You know reading this thread has made me realize I think I do need to stay away from pizza.. Because one line stood out to me and that was " But after those foods lose their "charge" we often do start staying away from foods that make our body feel bad."
my binge foods never ever lose their charge in 10 years of hard core drive thru binges. I think there are certain people who are more addicted than others. this actually has clarified some stuff for me I was feeling so confused. But the issue for me personally is not pizza in itself, it's the high fat/high sodium/cheesiness/sugar I think which is the addictive combos industry tries to use. A more bland, low fat/low sodium pizza would probably be ok. It's really hard after years of compulsive overeating and bingeing to figure out what to do with the food(restriction or not)

I want to address this because it is the most confusing thing about IE and the single most common reason people do not want to do IE eventhough they have an interest in it.

I thought that very same thing. When I was first presented with the idea of legalizing food in IE I thought "But I binge on these foods, shouldn't they have already lost their charge?" And what I have come to understand is that the answer to that is no, because when we are binging we are in a completely altered state of mind. We may be eating a large quantity of food but the thoughts behind it are those of self judgement, self hatred, fear, desperation, secretiveness and plagued with the persistent voice inside of us saying that "let me finish this and tomorrow I'll be good." With all these negative thoughts, do you think it's even a remote possibility that we are enjoying that food? I don't even remember the food most of the time, after years of binging food had lost all its flavor and joy. It may appear that it's those foods that are holding you hostage but in reality it's your thought patterns that are convincing you that you are addicted to this food.

I'm not saying that food does not have an affect on our bodies. If I eat too much sugar I become lethargic and distressed. But I'm psychologically in a place now where I can put limits on my sugar without setting off a binge, it takes time to get there though and I had to learn that sugar is not evil, nor am I evil for eating sugar. Once I calmed down the emotional charge between me and sugar I was able to either fully enjoy it in small quantities or completely ignore it. I now realize that sugar is nothing to fear, it's just a food.

I'm not going to lie, IE is a very difficult process in the beginning. For many of us there is weight gain involved (for a short time) while legalizing food. It requires a lot of introspection, and releasing self judgement as we learn to navigate food through our senses instead of eating based on diets and other people's regulations. I don't recommend it lightly. But being someone who was obsessed with food and binging for so many years I simply didn't care about weight loss anymore, especially since I was gaining. All I cared about was getting rid of my food obsession and self hatred. It was too painful to live like that and diets were making it worse and worse and worse. I was looking for peace and I'm getting it now with IE. I've also lost 19lbs in 6 months, it's slow but it's steady.

ok I see what you were saying. I don't think I've ever really enjoyed my binge foods. When i go to a drive thru(and then another) and inhale whatever burger and large fries I never eat it with the thought that it is delicious or I will savour it. I stuff it down for whatever brief ahh moment I am looking for. Sometimes it feels like insatiable hunger, but lately it has definitely been related to mental state..it's hard to tell what hunger is after not feeling it for so long, something I am still trying to figure out.

I have also noticed that sometimes I can eat certain "binge" foods and other times not. I thought it was just being in a zone with clean eating but it may be more than that. I know some people in OA have certain restrictions not with the foods but in the situations/mindframes or with what behaviours they will eat them with...You really got me interested, looking forward to learning more about IE

It's a dire state when we don't taste our food and when our binging feels out of control. It is easy to blame food on that but deep down I think we all really know that whatever chemical role the food is playing that our mental state of mind has much more to do with this. I don't think any "clean" food can alter our state of mind or our anxiety or our emotional need to eat. Clean eating makes us feel good for a while and it makes us feel in control.

Learning how to understand my hunger has helped me feel in control more than clean eating ever did. Clean eating made me feel self righteous, which only solidified my belief that I was a BAD person for eating so called trigger foods. I could go months eating clean and then the moment I put a potato chip in my mouth is the moment that I was derailed - because that chip proved that I was inherently evil.

My parents owned a pizza restaurant and there would be times pizza was breakfast lunch and dinner if someone didn't pick up their order. Do you know when i ate like that i actually lost weight? My mom would to. I think its how much you eat. I'd rather eat healthy because when i eat fatty foods i just feel lousy now.

Awesome! Why don't you come an visit us in the IE September thread?!! We would love to have you.

Muguet, that quote reminds me of a remark I heard at a healthy-eating workshop earlier this year: "Love the foods that you eat, and eat foods that love you back."

Although I get fleeting pleasure from things that are friend, creamy, and/or sweet (and it's a daily struggle to stay out of drive-thru lines), I seem to get way more long-term emotional satisfaction when opting for choices that are both tasty and healthy. Farmers' markets satisfy me psychologically in a way that fast food places don't, so I'd like to gradually steer more towards a predominantly whole-foods lifestyle.

Although there are experts on IE and definitive books about it, I think that intuitive eating is a very personalized journey with inherently subjective definitions. Ultimately, following someone else's IE path isn't really any better than following a diet printed in a magazine.

Eat one slice and then eat something that is better for you if you are still hungry??

You were right before. Pizza isn't good for you. Moderation. "A few" isn't moderation. And then more for lunch the next day??

I think the idea of some foods as once in a while foods would help. Pizza/bread/cookies/cake are all once in a while foods, not normal everyday foods.

Have one piece of pizza once every two weeks. Same for all of the other stuff you know you should not be eating- advice for long term weight maintenance.