Speaking of the food culture, I shopped around midnight last night. As I walked into the store, there were FIVE sale carts lined up for you to pass. All of them full of candy!!! I thought about this situation. It is about like hiding groceries in a liquor store and sending a recovering alcoholic in there to search for their grocery list!

I hope that someday I don't have the pull,or desire that such foods present to me now. In the meantime, since I have learned a lot about the science of willpower doing this diet, I hope to keep myseslf out of as many willpower depleting situations as possible!!

I know it used to be acceptable to market cigarettes and alcolhol much differently than it is now. Perhaps someday our culture will recognize the health threats of certain foods and change our approach to their presentation.

Beautifully put, Sewmam. Thank you.

We are one of the few advanced countries that allow companies to market directly to children...thereby influencing what they ask their parents to purchase, and setting the stage for a sugary, carb heavy diet for the rest of their life. Very sad.

I have decided to give the Emotional Brain Training a go. I have to start somewhere with my rewiring! I am so determined not only to complete my goal with IP but also to change my functioning so that I don't ever have to do it again!

Good for you! Keep us posted on how it goes.

Once I get through my work presentation prep this week, I am going to schedule my hypnosis session and give that a try. It may not work, but at least we are thinking outside the box and trying stuff!

Thank you for the thread Sewmam. You are very wise to be recognizing so early into the process of transitioning from weight loss to weight maintenance the need for absolute self awareness. It is difficult to be on guard against that which is seemingly innate. Eating unconsciously. Because we are bored, stressed, happy or sad. I did feel as though I 'woke up' when I began IP because throughout Phase 1 you are very conscious of what you can and cannot put into your body and it must be strictly adhered to for optimal results. Phase 4 has really been something to wrap my head around. As an emotional binge eater- I am still working at not getting caught up in free day frenzies. Eating just because I 'can'. It's much worse if sugar enters the picture... The Phase 1 day is probably the most important day of the week for me. It brings back the knowledge of how I should be eating. 3 meals, 1 snack with veggies & protein as the stars of the show. This has been the most helpful thing for resetting my habits. Because when I would graze before IP it was just something to do.
As I am walking this path I feel that I am not yet where I need to be but I am headed in the right direction. Like you I try to be cognizant of my behaviors so that I can tune them if needs be. I've upped my exercise consistently since beginning maintenance and that has really helped. It makes me feel better, healthier, happier and less snacky. I look forward to walking this maintenance path with you. Sorry for the lengthiness of the post- my journalling and posting tend to be as one (but I bet you already knew that ).

Samba- I think we're eating twins. You, me vs Evil Dr. Cookie.

It is good to know that I am not alone! Though I realize many people struggle with weight, for myself, it seems to lead to isolation and sense of failure. I am really learning to love and accept myself through this IP process.

I sure don't have all the answers and I imagine all roads lead to Rome as far as finding our individual ways out of eating trouble. I think my relationship with myself is really improving. Now, if I can just get my responses to stress and emotion rewired to not include consumption of comfort foods!

My first lesson with EBT is about learning to check in with myself 10 times a day. It involves taking a couple of minutes to become quiet, diaphragmatic breathing and checking in with one's present state while also being very accepting of it.

Hey, that alone is pretty amazing. I bet I spend a great deal of time trying to avoid and "foodicate" my levels of stress during the day. I have had plenty of stress in my life and, by nature, am pretty susceptible to it. I think I sorta got " stuck on stressed" rather than being able to reach a happy state easily.

I so want to have this seemingly life long struggle with eating and weight gain get better. If I am "stuffing" my emotions, then, I think of the pounds as not only fat but also pounds of anger, fear and shame being shed!

I tend to think out loud as I write, so no 'sorries' needed! That's why my journal is so helpful, and I have found this board so wonderful. Some message boards end up getting rather snipey, but this one has honest, but supportive people.

I've been doing exercise since I started phasing out and it feels so good - like this will be one of the keys to maintaining. I live in a rural area, and I absolutely love getting up early and taking my walk when the air is sweet, gazing at the fields and the birds and farmhouses. So beautiful and peaceful...

Yeah.... it is easy to get out of touch with yourself. I have been fixing my house to sell, and in the process, the TV broke in my bedroom, and I'm not replacing it. So, I started reading a little in bed, like I used to do. That in itself is centering and I relish it. I'm reading "The Hobbit," and loving it.

The notion of obsession...oh boy, I could write a book on that. Every time I go to the grocery store, I walk past the creme puffs, cheetos, etc., and say 'no no no' but after awhile I get crabby. I think that in order to have done this diet for 15 months, I had to be obsessive, to form the habits. Now, the long term goal is to temper the obsession with a calm knowing, if that makes sense. If I have to stress with every choice I make, that is not sustaining, and I'll build up a bank of frustration that will burst out in a bad choice. My goal is to develop a loving, joyful but knowledgeable way of choosing everyday, every thing I put in my mouth and do. Maybe keeping the bigger picture in mind will help, the why's of health and future. And that is not to say I won't enjoy my cheetos, but I am determined to do it in a conscious, controlled way, whether it's by only buying the little lunch-sized bags or what. I do want to fully enjoy those things, and not live on gruel, but without the out-of-control attitude I had before.

Well now I'm rambling and I need to get up! Have a great day!!!

Already I am beginning to realize to check in with myself. Amazing. Awareness of what is going is important. It seems to help avoid the sort of "checking out" I did around food.


The concentration on breathing to bring one back in touch with oneself reminds me of meditation. I did a bit of that years ago. I think it will be helpful also. Enough being with oneself, you can calm and get some perspective on compulsions that come up. I am going to make some time to meditate too. I like what the DaLai said about it. He noted that when a person feels a certain irritation or emotion, if the person will concentrate on breathing eventually the mental state will change and become more calm. He says meditation is..."not for next life. Not for heaven. But for day to day well being!"

The EBT idea is that we get stuck in brain states due to stress reactions. That gets wired in the brain over time. We can't self calm and satisfy, so we reach for external calming agents. Perhaps that is so for myself.

Brilliant for bringing up this thread,Sewmam!

I think some of you guys might like Blood Sugar Solution with Dr. Mark Hyman. It's on PBS but you may want to google it.


He mentioned some kind of product that assists in soaking up sugars and fats in your gut.
Polyglyoplex. PGX? Seaweed and a Japanese root. Prevents spikes in blood sugar. He said it also helps unhealthy food cravings. As soon as I heard that I thought of stuff you guys mentioned. I bet he talks about it in his book. Because I just caught this in passing. I recorded and will watch later.

He also uses the term, Diabesity.

Also, he said stress makes us fat. (I had that) He said a lot that I think might interest you. He just made a lot of sense and it fit with what we are learning about in IP.

I am waiting for the day when restaurants will follow suit and offer low glycemic foods or present platters in the proper food combinations. Half veggies, 1/4 starch. All this cooking keeps my kitchen in a mess.

Has anyone ever watched "What the bleep do we know?!"... I found it incredibly eye opening. It goes along with the EBT where it explains how our brains will go on autopilot and automatically respond in the same manner they have since childhood to various situations and emotions and we don't even notice that we're doing it because it is so ingrained. Very difficult to change something when you don't even know it's there...

Love that. It makes me picture my fat cells kinda screaming as they leave the way the bubbles used to on that scrubbing bubbles commercial. Some are kicking and screaming.

Also love Living Matrix. Now, I am obsessed with water.

I got the PGX fiber when it was first introduced, and it does work well. However, it made me extremely constipated and I had to quit taking it.

http://www.pgx.com/us/en/articles/a108/benefits-of-pgx