Hi everyone!

Just checking in. I've been super busy the past week and can finally sit down and catch my breath. lol I'm still doing good about eating intuitively and I'm still maintaining my weight. Not the result I had hoped for, but I know what I need to tweak it: get some exercise. Now just to do it and stop just saying I'm going to do it.

Well, that's all for now. Have a great one!

Ryanne, Do you live a long way from the store? Since it is only my Dh and I now, I try not to stock up too much. I'm a 2 miles from a small store but it has about everything. I go to Walmart sometimes. Garden produce is keeping me supplied right now .........love those tomatoes. Winter will be a different story although I can a lot . Today I ate 2 brownies in a row and felt yuck. I said to myself,....I won't do that again.

I go the frozen route, too. Haven't bought fresh broccoli in a long time! Unfortuntaely, since I live with picky eaters, I end up throwing out a lot of uneaten food. I get in the (bad) habit of eating whatever everybody else wants to eat and don't eat the fresh stuff when I do buy it cause I'm the only one who will eat it!

Here's a thought, have you tried the "green bags?" I have some of these and they do seem to help keep food longer. (Only problem I've found is that I tend to get lazy about using my bags and I'm back to square one.) One suggestion someone told me, if you use them, do not put bananas in them, even tho they advertise putting bananas in them, I am told they stink really bad when in the bags and taste even worse.

Also, I buy lots of canned fruit. Not exactly pocket-book-friendly, but it sure keeps better than fresh. I'm not the biggest fruit eater (tho I like them) so fresh fruits tend to sit in the fridge and eventually I throw them out. They make lots of those single serving fruit cups with applesauce, pears, peaches, etc. Nothing beats the fresh stuff tho! I love a fresh tree-ripe peach! Mmmmm!

I would hate to see how much money I've wasted throwing out uneaten food that was bought with good intentions! *sigh*

I'm right there with you on having to throw out fresh produce that doesn't get eaten. I toss it onto our compost pile, which takes a *little* bit of the guilt away, but I hate wasting money that way.

For me, one of the problems is that produce just doesn't taste the way it used to when I was growing up. I grew up on a farm, and probably got spoiled because we had all sorts of garden fresh veggies and fruits--and they always tasted delicious.

Nowadays, it seems like all the produce tastes like cardboard, and half of it's already starting to rot by the time you get it home. There's no pleasure in trying to eat the suggested quota of fruits and vegetables when there's no flavor to it; the item was picked green and artificially ripened; trucked thousands of miles; and the texture is gross.

We didn't even get much from our garden this year because the weather was so bad here in Vermont. Everything got hit with the blight. I don't think we had more than half a dozen tomatoes. The rest rotted on the vines.

When we do eat vegetables here, it's usually frozen ones. I try to keep a bunch in the freezer.

I'm going to try to make more homemade soups this fall and winter, to see if I can increase our veggie consumption.

I'm afraid I'm not much help on your question though, Ryanne.

Oh, Becky. I wish you lived closer. I have bushels of the most delicious tomatoes....also beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, etc. The tomatoes are my favorite and I have been canning like mad. Soup sounds so good and last night I made some tomato soup from just juice and soy milk. Yum.

I've read through to page 10 of this thread, and I have to say I already you guys...and I have so much to say! I hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I'm so excited about this!

A little about me: I've fought my weight it seems like all my life (since I was about 8, anyway). I was always "bigger" than everyone else--I've been 5'9" tall since I was 13, and that's the year I started wearing a size 10 women's shoe and a 36D bra, too. I have one very scarring memory of being weighed by the school nurse that year, too, and I was 196 pounds. I've tried all the diet plans, read all the books (haven't we all?), even flirted with IE a couple of times but never managed to get past the diet mentality. I never quite learned the difference between "eat what you want" and "go hog wild".

Now, though, I think this is a step I need to take. I desperately want freedom from food and thinking about food and judging myself and thinking and plotting and calculating and...you get the picture. I've been working really hard in therapy with regard to the issues of self-judgment and "measuring up", and feeling like I'm never good enough and never RIGHT enough so why even try? Lately (for the last 3 weeks) I've been trying to tell myself that whatever I want to eat is fine, as much as I want is fine, "eat what you want, no judgment, and move on". I can't do anything that involves measuring or counting or calculating anymore, I just can't. If there's a right answer then there's a wrong answer, and I hurt myself too much when I go down those paths.

I am also a physical therapy assistant, and I know a lot about exercise and fitness! I never got the "diet" part "right", though, and constantly beat myself up for appearing stupid (badly educated, if you will). But I do believe in the inherent wisdom of the body, and I do believe my body knows how to take care of itself. If only my mind could get out of my body's way!

I have gone to OA (was abstinent for about 20 months), and have learned some things about my body. My body really doesn't like wheat. It does better with whole wheat in smaller quantities, but I get really bloated, sluggish, sleepy, and hungry when I eat refined wheat products. I'm also lactose intolerant, but I do okay if I have milk pills. Highly processed foods (with colorants and preservatives and unpronouncable ingredients) make me feel icky. Can't really describe it, it's just...icky.

I believe that all these things are also my body's way of trying to communicate with me regarding what I'm eating. So yeah emotionally it's okay if I want to eat a donut, but my tummy will be bloated and sore, my head and eyes will hurt (I get headaches from sugar), and my mouth will be sticky and coated in fat. Eeeeewwww. I'm trying to listen to the "other" signals, too, and not just "tummy full now" feelings.

This morning I really wanted an orange when I woke up. Dunno why, but the thought of the orange sitting on my counter made me happy. So I made myself a pot of tea and peeled my orange, and had a very content, very pleasing breakfast.

I'm thrilled there is a group here for this, and I really hope you'll let me join!

Welcome, Sidhe!

A lot of people think this is nuts because they think it's about "go hog wild"

I totally agree it's about listening to all your signals, giving each it's place, not more, not less.

Sidhe, Hope you join right in with your inspiring posts.

Welcome, Sidhe! We're glad to have you with us.

Speaking of signals, I think I've been ignoring lots of mine lately. Sometimes that diet mentality just creeps back in and I feel like I have to keep eating even tho I'm not hungry and sometimes even feel uncomfortably full, like last night for dinner. I made some really yummy spaghetti (with white pasta) and it always bloats me and I always eat way too much of it, but I just love it so much! It's hard to stop at full! But the worst part is I *know* how refined flour affects me, too, but I love to eat it anyways. But, not gonna beat myself up about it, just move on! On the other hand, I understand how important satisfaction is in a meal, too. Just like you described with your orange and tea breakfast! Each and every day sure is a learning experience.

Truffle, I agree, garden fresh fruits and veggies are best! My parents have had a garden for as long as I can remember so I've been blessed with lots of their garden goodies over the years! We also take day trips to see the country scenery and visit orchards in the fall to get apples, that's always a treat (tho I always end up with way more apples than I can handle! lol)

So! My orange-and-tea breakfast was a great success! Midmorning I was hungry so I had a cucumber sandwich. Looked at some properties (we're trying to buy a house), then went to lunch with my husband so we could talk about them. He wanted a sandwich but I wasn't that hungry (and I can't tolerate that much bread well--in addition to my cucumber sandwich on high-fiber bread it wouldn't have been pretty!). I looked over the menu and was kind of lost. Didn't want a sandwich, definitely didn't want anything hot, and I wasn't *hugely* hungry. Then I noticed there was an "all day breakfast" menu, and I found myself with a yummy bowl of granola and plain yogurt. I ate my meal and was very content.

For the afternoon I went to the gym and did a workout that made me very happy. I spent time this time just like last time, reassuring myself that whatever I did was right and that I was okay.

The interesting part started when I got home. I didn't want to eat. I had this running dialogue in my head that involved the need for me to eat something to preserve my muscle and help my body recover and rebuild damaged tissues and blah blah blah...but I really didn't feel hungry, so I didn't eat.

Then for dinner I really intensely wanted salad. This Asian Fusion salad that I had in the fridge. I made half of it and it was delightful, and I really wanted the rest of it. But there was this voice in my head telling me that I shouldn't eat so much salad and that I shouldn't have any more, that I should find "something else" if I was still hungry. I picked up that package, turned it over, and was reading the nutritional info to start adding up calories. I stopped myself and made up the rest of the salad and threw the package away. After I finished my salad I waited a few minutes. I was still hungry and found a Healthy Choice meal in the freezer that complimented the salad fantastically. Veggies and rice and lean beef and a gingery sauce. I was amazed that I could taste the ginger.

So here I am. I'm trying to decide if I'm actually hungry again or if I'm content. I WAS content but that was just on salad and veggies and the barest bit of beef--more than an hour ago. But is that diet thinking? What am I trying to do, eat by the rules or eat by my body's needs??

Guess I have my answer! I'll eat more later if I'm hungry.

Nice job

Sounds like you had a very successful day Sidhe!

Isn't it amazing the voices we have to learn to shut out?! It's almost like the more we armed ourselves in the past with "knowledge" about diet and exercise the more voices we have to learn to ignore now doing IE. It all sounds good and logical when you're dieting and trying to follow a set of rules, but try putting those same rules on a toddler at dinner time who isn't hungry. They just WON'T eat! With all our "knowledge" kids just do naturally what we should do and have to work hard at sometimes!

Good job listening to the right "voices."

Any wisdom anyone who's been doing this longer can offer would be greatly appreciated.

I totally understand the idea that my body will ask for food when it's hungry, and ask for just as much as it needs. What I'm kind of struggling with is the idea that I will lose weight. Won't my body ask for as much food as it needs to maintain itself where it is now? How does this work, really? Or is it something I just need to take on faith?

Whatever happens to my body, though, I can't go back to counting. It drives me nuts and it takes me away from everything else in my life. I'm working on accepting that I am who I am, with all my faults and imperfections. Taking a deep breath, listening to my body, and moving on.