Hey everyone,
I'm just checking in to let you all know how the IE is going for me. So far I've lost ten pounds! Of course I can't say it all was from IE though. We had a stomach bug go through our house and at least 4 pounds of my weight loss was from being sick. Regardless, I think IE is really working for me. I read the Overfed Head book and it all made so much sense. The hardest part for me has been trying to break the habit of eating for reasons other than hunger. I never believed I was an emotional eater, but now that I've tuned in to my hunger, I realize that I actually crave food (without hunger) when I'm stressed out or depressed. I thought the only emotional reason I ate was for boredom. But now I see I was eating to distract myself from other emotions as well. I used to be a smoker (I quit 7 years ago), and I think I may have replaced the smoking habit with a snacking habit. So what I've had to do, is learn to deal with my emotions without having some sort of vice to distract me from them. I think in a lot of ways not eating when there's no hunger is a lot like quiting smoking or some other habit. The first few days are the hardest.

I'm also rediscovering foods I love. All my years of dieting have banned a lot of foods from my house. But when I go to the store now I don't think it the terms of good food vs bad food. I bought some instant peaches and cream oatmeal the other day. I haven't had this in years! My dieters mentality told me it had too much sugar in it. So I got used to eating plain oatmeal with splenda in it. So as I was eating my peaches and cream oatmeal I was reminded of when I was a teenager and would eat this stuff on cold winter days before going to school. I never worried about the sugar content in it then, and I wasn't fat.

So I'm trying to remember all the foods I used to like to eat when I was younger. I have banned so many things from my life I'm not even sure what foods I like anymore! But I realize now that I don't like "diet" foods: low fat, low sugar etc. It's no wonder why I was walking around unsatisfied all the time. So now I'm banning "diet" food from my house. Not healthy foods, like vegetable and fruits, but anything that says 'low-fat' 'lite' 'lean' 'low-calorie' I don't want it.

And I've noticed something. Have you ever looked in the carts of other shoppers? I'm noticing that most of the time thin people have regular 'non-diet' types of foods in their cart. And it's usually a good mix of healthy foods and few junk food items too. Whereas the heavier shoppers will load up on diet coke, lean cuisines, skim milk, and then there will be junk food in their cart too, which you know they are probably going to end up binging on later.

I hope IE is going well for everyone.

Glad to hear IE is working for you Bdank. I would be curious to see what other foods you rediscover.

I'm a lurker to this thread since I don't actually follow IE.

Bonnie,
Regarding "diet" products, really I think in general they are a scheme to get at your wallet more than anything else. For me, I don't buy diet products. If I want chocolate, I buy real dark chocolate. I don't count calories although I have a general idea of how many calories I eat on a daily basis. I concentrate on eating whole foods so that I know I'm eating foods that nourish your body and also generally are very filling. I do think though that some products in the store that are high in fat/sugars/calories can be duplicated at home and taste better. For instance, your peaches and cream oatmeal, why not put some frozen peaches, some milk and a little sugar into your own oatmeal? If you don't like plain oatmeal, then it seems that livening it up for you would make sense.

Anyway, I am glad you are enjoying your food and fitting it into your lifestyle. I think that losing weight does involve a bit of creativity as well as not feeling that you are deprived. Congratulations for getting rid of the "diet" foods from your lifestyle.

Congratulations on those lost 10, Bonnie!
I find it interesting to look in people's shopping carts also. Today might be especially interesting. I don't quite understand the correlation between junk food and football, though. I guess it's monkey see.....
Nelie, I agree with making your own whenever possible and diet foods being a good way to separate you from your money. Long before there were diet foods there were thin people. I think the problem is that so many people want to maximize the volume of food they can eat, so diet foods help them to do that but as long as that is the goal, there is also a potential problem. But who am I to pontificate.
and I like your mottos,
jo

I, too, have rediscovered a lot of foods that I ate when younger and thin....like tomato soup made with just tomato juice and milk. Now I use soy mik but it tastes just the same. I had a revelation today.......a little late.....but neverthe less an idea. When I'm in a restaraunt I don't particullarly care for I've decided to order an appetizer instead of a meal. Lots of time there will be something there that I enjoy.

Speaking of milk -- what kind to you all like?
lately I've been drinking lowfat goat milk. I love it. It tastes really rich to me; I can't imagine the full-fat version of it. I've heard many reasons to choose goat over cow.

I can't have calcium so I dring Westsoy Unsweetened soy milk and enjoy the fiber it has......I need that. ha!

Carol, why no calcium?

All - I was just thinking I might sound contradictory - "no diet foods" yet lowfat goat milk but honestly when I drink it, it feels like cream to me. Almost too much so. I actually prefer skim cow's milk to whole, but I don't like all the phlegm stuff that cow's milk generates. I think goat's milk agrees with me better. And I do like its taste.
I've tried soy milk; thought it was ok, not as good as goat.
I guess when I say I don't like the diet products, I don't mean products where some fat is just skimmed off, but rather the ones that have synthetic processes and ingredients involved.

I just got an Intuitive Eating book today at the library. I'm already half done and it really makes sense!!! Subbing to this thread

Hi Babygrant! Welcome - looking forward to getting to know you over the posts!

jo

Jo, I have sarcoidosis which is little nonmalignant tumors in the lungs. As with some cancers, those tumors cause your body to do something with vitamin D that in turn causes your blood calcium to rise which ruins the kidneys and can cause other problems. Complicated, I know. Prednisone helps it. Babygrant, which book are you reading? There are many IE books.

Hi Ladies-
I am so glad I found this group. I did not know there was a section for IE until i clicked on the link at the bottom of Carol's page. I have read a few books on IE. It seems so freeing. I am going to start working on it again. I'm so glad I found you guys.

Welcome, Probablysewin. Glad to have you here.

Hi Carol, thanks for the welcome. I have a lot to work on and a long way to go until I'm comfortable with IE. There's just so many dieting type thoughts to undo. I know this is the only thing that will work for the rest of your life with out fighting yourself all the time. It's really just trying to eat how we would eat naturally. I'm not sure why it's shocking to people when they hear about IE. I know I was like "Wow you mean I don't have to diet for the rest of my life"? For as long as I can remember all foods had a good or bad label and I was good or bad according to what I ate at the time. Granted I've come a long way since then, but I need to definitly rethink things. I also want to be in tune with feeling hungry and satisfied. I know this will come with time. I am glad to have found a little niche here where I feel comfortable. Thanks!

Problyswein - welcome!
Eating how we would eat naturally - yesss!

Carol - I will try to learn more about sarcoidosis. Are you feeling ok with your medication and dietary management of it? I know you've said the prednisone increases your appetite; how is that going?

Fiddler -- New Car Yet???

Well, I am sitting my friend's cat. She is 6 months old and has an appointment later this week to be spayed. Lucky me, that today, just a few days before spay time, she came into heat. Dang annoying kitty. Good thing she's cute.