I do that, too, Mollie. If it doesn't taste good I'm getting better at throwing it away. My husband is kind of an IE eater, also, Jen but he has dieted so he is not as slim as he could be. Today I ate a small piece of cake and thought about having seconds but then I thought, "If you do, you will be too full." So I didn't.

Hi, all. I'm still here, too. Welcome, Jenn. I'm also doing Paul McKenna. I find the hypnosis part very effective in reducing my stress. I also find my al-anon meetings a godsend, as they help me detach from some of the craziness around me. I have a partner who is a binge drinker, a close friend who is a schizophrenic, and a preteen daughter, and, I wonder why I turn to food? I love all of these people, and will not disown any of them, but, I can become less inmeshed in their lives, well, at least with my daughter, I do not need to respond when she pushes my buttons.
Food is going well. I'm exercising consistantly and quite vigorously, and not starving and binging as much. Have a peaceful productive day, everyone.
Amie

Haven't had time to post much but am hanging in there, enjoying reading the posts in here. The thing about IE is that it's more FUN than calorie counting (for example). You only have to think about food in the context of what it is you feel like eating. It's kind of liberating. Or, as Paul McKenna puts it, it's a way of adding more abundance to your life.

Glad you posted, Dolores. I feel bad about only posting here but I really believe this is the only way to lose weight and keep it off even if I've plateaued for quite awhile. I've been feeling rather awful lately because I've been trying to get off the prednisone. I really don't think it is going to work but I'm trying.

I seem to be going through an "experimentation" stage. Yesterday i ate chocolates (100g bag), the same today and I've just ordered takeaway pizza cos that's what i feel like. I also want to see if i can actually leave some when i've had enough.

it's a bit scarey ..... I am afraid of getting fat and i can hear the voice in my head screaming "it's only Tuesday, and you didn't go to the gym tonight, and you've got veggies in the fridge, you should be eating those!". I'm pushing that voice away and replacing it with one that says "you can eat whatever you want, as long as you're hungry and you really want it, and as long as you stop when you've had enough".

I just seem to want a lot of "bad" food despite it being not long since Xmas and about 8 months since the last time I was on WW.... although between WW and now I have labelled eating as "bad" or "good" and given myself many, many instructions on what i can and can't eat.

I'm both enjoying and fearing dropping all the restrictions and control. I'm drinking a lager right now cos I fancy it but don't feel the need to drink lots of it, like I used to when it was a "treat" to be limited ...... I suppose there is a lot to undo here, I remembered today as well when I was young my dad told me "don't get fat cos if you get fat no-one will love you". What a horrid thing to say!!!!

Anyway ... just wanted to see if anyone else has these scared feelings? I'm frightened I'll get to a (UK) size 24 again .... even though i know really that the amount and type of food i ate to get there i can't face these days .... argh!!!!! I'm scared and thrilled and feeling a lot of emotions tonight ... hope everyone else OK

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking on this thread and want to take this time to introduce myself. My name is Pennie and I think that I lurked for so long because I have so much more weight to lose but I have come to realize that IE is working for me when WW etc did not. I no longer feel deprived which always led to bingeing for me and the end of the diet.
Exercise is so much easier because I am not guilt-tripping myself into doing it. Now, I exercise to increase my stamina and for all the health benefits not becasuse I "should" do it to lose weight.
I was introduced to this by the IE book and also The 7 Secrets of Slim People which opened my eyes to why endless dieting was only making me fatter and was ruining my mental and physical health. I am always looking for new books to read.
Thank you for having this wonderful thread.
Pennie

Welcome, Penny. Jen, I think we all fear regaining what we have lost. I am really not that hungry most of the time now and really don't like that awful full feeling. I've just been at the same weight for so long that I wonder if I'll ever lose more. I'm rather content, however, not with my weight but with the idea that I don't have to struggle to stay here.

Hi All,

I have a question about learning how to know when you are actually hungry instead of thinking that you should be since it is a meal time. I can't tell if I am hungry right now because I am thinking that lunch would be nice and it is time for it. Is hunger defined as stomach growls and weakness? I read that if you are unsure if you are hungry then you are not.
How do y'all decide when you are truly hungry?
Thank You,
Pennie

I feel hunger in the stomach area. And that is probably right that if you're not sure if you are hungry you probably aren't.

Hi Pennie

I'm struggling a little with this. I've noticed my legs get a little shakey if I'm hungry. I use the 1-10 scale and assess roughly every hour how hungry i feel. When I want some food, I ask myself why I want it - sometimes it's because I've got something to do at work which I don't really want to, in which case I won't eat. I also go on how it tastes .... the first bite tastes lovely, when it stops being so enjoyable I reckon it's time to stop.

I reckon this will take me a while to get "right" and some days I'll get it wrong, other days right. Progress, not perfection

Not much new here except COLD. ha! Makes you hungry, doesn't it? Not really but sometimes it seems like it. Lately, nothing tastes too exciting so I'm glad to eat little and just get the hunger relieved.

Hi. Jen, my eating had been so restrictive that I have a lot of fears around entroducing new foods. It's liberating. I just finished the IE book, and found their chapter on eating disorders particularly enlightening. All the diets in the world won't help me with my stress eating, or fears of eating foods that will make me fat, or fixation with that magic size or scale number which will make everything disappear. Pennie, while I think that if you think you are not hungry, you generally are not, I check in with myself, and, if I get that light feeling like I might be a bit hungry, I'll eat a small snack, rather than let myself get starving. I think it's different foreveryone. For me, starving for long periods and bingeing has become second nature, so, I'm out of touch with hunger cues. I know if I don't stop my health will suffer, I all ready feel very cold, spacey, and tired a lot. Letting go of the restrictions is scary, but, I find my brain is functioning much better.

Amie

Hi all ... just another observation/update.
I've had these words going through my head of late:
"Every woman has the right to feel beautiful"
And it got me to thinking about my wardrobe. I've been one of those girls who has said I will treat myself to nice clothes "when I get thin". Well today I decided to **** with that and went out shopping. In the past I have been guilty of buying clothes based solely on if they hid enough of my "awful" body, which meant i ended up with clothes which are OK, but not what i really want.
Today I thought "to h3ll with that!" and went out and bought 5 tops and a dress. I only bought clothes which made me feel fantastic, because I have a right to enjoy looking nice regardless of my size.

Oh and I ate a prawn mayo sandwich for a late breakfast and left the crusts (was ALWAYS told as a child to eat them) then had last night's leftover veggie enchiladas for lunch. I ate both meals sitting down and focusing on the food, on how I felt before, during and after the eating process. I feel pretty darned good about today - how is everyone else?

JenJam, you may be surprised by what happens next. It was after I finally just HAD to go out and by nice things to wear at my high weight, that I finally started to lose weight. It's just so hard to lose weight when you feel gross and so much easier when you feel good.

oh -oh! I bought a lovely pair of jeans too .... if I lose weight they will be too big for me! Only kidding ... that would be a nice problem to have