have either of you read anything by Geneen Roth? This is her approach also, to EAt...just eat for hunger and figure out when to stop. She's easy to read- I think the titles are "Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating" and "The Hungry Heart>or Feeking the Hungry Heart. There are probably more current titles too. I liked them- although they come from the idea of controlling compulsive eating, the approach is not to deny yourself, just be able to eat less or what you really want...not to let your self get starving, but to feel a little hungry and eat just enough to feel comfortable.

Wow, what a concept, huh?

Hi Aleka, I post over at LC and was just reading around the site. No matter what other diet stuff I try, reducing carbs is the most beneficial approach for me to reduce my hunger and help me to stay with it...

hi dottiejon,

thanks for the information! i always enjoy reading and learning new things, so maybe i will check out those books. it's funny, but i've never considered myself a compulsive eater, but maybe i was becoming one! i never used to even think about food, but when my kids were little, DH and i didn't have a lot of money to "go out" with, so our entertainment was to sit home and watch tv and eat. i think maybe that is where it all started for me. eating became such a pleasurable activity, and i just got to where i loved doing it. i just love food! i am defiantely doing better that way though. just trying to think of food as fuel, while of course still eating what i enjoy, and only when i'm hungry. it's funny, but this week i haven't really even been tempted by the sweets that i would normally eat. i think i've had 1/2 a bag of m&m's (chocolate...ahhh... ) and i think that is the only sugary stuff i have had. and for once i didn't feel deprived (like i would if i were "dieting") and have the need to binge.

on another good note, when i weighed in at TOPS last tuesday, i was down 1 pound! i was totally suprised! wow, normal eating DOES work! Imagine that....

I think that's it, Trish, to keep any feelings of deprivation/hunger at bay. I don't really think of myself as a compulsive eater either...I have never binged, but I tend to just plain eat too much! You know, larger portions, grazing, eating when I'm not Stomach- hungry.

I do have blood sugar problems, so now that I've learned to keep my blood sugar even( small portions more frequently with protein) I do better. Like you said, food as fuel. But small portions or STOPPING eating is hard!

congrats on the 1 lb loss~ that's great~have a good week!
dottie

Hi,

Sorry I've been MIA, but we just got our computer back yesterday. It was in the shop being fixed. Thankfully we got our old browser back, but in the process we lost everything else, all our "favorites" and our e mail addresses. We are now in the process of getting some of them back.

trish, congratulations on your 1 lb. loss. That is fantastic! Keep up the good work. I haven't been so fortunate, my cousin was here on vacation and I wasn't very good, so I gained 2 lbs. I am back to listening to my body again.

dottiejohn, I haven't read any of Geneen Roth's books, but from what I've seen in posts on other sites, her books are very good. Thank you for recommending them. I'll have to look for them. I had been on a lower carb diet, and I can say I was never hungry. I have found out that I do need carbs in the morning, if I don't have toast with bacon & eggs I feel sick to my stomach after awhile. The carbs I do eat are "good" carbs, and I stay away from anything with white flour and sugar. I'm glad that the lower carb diet
is working well for you.

Hope you both are having a good week.
Aleka

hi aleka!

i figured you were still having computer problems. glad you are back. Don't worry about the gain, it happens, especially when we are put in a situation that isn't "normal". (like having company, going to a party, etc...) sometimes we have to treat ourselves. it sounds like you are back to doing what is right for you, and you have kept a good mindset about it. so you are doing good!

i had a few "bad" days this week. most of the stuff i overate on though was healthy, like trail mix (i am so addicted to that stuff! ) but i didn't go to the ice cream shop or anything, so i guess i'm making progress. i did keep up with my exercise though. i joined an areobics class just a few blocks from where i live, and i'm really enjoying it. the only problem is that it is at 6 am. I am not a morning person, so i am wondering how long this will last for me.

i did low carb for a while as well, but i couldn't stay on it. i love bread!! so now i'm kind of like you in that i try to avoid white stuff (flour, sugar, et) and do whole wheat, brown rice and that sort of thing. of course, sometimes there is nothing like a good candy bar!

well, glad you are back!

Hi Tricia,

I've been busy this week and I haven't been on the computer very much. How did you do this week? I did pretty well. Went out to lunch with a friend and only ate 1/2 sandwich, I was satisfied. I brought the other half home and DH & I split it and had some soup. It's amazing how much my stomach feels better when I eat just until I'm satisfied.

I am also addicted to trail-mix and won't have it in the house. I can eat it until I make myself sick. I don't know if it's the combination of sweet and salty foods.

Congratulations on joing an aerobics class. How did your first week go? I'm usually up at the crack of dawn, but getting somewhere for 6:30 is too early for me. Although, one summer DH & I were in FL when one of my late aunts was sick. We were out walking at 5:30 am, in the dark, before the heat got unbearable. We both were really surprised at the people out walking at that hour.

A few years ago I was on Suzanne Somers WOE, Somersize. I stopped eating sugar and now I don't even want a candy bar. If I do have candy, M & M's are my passion, I can only eat a handful and I get heartburn. So, I just stay away from it.

How is your book coming along?

Hope you're having a good weekend.

Aleka

hi aleka,

i have had a busy week as well! it's amazing how fast the days can zoom by. it is almost time for school for cryin' out loud! I did pretty well this week, i got in all of my excersize and did pretty good on my eating. my daughter and i went to the movie yesterday (to see Catwoman; it was ok, but not as good as Spiderman ) anyway, i had some "movie candy", but otherwise did pretty well. i really haven't been craving candy like i used to, as least not in the last week or so. maybe it is getting out of my system...hmmm...

hey, good for you on only having 1/2 the sandwich! doesn't it feel good to have treated yourself, but still have been able to say "No, i've had enough for now". it always makes me feel like i really can control myself! i always feel better if i don't stuff myself too. isn't it funny how we don't realize how sick we are making ourselves until we STOP doing it? lately, if i eat a little too much at dinner, i sit there and think "why on earth did i do that! i feel totally yucky now!" where as before i would just think something like "Man am i stuffed! but boy was it worth it, it was soooo good!"

i didn't buy any trail mix this week and i think i may have went down another pound! of course, maybe it is the excersize. official weigh in isnt' until tuesday though, so we will see. dh is sitting in his chair eating cashews...drool... I am not even going to eat one or else i'll end up eating the whole can! ***sigh***

i really love my excersize class! most mornings i have to drag myself down there, but it has been worth it. i think i will stick with it for as long as i can. dh and i are thinking of taking up running as well. our school has a really nice track, so we may go there to run...we'll see.

i really love m&m's too! i can never just eat a few, it ends up being handfuls. though lately i have been hooked on a new candy bar from Hershey's, it is a s'mores bar, and it is so good! (of course i have been staying away from it lately... )

i haven't had time to write much in my book lately, but i'm going to try to get to it this week. my daughter keeps asking me if i've written any more. she is my biggest fan (at 12 yrs old)

well, i'd better go for now. big spagetti feed at my church tonight...wish me luck! I plan to have just a small serving and maybe a peice of french bread....mmm...i'll let you know!

take care of you and have a great week! keep up the good work!

Hi Trish,

Good luck to you with your weigh in on Tuesday. I'm sure exercise has a lot to do with losing weight. Since we've been so preoccupied with getting things ready to move, I've let my exercise fall by the wayside. Although I feel like I'm getting something in by packing and generally moving around.

When I ate M & M's, I would start buying them around Halloween and it would last until Christmas, all those seasonal colors. DH would just take a handful and be satisfied. I would take 2 or 3 everytime I passed the bowl. Last Dec., a cousin & I went with a tour group to NYC. While my car was parked in the tour company's parking lot, DH put a container filled with M & M's in my car so that my cousin & I could eat them on our drive home (she's addicted to them too). I only had a little more than a handful when I had enough and didn't want anymore. That surprised the both of us because usually we'd have the whole bowl gone by the time we got back to my house.

Hope you had a good time at your spaghetti feed. I'm sure you did fine.

We set a moving date of Sept. 20th. So now we have 7 weeks to get everything together. We're planning on putting our house on the market sometime this week. We're up to more cleaning and packing today. I never want to do this again!!!

Hope you also have a good week and also are able to do some writing. That's great your 12 yr. old D is your biggest fan.

Aleka