So I'm sure many of you know I'm on a mission to solve emotional and mindless eating I'm reading this book and came across this statement and found it truely enlighting. While I still am not convienced I'm a canidate for intuitive eating or eating when your hungry, as much as you want, whatever you want. This really struck a cord with me.

"Deprivation and insatiability go hand in hand. When you feel you're not allowed to have it, and are eating it anyway, you don't want to give up what might be your only change at eating it. When you feel you're not allowed to have it, you are focused on getting as much of it as you can. Satisfaction is irrelevant."

This is exactly how I feel when I "binge". I have to keep eating because who knows when the next time I'm going to be able to eat something "forbidden" again. And when I go to restaurants and order dessert or something naughty for dinner, I feel like have to eat all of it (even when I'm past being full) because I don't know when I'm going to get to eat like that again. I really feel like maybe, just maybe I'm starting to understand my actions.

Yes, exactly. This is why I focus so much on sustainability. Because I know that, for my weight to drop below a certain level, I have to restrict myself a lot more, and that I'm liable to respond by rebelling and bingeing. I remember my bingeing at its worst & it was a scary thing, to be a little bit outside myself & watch myself methodically planning it, carrying it out, unable to stop, and then, oh Lord, the self-hatred & the recriminations afterward. The black despair. This time around, I was -- and remain -- determined to stay out of that cycle. Which means no overrestriction. Even if I would love to be a size 4, and I know I could do it, and the BMI charts say I can do it, I know I don't react well to such rigor, not in the long run.

Believe me I know exactly what you are talking about and I have a difficult time with it ... But every time I read about this topic in here I have to tell my story...

One afternoon after work I let myself get over-hungry and grabbed a box of crackers, headed for the couch... I also grabbed the package of cat treats for my 'kids' ... as I sat on the couch mindlessly munching the crackers and feeding the treats to the cats, I felt this weird thing in my mouth.... It was a CAT TREAT.... I had eaten a cat treat.....

That's interesting. I never thought of it that way.

Dhani

If there's one thing I've noticed during this journey, it's this. There will ALWAYS be "good" food around, meaning there will always be yummy, not so healthy treats available. I do have a little sometimes if I feel like I want some, but others I can pass on because they look too processed or chemically--like Little Debbie. Homemade cookies and bars are harder for me to resist. My problem is mostly at home. Someone makes brownies (my downfall) or brings home some other treat and I feel like I have to eat it all to "make it gone." Stupid I know. Obviously I'm still working on it. I try to remember that there will ALWAYS be sweets available and I do not have to treat my body like a trash can.