I am now halfway through The Yoga of Eating and continue to be extremely impressed. Here's a link to it on Amazon and more info can be found in the reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Eating-Transcending-Nourish-Natural/dp/0967089727/sr=8-1/qid=1168536127/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7673605-0455304?ie=UTF8&s=books

One of the points made is the need to thoroughly experience the taste and sensation of each bite of food. Chew thoroughly (don't count chews - that is too regimented and then you are focusing on counting, not eating.) But eat slowly and don't be in a hurry to shovel in the next bite. Experience the swallowing and take a moment or two before the next bite. Interesting point - he says many overeaters don't have the problem of enjoying food too much, but rather not enough! If you only are tasting 10% of what you are eating due to inattentiveness, you may end up eating 10X more food! And also he stresses accepting yourself and your body in whatever its current state may be. This is good stuff. Really good stuff.

Hi Everyone!

Looks like I've missed about two pages of posts. I've been sick and/or busy lately so I haven't been around much.

There were so many interesting posts that I don't have time to respond to them individually, but Obi, I'm glad that you are coming out of your slump. And Jo, the more of your posts I read the more it seems we have similar philosophies about eating.

Carol, you asked "Do you mean that when you listen to your body it actually craves healthy foods?" I believe the answer is "yes." I used to be as much of a junk food junkie as anyone out there. Now my biggest craving, my comfort food, the food that will set my mouth watering if I smell it from across a room, is....cucumbers Silly, huh?

Glad everyone is doing well and a big Welcome! for the new folks

I really must be pmsing badly today. I am crying while I write this because I lost 3 lbs. Silly

I finally just couldn't take it anymore and got on the d*** thing and couldn't believe it was right. It is finally starting to happen....slowly, but it is happening.

I know it is only 3 lbs, but I think it means I am doing something right.

I was also stressing because the muffin I was eating was 500 calories not 200 and I was eating one everyday. I am not a calorie counter, but I like to have an accurate idea of what I am putting in my mouth.

Anyway. I just have to say thank you to everyone who has put up with me, especially this week. I really couldn't have even gotten this fat without you all.

I don't think I will have an emotional breakdown every weigh in, but just happy it is finally coming together. I have been doing IE since about Aug 2006 and only "plan" I have stuck to.

Ok I could ramble on through the tears, but I am going to stop.


Happy Obie

Obi on your three pounds. I can gain weight really quickly and taking it off always comes so much slower. Crying is a good thing "emotional release" and all that.
Jo tasting and appreciating food is a lost art for many. I believe with our crazy schedules and lifestyles something has to give and the small things often get forgotten. I often catch myself standing and eating quickly or watching TV while I'm eating and not even aware of what's going in let alone tasting. These are habits I'm trying hard to change. I make sure I'm sitting while eating when ever possible and now I'll try to explore enjoying it slowly with true appreciation.

Nina

I'm a crier, too, Obi. That is so great about the weight loss!!!!!!!!! You nearly made me cry. ha!

Congratulations, Obi! I am so happy for you

Congratulations, Obi!
That is great!

OMG I think I had a NSV! (Isn't it weird how we can practically carry on an entire conversation using these acronyms?) Anyway. When I got to my max weight, about 2 years ago, I was horrified to discover that if I slept on my back, I'd start to snore! ACK! It would wake me up and I had to sleep on my side all the time. I can't stand to sleep in the same room as someone who snores, and now here I was, a snorer (only if on my back though.) And the instant I'd fall asleep on my back I would wake myself up with it. Last night I actually slept some on my back (I toss a lot but I know I slept for a couple hours on my back) and I don't believe I snored or I would have woken myself up. I know that overweight increases snoring and I am so happy that I may be less than my snore-weight range!

Good things happening all around today

Hello ladies,
I wonder if I might join in on your conversation. I found this thread while reading a WW thread. I just started WW 4 days ago, but after reading all three IE threads, I am so mad at myself for falling into the diet trap again and wasting $60 on it as well! I think I knew in my heart all along that IE was the answer. I even wrote a college paper on why diets don't work about a year ago. I researched it and everything, so I don't know why I let myself fall for the whole "dieting" concept once again. I think because it's all around us (people on diets, diet ads, nutritional information) we subconsciously get caught up in the whole thing.

I have no doubt that IE works and here's why: I've never had a serious weight problem, even as I write this, I'm only 6 pounds over what is considered a healthy weight for my height, and I never been more than 10 pounds over my max in my life. When I was a child all the way through to my mid 20's I was naturally thin. Almost too thin, and I never thought about food very much. I didn't count calories, fat grams or carbs, and I didn't always eat what is considered healthy foods. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted. I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I was full. I never ate because I was bored, sad, lonely, or because another person was eating. When I did eat, I ate things like pizza, cake, ice-cream, fried foods, fast foods and never with guilt. I ate as much as it took to satisfy my hunger and threw the rest out. I'm 5'3 and all through this time in my life I naturally maintained a weight of 105-110 lbs. I even gave birth to my first child without gaining much weight and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight for my 6 month check up. And not once during that time did I restrict calories or food groups. I just ate the way I always did and never really thought about eating any other way.

Then, 4 years later, I had my second child. After his birth I put on a few pregnancy pounds (just as I did with the first child) but I still wasn't considered overweight. But instead of letting the post-pregnancy weight come off naturally I went on my first diet. Im pretty sure that I got into the dieting mentality because I had a girl-friend who was always dieting and obsessed with being pin-thin. I probably weighed about 125 at this time, which is a healthy weight for my height, but because I wasn't the 105-110 pounds that I weighed before my pregnancy, I told myself I was getting fat and needed to diet. I know a lot of this thinking had to do with my friends influence, because I didn't think this way after the birth of my first child. The weight simply came off naturally. And now that I look back, I realize 125 was probably a better weight for me anyway, because, when I look at old pictures, I realize I look gaunt and had no feminine curves at 105 lbs.

Anyway, because I was so young and so stupid, I had no idea how to diet other than starve myself. So I got the crazy idea that restricting my calories to 500 a day would be a good idea. I did lose weight, and I lost it fast, and before I knew it, I was back down to 105 lbs. But something changed about the way I viewed food and eating forever after that. The first thing that happened was, as soon as I reached my goal of 105 lbs, I started binging on all the food I had deprived myself of. I also discovered that I was now craving and eating things that never used to be favorite foods of mine. Things like sweets and chips. I never had much of a taste for these types of foods before dieting and only ate them occasionally. I also discovered that I now liked foods that I used to have an aversion to. I started eating constantly and eating anything that crossed my path. Before I knew it, all the weight I lost came back, plus a little more! This started for me a whole snowball of yo-yo dieting. After a few rounds of gaining and losing the same weight over and over, I started to get into the mentality that, when not dieting, I had better enjoy those forbidden foods, because I knew I'd regain the weight and have to deprive myself of them again. This paved the way for binge eating. When off a diet, I would stuff myself on the things I craved while dieting, because I knew that soon this food would be forbidden.

I'm now 40 years old and I've been living with this whole yo-yo roller-coaster for almost 15 years now. Like I said, I've never been what is considered obese, but I have no doubt that I have developed an eating disorder. The only reason I haven't gotten very over-weight is because I have been very adamant about not letting my weight get over a certain amount before I start the diet cycle all over again. Right now, 140 lbs is the my max. For some reason I'm comfortable with allowing myself to be at 140 lbs, even though this is high for my height, but the minute I'm one pound over that, I go into diet mode. After the holidays, I discovered I was weighing in a 145, this is what prompted me to start Weight Watchers. Which is probably the only diet I haven't tried yet. In the previous years, the max weight I would allow myself to be was lower. Over the years, I have allowed that number to creep up. I think because it has been getting harder and harder to convince myself to get back on the diet roller-coaster. Also, with each new diet, the weight becomes harder to lose and quicker to regain. I told myself that age has slowed my metabolism, but now I realize it probably isn't my age but the chronic dieting.

I must say, I'm so glad I found this thread. Because I have been sensing for awhile now that diets are a farce. Like I said, I even wrote a paper on it. I only wish I had taken my own advice and followed a IE lifestyle. Instead, I binged the whole time I was writing the paper. I felt I had given myself permission to indulge by banning diets. So it's not surprising that here I am a year later, looking to get back on another diet. I didn't follow what IE really is. It's all about unforced moderation and being in tune with your body. And I realize now that I never did get in tune with my body.

So, even though I've still been tracking WW points, my goal is to get out of the diet mentality, and to try to rediscover the eating habits I had in the early years of my life. Because I feel in my heart that this really is the answer. I am so tired of being obsessed with food!

Thank you to whom ever started these IE threads. I bought the Overfed Head book from Amazon and can't wait to read it.

Sorry for the long post!

Bonnie

Bonnie,

Welcome!

You didn't mention in your post what your exercise habits are, but I have found that exercise is a great help in helping me get back in touch with my body.

I'm glad you have decided to join us!

Welcome Bonnie,
My patterns follow yours closely except about 5 years ago I started to gain and didn't stop until I reached 190. IE is a new concept to me but makes so much sense and in the last week I've really been trying to examine closely why I eat. Not just when I'm hungry, stress, anger, overwork etc all seem to cause me to reach for food. I never used to do this until roller coaster dieting entered my life. The more I deprived myself and lost the more I gained back. I think it screwed up my natural response to food and I'm trying really hard to regain it.
This week has been great. Eating has been natural and some of things I've discovered is that I need my biggest meal in the early afternoon and it usually ends with a small amount of something I like (dark chocolate). By allowing that little treat I don't feel deprived and I don't have to binge on it.
I've lost two pounds. Everybody is different but this works for me.
I'm tasting food and appreciating it more but eating less.

Nina

Hi Fiddler,
My exercise habits have been the same as my dieting habits. I usually take an all or nothing approach to it. I've been known to be both an obsessive exerciser and a couch potato. I've been a gym-rat and I was also a runner (6 miles a day 7 days a week). I also have a treadmill and weights collecting dust in my basement. When I did excercise, I would take it to the extreme, pushing myself too hard and beating myself up when I didn't have what I considered the "perfect" workout. I also had the attitude that if my diet wasn't perfect then maybe I should skip excercise that day too. Like I said, it's has always been all-or-nothing with me.

Lately, I've been trying to take an IE approach toward exercise. I realize that I don't really like running or lifting weights, so I decided to try to do things I enjoy instead. I enjoy walking my dogs, so this is something I'm trying to do everyday. I'm no longer going to think I need to power-walk around the neighborhood for 2 hours for it to be considered excercise. Instead, I've been leisurely walking my dogs, and enjoying the experience of being outside by taking in my surroundings. Before, I used to try to walk/run so fast and so far that I didn't take the time to appreciate I was outdoors. I'm also going to look into things like yoga. I have an anxiety disorder (with panic attacks) and think I could really benefit from something that will help me relax.

I'd also like to mention that last year I was diagnosed with a very rare auto-immune disease called Scleromyxedma. The cause of this disease is unknown, but I have to wonder if the abuse I put upon my body (with chronic dieting and over the top exercise) hasn't contributed to my disease. I also used to consume tons of diet foods, many of them with artificial sweeteners, and I've read where artificial sweeteners might cause auto-immune disease. I'm not saying this is true, but it does make me wonder. One thing I did was drink a lot of diet coke. I could put away a 24 pack in two days. I think I did this to try to quiet the deprived feelings I got from denying myself foods that I really wanted to eat. I continued with the diet coke drinking even when I wasn't on a diet. I would eat half a pizza and then wash it all down with diet coke, like it was going to counter act the damage done by the pizza or something. When I was diagnosed with my disease, I stopped drinking all forms of soda and using artificial sweeteners. And I have to say that I really don't miss it. Now if I can just get the same attitude about food!

I'm still fighting the urge to eat for reasons other than hunger, I'm also fighting the urge to think that some foods are "bad" foods. Another problem I'm having is knowing when I've had enough. I've decided to measure out the serving sizes recommended on the packages of food, and after I eat that, I wait a few minutes to see if it has satisfied me. I'm finding that in most cases it really does! I even had a situation today where I couldn't finish a serving of tomato soup. I ended up eating only half of it, which looked like nothing, and was completely satisfied. In the past, I would have eaten it all because I would have told myself that was all I was getting until my next meal. But this time I gave myself permission to eat more food as soon as I felt hungry again. Which, by the way, didn't happen until my next meal.

40 before 40,

Looking at the pattern I've been following I have no doubt that my highest weight was headed up-words. Like I said, the constant strain of dieting had me raising bar for the amount of weight gain I was comfortable with before I'd start dieting again. I bet if I didn't find these IE threads and kept with WW, I might have met my goal, but there's no doubt in my mind I would have gained it all back plus more.

I'm still finding it hard not to obsess. I'm even obsessing about if I'm doing IE right! I'm constantly thinking about my hunger signals, and I find myself watching the clock to see how long I've gone without a meal. I really want to get to the point where I don't think about food or eating all the time anymore. It use to be so easy, I'd notice I was hungry and I would eat. There was very little thought about it other than that.

There are some great IE articles, called mediations here:

http://www.lindamoran.net/blog/

There's also a yahoo group you can join.