I'll see if I can start a new thread. I'll post the link back on IE #8.

As Shay always said (I miss her), Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied.

Thanks for the new thread, Carol.

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Victory!

The other day I was having a stressful morning. Even tho I was also experiencing true hunger (stomach growls) at the time, I realized that if I had had breakfast when I was so emotional I would have probably overeaten. I decided to postpone breakfast and spent some time on the computer "cooling off" and calming down.

I am so glad I can say I was able to put Principle #7 into practice: "Cope with your emotions without using food." Reading this chapter has really opened my eyes. I am also being especially vigilant now about eating out of boredom, another time I would emotionally eat.

This is a big step for me! Maybe there is hope!

Edit to add, I feel as tho I am solidly in "Phase 3" now!

I usually don't eat when I'm upset. My hunger just gets turned off. Also for that matter when I'm really excited about something. I do eat from boredom or to avoid doing something like cleaning. Good for you, Blue for making this discovery.

Carol,

You just said something key. You eat instead of cleaning the house. I did not realize until now, that I will eat instead of doing chores or paperwork. This weekend, I was going to the cupboards and fridge to graze. I was not even hungry.

The past week, I have been eating mindlessly. I am doing better today because I decided that I would rather do IE than count calories, fat grams etc.

Over the weekend, I read a great book about the "Good Mood Diet." It is very similar to IE except it identifies some foods that will elevate your mood. The author claims that when this happens, people have less of a tendency to overeat. It has some good ideas.

I went back to stage one of IE. When I started out, I was so excited about IE that I was actually dieting. A couple of weeks ago, that crash came hard and it was binge-o-mania! I was a bit upset and feeling hopeless, but I got the book out and started re-reading it.

Can anyone give examples of things to eat when they are trying to hold off their hunger so they can eat a good supper with DH? One thing I eat is Ice Breaker mints to curb my hunger. Another thing is tomato juice.........lets me eat later and still be hungry but not starving.

Almonds (or any nut) is good to eat for that purpose. One of the programs I was following, "You: On a Diet," recommended them. They really do work. I wouldn't eat too many, tho, they can put off hunger for quite a while. Just a handful should do.

Like Blue mentions, a handful of nuts will make you comfie until you eat dinner.

Foods that are also helpful are yogurt, pudding cup, a wedge of Laughing cow cheese w/Triscuit crackers, string cheese, an apple with a bit of peanut butter, fruit, some hummus with veggies. These are very good for helping curb the apetite until dinner.

Yep, I'm a big almond eater too. But like the other poster said, go easy. I find that ten will do the trick and it's under 75 calories. I also like the Laughing Cow cheese on WASA light rye crackers.

Another thing I'm wondering about is what to do when you're hungry but then you do something else and it goes away. For instance, in the morning I'm usually very hungry right away. But if I take a shower it goes away. Sometimes when you wait too long you get way too hungry and overeat.

The IE book says something about eating a bit to avoid hunger pangs that you cannot control. Eating something light is better than skipping breakfast. I have a hard time with breakfast sometimes, so I will have yogurt and a banana. This keeps me from binging at lunch.

Thanks Alicia. I just had an interesting realization. My kitties are now fat! Well, they are so skinny in the summertime and they really look better now. So putting on weight in the winter might be a human thing, too. Too bad others don't think we look better when we put on a little weight. ha!

Our labs put on a bit of weight in the winter. Well one of them is a chunky monkey. I think it is a human thing to put on some weight in the winter. I do the opposite. I take a bit of weight off because I stop drinking beer. I love beer in the summer. I like working in the garden and then I'll have a beer or two. In the evenings, I'll sit on the porch and drink beer.

Hey, still here, how's everyone doing? I've heard you gain five or six pounds in the winter, biological adaptation. I just notice craving more carbs. I sit under a light box in the winter months to combat seasonal depression.
It's also supposed to help with food cravings and oversleeping.
My asthma has flared up again too, back on the meds for it, bummer. Waiting to see if I can rejoin the Dixyland band I used to sing with. I really love those guys, they were so nice, especially the piano player, a Jahovas Witness who plays great ragtime, and makes a great cup of coffee. It always seemed such an incongruous combination to me. Anyway, if they let me rejoin, we split almost 3 years ago over minor repetoir conflicts, it'll be great to be among old friends of like mind. Have a good night.
Amie

Another lesson from Beyond Chocolate.

PRINCIPLE NO. 4: Put it on a plate, sit down and focus
Remind me what these principles are about.

Weight a moment!

'Slow down,' my Grandma used to insist at the table, 'Chew each mouthful twenty times!' I tossed this advice deep into the part of my brain marked 'Old Wives' Tales' but a recent article in the British Medical Journal suggests she may have been onto something! The study, which examined the relationship between speed of eating and obesity, investigated the dietary practices of over 3000 volunteers and found that women who ate quickly were twice as likely to be overweight as those who did not.

Here at Beyond Chocolate, we're pleased to see even more scientific evidence backing up our principles but these research findings come as no real surprise! As we try to cram more and more onto our 'to do' lists, the increasing pace of our lives means we end up squeezing our eating time into ever smaller slots. Meals shovelled in minutes, lunches eaten in record time and snacks devoured with breakneck haste. The results of this speed eating? Food consumption becomes a race rather than a daily pleasure, individual flavours are swallowed down before they register and our brains don't have time to recognise the satisfied signals from our stomachs before we have already overeaten.

Thankfully, as the research commentary suggests, these eating patterns are learned behaviours and we can discover how to s-l-o-w down and develop new habits. Find time today to make at least one meal into an occasion!


* Allow yourself time to satisfy your hunger. This principle is all about 'giving ourselves time to celebrate something we have to do every single day of our lives.'

*
Make your table an enjoyable place to eat. For Elly this means 'lovely, colourful bowls', for Claire lighting a candle does the trick but it could be napkins, placemats, beautiful cutlery - whatever takes your fancy!

*
Arrange your food attractively. Top chefs spend hours deliberating over the 'look' of their dish and Kay has realised that, even at home, this detailed attention can have a very real impact on the way we eat. 'The aesthetics of food were not something I had really thought about until recently,' Kay explains, 'but I'm sure that carefully preparing and arranging my fruit salad of blueberries, melon and strawberries until it was pretty and rainbow-like encouraged me to eat with more awareness and enjoyment!'

*
Decrease distractions - turn off the television, put the magazine to one side and flick the switch on the radio. Focusing on the experience of eating has proved 'hugely positive' for Jane. She describes how,she used to 'have breakfast and tea slumped in front of the television or computer, never properly tasting any of the food and overeating as a consequence.' Now Jane makes time to eat at the table and notices that 'one piece of fudge eaten slowly tastes so much better than a whole box wolfed down in front of the TV.'

*
Slow down and tune in as you eat the food. Put down your knife and fork between each mouthful and take time to savour, noticing the differing tastes and textures of each food, each mouthful. Truly tasting your food in this way can lead to some interesting revelations. , Tegwen talks about the changes in her palate and how she 'no longer enjoys the taste of crisps or cheap chocolate bars.' To her surprise she has discovered a new found passion for the crisp crunch of cucumber - a food she previously thought was boring!

*
Find a solution that works for you - be your own guru. Alice freely admits that this is one principle she finds harder so she has decided to 'take it in small chunks and eat just one thing or quarter of the meal with focus.' Experimenting with these ideas, Alice has been pleased to find that 'because this doesn't seem so challenging, it sometimes encourages me to eat more of my meal in this way.'

*
Recognise your success! Work pressures sometimes mean that Amy can't eat her lunch as mindfully as she would like. 'It's not always easy to sit down and focus,' recognises Amy, 'but I am trying to pay as much attention as I can - deliberately eating half of my food then having a little pause to see if I want the rest.' Beyond Chocolate has encouraged Amy to 'celebrate each and every little change in the direction of freedom' and she acknowledges that 'every step is so good! I keep reminding myself, it took many, many years to cement these negative habits in my head - and I'm chipping away at them with a teaspoon really, every little bit helps!'