Welcome, Gemini! If you're anything like me, you'll find the first few days/weeks of eating according to your hunger to be incredibly eye-opening! It's amazing how much easier life becomes if you just listen to your body and let it do its thing, instead of fighting it and either restricting or indulging - I'm learning to dislike being too full even more than I dislike being too hungry... it's strange given how much of my life I've spent finishing whatever's in front of me and ending up sick. As for getting started, there are several good resources on the subject - best overview seems to be "The Overfed Head" (if you can get that in the UK), but I also really enjoy "The Rules of Normal Eating" and "The Diet Survivor's Handbook" - both do a little deeper work into methods and application of the methods. The UK standard seems to be "Beyond Chocolate" (which I'm curious to get my hands on!), so give that one a look if you like. I find I actually use a hodgepodge of methods and theories from many books, and everyone kind of ends up with their own methods over time. (Another great shift from classic "diet" methods, when you must follow X book to the letter!)

I have kind of a strange question for the group - do you ever get worried if you're losing weight too quickly?? I'm committed to losing weight slowly, safely, and (most importantly) in a healthy way, and the standard dieter's chant is that more than 2 pounds/week is going to lead to a larger percentage of muscle loss. Right now, I'm down about 7 pounds from where I was last week, though I've bounced around quite a bit - I've really only dropped about 3 pounds of "real" weight from a few weeks ago.

Even so, it feels wierd to keep recording numbers like these:
4/17/07 206.7
4/18/07 205.1
4/19/07 205.1
4/20/07 203.1
4/21/07 202.4
4/22/07 201.3
4/23/07 200.3

At this point, I'm not too concerned about it, but if things keep dropping this quickly, should I worry? (I doubt it's likely, since I've only been over 200 for about 3 months - it's been the "easy" weight to lose). Overall, my weight has bounced around a bit over the last month:

But the good part is that it's a general downward trend.

So, how would you handle this? Should I let myself eat a little more generously to slow down the loss a bit (aim for "fully satisfied" instead of "no longer hungry"?) Should I just wait and see? I'm just worried about losing too quickly and rebounding in another few pounds - basically, I've seen myself drop weight this quickly in the past and it always ends badly. Maybe I just need to relax and trust myself, but I'm a little hesitant for fear I'll fall back into obsessive weight-loss-mode.

Thanks Rock chick!! I'll definately look for "Beyone chocolate" on Amazon! I think with your weight loss you have nothing to worry about. The first 10% of weight lost is always the fastest and you'll see that your body will soon settle into a steady loss. I always lose about 5-7lbs of weight in my first week of any kind of diet or healthy eating plan and by the third or fourth week it slows down to 1.5 or 2lbs a week, sometimes 1lb! I wouldn't stress if I were you as long as you're not hungry. By eating more than you want or need you'll be ignoring what your body's telling ya! )

I just placed an order for Beyond Chocolate on Amazon! I'm so excied, it got 5 star reviews!!

RCC I think you're A-ok with your loss. It could be all sorts of things. I wouldn't know since I don't weigh any more.

Gemini - I couldn't post a typical day of meals because my days are not typical any more. I no longer pack 6 meals a day to come to work with, I don't have breakfast as soon as I get up, I don't eat cereal for breakfast, I don't always have meat and 2 veg for dinner.

Yesterday I had an apple after I'd been awake 3 hours, then 3 hours later half a sausage and egg sandwich. I had a couple of dates as a small snack, a bite of camembert, a bite of plantain and a bread wrap with toffee sauce. Then I had apple crumble and ice cream.

Today my breakfast was greek yoghurt with strawberries and musli, then I had a pear with a cup of tea, then a chocolate digestive biscuit and some strawberries. After the gym I've had a roast beef bagel with hummous and cucumber. Later on I might have a chocolate muffin or a danish pastry if I'm hungry, or I might not. When I get home I'll probably have egg on toast because it's easy, or I might just have a cup of tea and an apple.

I think if you really listen to what your body wants then there is no "typical meal plan".

WOW, lots of posts this morning. Rushing off to work so quickie post.

There is no typical plan on IE. It is all about what YOUR body wants. YOU decide what is right for you to eat. I think we have all found over time you tend toward healthier choice. Foods your used to be tempted by tend to be not as interesting. It takes a while.

With the weight loss, I agree with everyone else. I think as long as your being consistent and not doing anything drastic and honest with yourself it is ok. Some weekend I average 3-4 lbs a week and some others less. Eventually it will slow down to 1-2 lbs, so enjoy the 3-4 now

here is the link to the first chapter in the overfed head. It is a small book on IE, doesn't talk about exercise or nutrition, but was very helpful to me to really understand what i was trying to do with IE.

http://www.theoverfedhead.com/

Hope everyone had a good day.

Thanks so much for the link!

Welcome Geminiastar

So, I'm off the calorie counting and back to IE! I'm an awfully fickle person, so we'll see what happens. I've just found myself totally binging when I restrict my calories, so I need to give that up. I picked up "Overcoming Overeating" and have just started reading it. It seems to have a lot of stuff about the emotional binging thing, which I think I do. I've had a hard time doing everything in "The Beck Diet Solution", so I'm putting that on hold now.

Rock Chalk - I wouldn't worry. Water weight can change your weight in all kinds of ways. I think it's good to look at the overall trend.

Obie - I have a cheap step that I got at Walmart or Target or something. I haven't done the dvd you're doing, but the step is super for doing Tricep dips in "Slim and lean." I agree that you should go ahead and modify. I LOVE doing strength training! I don't know if you've done it before, but you start seeing and feeling results in a couple of weeks. It's pretty darn close to instant gratification.

I loved doing the weights. The step was only for laying on when she did chest presses and such. I used my mat and it was ok. If I stick to the Get Ripped I am going to try Get Ripped to the Core next month. I am going to have pictures taken and measure myself this weekend to see how much changes in the next month.

I love weight training. I have gotten used to cardio, but weights I can do with no problem. I haven't been doing them because I didn't think I was doing a good total body workout on my own. I did Jari with 2 8lbs weights for most of it, but thinking I need to up, but I'll give it till the end of the week.

Something funny. I didn't know what a Tricep Dip was and had to look it up. When I saw it all I could think was oh heck no, but maybe after a month I will have worked up to it.

Tricep dips are tough! Love em! Increase the weight until it's difficult to finish the last set, yet you're still able to keep good form. It's important to totally fatigue your muscles. I find Get Ripped to the Core to be more difficult than Slim and Lean. In the Core, she does does these really difficult compound moves, so you're working both the upper and lower body at the same time. I only did it a couple times and I'm kind of uncoordinated, so maybe it's just me. It does get the heart rate waaaay up though.

I can't wait for my physical therapist to ok lower body weight training again! All this talk about it is making me pine for squats.

I think I'm going to get one of those rubbermade steps for doing the Firm. That's a really good idea Rock Chalk!

I think 8 lbs was just right then. They give me something to work toward. Another question though. How do you know how much to up to? I was think I would go to 10 lbs next,but should I push and go to 12 or 15?

So My eating has been wacky since Saturday. I had that I want something, but don't know what it is and rather than waiting I was eating anyway (bad Obie). So I was heating up my lunch and standing by the vending machine. Something I used to be tempted by constantly and now I can ignore with no problem. Anyway. I settled on a candy bar and I said if I still feel the same way after I eat lunch I'll have the candy bar. I ended up eating the candy bar and I think I just wanted something sweet. Not sure of that was the cause of this past weekend, but the feeling has gone away. So we'll see.

Obie, I like to go up in the smallest increments possible. I have 3, 5, 8, 10 and 15 pound weights. I don't use the 15's these days, but I use all of the other ones for each workout. I use a different weight for each exercise.

I'm doing really well at the moment - yesterday I craved a protein shake! But I did put ice cream and toffee sauce in it HEH!

This morning I'm super-hungry but I think it was actually thirst... I've got myself a cuppa and a big nalgene of squash so I shall be thirst-free soon hopefully. It's a bit odd 'cos I had 2 pints of squash before I came out to work, as usual

What do you do when you can't have what you want? This morning I wanted toast, but only realised after I'd left the shop - and I didn't buy sliced bread and I didn't bring my marmalade to work with me I had a crusty seeded roll with butter, which was nice. Also I am craving cheesecake - made out of a packet but they didn't have any in the shop... Maybe I will go out of my way and get a packet on the way home so I can have it for tea!

Hi everyone!
I had kind of a hard time last night with the IE. I went to my Grandma's and had dinner with her and my mom. Right before we ate, talk turned to when I was going to get back into school and they really started harrassing me. Finally I told them that I wasn't interested in discussing it anymore and it's my decision what I do with my life, etc. It got me stressed out! I ate a bit too much at dinner and then had too many of these little lemon tea cookies for desert. I also had this feeling while eating that I should clean my plate. My mom and my grandma are extremely thrifty ladies, so I felt weird leaving anything. Like I'd be "wasting" it. The whole thing was really annoying! I do so much better eating dinner with my cat.

I did go for a really nice hour long walk yesterday and I did weights (Jari) this morning.

I hurt ....but in a good way ......Looking forward to more Jari tomorrow morning. I am going to try and buy some 15 lbs weights for squats and stuff tomorrow.

Ulapie...my parents and grandmothers house is like the twlight zone when it comes to IE. I can be doing perfectly fine and as soon as I walk in I want to eat. I know it is not the same thing, but basically you're going to have places or things that take time to adjust. Take it as a lesson you can work on over time.

Eating is back to normal, no more weird cravings. Ex-boyfriend is coming to visit. I am doing a weigh in early to see how I do over the weekend.