Hey guys has anyone doing IE for awhile experienced this?

This entire day, I have had practically NO appetite. I was a little hungry in the morn so I had a roll and some apple juice because I felt like it. Then I had four pork ribs and a small bag of cookies later. I am still not hungry.

Of course, it may have been because I ate heavier foods during the weekend (lots of meats, though I did well stopping when I was full).

Is this my body just not being hungry because it was fed heavier foods and is now working it out?

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Rachelle

I have a question about IE... how do you know when you are hungry? I mean, I know when i'm REALLY hungry, but by that point, all bets are off. How do you catch yourself at that "i'm starting to get hungry, but not yet ready to eat children" stage?

Etherence, I think you're probably right about that. I seem to remember reading in The Weigh Down Diet that some may not experience true hunger for up to 36 hours (or something like that) when first starting to eat this way. Could be due to the volume of food previously eaten and I would also say the types of food previously eaten. There are definitely foods that stick with you longer. Often, the day after a binge, I physically don't feel like eating because I'm just so packed with food (even tho my head says "hey, it's time for breakfast, you gonna eat or what?"). It's gross actually! lol

Iris, I consider true hunger that empty growly feeling in your stomach. Not gurgling caused by digestion. You could experience a lack of energy and if your blood sugar is really low, a jittery feeling. I don't like to get that hungry myself. But I do try to "listen" for that empty feeling. Sometimes I don't wait until a true growl noise but just a little twinge of my stomach waking up. Sometimes the feeling is hard to discern but once you get used to the difference between empty and comfortably full (satisfied) it is easier to know when to eat. I think many of us are so used to always having some amount of food in our stomachs that we really don't know what empty feels like. Patience is really important when learning the difference.

I just had breakfast even tho I didn't have an audible growl going on. There was just a little churny feeling in there. And knowing that I hadn't eaten since last night was a time clue for me. I probably could have waited longer, but my head wanted to eat. Breaking out of ritual eating (3 meals a day) is kind of tough to get mentally for me.

Blue Serenity, those are great answers. Patty, YOU are the inspiration. After all these years of dieting you are sticking with IE. If anyone is worried about what they are eating Gwen Shamblin mentions that John the Baptist ate locusts and honey for months. I just thought that was interesting.

carolr3639 Thanks. The reason you are such an inspiration to me is that you were doing this here on this thread when I first heard about IE last year and you stayed with it and I didn't. I remember the struggles we had back then and I went back to dieting and you stayed with IE. You have done great. After dieting all that time I was still where I was when I quit IE. So that is why I applaud you for making the smart decision. I still fight the same thioughts of dieting. But what really has helped me is my chiropractic doctor I am going to now. After my 1st check up etc, we had my consultation. He told me the physical reasons I couldn't lose weight which is slow thyroid, I'm hypoglycemic and I don't digest my food very well. I now have suppliments he prescribed to correct all those. I personally believe the yo-yo dieting is what caused most of that. Then he looked me square in the eye and firmly said, "STOP DIETING. DIETS DON'T WORK". I then came back to IE. That was about a month ago. I gained weight at first. I never could get below 217.5 and I gained up to 222 on IE. Sorry girls, I still haven't given up the scales. Yesterday I was down a lb and today, I am down to 219.5 and I'm just eating when hungry and I eat what I want. The strategy I decided to do of "when I think I want something to eat and I don't know what I want... I JUST DON'T EAT". I think that is working big time for me. Never thought about John the Baptist eating locusts and honey lol And he lived on that weird isn't it especially when you think about what other cultures eat and drink.

Ladies I don't comment on many things you say, because I would be writing too much which I probably do all ready, let me say I agree with each and everyone of you. I do or have experienced the same things you do.

Blue Serenity I do the same thing you do when it comes to judging my hunger. I don't usually wait till my stomach growls. I think I also have those times when I eat because my head says I'm hungry. I usually know what I want at those times so I eat. I got up this morning and I'm not hungry. Yesterday was one of those days when I kind of grazed. I probably didn't eat as much as I think I did, but I think that is because I never ate what most people would call a meal. I guess that is another part of this learning process.

I am so very excited about IE and it is becoming easier and easier to stick with. Getting rid of the "Diet" thinking is still the hard part. Also I still have that tendency to think of foods as good/healthy and bad/unhealthy. I guess I will be fighting that one for a long time. My DH who tried to get me to eat like this when we first married still has the tendency to think that way. Bless his heart, he is so used to me "dieting" almost always low carbing and now I've totally flipped on him with IE. I told him when we married almost 6 years ago NOT to be my food police and he tries not to. But then Sunday he said "we could eat at McDonalds, but you won't want to eat there do you. They don't have anything you want to eat". Then I had to remind him "Remember? I'm not on a diet. I can eat there." For so many years we had such a difficult time deciding where I could eat low carb. You cannot imagine the joy I have at being so free. We are going on a trip the first 2 weeks of November. And for the first time it is going to be a pleasure to eat out. Have a great IE day!

Awhile ago, someone noted that many people who embrace IE tend to go back to diets, at least once... I can totally relate.

I have nothign but awe and admiration for those who are making this work. It certainly isn't easy.. Since August I've gained about 15 lbs.. lookign back on it, everything I wanted to eat was crappy, like cookies, cakes, fast food, chips, stuff like that... I am confused as to what to do. I can't go back to dieting but yet it feels like I have to, like I failed at IE since I gained weight and feel crappy because of the food choices I made.\

Today's the first day in a long time where I've actually gave lots of thought to what i want, and if I'm hungry. Yes, I'd love to go to Panda Express but decided on soup instead. Panda Express is darn tasty but probably won't make me feel the best...

The legalization of foods is incredibly difficult for me.
Looking back at many of my posts I can be a 'debbie downer', and host a few pity parties. What i need to change is my attitude, what's in my head before the physical. I have to love myself and feel I'm worthy of a positive change before attempting it. I can't expect someone else to love me if I don't love myself and respect myself.... reading everyone's stories is very inspiring, both those who have stuck withit and those who have that fervor of just beginning.

Diets do not work, but the key is _listening_ to your body.... I refuse to diet, but I do think it's a good idea to pay attention to how food makes you feel and all that.

Tomorrow I'm off of work, got lots of stuff planned. This morning I didn't exercise, but I didn't sit around and eat. I cleaned my house, did laundry, floors, etc. I _did_ something...

This site is a a huge God send. I'll read/re-read posts, and then I finally 'get it'.

I agree with you that we definitely do need to pay attention to the way food makes us feel. Some foods make me feel really tired and sluggish. I remember feeling like you do the first time I tried IE. I read that it was possible to gain weight when you first start IE and I was so afraid of gaining weight and when I did gain, I went right back to dieting. Dieting didn't work for me either and now I'm back to IE. I hope you find what works for you. Good luck.

It's great to see this thread getting busier again!

I still believe that it's possible to make IE into another "diet" if we try to stick too slavishly to what the book says. I think what's really going to end up working for us in the end is us coming up with a way of eating that is OURS, a way of eating that makes us feel good, having enough treats that we're not overwhelmed with cravings, eating the so-called "healthy" foods that we actually enjoy, instead of forcing ourselves to eat them because they are low in Points, or otherwise mandatory on whatever diet we're trying to do at that time.

I don't wait 'til "zero" or completely empty before I eat either. If I did, I'd have a wicked headache, and maybe be shaky. If it's been a few hours since I've eaten, and if "real" food (as opposed to cookies or candy or chips or something) sounds good, that's one clue that I'm physically hungry and not just wanting to eat something.

I think being busy is a very helpful thing for me. If I'm working from home, sitting in front of the computer, food calls to me all day long, almost as if it's a way to take a break.

But today I was on the go all day, doing errands, taking care of stuff at home, etc. I'm just now getting to sit down and relax. Though I didn't plan this, I ended up eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and just had a quarter-cup of M & M's as my dessert. That's a light eating day for me because I didn't fill in with frequent snacks, and I won't be going to bed feeling all bloated. This is good.

Enjoy your evening, everyone!

Pattygirl, thats exactly how I feel right now! I have gained a few and I'm scared! I'm feeling like I have to nip this in the bud with another diet and quick! I really want this to work, but Im feeling out of control, eatting to taste the food and not just when I'm hungry. I can't let myself gain too much.

blue serenity, thanks! i know i can't wait till my stomach actually growls, at least at this point, that is a recipe for a binge! But I guess I need to figure out how to better understand my body.

truffle... good point about "real" food sounding good. i can be quite full and still feel "hunger" for sweets!

You go girl! You focused on the right things and are moving on!!!

Hey Blue Serenity!
Thanks for that little tidbit from weigh down (the whole not getting hungry for 36 hours). That was almost me, but today my hunger came back and I wanted to eat apples, baked chicken and healthier foods! So that is one step in my journey on IE!

xoxo,
Rachelle
http://3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/etherence/

I don't think we all need to shoot for the same hunger sensations before eating. It makes sense to me that some will do great waiting until they're really growling, and others will do great eating with a gentler cue.

Absolutely, I agree Julie.

As for myself, some days my stomach is truly growling away, like yesterday, dinner wasn't ready yet but I sure was hungry. But much later when I was just starting to feel hungry again (just a little twinge) I decided to have a snack. It will most certainly vary from person to person and even for the individual. If I am learning to trust my body to tell me when it needs fuel, then I just believe that waiting for some bodily cue to eat is what will work best, otherwise I may just be feeding "head hunger."

As has been said many times before even IE can turn into a diet if we follow some set of rules for eating. However, I think that some guidelines to keep in mind are helpful in the learning phase.

Does anyone else notice that when it starts to get cold you get hungrier? I've noticed this the last couple of years and sometimes it bothers me that I might be gaining again. I try to stay away from the scales, though not perfectly, and go by how my clothes fit. I still have a problem with my belly. Prednisone causes your body fat to be distributed there and I'm wondering if setups or some other exercise would help. Any suggestions?