Locke I think I've been experiencing a similar situation.

Do you guys find that IE also means listening to when you're not hungry even though you feel like you should be?

For instance, today I had breakfast at 10am, I was busy with work, friends and other things until 6pm so I had lunch then. It's currently 10 and I'm not hungry at all, even though the thought of food does sound appealing for the taste. I will be going to bed in a few hours so I probably won't be eating anymore today. This feels really weird for me, but I guess IE means listening to my body when I'm hungry AND when I'm not hungry too (even if I feel like I should be).

*Update an hour late*
I actually did start to feel hungry later, so I did have a lighter dinner. I've been trying to dispel the idea from my head that eating after a certain time makes me gain weight.

Locke, don't be afraid of not being hungry. Hunger comes back again so no worries! lol

Gosh I'm feeling sick of listening to my body the past few days. Good thing I'm seeing my nutritional therapist today, I'm almost scared to see her because I'm haivng an "I don't care" attitude lately. It's like my body always needs SOMETHING. Food, water, exercise, rest, etc. I'm not comfortable with it honestly. Sometimes I want to retreat back into my emotions, it feels safer.

I liked the anti-diet project so much that I actually looked up the girl's nutritional therapist and started seeing her myself. Yes!

This is a really interesting podcast of Isabella Foxen Duke in an interview explaining her philosophies. I thought specifically about Locke because Isabella's issues with substance abuse that correlate with her weight obsession. And I thought about Koali too because of the fat shaming she's experienced. And of course I thought of myself and how I always resort to fat obsession when I am really worried about something else entirely.

http://moonfitness.net/2014/04/30/isabel-foxen-duke/

It's about 50minutes long and I have to warn you, it's an obsene amount of valley girl talk. It was hard to listen to but I loved the discussion so try to look past the repetition of "uhmm so like yea!"

Wannabe,

I will have to give that a listen on my commute home. I love IFD. I totally understand about taking care of my body- it's like taking care of a toddler! Before I'd just ignore it or give it what I thought it needed. Here are some things IE has taught me about my particular body:

1) My body needs to rest- a lot. I got 10 hours of sleep on Friday night, woke up refreshed at 6am, and then took a two hour nap from 10am-12pm. I think this might be because of chronic sleep deprivation from my years of grad school and drinking too much alcohol and caffeine. Those two substances really make your sleep poorly.

2) My body needs exercise daily. This can be as little as a walk to the local park or the amount of walking I do during my daily commute. Getting in sunshine and fresh air is an important part of this. Going to the gym and walking on a treadmill is not the same.

3) My body needs social interaction with friends. I need to be around people and talk with people at least a little bit every day. On the weekends I call up people on the telephone or talk over the internet. It makes me feel cheerful and connected.

4) My body needs water and food. The food doesn't have to be so-called health food, but a good combination of protein, fat, and carbs at every meal with some fruits and vegetables daily. Simple sugars are okay with a meal but alone make my body feel bad. Every meal needs to have some amount of fat with it, too.

5) My body doesn't need caffeine, alcohol, drugs, vitamins, or supplements other than my thyroid tablets (I'm hypothyroid). My body doesn't need a slave driver constantly making it go beyond what it is capable of. My body doesn't need constant criticism and hateful reproaches to perform well. It just needs kindness and items 1-4. And chocolate, because yum.

And chocolate. Amen.

Thanks for posting this country! I was so inspired by Kelsey's blog posts. She's a real role model.

Well, the thing I feared most about IE happened. A lot of my clothes right now are way to tight to be comfortable.

I'm wearing the few outfits I don't feel fat in, but it's hard. really hard. I still trust that this is a process, and that this weight gain is attempt for my body to feel secure that I won't diet (starve) it again. But it's know fun when my favorite pair of jeans feel painfully uncomfortable.

Sigh. I knew that I would gain weight until I leveled out, I just didn't know how hard it would be emotionally and mentally. Diet thinking never called out so strong as it is right now.

Koali, it's times like this that you have to really focus on the positive changes that have been happening to you as well. List the reasons why IE is working right now, not the reasons that you fear. If IE is a huge fear then it's not going to work, you're right this is a process.

For example, I haven't really lost weight aside from a couple of pounds. However, I feel a lot less anxious around food, I've been able to eat forbidden foods in public, I've turned away food when I'm not hungry, I've been able to stop eating even if it's a favorite food, I'm craving a lot of healthy foods now and I'm eating less carbs than I thought possible. I'm also more confident and I trust my hunger signals more. Yes I'm disappointed in the weight loss but I have so much to celebrate and I know that if I continue honing these skills that my weight will settle.

I can't remember, did you read the Overcoming Overeating book? In it I believe it stresses how important it is to not just "try out" IE with the idea that if it doesn't work, you will just go back to a diet. If you do that, you won't be able to truly get in touch with your hunger and lose the sense of deprivation and restriction because that future diet is hanging over you in the shadows. In fact, I just saw someone on a diet thread that said they were coming back ( to the diet that they had lost weight on but then regained plus some) because they had tried IE for a while and gained weight so obviously that didn't work. And that is true, I think if you just "try" it it won't work. So, good for you for being aware that this is a process and trying to trust your body. Keep it up. It IS hard, I still work on that myself, but it does get easier.

I find IE is very hard but it's the right kind of hard iykwim. If I compare it to exercise I'd say that I'm following the right steps and doing it safely to avoid injuries where as dieting is like attempting a marathon when I've never ran before and failing and accumulating injuries each time I attempt it. Does that make sense?

I feel like it may take longer than dieting but that I'm working on becoming the type of eater I long to be. I get the sense that dieters think that if they maintain vigilance that it will be second nature to them one day. That and mate they want to feel a sense of martyrdom.

Wannabe you're right. I do need to focus on the positives.
Well, for one thing spending time with friends and family has become SO much more enjoyable. I used to dread hanging out because I knew it would involve food, I knew that I would be starving, and I also knew that I wouldn't allow myself to eat the food. Hanging out became torturous, and I really stopped spending as much time with people. Now I spend a lot more time with friends, and am happier for it!

I also used to think about food alllllll day long. I thought about food in class, at work, when I was with friends. Now, it really doesn't excite me that much. I don't spend hours dreaming about it anymore.

Another plus is that I don't go on websites like myfitnesspal anymore. I used to spend HOURS everyday on that website. Just plugging in food to see how many calories I would have to "spend" the next day and how I could get the most full out of the combos. It was an obsession.

Lastly, I used to feel uncontrollable around cake, sweets, or any type of bread. I thought I would just keep eating until it was gone. If I ever bought a pint of froyo I would eat it in one night. I bought a pint a few weeks ago, took a few bites, and it's been sitting in the freezer since. Food doesn't make me feel helpless anymore.



To answer your question pink hippie, I have read overcoming overeating. I feel that I have given myself full permission to eat IE and never diet again, but maybe there is a very very smal part of me that thinks if worst comes to worst I can just eat less and get rid of sweets. I guess I need to cut this part out all the way!

I also think that snacking has been what's really caused my weight gain. For instance, when I'm making dinner or thinking of what to make I'll kind of snack as I go. A few pita chips there, a bite of bagel here, some cookies there, all while my foods cooking in the oven. Then I'll eat the food, but still feel unsatisfied so I'll snack a little more after dinner, some more cookies, pita bread bites, etc. All while I'm standing in the kitchen.

Instead, I think I need to cut out the pre-meal snacking, put ALL that I want to eat on a plate and actually sit down and eat and enjoy it. I think all this snacky stuff has just left me vaguely unsatisfied and wanting more. It's hard to enjoy food that you're standing up and eating. I think this may have confused me into eating more than my body even really wants.

It sounds like you are doing so great with this mindset and really on the right track. it is SO nice to feel free around food and not obsess over it isn't it? I thought you had read Overcoming Overeating but couldn't remember. I love that book. It brought me out of the dark depths of an eating disorder in my early twenties.

I have/had the same issue with the snacking. The two things that helped me are 1: If I am snacking while Im preparing my food I am REALLY hungry. And I need to try to not let myself get quite that hungry. 2. I know I only have a finite amount in my stomach for food and if I really want to enjoy
the meal I have planned out then I remind myself that I will enjoy my food more and get to eat more of it, if I just wait until my meal is put together and waiting for me at the table. I have gotten a lot better with this only recently.

Hi Pinkhippie,

Thanks for the advice! I think that I may have been letting myself get to hungry because I wanted to be sure that I was hungry before I ate.. But I guess there's a difference between hungry and ravenous!

I was wondering if you could tell me how you went through the legalizing food process? I have bought myself all the foods I used to restrict. But I still sometimes find myself wanting to have only oreos for lunch or something like that. I'm wondering if this means I haven't fully legalized food all the way yet. A carrot stick still doesn't quite have the same emotional value as a chocolate chip cookie to me!

This is a process and we have to be patient, there may be some weight gain, there might not be enough weight loss, however we have to remember that our primary focus is to rebuild our relationship with food. We are rewiring our brain. We're laying a good foundation for our mental and physical health. We are honoring our bodies. Thinking about how our clothes fit at this moment and being scared of it puts right back into the diet mentality so we need to be cautious with how we speak to ourselves.