I just seem to feel better all day.

I have an early meeting at work and will be flying out tonight - I'll check in tomorrow and read this more thoroughly and respond more thoughtfully. :-)

Cindy, I have been on prednisone for over a year and I also take atenelol, norvasc and fosamax. I wonder if the meds might be causing some of the problems. Dr. usually don't give a lot of info just meds. I am trying to just stick with my local dr. even though Mayo is a great place. Yesterday, I started to take a little B6 because I read somewhere it helps with nausea and it did seem to work. I hope this might help with that ravenous hunger that sometimes feels like nausea.

Carol,

All of the meds you are on can cause nausea and/or stomach pain. You really should look up the side effects for yourself. You can find them on the internet if your doctor isn't telling you. Fosamax in particular has some very serious side effects that are currently generating a lot of lawsuits.

Things have been going good since I got this hunger/nausea under control. I can even ignore hunger if I'm busy and it feels good not to be a slave to hunger. I was able to post this morning before eating and that is a victory for me. I have lost the little weight that I had gained back.

That's great, Carol!

Not being a slave to hunger is one of the things I really like about my life now. Part of the reason I gave up on diets is because with all the counting points/calories, weighing, etc., they made me more preoccupied with eating, not less. And for some reason when I was on a "diet" being hungry was a really terrible thing, but now it just doesn't bother me to be hungry now and then. It's kind of like when I was a kid and if I was doing something really interesting I wouldn't want to come in for dinner. It's different when it's your own choice to be hungry instead of some diet making you hungry.

I over did it at lunch yesterday but got back in the groove with little supper. Probably it is good just to accept it and learn. We have a lot of company for the next 2 weeks and they have brought all kinds of food gifts......carmel popcorn, candy, homemade chex mix. I'm not bothered by any of it but the carmel popcorn and it's already loosing its pull.

Just received this free newsletter from the Normal Eating website:
Here's what doesn't work: Sit all tensed up, yell at yourself for again wanting to eat when not hungry, and try to force yourself to not want to. That's like telling yourself to not think about an elephant. Try it. Are you thinking about an elephant? Of course!

What does work is gentle acceptance and mindfulness. When you want to eat when you're not hungry, it means that something is bothering you - that something is causing you discomfort, and you don't know how to fix it. It does not mean that you're hopeless, that you'll never get this, that you can't do it, and that you should give up on Normal Eating. When you talk to yourself in a disparaging way, you just increase your desire to eat. For one thing, self-abuse makes you feel bad, and eating is what emotional eaters do when they feel bad. For another, trying to force yourself to not think about something or not do something just makes you want to do it more.

The first thing to do is calm yourself down. Often just sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing is a very effective way to do this. Some people use other ways to calm themselves down - draw a picture, play soothing music - whatever works for you. Note that if you say mean things to yourself, you will not be able to calm down. You'll just feel more agitated. Treat yourself as you would a child who is freaking out - your inner child. First you calm her down, then you ask her what's wrong.

When you're feeling less anxious and tense, you can think more clearly about what is setting off your desire to eat when not hungry. Think about what you're doing in that moment (or what you had been doing when the urge arose), what's going on in your life. Don't just sit and think, however. That's usually not very effective. It's better to think actively - for example, write in a journal, post in the Normal Eating forum, or call a friend. Thinking through writing or speaking improves your ability to stay focused on the issue, and you'll often realize things you wouldn't otherwise.

What's bothering you doesn't have to be a major emotional conflict requiring therapy (though sometimes it is). Perhaps you tend to eat in the evening after dinner because you don't know how else to relax, or because your partner isn't paying attention to you, or because you feel guilty relaxing and not being constantly productive. Perhaps you just had an argument with someone, and don't know what to do with your anger, or you feel guilty for being angry. Perhaps you have something to do that you don't want to do, and you're using eating as a means of procrastination. Perhaps your desire to eat comes from wanting a break from what you're doing, and you don't feel entitled to take one unless you're "doing" something. Or perhaps you're anxious about your ability to do well at something - for example, making a huge Thanksgiving feast for a large gathering of relatives!

Often when you realize what's behind the desire to eat, and accept that this underlying problem is making you feel bad, that alone is enough to quell the desire to eat. This is because a frequent reason for non-hunger eating is to avoid feeling bad or even acknowledging that you feel bad about something. But pretending that you never feel any unhappiness or discomfort doesn't make it so - the feelings just come out some other way. When you stop running from your feelings and let them surface, often the urge to eat will go away because the reason for eating has gone away - you're facing your feelings and sitting with them.

Other times, as you sit with your feelings and try to understand them, actions you can take will occur to you - things you can do to address the problem that are more effective than eating. For example, you might ask for help with an overwhelming project, assert your desire to not do something unpleasant or that you don't have time for, accept that you feel angry sometimes and that's okay, realize that you don't have to do everything perfectly to enjoy Thanksgiving with your family.

Over time, you will get better at calming yourself down, getting to the heart of the problem, and finding new ways to cope. As your ability to sit with discomfort increases, the frequency of your food cravings will diminish, your pauses will turn into stops, and you will become a Normal Eater.

Most importantly, be kind and gentle with yourself. Non-hunger eating urges are just signs of distress. You wouldn't berate a loved one for showing signs of distress, and neither should you berate yourself for showing signs of distress. If you yell at a child to stop crying, it makes her cry more, not less.

Don't expect to get instantly better, then berate yourself when you don't. Long-term change is incremental, not something that happens all of a sudden. If people could stop emotional eating by a simple decision, this wouldn't be such a widespread problem. In order to stop you must first be able to pause, so start by learning to pause and use that pause well.


Something to Try...
The next time you have an urge to eat when not hungry, take these steps:

Say to yourself, "I notice that I have a desire to eat, though I'm not hungry. Something must be bothering me. I need to pause and take care of myself." Accept the desire to eat; don't try to force it to go away. See it as a signal that something needs attention.
Spend a minimum of 5-10 minutes doing something calming and soothing that focuses your attention outside yourself. Focus on your body (for example, your breathing), what you see, what you hear, or what you feel on your skin. Get your attention out of your head, and into the present moment.
When you feel less agitated, spend 5-10 minutes writing or speaking about what's going on in your life at this moment, and how you feel about these things. Often in thinking about the situation, you will gain insights that suggest actions you can take to improve the situation.

I found another interesting email this morning. Thought you might like to read it. What do you think?

By Diana Lipson-Burge, RD

You've certainly heard several or all of these before. The question is, were you fooled? Don't feel bad if you were: when it comes to weight management, these are the biggest - and most commonly believed - myths around.

Are you willing to spend hard-earned dollars to maintain or improve your health? If so, you are a prime target for the modern day health and fitness quack. If you're interested in managing your weight (and how many people can say they aren't?) you're even more of a target.

Webster's dictionary defines "quacks" as those "whom with little or no foundation pretend to have skill or knowledge in a particular field." Today, quacks are alive, well and thriving in the health industry, eager to take advantage of our natural human tendency to want quick answers. Fraud and abuse now account for $50-$80 billion out of $800 billion spent annually on health care!

When it comes to weight loss, "quick fix" myths are the order of the day for quacks, who can appear in the form of anything from multi-million dollar corporations to well-meaning friends who have been sold a bill of goods by some other well-meaning source.

Here are the top 10 weight management myths that have been pounded into the heads of American consumers. Start un-learning them now, and you'll do yourself (and your weight) a big favor.

Myth #10 Fat makes you fat.

Fact: The only way a human being scientifically can gain 1 pound of fat (aside from metabolic disorder) is by eating 3500 calories on top of the calories used for their basal metabolic rate (BMR) and daily activities. It is irrelevant whether the calories are from carbohydrate, protein or fat. It can be 3500 calories of pure carbohydrate or pure protein or pure fat: it still adds up to the same thing. 3500 calories is 3500 calories, regardless of the source. Americans are more obese today than they have ever been in history, and we are all eating fat-free.

Myth # 9 We become toxic and gain weight if we combine carbohydrate and protein.

Fact: The idea of food combining has been around for over 100 years. Harvey and Marilyn Diamond popularized it in 1985. Proponents of food combining claim that if you eat carbohydrate and protein together, it will rot in your stomach and thus you will gain weight. If this were true, why are we not all overweight and dead from toxins? We have 3 different metabolic pathways that release different digestive enzymes so all food is digested. The only part of food that isn't digested is the fiber, and this is excreted into the colon and eliminated.

Myth # 8 Your stomach gets stretched out when you overeat and shrinks when you undereat.

Fact: It is true that your stomach expands when more food is in it, but once digested, your stomach returns to the original size. The reasons you feel your stomach "shrink" when you undereat is because when you are mindful about what you are eating, you become more conscious of the true amount of food you really need to get satiated, which isn't as much as most of us are conditioned to eat.

Myth # 7 If you eat after 6:00 or 7:00 pm, you will gain weight.

Fact: Once again, you can only gain 1 pound of fat by eating 3500 extra calories. If your total excess calories in a given period of time doesn't exceed 3500, how can food consumed in the evening be "chosen" to put fat on your body?

Myth #6 While dieting, vitamin and mineral supplements will give you more energy.

Fact: The only component that can give a human being sustained energy is a calorie - and calories are only found in food, and possibly some herbs. Since vitamins and minerals do not contain calories, they cannot give you energy unless you are severely deficient. This is unusual in the United States since most of us overeat. Vitamins and minerals are useful, however, for various health conditions, such as osteoporosis (calcium), anemia (iron), etc.

Myth #5 Sugar or carbohydrates make you gain weight.

Fact: Again, only if your overall caloric intake exceeds your output. But sugar and carbohydrates do burn off very quickly, making you hungrier and potentially leading you to eat more food. If you eat sugar or carbs with a little protein or fat, these will buffer the carbohydrate from burning off so quickly and keep you satiated longer (3-4 hours).

Myth #4 If you eat breakfast, you'll be hungrier all day and not lose weight.

Fact: Your body is like a furnace if you don't feed it fuel in the morning, it will never heat up and start burning calories until you eat. By not eating until noon, you have missed burning off 200-300 calories. This is why you could be hungrier on days that you eat breakfast: you are burning more calories.

Myth #3 Vegetables are a "free food". You can eat unlimited quantities and not gain weight.

Fact: This philosophy promotes many people to binge. While vegetables are low in calories and do not have fat, every food on earth has calories. Many vegetables have a low satiety level, which can lead to eating more quantity (calories) of other foods, and thus cause excess calorie consumption and weight gain. One of the most common binge foods that cause my clients to gain excessive weight is baby carrots.

Myth #2 Fast food is bad for you.

Fact: In this day and age of health and weight consciousness, fast food restaurants are being forced to decrease the fat content and improve the type of fat they're using by changing to unsaturated fat. They are providing more fruit and salad bars. Now, if we could get all restaurants to decrease the portions they serve us, we might really make progress toward better weight management.

Myth #1 The number one Myth... Restricting foods such as desserts or alcohol will help you lose weight.

Fact: This may be the #1 reason people gain rather than lose weight. It's been called Diet Deprivation Backlash (from Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, St. Martin's Press, 1995). This is what happens when we restrict certain foods and then when we do have a cookie, we subconsciously think we're never going to have one again, so we eat the whole box, planning to "start our diet tomorrow." We end up gaining weight from all the calories we consumed in our "backlash" thinking - not from eating that cookie!

Diana Lispon-Burge, RD, is owner and found of The Energy Resource is El Segundo, California. She works one-on-one with clients to reach their nutrition goals and also teaches workshops and lectures throughout California. She lectures on weight management to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, on disordered eating to adolescents and their parents, and on sports nutrition to a variety of professional sports teams. She can be reached at (310) 643-9016 or at: [email protected]

Health & Fitness Journal / BENNING'S - March/April 1999

Thanksgiving dinner went good. I stopped taking the B6 and the nausea came back but other than that the day was normal. The kids all seemed to have a great time. They always play football and basketball with whoever comes over. Quite a game but now I am really tired. I suppose I should expect that..........not getting any younger. I skipped my exercise this morning for the first time in a long time. Hope to get it done later though I know that it's better to do it first thing.

Thanksgiving was ok for me, I didn't bring home any left overs which was good. I didn't excercise as much I should have last week and my body is complaining...got back to it this morning so that is cool. I think I havebeen eating when I'm not hungry. Needed to say that....so back to the grind. Happy Holidays.

Feeling peppier today, though I have a slight sore throat. A lot of our company had various illnesses.........colds, diarhhea, vomitting. Hope we can stay clear of most of it. I found out last night at supper that my DIL knows about The Overfed Head. She was talking to my other DIL telling her that her SIL had taken the Thintuition course at the health club where she works in Chicago (she's in the BA part) and has lost weight. I never thought she had much to loose but my DIL seems really interested in it even though she's pg. Hope I can get her to compare notes. I was really flabbergasted when she brought it up. She's (my DIl) about 50lb overweight and very short......she was adopted from Korea. They have one little girl age 1 and are expecting in April 07.

Obi, I wish I could get rid of some leftovers but at least the meat is gone.

I have decided that I really like IE and will stick it out. I have read a few other diets but can't bring myself to cut out food groups, especially thing like fruit that are good for you. Just recently read part of the Sonoma diet and for the first 10 days they cut out fruit. That just seems so foreign to me. I still make mistakes like today when I ate a warm cookie in the afternoon and felt yuck after. But for the most part, I stick with small protions of food I like and usually it's good for me, too. That's what I crave.

Well, the sore throat turned into a good head cold. Last Feb. it took me a month to get over something like this.......maybe that's because of the prednisone. Not very peppy but I did get my exercise in first thing this morning. Just can't seem to get enough sleep. So I will lay low for a few days to see if I can shake this early. Of course, food doesn't look quite as appealing and maybe that's good!

Fiddler, I was thinking about something you said about not weighing and wondering why that was. Does it bother you to when you weigh? Just wondering.

It doesn't bother me. Or at least I don't think it would--it has been such a long time since I knew my weight that I'm not really sure. Mostly I just consider it kind of pointless and counterproductive, for the following reasons:

• Keeping in mind that the objective is to lose fat, not weight, I just don't feel it's an accurate measure of my progress. My weight tends to fluctuate wildly. I once lost 14 pounds in 24 hours. There's no way that all, or even most, of that was fat.
  
• I feel that not weighing puts me more in touch with my body, in keeping with basic IE principles. If you're not weighing, you have to pay more attention to how your body looks and feels to tell if you are making progress.
  
• I put on muscle easily. When I work out a lot, it tends to stall my weightloss temporarily, even though I still lose inches and body fat percentage points. If I were going by the scale reading, it would discourage me from exercising. (In fact, how many times have you seen people on these boards say that they've decided not to exercise until they're near or at goal because it slows their weight loss?) There is more and more evidence coming to light that it is one's level of activity, rather than their weight, that determines their general health. That is, active fat people are more healthy than inactive thin people. It's a personal decision, and I'm not criticizing anyone else's choice, but for me the right choice is to exercise.

The people at the gym I go to do weigh me. I stand backwards on the scale so I don't see the number (it's silly, I know). They also tell me what the trend is, i.e. whether I'm losing, gaining, or staying the same. And I have told them that once I am under 200 they can tell me what I weigh. :)

Time to smack those hands
 

Seems like as soon as I stop posting things go down hill, blah. My eating didn't do so badly, but i was doing the I'll excercise later or tomorrow, and it never comes.

Anyway, I've been having foot and knee problems and I went ot the doctor till I had a thought. I only had knee pain when I DIDN'T excercise. So I am back at it again...and guess what the knee and foot pain is better.

Questions. I know where doing IE and you can have what you want, but do you have something you just can't have in the house or cook because regardless of how hungry you are you still what to gobble it down?

I love my spaghetti, nothing special about it. I made it and it is sitting in the refrigerator. I have been moderating it, but I've been I seem much more aware of it than I am of other foods.

How is everyone else doing?

Hi, Obi! I think with IE the idea is if you allow all foods that they soon loose their specialness and I have found that to be true even though I have not lost weight. I have tried to go back to dieting but it just doesn't work anymore. I read The Sonoma Diet and when I got to the chapter where she says to throw out all sorts of food I thought, "Does she think I'm the only one living in this house?" Maybe it works for some. I remember what Gwen Shamblin said about changing the heart instead of trying to make the food behave and I have to agree. Anyway, it is an exciting journey so keep posting . Love those posts!

Forgot to say that right now I have a terrible cold which has really cut the appetite. I, too, have foot pain and sometimes it lasts a year but then goes away and I don't know why...just glad it does. Just recently the side of my left foot was really bothering me for probably 4 mo. but now it's gone. My mom was thin and she had foot and knee pain off an on, too, so who knows what causes it.

I know that if I were to get all the foods I like out of the house it would just make me want them that much more.

Besides, there's something empowering about having them there and having the choice to eat them, but choosing not to. I feel that's a more "adult" way to deal with food, instead of treating yourself like a little kid and putting it all out of reach by removing it from the house.

Just my opinion.... :)

Still not feeling up to par with this cold but the sneezing has at least lessened. My appetite is still low. Does anyone ever get constipated when they don't eat as much as usual? I haven't had trouble with that in a long time since I try to get in a lot of fiber. Also wondering if cold meds could cause it.

I like posting everyday. It helps me keep track of things. I just emailed a friend who is also doing IE and has had similar trouble with meds like me telling her that one of my problems is associating weight loss with illness. I wonder if that can become a subconscious distraction. It seems the only time I ever lost a lot of weight is when I was really sick and in the hospital. But I don't think of myself as an emotional eater. In fact, when I'm stressed I tend to avoid eating. I just enjoy good food and was thin until I started dieting and fasting. To get back to the old thinking seems to be a mighty hurdle to overcome.

I had stopped posting because I figured everyone didn't wanna read about boring ole me, but here whats been going on. Well remember how at the beginning of the month I was supposed to do all this excercising to hit my first goal (being able to use a scale that only went up to 350). Well in the middle of the month I started talking myself out of working out...I'll do it later, I'll do it tomorrow. You get the idea. Then my foot started to hurt. (and my other knee pain came back) Short story finally went to the dr...and he found some other unrelated problem that had nothing to do with the foot, and then told me I would need to see him regularly and you get the idea. So I have an epiphany(sp?) I can't stop working out. I mean I can, but then I feel crappy and since I don't want to feel crappy I need to work out...period. So I have been back at it with my walk away the pounds DVDS, and my knee and foot pain is gone. I am going to order Turbo Jam after Xmas is over.

As for eating, no problems, and I think my body is along for the ride as well. I came home last night and Friday is my no cooking night, so I picked up some fast food. I bought like the days before IE (I would think no way I can eat just a regular serving and buy 2) so I took it home ate half and the rest is sitting in the kitchen and I have no desire to touch it.

Obi, you are not boring! That's how we learn.......by reading how others are handling things. Way to go on the exercise and leaving the food behind. Someone had started a thread here saying there shouldn't be a McDonalds add on this site. I didn't answer but I love McDonalds. After 10 kids it has to be one of my favorites though I don't go there often anymore. The kids are nearly all grown up....youngest is 16. ha! I talkd to my son last night. He said they had a foot of snow in Milwaukee. He and some friends had walked to a Thai restaraunt downtown and said the food was awesome. Can't wait to visit him again.

Hello, Intuitive Eaters!
 

Hi,
I'm Jo, and am a new chick to this entire site. Carol with the cute cat avatar posted a welcome to my intro and suggestion to join you all. I have not read all the intuitive eating posts but have skimmed most of them and it does seem like a good place to be. I have not read the books but I went to the Intuitive Eating website and read the basic principles. Makes sense to me. My intuitive stuff is definitely counter to what most people do (eating and otherwise!)
It's good to see all the support and encouragement going on here.

jo

There is an Intuitive Eating thread that has the first 350 posts that you might find interesting, Jo. Please share any or all of your experiences with IE.

new chick questions
 

So, is there an Intuitive Eating thread besides this one at Intuitive Eating #2? I didn't find any other. I have read throught the first 8 pages and *I like it.*
Please excuse my new chick questions but what is DH? I am amusing myself with possibilities: Designated Hooligan? Drunk Hunk? Desirable Handyman? Darn Hangeron? And what is TOM?
:?:
Thanks,
jo

DH Stands for Dear Husband.

The link below is a link to a post about all the acronyms. I was pretty confused until I happened on it.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83585