Great article!

Work was a sea of chocolate candy today. It seems like everyone brought a box in because the countertops were filled with open boxes of various chocolate squares. Funny, I would look to see what kind was in each box, halfway hoping that something thin and crunchy and not too rich or sickening sweet would be there, but alas, it did not exist. Easy pass, but I had fun looking. I felt like I was window shopping with food!

Looks like it's just you and me Katterina. That's ok. Maybe some others will join in. Nothing tastes very good lately except veggie soup. I'm making some more today with homemade noodles.

Hi,

It's been a long time since I have visited this forum. I seem to keep going back and forth between dieting and IE. A little background on me, since I havent been here much.

I'm 30 and have been struggling with weight loss and yo yo diets for years! Prob a good 4 years ago now I lost 85 pounds. (By basically restricting myself to 700 calories a day and exercising 2 hours a day...not the best means...and its really messed me up mentally!) In the past two years I have re-gained 20 of them. I guess I'm just screwed up when it comes to food and haven't quite found my way yet!

This time, I really want to give up on dieting (since it only seems to work for a little while anyways, before I get completely, stressed, anxious and than completely burned out anyways!) It's so hard for me for some reaason though, my parents right now are both doing Jenny Craig and keep wanting my husband and I to jump on the bandwagon. My brother is also on a medically supervised diet. My husband really needs to loose weight before his health is affected. And than there leaves me. I'm probably at least 30-40 pounds overweight right now. I'm also wanting to start a family in the next year or two, which makes me very nervous about the weight gain that results in pregnancy. (which is a completely silly thing to worry about, I realize)

Anyways, I've lost my train of thought. I really want to focus on IE and let my body tell me what/when to eat. In the past it seems I've treated IE like another diet. If I got full, I failed. If I ate when I wasnt hungry, I failed. That type of thing. Sometimes, I just feel so completely out of control around food. I wish it didn't have so much power over me, its just food afterall. But I always wonder why can my friends eat just one cookie, and I cannot. Why can they stop 1/2 way through a meal when they are satisfied and I always feel the need to clear my plate. It almost seems like I get anxiety about stopping eating...like I may never eat this or get food again. It really makes not sense but thats the way I feel sometimes.

Anyways, I plan on visiting here often, (seems this is the only type of forum I have found with people doing IE) I have ordered "Women, Food and God" from Amazon and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Till than, I'm trying to slow down when I eat and really focus on asking myself, am I hunry, have I eaten enough. But its so darn hard!

If you made it through my novel, I applaud you. LOL. Sorry I went off on a little bit of a tangent.

I look forward to getting to know you all more
Thanks,
Lisa

Lisa, you are young and you can do this. I dieted for almost 40 years. For the past 2 years I gave it up. Even after I started IE something would come up and I would want to lose faster. It is amazing how you can eat smaller amounts of everything and lose weight, really opposite of most things you learn about weight loss. Today I threw away a 4 day diet that I have had for years for quick weight loss. I can't do that anymore.

A few thoughts from Michelle May, M.D.

1. Depriving yourself of the foods you love eventually leads to overeating. Learning to eat fearlessly takes the power away from certain foods and is one of eight keys to breaking your eat-repent-repeat cycle.
2. You don’t gain wt because you eat what you love. You gain when you consume more than your body needs by eating when you’re not hungry and/or continuing to eat after you’ve had enough. Relearning to identify and trust your body wisdom is essential.
3. Loving what you eat—in other words—eating mindfully with intention and attention is another critical skill. Further, mindfulness has benefits far beyond anything that can be measured on a scale.
4. Eating what you love opens the door to doing what you love. As you stop restricting yourself, you’ll stop punishing yourself with exercise. It becomes possible—even necessary—to discover joyful, pleasurable physical activity that supports your mood, health, and NRG.

Michelle May, M.D. has some interesting stories on her blog.

http://amihungry.com/lewis-story.shtml

Hello ladies. sorry for being away for so long but the holidays are so busy (Praise God!) and now that they are over we can take a short breath! We have been sick with colds since Christmas day, but getting better, I seem to have coughed up only one lung, so I am still doing ok, found out I have muscles in places I never thought I had them from coughing so much, but it's all good, could be worse. Hope you all had a Blessed Christmas and looking forward to 2011. Have a blessed New year in case I don't get to post for a couple of days. Tammy

Both of the above books are very good! I really liked the simplicity of the overfed head, in fact will re-read it after this weekend just to get a great boost for the new year. God Bless. Tammy

Another story from Michelle May M.D.

http://amihungry.com/sharons-story.shtml

Here's another.

http://amihungry.com/athans-story.shtml

Is this the only IE forum on this board?

I am convinced IE is the way to get to my natural weight! I read the book over a year ago and it convinced me. I have really let myself go lately because I knew after the 1st of the year I would be "back on track!" I am breaking out my exercise bike and going back to IE! I am going to need support girls!!!

We're here for you!

I've seen IE mentioned in other parts of 3FC, but no other dedicated IE threads. Hopefully I'm not missing anything!

Welcome! Hope we can all be of help to each other!!! Have a blessed day! Tammy

More from Michelle May.

http://www.amihungry.com/dons-story.shtml