Intuitive Eating Check-in 3/25-3/31

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getyourfreakon0402

New Member
Hi Gang, How is everyone doing? Started any crazy diets lately? :) Yep, that's a joke. Alas, I think that might be as good as they get this Monday afternoon.

This week I'm focusing on the next two principles of the IE book:
* Make Peace with Food
* and getting rid of the diet police

I'm sure that I haven't totally ditched the diet mentality and I can see how these next two parts are important. It's funny actually..I've been letting myself have whatever I want and I don't beat myself up for anything I eat which is nice, BUT when I make selections that past diets would have approved of I find I start to give myself a pat on the back. I think judging my eating whether deeming them positive or negative based on diet criteria are both bad. I want my only criteria to be whether I 1)honored my hunger 2)stopped when I was full 3)enjoyed it 4) feel good physically afterwards.

Have any of you had funny reactions from friends when you stop dieting? I think a couple of my friends got in the habit of seeing what I thought of their eating and suggestions - now my answers are a pretty unsatisfying "If you're hungry, then eat".."Food is food, do what makes you feel good...stop when it doesn't" but more often than not I just give a gaelic shrug. :)

Hope you're all doing well. I look forward to your posts!
 
Hi! I'm happy to say that I'm about 3/4 the way through IE. I'm still working on Steps 1 and 2 though. Undoing the diet mentality is quite a challenge. I still am keeping track of what I eat as far as calories, in the back of my mind.

And it is difficult for me to allow myself to eat when I experience "gentle hunger". Usually I wait until I'm about to pass out, or go by the clock. However, I do find that I eat less when I'm only mildly hungry.

Last night I made peace with a sugar cookie. It was worth it! I found that I really could only eat one.

I'm beginning to realize how much I use food to cope with boredom. I know that comes later though.

On a different note, the past couple of days I started to wonder if I'm pregnant?!? If so, that will really help me to get rid of this diet mentality!

The food police are still quite strong however. It is a process. Today, so far, I have honored my hunger, stopped when satisfied, and refrained from counting calories. I need to get rid of my blasted scales, for one thing. I still have an unhealthy and self-defeating addiction to getting weighed every day.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Holly
 
Bizarre!!!!!!

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-02 AT 06:44PM (Est)[/font][p]Way to go Holly! I know what you mean about how hard it can be to stop counting calories. I tend to agree with ditching the scale. I threw mine away on my birthday as a little gift to myself :) and now weigh myself when I run into a scale. Would you believe that in the last month I've actually lost 7 lbs where most of that time I've been off any diet and then I've just been following IE. I eat junk, I eat some healthy stuff, exercise moderately but consistently, I don't overeat and I'm losing weight?!?!????? How ironic! I expected to be gaining weight! And can I just say how much more energy I have? I don't intend to sound like a testimonial, but this is just bizarre. I spent all that energy dieting, lost nothin', then after I start eating just whatever I want again I lose almost half the amount that I wanted to lose in the first place?!?! I still am incredulous and think it must be a fluke. I feel better though so I'll just continue. I can't give enough thanks to whoever brought IE up. I think all my friends would like to give them a big hug too :)
 
RE: Bizarre!!!!!!

HI guys. Just wanted to let you know I'm out here.

My stomach is acting up due to IBS, but I'm hoping my body will give me some hints about what foods will be less troublesome. I read a book called "Eating for IBS" and it had a few useful suggestions, but some that were way too restrictive to ever work for me. Fat free tofu cream cheese? Bleah! I don't think so! Of course, when I looked on an IBS bulletin board, I found that different foods helped/hurt everyone, so the only way to know what is tolerated is to send it down there and see what happens!

Happy eating!
 
RE: Bizarre!!!!!!

I just had to agree with you getyourfreakon0402 - about the losing weight thing. I have not read IE but after almost collapsing due to too little food and too much exercise, I decided to just listen to my body. I eat when I am hungry and I exercise when I feel like. If I can't get motivated after a warm up - I just call it an off day for exercise. If can't eat a over a 1,000 calories on a particular day, I don't. If I crave food, I eat. The best thing about all this is I have lost 10 lbs and muscles are popping up all over my body. And of course not to mention increased levels of energy - no more walking around like someone who is stoned!! The next step for me will be to try and free myself from the food prison I have built for myself - which is eating from a very limited list of healthy foods. I bought myself these skinny cow ice-cream sandwiches that everyone is talking about and literally swallowed one. Then promptly had a panic attack about all that sugar! I then spent another ten minutes worrying about how I was definitely a certified basket case. So still a long way to go for me, but one step at a time I guess. Hope everyone else is doing well. It helps to know that I am not the only one struggling with all these issues.
 
RE: Bizarre!!!!!!

Hey! Well it's been 7 weeks since I've stopped measuring and counting calories, and I will NEVER go back! I DO still measure nuts and trail mix in 1/4 cup portions to take with me places as snacks, but I don't look at it as a certain number of calories... I don't eat them and think "ok, I've had this many calories..." I just wanted to keep those things in check... and if I"m still hungry for more, I'll eat more! No more limiting. And my pants are sung today... am heading out this afternoon and next week to buy new ones. I refuse to let my pants being tight cause me to fall back into my diet way of thinking. I NEED to gain weight and I'm going to let my body do it's thing. I have been cooking so much lately for family and friends and enjoying eating and cooking, and I even bought some mini snickers and mini dove promise chocolates to keep around for when I need chocolate. And I'm learning I don't need to eat more than one or two! It's a great feeling and a major accomplishment. I've read IE but often refer back to it to refresh on the principles. It's so east for me to shift back into my old way of thinking. But I catch myself and am able to silence those voices now better then ever! Still have a ways to go, but I"m getting there. After only having read IE less than 2 months ago I can't expect to be perfect at IE... these things take time, but I think I'm doing well.. and the setbacks are learning experiences, not failures! When I EAT BECAUSE I AM NOT hungry, I think, "why" instead of "I'm a loser!"... we are only human and we should let ourselves BE human, and be forgiving of ourselves and understanding... let the nurturer shine through! Happy and healthy eating and living to all!
Sara
 
ie

Hi kkshedevil!

That's a great attitude...find out for yourself what works for you! Heck, there must have been a time before diets when people figured out for themselves what to eat and the human race managed to survive. Your stomach acting up must make things difficult because it so difficult to tell when you're hungry/full when the tummy is tied up. Hang in there and enjoy trying some different foods!

J.
 
get out of jail free card

Aaaah, the food prison. On the lamb from the law are yeah? :) I just wanted to check in here real quick and wish you the best of luck in busting out. It's great that you have a sense that it's a prison and not a good place to be. Oh yeah, I'm struggling with it too, believe me, but we can do this. I used to eat no dairy or sugar. Dairy can make me flemmy and sugar can make my energy oscillate BUT I've also had a sore, bloated tummy from too many veggies. That's my mantra (bit too long for a mantra, yeah) for myself to remember that no food is all good and none is all bad.

J.
 
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