By getting to the root of why you overeat in the first place! "Why Weight," written by Geneen Roth, is a non-diet book that contains exercises designed to help compulsive eaters learn how to stop using food as a substitute for handling difficult emotions or situations. You'll also learn how to enjoy eating and still lose weight naturally. This program offers reassuring guidelines on:
-- kicking the scale-watching habit forever
-- learning to say no
-- discovering other pleasures besides food
-- learning the difference between physical and emotional hunger
-- listening to and trusting your body's hunger and fullness signals
Each week at least one exercise will be posted; participants will be encouraged to share their answers, thoughts, etc. pertaining to the particular exercise. Snippets from Geneen's other books may be posted from time to time as well. She's a great writer and I encourage you to look into her books (and burn all your other "diet" books in the bathtub.
I will post this in two posts because it is long and I didn't want to lose anything.
Exercise 19: Beginning Now
Lots of peple live as if they were going to live forever, believing that at a certain time in their lives they will finally be ready to give themselves the permission to live the life they’ve always wanted to live. Lots of people decide that when they get thin, they will finally deserve to live th eking of life they want – and then they spend their lives trying to get thin. And waiting and waiting and waiting to begin living their dreams. Lots of people die without having lived.
This section is designed to help you get in touch with the ways you keep yourself on hold, the dreams you have that you won’t let yourself realize because it’s not the right time or you’re too fat or you don’t have the money. This section is designed to help you begin living the life you want. NOW.
What are the ways in which you keep yourself from expressing your feelings, from doing what you want to do? What are you waiting for?
If I knew I was going to die next year, I would:
1
2
3
4
One thing on this list I will do this year is:_____________________________________________
If I knew I was going to die next month, I would:
1
2
3
4
One thing on this list I will do this month is:_____________________________________________
If I knew I was to die tomorrow, I would:
1
2
3
4
One thing on this list I will do today is:_____________________________________________
Look at your lists and start one thing on each list that you can do in the next three weeks. List each of those things below and specify the week in which you will do it:
1
I think following some sort of eating plan will help me. I tend to not eat until I start to feel sick and then BINGE!!!!! So eating more often will be a change and hopefully one that I will help me feel better. I have been getting extremely tired in the afternoon so if eating more protein helps me with that I will be happy.
How did you vegie's start to eat meat? I can eat turkey if it doesn't look like turkey - bacon, ground (although I don't like looking at it). Even the thought of eating beef makes me queasy(sp). Just curious if it was hard for you and if it made you physically sick or not?
Do any of you take vitamins/minerals/herbs on a regular basis?
1 Meditate, chant, pray, do whatever it would take to be peaceful so I would "know" and not be fearful.
2 Show family and friends how important they are to me and tell them everytime I saw them that I love them.
3 Be in each and every moment - live consciously.
One thing on this list I will do this year is: I can't think of one good reason not to do all three !!!!
If I knew I was going to die next month, I would:
1 I would spend time with my family & friends telling and showing them how much I love them.
2 Spend time with myself - trying to come to terms with dying.
One thing on this list I will do this month is: #1
If I knew I was to die tomorrow, I would:
1 Call all of my family and friends to tell them how much I love them.
2 Regret not living more.
3 Regret not learning who I really am.
4 Regret not knowing love.
One thing on this list I will do today is: It is 7:38PM and I have told my Dad I love him tonight so I have already done one of the people on #1. I am ahead of most days.
Look at your lists and start one thing on each list that you can do in the next three weeks. List each of those things below and specify the week in which you will do it:
1
2
3
I need to do some more thinking on this. Actually I did this exercise backwards. I started with the last one, and maybe because I had the least amount of time, I see I kept coming up with more regrets, undone things than with the other two.
Please post soon....I need to see what you all think of this exercise.
If I knew I was going to die next year, I would:
1 Probably not work
2 Go to India
3 Feel sorry for myself
4 Give away all my things
One thing on this list I will do this year is: Heh heh! Probably none
If I knew I was going to die next month, I would:
1 Definitely not work
2 Meditate
3 Be constantly by my loved ones and family
4 Tell my life story into a microcassette
One thing on this list I will do this month is: Meditate
If I knew I was to die tomorrow, I would:
1 Try to reason with God
2 Meditate
3 Tell everyone I love them
4 Listen to Mozart's Requiem
One thing on this list I will do today is: Nothing (it's late!)
Look at your lists and start one thing on each list that you can do in the next three weeks. List each of those things below and specify the week in which you will do it:
Not too much is really different though. I have a very small family and they all know I love them. I meditate already, I'm saving for another trip to India, I work as little as possible - honestly, my life wouldn't be much different.
Wow. What a lot to think about! I also am letting down some of my defenses in posting innermost thoughts here (just like we all do)
Complete the following statements:
If I knew I was going to die next year, I would:
1 spend this year in the Keys with DH
2 take NOTHING for granted
3 write the book I keep putting off
4 have a pedicure every month
One thing on this list I will do this year is:_write the book I keep putting off
If I knew I was going to die next month, I would:
1 watch the sun come up and set every day
2 go to a NASCAR racing school and smoke everybody on the track
3 give more to the church
4 write letters of apologies to those I've harmed
One thing on this list I will do this month is:_watch the sun come up and set as often as possible
If I knew I was to die tomorrow, I would:
1 be intimate with DH as long as possible
2 thank the Lord for the life I've had
3 hug my kitties
4 cry when no one is looking
One thing on this list I will do today is: hug my kitties and DH _
Look at your lists and start one thing on each list that you can do in the next three weeks. List each of those things below and specify the week in which you will do it:
1 work on my book
Only because I'm so pressed for time but wanted to respond to this good question. So, the short answer is: If I knew I would die tomorrow, in all honesty (and knowing myself), I wouldn't believe it and I wouldn't change a thing. They keep telling me my mom is dying and I don't believe that either ... I think dying is a state of mind, really. We are all dying, but while we are alive, we need to continue to plan, live and breathe. So if I were dying, I'd still dream of how great I might someday look in my new jeans and how wonderful my new job will be (when I get it) and what I will eat for dinner tomorrow!
LLB: I'm starting to eat meat after years and years of being vege. The first things I've been able to eat are McDonald's hamburgers, not what I'd choose as healthiest (sorry, Ronald), but they taste like soyburgers (sorry again, Ronald, if you didn't know that)! Next is chicken! Then the world.
How interesting! I'm starting to eat animal products in limited amounts after years as a vegan too! But the one thing I won't eat is ground beef (mad cow) What made you change your mind? For me, it was harder to unbecome vegan than to become vegan, probably because the first meat you eat is crow
Chango: For me it is easier because I was never vegan; I was ovo-lacto, eating eggs once in awhile and dairy most days. But I've never really "changed my mind" ... I still believe a vegetarian lifestyle is a gentle, ethical way to live. When done well, a vege diet should provide everything one needs to thrive. But for some reason, I wasn't doing well as a vegetarian physically and decided to experiment with adding some meat in. It's too soon to tell if this will be permanent.
I don't have any sense of eating crow, though. It's weird because the same people who looked askance at my NOT eating meat now seem put off by my new carnivore status. One friend said she felt bad because she'd always admired the way I stuck to my principles, totally forgetting the number of comments she'd made about how irritating it was that we could never agree on a restaurant for lunch because my dietary choices were so limited.
Sorry, didn't mean to turn this thread into a discussion of the pros and cons of leaving vegetarianism, but wanted to answer your question, LLB!
My whole life up to a while ago had been a process of coming to the realization that I didn't want to kill or eat animals to sustain my existence. That's one of a complex set of reasons I gradually came to eliminate meat from my diet. I believed and still believe it is a better and more gentle way to live. But only an idiot clings to thoughts and ideals that are no longer workable for him or her, so I've decided to break out of the box and look at the issue in a number of new ways.
Actually, I have trouble looking at meat, too, but have been able to eat the cooked McDonald's and some baked chicken I bought. I can't even think about actually having uncooked meat in the house yet. I've thought about fish, but it holds no appeal at the moment.
Thanks Crone I was just curious since I am semi-vegie also.
Anything you have to say is important and can be said here. So there !!!!
I eat some chicken/turkey because I need more protein. I don't know if I mentioned it but I have problems with my muscles and decided to get more protein and see if it helps. Like you, cooking it is difficult but I have done chicken, ground turkey and turkey bacon. I try to distract my mind while preparing it. I can't imagine EVER being able to do red meat. Oh, well !!!
I find this interesting and informative for those of us who didn't eat meat and now find ourselves trying to eat it again. I want to know if we find that we do feel better.
I have a book somewhere on how the author believes we "need" to continue to eat the way our ancestors did in order to be healthy and at the proper weight. Here we came from meat eaters but, for example, the Japanese came from rice eaters, therefore their diet should still remaim mainly rice.
Note: Even if I knew I would die tomorrow I wouldn't eat read meat.
For the kind words, LLB! It is interesting to hear about the adventures of others trying to add meat to their diet. Turkey is a good idea and I may try some turkey burgers today, but hope I can find some already made up and can just stick them in my new Krups oven, a present from my brother.
My mom died this morning and I seem to be focusing heavily on cleaning the kitchen so I can use the Krups and on what my weight is and what I am going to eat. Seems I am numb to all other thoughts. Nice to have a hobby, I guess!
Having a hard time typing on the board again. Delays between keystrokes. Does anyone else have this problem?
Oh Crone I am so terribly sorry about your Mother. I went through this many years ago and it is the most difficult thing I have had to learn to live with - not having a Mother.
If you need to "talk" while going through all of the emotions that come with this change in your life, I am here.
From experience I know there is nothing that I can say to make this better.
Non-Diet Approach, Week of Dec 11th
- honestly, my life wouldn't be much different.
_ 
