Started reading the old thread again. Very much an eye opener.

Carolr - A question here. When you were struggling to get on IE and stick with it, did you find it easier to do each time you came back to it? Or was there a point where it just clicked for you and you knew IE was the only way for you to eat and things got better as you understood it more and more.

After I read on JUDDD about alternating days of eating high cals and lowest cals, I realized that when I did IE before that there were days I was hungrier than others. I remember the last time I did this that I had gone over 5 or 6 hours without being hungry and I went to another IE website and asked about it. I was told that I should not go more than 5 hrs without eating. When I saw that some people on JUDDD purposely go 24 hrs without eating doing Intermitent Fasting or they eat 500 or less calories on what they call Down Days, it clicked for me. I realized that when I did IE and I was hungry within a few hours it was okay for me to eat. I also realized that on days when I don't get hungry for hours maybe for 5 or 6 hrs that is okay too. Because as someone wrote, on the IE thread it evens out. The rule of Eat when you're hungry and stop when you are satisfied or full (which ever works for each of us) is the best rule of all.

I've eaten less today than I have in a long time. It is really nice to be able to eat whatever I want and eat as much or as little as I want. The amazing thing is I've eaten what would be considered diet food, but the nice thing is I'm eating it because I want it and not because I have to. And I don't feel stuffed from eating things I felt I had to eat that I didn't want. Haven't followed a schedule either. I've made some big steps from what I did last time I did IE. Just hope I can make this my permanent way of eating.

Just sharing my feelings. Hope no one minds.

I believe IE is the way but I still struggle. We've had so much company, in the last few months complete with desserts and candy that I have had a struggle.

[QUOTE=pattygirl63;4184899]Seabead - Your story sounds so similar to mine. I didn't have a big weight problem until I started eating normal. I very seldom at breakfast growing up, but started eating it later in life because "it's the most important meal of the day". I lived with an aunt who insisted you had to eat 3 meals a day which I had never done in my whole life. I've eaten myself normally being over weight. All that normal (dieting) way of eating has kept me stuck in diet mode all of my life. Now I am so diet oriented, I find it difficult to think free of diets. Talk about a diet veteran, I am a charter member. Hopefully we can get out of this dilemma together.

Thanks for the welcome Trish and yes, hopefully we can get out of this together. Sounds like you are gaining some insights as you IE.

The first couple of days have given me some too, but at this point knowing doesn't quite equal change yet.

Hang in there Carolr. Real world solutions are what this is about I think, and it sounds like the real world is camped in your home.

Deb

I was writing on another thread on 3fc and I suddenly realized why diets do not work for me and probably never would.

I was diagnosed diabetic the first time when I was in my early 50s. I got busy and exercised and dieted and was so busy anyway and I got the weight down to the point that I was no longer diabetic. Then my DH at that time got sick and we had to go on food stamps and I couldn't afford to buy diet food on food stamps so I ate food that caused the diabetes return. When DH passed away, I went to work and was so active that I lost weight again mainly because I just didn't eat. Probably was doing a form of IE then because I didn't eat much because I just wasn't hungry. So I learned that if my weight is low enough, I don't have diabetic issues.

A little over a year ago, I went to the doctor because I realized that my blood sugar was probably up again. I got on Atkins and got the diabetes under control and numbers improved. As soon as it improved, I got off the diet and went back to eating as I did before and now I'm having to work at getting it under control again and it hasn't really been easy for me. My A1c usually stays the same which would be more pre-diabetic, but my daily fasting blood sugar is not in control like I want it. So I realized today why a "diet" will never work for me. I think I have to learn an eating lifestyle that will eventually help me to be healthy and get this disease under control. I know from past experience that I can get down to a weight to where diabetes is no longer a part of my life, but I also realize that I have to see the way I do it from a different perspective. If I had been able to learn that before I don't think I would be struggling with it again.

I'm saying that I have to learn how to eat and make it a "normal" way for me eat to live healthy and not to ever think it as a "diet". It is very evident that it doesn't work for me to diet to get things under control, because a "diet" is what you do to reach a goal and the get off of. That is why I believe IE is the way I can do this. Because I've eaten more like an IEr before, infact most of my life, I think I can actually go back to it. I don't think it hurts to learn some healthy tricks to go along with IE such as I like WW way of eating because you get most fruits and veggies as freebies and can use them in salads and or soups which also fits volumetrics ideas. However, I can never think of any of these as diets or I won't succeed at losing weight and keeping it off so I can get the diabetes under control permanently. Hope this makes sense. Just trying to learn how to make IE a lifestyle and not just another diet.

Carolr - I think there will always be times when we will want to eat the desserts etc that we have with family, friends and on special occasions. Hopefully we will get to the place that we can handle those situations like normal eaters who don't gain weight do. I've learned that I love chocolate so I eat it especially dark chocolate because of the good health benefits. I've come to the place where I can have a small helping each day if I want it. Sometimes I want it everyday and then there are times when I don't want any at all. It is all a learning process.

Seabead - I too have to get the "diet mentality" out of my head. I hope by using what I call little tricks such as the WW and volumetrics thing isn't just another way of "diet thinking" because I think that is what keeps me going back to try "one more diet" I hear about. Maybe that is part of the process as well.

I am journaling what I feel when I eat certain things. I had a slice of cheese toast and sl of toast with peanut butter this morning and found that it didn't stay with me very long. Lately I seem to crave fish and fruit. So I ate a bowl of strawberries and blackberries. Yesterday I had coffee with Splenda and FF half & half and my blood sugar went up 40 pts. Today had coffee with Splenda and blood sugar was up 35 pts. Tomorrow I will have plain cup of coffee and see if it is the coffee with caffeine. Another thing I've learned with diabetes is what one diabetic can eat does not mean another one can. Oatmeal is supposed to keep blood sugar level, but a regular serving shoots mine up over 200 mg/dl. However, I can eat half a serving. Don't know why I shared that except to say that the saying that One way of eating DOES NOT FIT ALL. That is why we all have to learn what works for us individually.

Y'all have a good day.

I'm so into this mindset of eating when hungry. I've been on a few plans hoping it would lead to a healthy lifestyle, but the rules are always much too strict that I don't stick to it. Once upon a time I logged my meals but I find that too stressful now to keep up. I became compulsive about it, but it was an eyeopener of how much sodium I was actually consuming. I'm more knowledgeable now about labels and what is more beneficial to my body.

I've subscribed to this thread because I like the stories and informative posts. Thanks for the information!

PhillyGirl2012. We are glad to have you join us and share your story and experiences with us. We can learn from each other and hopefully help each other along the way to become successful.

I find it really interesting what we learn when we write things down and/or start reading labels, isn't it? Although I journal what I eat and how it makes me feel because of the blood sugar effect, I do not plan to make a habit of writing things down either. I see how I could become compulsive with it and besides it is too much like dieting which I am trying to get away from. I actually want to get to the place to where I can stop thinking about food all the time. I think diets make me obsessive with food and that is what I want to get away from. I don't want to think about food at all until my body says it needs food and ready to eat. I have thought about food for so long because of dieting that I literally find myself waking up in the morning wondering "what can or should I eat today?" Isn't that really crazy? And we have allowed ourselves to be trained to do this. What was I thinking? And why did I think that was okay and normal? DHs DD is normal weight and I don't think she ever even thinks about food.

I love this... i think Im going to print this part out and re-read it!!! So life affirming.

Just thought I would say hello. I dont always have time to read all the posts but I hope its ok if I stay connected a lil bit here. I have not had a chance to read anymore of the book lately, so it helps to come on here and remind myself to undiet. The less rules, the less I rebel, the more I listen to my own body and take care of myself. I was so tired when I woke up today, couldnt sleep last night. I took myself on a hike anyway this morning because it was beautiful out and i felt like going and Im so glad I did, it gave me energy and helped me when the food felt slippery today. So that is one way I listened to my body today, i really did feel like going, wasn't forcing myself at all.
thx for all the posts..

Good for you, shining. I still get emails from some IE experts but they have gotten so commercial that I hardly even read them. They are advertising retreats, etc.

I started reading The Overfed Head again today. Didn't get very far as I was reading in doctor's office and got out really fast, but I thought I would share a couple of things that really jumped out at me. One is the reason diets will never work for me. He said and I quote on page 20 "The reward for every dieting success was being able to go off the diet". And on the next page he said "What I really wanted was to enjoy my life-and my food-without having to think about it constantly". That is exactly how I feel and why I want to make IE work for me.

I talked to hubby's DD tonight and asked her... do you eat when you are hungry or because it is time to eat? She said she eats when she is hungry usually she waits until she is starving. I asked her if she has in her mind what she wants to eat or does she have to go looking for something? She says she usually just goes to look and see what she can find that she wants to eat. She says sometimes when she thinks she is hungry that she gets her mind on something else or does something else.

Quite interesting. I have also noticed that when she goes out to eat that she may eat a lot at the restaurant, but she doesn't eat anything else before or after she going out to eat. The thing is that I used to eat that way when I was young and over the years when I've been single and I was thin. So that person is in this body somewhere, I just have to find her and let her out.

Sometimes I want something to eat but am not ready for a meal. Well, today i found a good snack that tides me over.......dried apples. We have bushels of apples in our basement cold room so the other night I sliced some and put them in the dehydrator. I knew my husband liked them but now I am enjoying them myself. I'll need to do more in a couple of days so we don't run out.

Another thing I learned today is that when you stay up too late, the next day you are very hungry. I tried to take a nap but didn't. We are going to a friends tonight again. Hope tomorrow is not a repeat of today.

How do you like your food dehydrator, carol? I have always wanted one to make homemade dried meat and fruit chips, but they seem a little costly and I'm afraid it would be one more "gadget" that takes up space but never gets enough use.

I am struggling with a rising grocery bill since I started eating "better for me" food. My dining out bill has gone down, but I would really like to start saving money. Fiancee and I are sort of "foodies", we like high quality, delicious things. I have been trying to steer things back to the mundane but I would rather we eat something expensive that's prepared at home than something cheap from out (i.e., fast food).

We're also struggling for ideas for those "We're both exhausted after work" nights. Tonight was one of those nights. We managed to make a veggie pasta with sauce (the Veggie Delight spaghetti by Ronzoni is pretty good!), but we both really wanted to order in out of laziness. Looking for something more enjoyable than a sodium-filled microwave meal, but that's about the level of effort we're willing to spend on a day like today.

We're really good with meal planning and shopping only for the things on our list. The problem is when we get home, the fish is thawed out, but we just don't want to take the time to cook it.

Sleep may be my recent issue, as I haven't slept well in weeks. I've been trying to eat only when hungry, but sort of felt hungry every couple of hours. Gained weight immediately and was questioning whether this will work for me even to maintain. Maybe I'm not as out of tune as I was beginning to think.

Thanks for mentioning it.

Deb

I like the dehydrator and my dh wants to use it, too. He usually uses the oven and then leaves it in too long and burns it. The sleep deprivation continues here and I am hungry as a wolf. ha