Makes perfect sense to me....
I am so over beating myself up for not sticking to the "diet" I was currently on. I've done this over and over and over for the last 40 years and I am DONE.

Intuitive Eating really appeals to me right now....

Peach

If I read this right you are in the "diet thinking" mode. Maybe you are like me in that you are afraid of gaining. I remember reading some where about someone who was afraid of IE because they would gain before they start losing. While I do still look at foods and rate them as "healthy or unhealthy/junk", I don't look at them as "legal or illegal". I think that is what we have to do. I'm still new at this myself but here is an example of how I am doing it. When I go out to eat, I order as many healthy things as possible. If I want or am in a place where I have to eat what we would call junk or not so healthy food, depending on what it is I use the 4 bite rule or the leave some of it rule. I went out to a restaurant with DH for hamburgers. I got the hamburger no cheese with all the works, got cole slaw and a cup of soup. I ate half the soup, about 1/3 the cole slaw and 3/4 the burger and I always order wate with lemon and add sweetner. I like snickers. I buy the bag of bite size and I have 1 helping which is 4 and I have that everyday. I was excited recently to learn they have come out with a Snickers dark chocolate. Haven't seen those in bite size yet, but when they do I'll get it. Don't like dark chocolate, but can learn to.

So maybe you could eat healthy and allow yourself one or even two things every day that you really do want. This way you would get rid or the deprivation and also lose that guilty, beat yourself up thing you are doing. Just a suggestion, but I hope it works. Designing a way of eating that you enjoy will bring you success. And you may be like I was for a long time, I don't think I thought I could be successful, because I thought I wasn't worth it or deserved to be thin. I am hoping that IE also helps me lose that stupid attitude. Just find a way to be good to yourself. My Mama used to say "If you don't take care of yourself, nobody else will". So learn to take care of yourself, you deserve it.

Peach, what your wrote really rang true for me.

You wrote : "I knew there was a diet in my future, whenever I could get myself "under control". So, I ate and ate and ate the worse things I could find for that lifetime of controlled eating that I believed was just around the corner."

That's it in a nutshell - for the past many years I've either been on a diet or "off" one but 'stocking up' knowing I'd be back on one soon. So eating everything in sight, especially everything I thought I couldn't eat "on" the diet.

I wrote a post in my blog today about a similar topic - I called it "scary and hard" because that's what I think this change is for me - scary and hard - but also VERY liberating and sane.

Jen - we are on the same wavelength! I am DONE with dieting. I've always felt like the failure when it comes to dieting or regaining the weight I lost. It's so heartening to learn that I am not the failure, the stupid diet is! It just doesn't work for me. That's the end of it.

Patty - thanks so much for your encouraging words. I will take some of what you said into consideration, particularly the water thing. I want to drink more water...and my body is telling me in many ways that it needs more water and less sugary drinks.

Sarah in Paree - I read your blog...such good words. I am thinking that I will start one, too. You are so lucky to have Dr. Hope there to help you!

I had my own small success yesterday. I tend to eat a great huge meal but there is something inside of me - a ritual, almost - where I have to eat at like 10 or 11pm, right before bed in order to get comfortable and fall asleep, no matter how much I ate for dinner or how full/satisfied I am. Well, yesterday I stared at my "last meal" before bed and I asked myself, "Peach, do you really need this? Do you even want it?" The answer was no! So, I packed it up for lunch and went to sleep.

Progress, y'all...

Progress indeed, Miss Peach! Good for you!

Basically I have never been a night eater until I started taking prednisone. Now someitimes I wake in the night with terrible stomach pains like hunger. I next to never get up in the night to eat. It helps just to have a glass of soy milk before bed. But most of the time I don't. I just never was a night eater. My DH is, however which makes it more tempting. I had a really good day yesterday mainly because I was helping miy DD and SIL cut their wood for the winter. My DH and SIL were cutting and splitting and my DD and I were stacking. I get tired pretty easy especially since we didn't get there until 2am. My SIL fixed lunch and supper which was great. I love when someone else cooks for me. We didn't get home until 12 am so I'm pretty tired today. But I slept nearly 7 hr. straight last night which is really rare for me.

Peach - congratulations on your progress. We are all learning what works for each of us individually. I know of people who are able to diet and make it work for them, but they didn't work for me. It is so good to learn that when it came to me that it was the diet was wrong, not me.

I am really enjoying my new way of eating. It is fun and exciting to know that I can eat when I want and have what I want, be satisfied and not feel guilty or like I've broken a rule. I am learning that I don't want some of the things I thought I did and I am not eating as much as I use to eat. That is really great progress for me.

LaDean, Are you there?

How is everyone doing? So far, so good for me. I have realized that intuitive eating and freedom from eating rules allows me to to stop obsessing about food. I still LOVE food and I imagine I always will (but I don't view that as a bad thing anymore). It's just part and parcel of who I am. I just am not obsessed with food anymore...and I truly was obsessed with what I was going to eat, how much and how much weight could/would lose.

Now, I am resting in the knowledge that I will lose and I will satisfy my appetite and life will move right along.

Yesterday's menu went like this. I ate toast and soy milk for bk and then kept busy until 2pm so I was probably overly hungry. I ate a cup of homemade veggie beef soup, toast, crackers, and a small portion of cheesecake. At 4 I was hungry again and thought that was strange but took a little nap and it went away. For supper we had chicken creole on toast and apple salad. I was statisfied with a small protion. I thought it was funny that the hunger went away and never seemed to come back. I rarely drink anything but water... maybe a little juice once in awhile and one cup of soy milk a day. My folks weren't soda drinkers but my DH is. I never go into that. Probably a good thing.

My DIL has lost 20lb in 6 weeks on WW so I have been asking her about her food plan. Seems she eats quiet a bit of bran cereal so yesterday I had bran buds mixed with regular cereal for breakfast and soup for lunch with a little more cereal I was thinking of eating some after supper but I was quite full and couldn't finish my supper of salad, venison, potato and bread. The fiber seemed to help with the hunger all day long.

Carol - yeah those fiber cereals can really fill you up. I have that for breakfast sometimes.

Peach - I am finding that I am able to focus on ENJOYING food (cooking it, planning a meal, enjoying what I eat) so much more now than before. Either I was dieting - and obsessed with food - or eating free-style - stuffing my face with everything without even tasting it. It's pretty interesting to get more pleasure from food while trying to lose weight...

Hi carol. yes i am here. just have forgot to come on. ha ha but i will do better. sounds like everyone is doing so good. i am also. i loss 1.6 lbs last week. and for the year i loss 10.6 good for me. have not gained my 33 lbs back in 4 years and now down 10 more so i feel so good about me. this is something as i have loss before and gained back. so a prayer answered for sure. but also have changed my eating alot. i am going to try that fiber ceral. when i ate protein i was full to. loss my wt on atkins. but just cannot face so much meat again. ww is good. i have all the material. i just do my thing and its good for me. ha going to after first of year do more exercise. i use to be so good with it. then got off it. do walk daily with the dog. i am enjoying christmas and having my goodies. got a whole year ahead of me to get with it. at my age i guess i am taking them now. ha ha have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL OF YOU.. LaDean

My hunger level has been lower this week maybe due to increased fiber. Can't believe it's that simple. I lost 2 lb this week. I am going to do some more research on this. Anyone have any ideas.......Fiddler, Obi, Jo????

Hi everybody!
Carol, the fiber thing makes sense to me. I find that some kinds of fiber will absorb water and swell, making me feel more full. Especially garbanzo beans! Sometimes I swear those dang things are multiplying in my stomach! Maybe the garbanzo diet could be the newest craze.

jo