I feel the same way Carol.

I have just been doing my thing. I have started consciously trying to eat about 3 meals a day versus snacking or eating when I feel faint hunger because I have discovered I'm really only hungry in a wow I really enjoyed my food kind of way about 3 times a day. I think I still usually need breakfast though as my last meal is at about 5 pm and I feel pretty lightheaded and weird if I don't eat by about 9ish. a.m. I have also realized pretty much any eating I do after dinner is habit based or emotional eating so I have pretty much stopped that. So far its not hard because I look at it as an opportunity to see what is going on with me if I want to eat. Just like all the books say, it truly is kind of a gift as its a nice big signal saying "HEY! something is going on!" If I want to eat when Im not hungry. I find by eating 3 meals a day at about the same time every day, its easier for me to tell if Im really hungry or not. We will see how that continues to work for me. I also have been continuing to work on mindful eating and stopping after I eat everything on my plate and waiting for a bit to see if Im full. So many times I think I want seconds but realize halfway through that I am totally stuffed and I didn't even need seconds, if I had just waited.

I have tried to do the one meal a day thing and I couldn't last. My head starts feeling so terrible that I can't function. Im glad its working for you Southernmaven!

It's the same for me. Very rarely does late night eating ever have a true basis in hunger. Ok maybe there is a tiny bit of rumble in my tummy sometimes but I don't believe that all hunger needs to be fed. It could be handled by a small handful of cashews or a kiwi but let's face it, my late night foodscapades involved 3-4 servings of chips or cheetos or cookies or all the above. My mind knows that I don't really need all that food but my body is on autopilot. Right now I'm tired of this pilot, I'm taking hold of the driver's seat for a while and have put an end to eating after 7pm. My body functions better this way but it's not always easy to stop myself or face my other needs. Sometimes my other needs cannot be met. What happens then?

Pinkhippie, I totally understand that. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't pretty rough the first few days. And it is definitely not for everyone.

It sounds as if you are doing really well with listening to your food cues. I hope things continue to go well. I completely understand the whole after dinner eating, as it has always been my biggest problem.

Palestrina, I love the word you coined up there to describe your late night eating! I've had a few "foodscapades" in my time as well, that's for sure!

I know what you mean Palestrina. I physically feel so much better if I don't eat at night after dinner. My digestion seems better too and I don't get stomach aches. I know a lot of my late night eating is an attempt to pamper myself, and care for myself so I have been making hot tea and drinking it with sugar and milk instead of in my old diet days where I drank herbal tea straight with no sweetener and could barely gag it down. It makes me feel soothed and taken care of and even more because im not hungry and eating food at night when Im not hungry is actually the opposite of caring for myself physically.

Thanks Southernmaven! I hope so too. If nothing else, it really shows me how much I usually eat for non physical reasons.


lol yes, I have definitely had my share of "foodscapades" as well.

Im glad to see this thread a little more active again.

Today we went out to lunch with all the kids at a restaurant since I had the day off. I was really feeling kind of in a vegetable mood so I got steamed broccoli, a side salad and some veggie tacos and fries. I ate all my broccoli and some of my fries and all my salad, and one of my two tacos. I realized as I was enthusiastically eating all my sides that I was nearing fullness and I would not be able to finish all my food. I was able to stop with no problem. I had one whole taco left and some fries. I packed those to go and will probably have those as some of my dinner.

Anyway, it felt really good to not force myself to eat the other taco since "that was my main meal." Or to not eat all my sides even though that is what I wanted because that was my entree and I should finish it. I realized I had some weird thing in my head that the main meal should be finished over the sides or its wasteful. So, I was/am proud of that accomplishment.

Also, when we got home and walked in the door I had the urge to eat the rest of the meal I brought home in my to go container. But, since I'm trying to wait for established meal times to eat I didn't. I will wait until dinner time. I'm not even hungry, I'm actually pretty full, its just such a habit to eat when I walk in the door for me. So, small successes, getting attuned to my body more as time goes on and I get more practice.

I think we're all waiting for someone else to write in the thread. For what it's worth I do check the thread daily. I like how we have all been doing IE for years now and still we are experimenting with food. Things change and we must change along with it as we learn more about what works for us and what doesn't work.

I had an odd comment at work yesterday from a friend. I teach at this school 3 times a week and on my way I always stop and get a green juice (spinach, kale, apple, celery) and drink it during the first class. I've been doing this for months, one of the habits I picked up doing The Prime. A colleague stopped me and asked "what IS that? it looks like slime" and went on to ask "what do you think you're getting from this, nutrition? fiber? what's it doing for you?" his tone was very accusatory. I didn't know what to say so I shrugged and said I just like it. It didn't conjure up the diet mentality within me but it made me think that he might think that I'm doing a juice fast or following a fad. Which I'm not, I realized then that this is really just a beverage for me, it tastes good, it's refreshing, it hydrates me and gives me a boost of vitamins to boot so why not? I bet he wouldn't have said anything at all if he had seen me drink a diet cola, but because it is a green juice it screams to others that I feel self righteous or something. I think.

I also like how so many of us have been here for years, figuring things out as we go along on our journey.

what a weird reaction to your green juice Palestrina. All I can think is that it made him feel guilty or unhealthy because you are drinking a green juice and he thinks that he should also be drinking a green juice. I have seen that reaction before from people and honestly sometimes in myself, although I don't say anything out loud.

Very odd...and may I add, quite rude.

I've never had one of those, but there is a local health food store nearby that sells them. I really should give one a try; others have raved about them. It sounds like a very good habit to me. Perhaps this guy doesn't have any good habits.

Just started reading
Here but had a question. Do you ladies take vitamins as well?
I have been reading different posts and again even tho I have been over weight most of my life I found this site by accident and am learning a lot here.

I do not take vitamins but I have lots of fresh food and veg in my diet and plenty of fat. Fat is what helps the body absorb nutrients. Why do you ask?

Welcome!

I don't take vitamins either.

So, I feel like I am doing pretty well as far as taking care of myself and making good choices for myself. I don't actually know if I should post this in the IE thread as its not completely IE, but I don't know where else I would post it. So, I have continued to not snack. I have discovered that I really like it. I love feeling hungry for meals again. Like really hungry. I like the light feeling of not having lots of heavy food to digest an hour or two before my meals. I love going to bed without an overeating stomach ache. On Thursday I did misjudge my dinner and barely ate anything so I had to eat another helping of dinner later that night because my stomach was growling and I was very very hungry. Since its not a diet I didn't beat myself up about it or anything, I was happy to have such a strong and clear hunger signal.

Another non IE thing I have been doing is trying to limit my sweet treats to weekends. I just really feel like dessert after meals is a habit and I didn't used to have it. I went all week with no dessert and it was a little challenging but now, here on Saturday I had a piece of chocolate and chocolate cake that I had been waiting all week to have and it didn't really even taste that amazing. It also felt a little weird because I had gone all week with no dessert. I realized how much of a strong habit it had become. I didn't finish it. Probably if I hadn't legalized foods over the course of a few years I would have eaten it anyway but because I have, I didn't finish it because it didn't really taste that amazing and I was full.

Also, at first it was hard not to eat after dinner so I would have a big glass of juice with ice and a mug of tea. But then I started noticing I was getting headaches before bed so I decided to skip the juice and tea and just have a big glass of ice water. I discovered I really like the ice water and I haven't been getting the headaches. So yesterday and today I have just had a big glass of ice water after dinner and it feels special. Im weird I know, I love ice water.

And finally I have been doing a small weight lilfting routine for a few weeks. Not to reshape my body into something more acceptable, but because I turned 40 this year and I want to not lose my muscle and also help my bone density. So that has been feeling good too.

Ironically I have tons of extra stress going on in my life right now but I haven't felt the urge to eat to soothe it. Maybe because I am taking care of myself in other ways, Im not sure.

Thinking about it actually, I have been learning due to my stressful situations, one of which ( a huge majority ) is my mom. I realized that I was raised that my needs and feelings absolutely didn't matter. That there was always something wrong with my feelings, and that any feeling I had was not as important or as valid as the rest of my families feelings. I know I have been saying for a while that I realize that my needs matter but I never quite realized why I thought my needs didn't matter. Things have become much more clear in my recent dealings with my parents with my new awareness. And although painful, it has been good. And, I have been expressing my feelings and my needs. My parents don't respect my boundaries, and when I try to lay them down, they walk all over them and make me feel bad or guilty for laying them in the first place, or like I am so silly or unreasonable. I don't know why I never saw that. Anyway, recently I have been laying boundaries, expressing feelings, and although it has been uncomfortable to say the very least, I think it has been incredibly healing and empowering.

I was abandoned by my biological dad when I was a baby and for my entire life in the back of my mind has been the thought "what is wrong with me?" A few days ago I passed by the mirror and was surprised when the random thought came popping into my head " oh, well his loss". It was the first time I had ever really had that thought or had felt that thought. I am definitely realizing that I am worth something for the first time. So, that could also be a big part of why I haven't been turning to eating as much as I have in the past.

I was just wondering cause I heard this and that about vitamins and just wanted different opinons