It's harder on vacation.

I bet! I gained 6lbs when I went to Florida last year. Of course this was just after I had lost 3 stone via restriction, so the whole holiday was a 2 week binge. When I go back this year I'll try to be mindful.

Are you away at the moment Carol? Lovely sunny day here in England. Just getting up for work

My trouble is relatives.........they eat 3 squares a day and I don't need that much.

That's just an excuse. Someone else eating does not mean you have to eat. There are plenty of times i eat and my husband does not eat food. Eating is not contagious. Just saying.

Thanks. Yes, we are away.

We have a meal out with family coming soon, and I know they'll question me when I decline a starter and leave half of my main course. I used to wolf down 3 courses but I get full on very little now. Itll be interesting and a good challenge.

Today's small victory - I was ravenous after doing some chores for my boss and fancied an almond and cherry cake from the bakery. Sat down to eat it and put my fork down between each bite. Got half way through and thought hmm, I'm done, this is too buttery! I threw it away but was still hungry so I got some cheese and pickle (they sell little packages of pre cut cheddar and some pickle on the side here) which I had 2 bites of and was done.

I keep having to try and buy tiny portions of things or it just goes to waste if I don't feel like eating it later. Bizarre! I am eating about the equivalent each day that I used to eat in snacking alone. Hard to get my head around how much I was overeating before.

I lasted one day on the paleo diet. Ugh

Hi everyone! Welcome Jen87! I can't believe its been so long since I checked in here. It's nice to see some activity.

Carol I so cannot do the paleo thing. It's taken me a long long time to be comfortable with bread and carbs but I am finally getting there. In the mornings I have started having a piece of toast AND oatmeal and I love it. AND a sandwich for lunch. This was blasphemy in my dieting days.

It's hard to believe I have been on my IE journey for five years now. It has really been a very gradual journey but I have changed so much over time and continue to work on myself.

I think my 2 biggest changes over this past year have been not having some kind of dessert every day (usually just on weekends and special occasions) and actually getting regular exercise. Whats weird is I didn't do it purposely, it just sort of happened over time and I feel so much better so I keep doing it. I still have my annoying chronic ankle injury that I have to baby but so far so good ( knock on wood) .

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Good for you!

This reminds me of when I first started IE. I was astonished by how little food I actually needed. Something I discovered for myself though, was that later down the road I did need more food because it had been a while since I overate and I didn't have that extra fuel anymore I guess. I found it was really important to listen to my body at that time and eat more than my brain told me I should be eating based on my beginnings on IE because if I didn't I unintentionally underate and rubberbanded into major overeating.

I have an eating disordered background though and to this day I actually have to make sure I am eating enough so I don't trigger myself. It's a very fine balance as I am sure you are discovering. The journey is so worth it though! please let us know if you have any questions! Many of us have been here for several years and have a lot of "IE experience", for lack of a better term.

I gain weight at times but seem pretty content where I am. My kids..........all 10 of them think I should weigh less.

Carol, are your kids concerned about your weight for health reasons?

So, today I came across an old video I took of myself eating about a year and a half ago, when I was really working on being present and slowing down my eating. It was hilarious yet also sad as I noticed how stressed out I looked and how my then 3 year old harassed me constantly. She can't be seen in the video but her voice in the background as she eats breakfast is non stop. She never stopped talking and always needed my affirmation. "right mama?" She has always been very verbal and talked really well and really early and she pretty much never stops. Watching the video, I realized how hard it was for me to be in touch with myself and to eat mindfully in that kind of environment. And, that was my constant environment. So much has changed since only a year and a half ago.

I take way more time to myself now, for one thing. I take much better care of myself and I get a lot more sleep. My daughter is older but still talks non stop. I am going to have to take a video of myself eating now and see if I see a noticeable difference. I feel like I would, as I feel completely different now. I have taught my kids that they have to wait to make demands until I am done eating as well. Part of the intuitive eating process has been learning to put myself and my needs first. And I never used to do that. The more I take care of myself and my needs the better I feel, and I think even the better I look. And, I am a better wife and mother in the long run because I enjoy my family more.

Just noticed these observations and figured they would be relevant to our little group. Hope everyone is doing well!

Pinkhippie I enjoyed your sharing your experience and what you have learned. I recently went through a situation where I learned the importance to slowing down and taking care of myself. I learned that I cannot do a very good job taking care of others until I learn to take care of me first.

I spent the last 2 days of May and first few days of June in the hospital. I had been pushing myself to be there for everyone else. I had promised DH and my sister that this year I would have a colonoscopy done. We had to get a new doctor and he suggested me having it done so I agreed. Long story short, I'm one of those rare people who had complications which included dehydration which led to a serious kidney infection which led to some other infections and electrolytes way out of wack. Everything turned out okay, but I'm the one who is never sick and I've never been in the hospital due to an illness and my family was really concerned. I think I was in shock myself that this had happened to me. I got home and my sister kept saying, "I don't think you realize you could have died. You had 4 infections". I never thought I was going to die. I just knew that I needed lots of help and the doctors and nurses were really working to get me well and I was working with them the best I could.

I decided to learn from the situation. I have spent years thinking I could only eat low carb because of the diabetes, but I decided to watch and see how the hospital dietician fed me. Doctors had me on the ADA diet for diabetics. I didn't like the hospital putting me on insulin instead of my Trulicity injection, but I observed. Long story short, I learned that I can eat pretty much what I want to eat as they didn't have me on low carb. When I came home, I decided not to go low carb any more. Although I still have my favorite way of eating, just seems to be what works for me, I am learning that I can also trust my instincts or intuitive signals as well. I didn't really work at becoming an IEr but that is the way I have progressed to.

I no longer can afford my Trulicity injections because I'm in a gap with my insurance. I realized the day I didn't have the shot to take that no longer did I have to eat to prevent the low blood sugar drops. I no longer have to eat by the clock. I had already learned in the hospital that I can eat carbs. Plus, I learned that when I need to rest that I better take the time to rest instead of pushing myself to do what I think I need to be doing. It all fits into taking care of ourselves.

I am back to eating Intuitively, however, that doesn't mean I've got it all together. I still have the feeling sometime that I need to eat this not that or that I need to eat when I'm not really hungry (eating by the clock on a diet is not easy to break). However, I am finding it easier to stop and say to myself, "No, I don't have to eat right now if I'm not hungry". I also like eating the Intermittent Fasting style of eating and I find that when I'm listening to my hunger signals that I actually automatically eat within a certain time frame although not always the same time frame each day. Some days I will be hungrier for longer hours during the day and eat more, but there are also days when I may not be hungry at all and I might just want one meal or sometimes a meal and a snack. I do feel so much better when I am able to listen to the signals and just follow them. Hopefully there will be a day when I will be able to hear and follow them all the time. One can only hope.

Hi Carolr I heard a doctor on tv once who said that if you eat the way he was saying to eat which wasn't really a diet per se, that your body would get to a place where it wanted to be. I don't remember much about his plan except that he said cut back on fat in dairy although he did say do not go FF on any thing. As I think back, I think he was talking more about eating Intuitively although they didn't call it that back then. If what he said is true, then perhaps you are at the place where you and your body are comfortable. It sounds to me like you have stabilized at a certain place since you've been at this place for so long. My doc back in SC always said he didn't consider a 1 or 2 lb gain as a gain. So maybe you aren't gaining at all. JMO

Hi Pattygirll63! Nice to hear from you. I am glad you are ok after your hospital experience. It sounds like you learned a lot from it which is really good. And Im glad you realized you don't have to eat low carb and can go back to eating intuitively.

So sorry to hear about your hospital stay, Patty. Glad you are on the mend and continuing to discover what your body needs.

Nice to see everyone else again too. I'm not often in the site, but truly value this thread!!!

I'm still on my path of discovery too. I've found with my BS meter that I can eat anything, so long as it isn't too large a portion. And, the more I tell myself that there are no forbidden foods, the less I binge. Actually, I can't remember the last time I had a full binge.

I've fully discovered what waiting until I'm truly hungry is, but I still need to determine what it is to stop right when I first started to get full. I still have a mental block about food scarcity and still find myself eating past that first signal. But, it is slowly getting easier.

I also hope to check out the IE Workbook on Amazon.

Cheers to all.