Good morning, ladies...I have Carol to thank for introducing me to Michelle May's approach to food and weight loss. I always appreciate the articles you post from her, Carol.

I've been making myself gain with all the "last suppering" and "daily diet starting" I've been doing recently, so today I declared to myself that I'd really go back to the non-diet way of living that seems to work the best for me.

I was looking at a few non-diet/IE sites I have marked, and started catching up on Michelle May's blog. I came to one post--and you might have posted it and I missed it, Carol--where she talks about eating from smaller plates and bowls. The article is here.

Michelle's article linked to Brian Wansink, the author of "Mindless Eating", and his research on how we've all started eating more since the 1970s, due mainly to the fast food places competing for business by "supersizing" the servings.

This rang a bell with me. My husband has a HUGE appetite, has ever since I've known him, and he easily serves us enough for four portions when he serves us. We also have some HUGE bowls that we regularly use, and they are way too big for "normal" portions. We also have some very large glasses that my husband likes to use for his chocolate milk. I've fallen into the habit of heaping my plate and keeping up with his portions because, after eating that much for several years, anything less looks "too small", if that makes sense.

Anyway, I decided to try the small plate thing. I took those huge bowls and huge glasses out of the cupboard and will either get rid of them, or store them away out of sight. We have some plates that are a couple of inches smaller than our regular dinner plates, so I'm going to try to remember to serve our meals on those instead of the larger ones.

This seems like an easy way to start eating a little bit less, without any real hardship, and if we do take seconds, it'll still be less than what we were eating because most of the time we take seconds on the huge plates too.

Brian Wansink was also talking about how it's easy to overeat from large boxes or bags, and this is true. We were eating Hershey's Kisses last night, and I was just reaching into the bag and getting a big handful of them out. I think I'm going to try portioning them out according to what the portion size says on the bag. That way, it'll at least make me think about what I'm eating if I finish one portion then go to the bag for more.

I don't think this will feel "diet-y" to me. I look forward to seeing how these little changes help.

Becky, I think all those changes are great ideas! I started using smaller plates a while ago too and if I want seconds I go for it and it works! I do the same with my OJ in the morning, I use the small cups and fill just half of it. If I want more, I know it's there, but I hardly ever do wnat more. But it happens that the last cup of the gallon is usually bigger, cause there's no point in leaving a little bit left, and I end up drinking the whole cup!

So, I noticed my first tangible IE victory: I always crave some chocolate after my meals, so I brought a biiiiig bar of Hershey's milk chocolate to work and put it in one of my drawers. When my co-worker saw it she said "that's so dangerous!" (as if the chocolate may explode) and I told her "well, I like to think of it as just chocolate and I eat it if I want some." I think I put that bar in the drawer 2 weeks ago and I just finished it yesterday... and also, I can barely tolerate milk chocolate anymore (I never thought THAT would happen to me).

So, after venting out about my friend, my attitude has really made a positive turn. I am enjoying having her here and we are cooking A LOT! we are making a lot of home made food: bean empanadas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada), squash and cheese quiche, rice with veggies...

This is the closest I've been so far to being completely at peace with food.

Oh and it's been three months since I started "working out"... my butt looks amazing =D ahhahaha

So, i know i'm on one of my highs right now, but after reporting so many downs, it feels nice to tell you all how I feel.

I hope you all feel as good =D

Kind of slow around here. Not much new with me. How are you all doing?

Carol--Thanks for asking! I've been extremely busy--we're closing on our new house any day now, and there's all sorts of paperwork, inspections, tests, people to see, people to talk to, trips to the house...argh! But it's a wonderful house and we're really excited.

I'm getting along very well with my GoWear Fit. I've discovered (had verified?) that I burn lots and lots of calories everyday. I'm extrapolating, of course, but assuming that these numbers are right I would have been burning about 5,000 calories a DAY while I was working. Gee, I wonder why I couldn't make WW (35 points, roughly 1800 calories) work for me? I wonder why I was often so hungry? I wonnder why I was so often willing to just throw away my dietary plans by the end of the day?

Gee, wonder why.

That being said, I'm trying to let myself eat. I'm actually very challenged by it, but with the GWF as a guide I think I'm really learning what "full" and "hungry" feel like. I've been sooooo comfortable with my body lately! I'm not constantly quizzing myself: can I be hungry now? Am I THIS hungry? IS it okay if I admit I'm hungry and eat a bit more? I've done so much work with myself on making it "okay" to be hungry and eat, but this has just deepened everything I learned about myself. I have been so content.

And, miraculously, I've NOT been obsessive! I was a bit afraid that having this would knock me back into obsession again, and just reinforce what I had so often told myself--that I am lazy, and I eat too much, and I am this way because I'm stupid and can't follow the simplest of directions, etc etc. BUT!! I HAVEN'T been so focused on playing with my food and my portions and my calories and my meals and the timing of my meals and...everything! I've been wearing it, eating when I'm hungry, writing down what I'm eating, and...moving on. It's been so great. I download once at night, and since I have some vague idea how many calories I'm burning I know it's okay to eat. No games. I cannot tell you how liberating this is.

I have tried for SO MANY YEARS to eat less and move more. Well DUH, sometimes the standard answer doesn't work. But I was so afraid to try anything else--because then, if I did, I really DID deserve to be fat, right?--that I just kept eating less and moving more. Until I just couldn't eat less anymore, and my body forced me to eat. I haven't ever been able to find a balance. But now...aaaaaahhhhh. I'm eating more and moving less [intensely]. And it's working!

Life has expanded, just because I'm not so dang focused on one puzzle to which I was missing a variable. Now I've got that answer I was looking for, and my focus has shifted. I'm living my life, playing with my friends, moving my house, loving my husband, planning my future adventures...it's just amazing, what happens when you can let go of something that has challenged you for so long.

(Do I sound like a disciple? Sorry! I'm just really, really pleased. )

A quick flyby to say hello as I'm getting ready to head out to BSF meeting this morning. Got results of DH tests yesterday and everything is fine. The doc thinks the things he has been experiencing is the side affects of his pain meds so Tony will have to cut back on those or find something else for his back pains and headaches.

Y'all have a great day.

Sorry to hear about your Dh Trish. I take it from your post, Sidhe, that you are still doing IE with the use of the other thing. I needed a boost myself as it seemed nothing tasted good anymore so I am doing EODD with IE. I just let myself get a lot hungrier every other day I feel better so far.

Trish--I hope your husband gets things worked out for the best.

Carol--Yes, I'm still doing IE with my GWF. The GWF is actually helping with the IE! The IE tells me it's OKAY to be hungry right now, and the GWF tells my scientific mind that it's entirely possible to be hungry right now since I've just burned 1,000 calories. They work together beautifully, for me. I'm still paying attention and not stuffing food into myself, no matter what the GWF says. I'm still listening to my body and giving it what it asks for. (It wants fruit a lot lately!) It's a symbiotic relationship.

I've been trying the Every other day diet but it looks like it's back to IE I haven't been doing very well about getting hungry and nothing tastes as good. So I started the EODD and of course I was very hungry and everything tastes so good. But I tend to over do it on off days.

Carol--That's what I was afraid would happen with me. WAAAAY too much "making up" on the off days. I'd never have a deficit, because I'd always eat up the difference.

Hi everyone!!! Just a little rant.... One day this Buddha Belly will be GONE!!! I had to go to the hospital tonight and the guy at the front desk thought I was there because I was pregnant. I politely said "No" and I think he could tell I was offended cause he started making excuses like," There was a girl in here earlier that was 7 months and I couldn't tell cause she was so tiny".

Anyways, this just made me more motivated to do my best. I've been slack since the holidays and I have had a hard time getting back into the groove of things.

My goal is to lose at least 39 lbs by the time the summer gets here. I will still be a far cry from bathing suit ready but it will be a lot more comfortable in this southern heat. I want to be able to wear shorts again soon and sleeveless tops. Oh the Freedom!!!!

Hope you all are doing great!!!

Rant away, Natoshial, just look what you've accomplished so far....38lb down. We'll be visiting our son and family for a couple of days so probably won't be back until Mon. I ate a normal breakfast of toast, banana and soy milk this morning and am completely satisfied.

Just saying hi.

Good morning, everyone...I think that Every Other Day Diet would do me in too. I'm finding that I've developed a very hair-trigger kind of thing in response to the slightest efforts to "restrict" myself to some sort of an eating plan. I immediately "rebel" and start eating junk.

This happened to me again this morning. I'm very frustrated and discouraged again with my lack of weight loss--and the increasing numbers on the scale (which I wouldn't even know about if I'd STAY OFF the stupid thing). I've been trying for the last few days to rope myself into doing low carb, start off each day with eggs, get the "rebellion" set off in my head, then I go eat a bunch of something sugary I don't really need.

WHEN will I learn that the IE/non-diet way works better, no matter what kind of diet plan is working for my sisters? All I'm doing is taking in food that I don't really want, and it ends up being extra because I go and eat what I really wanted after I eat what I didn't want, if that makes sense.

That's my little Monday morning rant I guess.

We're having a "mini January thaw" right now, so it's nice and warm outside. Spring is not that far away.

Hope you all enjoy the day!

Me too. Makes perfect sense.

Becky - Diane Kresse who wrote The Metabolism Miracle Diet says there are 2 types of metabolisms. Metabolism A people can lose weight eating regular diets. Metabolism B people (low carbers) cannot or find it very difficult to lose on the same diet that is for Met A. She says the reason she doesn't like for her clients to weigh everyday is because when we are dieting that the scale is all over the place and we get discouraged and quit the diet thinking it isn't working. This is why she recommends in her Step 1 Eight week program that you don't weigh during the 8 weeks. We just lose pounds slower, however, we lose inches faster than the Met A which she says makes us look like we lose 2 lbs instead of 1.

I decided on Jan 1st to test this. I am doing a more General Low Carb IE. My goal was 20 g carbs a day and the bad thing is that there were many days I didn't come near the 20 g carbs. I went 30 g yesterday hoping that I will make at least the 20 grams. Any way, I am weighing everyday. On Jan 1st, I was 234 lbs and I've lost down to 229. I am graph charting the weight each day and believe me if I had been going by the weigh the scale looked instead of trusting the low carb diet, I would have quit. One day I would be 233, then 233.5 then 232 followed by 233 then I would go back down to 232 and so on. I've learned that I hit my low weight for a day and then it bounces. It might bounce up to anything between 1 to 4 lbs but it does settle at the low. Right now I've bouncing between 229 and 231.5, but by tomorrow or the next day it will settle at 229 before Iwill begin to bounce with another lb or 2 loss. I don't know why this happens, but I just know that it does so I have to accept it and live with it. This is where I have to trust my way of eating and not my scale. I think by staying with my plan of Intuitive Eating low carb, I might be able to lose between at least 5 lbs and I might even lose up to 8 lbs a month. At least I will be losing. Besides, if I can lose 5 lbs and look like I've lost 10? I'll take that gladly. I've also read how much healthier older low carb dieters are than the lowfat dieters are. So there are a lot of good reasons for doing what I'm doing.

I think you feel guilty about not doing what your sisters are doing. Don't do that to yourself. Besides, from what I've learned from reading Diane Kresse's book, we may have done this to ourselves with years of losing and gaining. So if your sisters don't keep the weight off when they lose it, they will get to the place they may need to do what you are doing. You will have the answers. So give yourself a break girl. Find they way of eating that you can enjoy and do it. I like meat and salads. I have a few veggies that I really enjoy and others I can take or leave. You know what? Others might be bored with the way I eat now, but I love and I enjoy it. It may take me a year or 2 or more to get to what I want to weigh, but I am enjoying what I am doing along the way and I know I'm getting healthier while doing it. And I don't ANYTHING I DON'T LIKE. IE says to eat what I love and I do.

Hope this helps you. It has helped me just writing it. Remember, EVERYONE HAS TO FIND THEIR OWN WAY FOR IT TO WORK.

Carol, Blue and everyone else

Have a great day.