Speaking of "Intuitive Eating"

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Biteset

Cathlete
I just read this book a couple of weeks ago, and discovered some things I had been denying to myself:

1. I TOLD myself that I only "ate clean" when I exercised regularly. That the exercise motivated me to eat "clean", or "right". Truthfully, I only exercised when I was ready to diet. When the diet failed, the motivation to exercise failed as well. But I told myself it was the other way around. "Once I start to exercise, I'll start to eat right again."

2. I TOLD myself I wasn't a dieter. I just had times when I was in "healthy eating mode" and other times when I wasn't. Ahem, DIET! Duh.

3. I TOLD myself I wasn't hungry when I WAS hungry--that I shouldn't be hungry because of a, b, or c...so I wound up underfeeding myself, and ramping up the exercise at the same time.

4. I totally had that "Last Supper" mentality so many times, but was perplexed not knowing why I kept "losing it" and eating that extra bowl of ice cream.

I think I've said enough for now. What I'm wondering is: have any of you read this book and "discovered" things about yourself and your behavior that you had sort of fooled yourself about until then?

Gisela
 
RE: Speaking of

Yeah, that's the thread I was referring to. Since I had only recently finished reading that book, I knew exactly what the title of the thread was about!

The book was a big wake up call for me too. So illuminating. I also picked up the phrase "crash exercising"--the perfect way to describe my stop 'n' start habit. I was intimidating myself with my high standards!

Now that I've stopped analyzing my food like crazy, I'm so relaxed! I don't think about food ALL THE TIME like I used to.

Gisela
 
RE: Speaking of

Gisela,

Do they mention anyone like me in that book? I have been observing myself since Dani posted about the book, and frankly, I think I'm nuts.

I have this black and white mentality. As you mentioned, I can only exercise on days when I eat "right". If I eat one thing wrong, the day becomes a "bad" day and no exercising is allowed until the next day. Do you do that? I can't seem to cope with the idea of a gray day: that is, where I do some things right (like exercise) and some things wrong (like eat something I think I'm not supposed to). My mind can't even contemplate it.

Does the book mention nutsos like me? If so, I'll go out and buy it. Thanks.
-Nancy
 
RE: Speaking of

I just ordered this book and look forward to reading it since I've got all kinds of emotional eating issues, they could have a Dr. Phil show about me I think!! :eek:

I find that when I am on a roll with my workouts, it is much easier for me NOT to cheat...but if I don't workout for some reason that day it is so much easier for my mind to convince me, "Well I didn't work out today so today is kind of a day off...." then I go get out the peanut butter jar!!! LOL

I'm really hoping that reading this book and just plain working on it myself will help me rid myself of these obsessive dieting issues...cuz it is a PAIN worrying about every morsel I eat or even want to eat!!!

:D
 
RE: Speaking of

Nancy & Olexa, yes, yes, YES!!!! The book is ALL about you!

(and me!)

Editing to add more thoughts after checking to see that my kids were contentedly playing ;-) ...

This book goes into depth about the "black & white" mentality, about the "good" and "bad" days, about having a diet mentality and feeling great while we follow OUR rules, and then once we think we've broken one of our rules we feel guilty and just go out of control, which leads to ugly behavior cycles.

It mentions the "exercise only when dieting" and "dieting only when exercising" trap, also the weird head games such as thinking there's no point exercising if I didn't eat "right" today, or no point eating "right" if I didn't exercise, or no point eating "right" for the rest of the day if I've broken a diet rule...

This is exhausting to write! Must be exhausting to read my post! Imagine how much we're exhausting ourselves! lol

Interestingly, I didn't recognize that I had diet mentality until I read their description of dieting backlash.

I highly recommend this book. I actually checked it out from the library first and read it before deciding to buy it. As soon as I receive my new copy, I'm going to reread it, this time with a highlight marker because SO MUCH of what the authors wrote is useful to me!


Gisela
 
RE: Speaking of

>I find that when I am on a roll with my workouts, it is much
>easier for me NOT to cheat..

I used to tell everybody the same thing about myself. And I thought of it as a good thing--hey, exercise is GOOD because it motivates me not to cheat on my diet!

But...it's NOT a good thing! What pressure! Suddenly, if I miss a day of exercise, it's harder not to cheat. Once I cheat, it's hard to exercise again. Once I miss a day of exercise...blah blah blah.

SCREAM!

Intuitive Eating is about throwing out those rules, so there's no more cheating. No more guilt. But don't judge the concept based on my one-liner, there's more to it than that!

Gisela
 
RE: Speaking of

Thanks Gisela! Sounds like I need to read the book. I'm glad to hear there are other crazies out there.
-Nancy
 
RE: Speaking of

Yes, I've read Intuitive Eating. I think some main ideas:

*It's a process, be gentle with yourself, don't beat yourself up.

*Listen to your body = trust. One of the hardest lessons to learn.

*Learn to live in the gray area in lieu of black/white thinking. Not just for food/exercising but for everything. Job, relationships, fun, plans, etc.

It's so easy, so slippery, to get trapped into diet mindset. After years and years and years, I'm still trying to put one foot in front of the other to live life to the fullest instead of calculating calories and measuring my self esteem based on my appearance or diet-for-the-day. It's a process, but it's worth it, and each day gets better, I swear.

Yes, continue to strive for wellness, but think about it from the inside-out instead of outside-in...Find a gentle therapist, unravel those deep emotions, and get to the truth.

And, yes, that was a mouthful, a load!, but it's the truth. Be good to yourself. Listen to your body. Be good to yourself.

Best,
Caroline
 
RE: Speaking of

I think that I will have to add the book store to my list of errands on Monday morning after work!
I am liking the sound of this book more and more!
 
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