[HollyGirl]

Here's an excerpt from Geneen Roth's book "Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating" --

"The first step in breaking free from compulsive eating is to eat when you are hungry. When I first decided that I wasn't going to diet any anymore I began keeping a chart of when I ate, what I ate, and if I was hungry. After a few days I was dismayed to realize that I never ate because I was hungry. There were too many other good reasons to eat: when I was upset ... when I was happy ... when I was sad ... when I was angry ... when I was frustrated or bored and couldn't figure out what else to do.

"Part of breaking free is going from not listening [to your body] to listening. You begin eating when you are hungry by letting yourself get hungry. Here are some guidelines:

1. Keep a chart of what you ate, the times at which you ate and whether or not you were hungry before you ate.

2. Don't eat at your regular meal times for a day or two and if you find that it helps you get in touch with your hunger, try not eating at your regular times for a week or longer.

3. Pay careful attention to the bodily sensations that you recognize as hunger.

4. When you've decided you're hungry, rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10.

5. When you are not hungry but decided to eat, choose a food that you ate that day when you were hungry. Be aware of how the food tastes, how the taste was different when you were hungry, if you enjoy it as much as when you were hungry, what you're really feeling and how you know when to stop eating."

[LisaAJames]

Hello All......

What a coincedence.....I just bought a Geneed Roth book off Amazon.com this afternoon, and now I find a 3FC thread about her non-diet! She must be pretty good. I hope my money was a good investment! lol

Anyway, this thread really sounds like a good idea. No one knows what it is like to be a failed dieter (or even a successful dieter) better than the people who are going through it. And I am definately one of those people. I have been trying to lose weight for 4 years now and am 25 pounds heavier than when I started. (Isnt that everyones story? ) I over this time I slipped further and further away from being a normal eater and now I am so far away I dont even rmember what it is like to eat ice cream or something and not feel so guilty and sad that I go and eat the entire fridge. I have been trying to seperate hunger from boredom-eating or sad-eating or noreason-eating but its hard. When I heard about Geneen Roths books I hoped that they could help me. This post seems like it could be really good too. I hope you guys have room for one more!

So here goes.....

I am 21 year old student.
I am sick of working out so hard everyday.
I am embarassed to see people from high school becasue I have gained 35 pounds since then.
I am creative and love to make people laugh.
I am afraid of being alone.
I am frustrated with my boyfriend of 4-years and dont know waht to do. ( hmmm...interesting how my weight problems have been around for 4 years and so has my boyfriend)
I am afraid I will always be crazy about food and will never be able to enjoy life and not let it bother me.
I am unwilling to give up on this battle, but also scared to succeed.
I am going to bed now.


Lisa
168/168/140

[HollyGirl]

Hi, Lisa and Sonny, I'm glad you both are joining us

Lisa, you and I have similar weights/goals. I'm also at 168 with a goal weight of 140. I'd like to point out something here -- it doesn't matter if someone in this group has 20 pounds to lose or 120 pounds to lose -- if you're here there's a good chance that you're having a problem with compulsive eating. The goal is to change your eating habits and thereby become healthier. Please keep that in mind. I know I've read posts before where I think [snort] they only have 20 pounds to lose, what's their problem? Well, that's not a very supportive attitude, is it?!

I'm glad to hear that someone else here has at least one Geneen Roth book. I really recommend them. If you buy only one of her books, get "When You Eat At The Refrigerator Pull Up A Chair." It's filled with 50 chapters of ways to be kind to yourself when that's the farthest thing from your mind.

Well, that's it for tonight, I'm off to bed (another way that I need to be kind to myself is by getting enough sleep )

G'night!!

[Grannie39074]

Hello This is a great thread. so here goes


I am : A 49 year old house wife

I am: 239 lbs. (lost 6 lbs. last week)

I am: TIRED of being FAT
I am: Going to try harder this time.

I am: Tired of thinking my husband would love me more if I was thinner.

I am: Hungry (It's all in my head)

I am: Happy most of the time.

I am: really glad for this forum.


Thats all for now.

[Elisette]

I like the non-diet, I'd like to have a healthy attitude towards food. So here goes!

I am independent.
I am strong, smart, and able.
I am too good to settle.
I am outgoing in my head and shy in reality because I do not look as good as I would like.
I am not doing what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I am a great friend to a few, but I don't trust most people.
I am an athlete.
I am an animal lover.
I am sarcastic.
I am slyly witty and no one knows what I really think about most things.

[Loves-to-Be]

Hi ya'll,

Today I am proud of myself. I am on chap. 3 of Overcoming Compulsive Eating by G. Roth

1. I didn't eat until I was hungry and stopped when I was no longer hungry.

2.I ate only at the table and concentrated on the taste, texture etc of the food.

3. I exersised and felt wonderful during and after.

4. I determined if the food on my plate was "humming" or "beckoning" then ate only the hummers.(from the book)

If possible, read the books.



Yvette

[LisaAJames]

Hello!

I am also on Chapter 3 of a G. Roth book. I just got my copy of Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating in the mail yesterday, and I couldnt put it down. Its a really good book--as Im sure they all are--and I suggest that anyone who eats for a reason other than hunger buy one of her books.

I have decided to do my best to eat only when I am hungry, but its going to be harder than I thought. I already woke up this morning and ate breakfast before I even stopped to think if I was hungry or not. (I wasnt) So now I feel too full....blech. Oh well theres always lunch... That means not wolfing down my lunch at my desk and then squeezing a workout on my break. I am actually going to have to think about whether or not I am hungry first. Yikes. I have so many bad habits and routines to break.....

The book suggests that you get rid of your scale. Has anyone done this? The idea really scares me. I know that its not good to weigh yourself everyday and I have become a bit of a slave to the scale, but I dont know if I could bring myself actually get rid of it or hide it. I may just try to weigh in less often....maybe once every week or two.

Holly, that is pretty funny that we have the same weight and goal. Lets do our best to get to 140!

Ok talk to you all later!

Lisa

[just me]

Introduction of: Gina

I am: a 27 year college student majoring in interior design

I am: very much in love with my husband of 3 years.

I am: proud of myself for losing the 40 pounds I have in the last year.

I am: disappointed in myself for gaining 7 of those pounds back in the last 2 months because I can't seem to get focused.

I am: sick of food controlling my life.

I am: ready for this to be the last time I ever lose weight.

I am: a good friend and fun to be around.

I am: tired of letting my weight hold me back in the world.

I am: secure.

I am: insecure.

[Grannie39074]

Welcome Gina

To all. I haven't read the books you are talking about but they sound interesting. I need to pick them up. I think I am doing fairly well on this lifestyle change, thats what it is you know, its not a diet it's a lifestyle change. I need to drink more water and exercise more.


I am: Unhappy with my weight

I am: Terrified of going through life fat.

I am: very much in love with my husband

I am: insecure

I am: a lovable person

I am: Going to do it this time.

[Arabella]

Hi All,

I want to start over at the beginning, so forgive me if having the threads brought up causes confusion. Maybe there are others who would like to start in? Here goes:

Introduction of:

I am: a 46 year old woman

I am: pretty

I am: a writer

I am: worried about situations in my life that I want to be able to let go of

I am: a consistent exerciser

I am: (sometimes) a compulsive eater, trying to recover

I am: empathetic

I am: tired of wasting time and energy

I am: trying to work up my optimism

I am: about 40 pounds overweight

Interesting exercise! I know that my answers would be different depending on my mood.

babette
231/204/160

[Sprite]

Hi everybody!

I found this thread a couple of weeks ago and am doing the current exercises as well as starting from the beginning so I hope I don't cause any confusion.

I don't know why but I feel a bit nervous doing this. I think because I have to face the fact that I have a problem with food which is caused by other problems and I can't (and don't want to) hide from it anymore.

So here it goes:

1. I am 34

2. I am a mom

3. I am a wife who goes from happy with her husband to completely dissatisfied with him from day to day?

4. I am a volunteer

5. I am going to go to school in January to be an Administrative Assistant.

6. I am a fighter

7. I am often lonely despite having several friends

8. I am ashamed of my excess weight

9. I am determined.

10. I am happy I found this thread

I have such a good feeling about these exercises. I really feel like this is it. This is what I need. This is going to do it for me.

Sprite

[waterbaby]

Introduction: Claire (waterbaby)

1. I am: very obese
2. I am: unhappy about my weight (5'5", 281 pounds)
3. I am: very inflexible because of my size.
4. I am: in a great marriage (2nd time around)
5. I am: puzzled as to how I gained so much weight!
6. I am: learning to be a good listener
7. I am: worth more than I'm paid.
8. I am: interested in many things
9. I am: basically a happy person
10.I am: grateful for all that I am about to receive through this forum.

Claire
281/281/119 Little bones, lotta fat!