Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Boy does that ever sound familiar!! Although it took me much more dieting to get to that point. I think that's what IE and normal eating are all about, reaching a point where we don't have to think about eating at all until we're hungry, and then we just do it--eat--and move on when we're satisfied. I don't really have much of an answer as to how to deal with the obsessive thoughts in the meantime. I try distracting my mind, music, crossword puzzles, jigsaws, etc. (But I have a really hard time focusing at work, where I'm supposed to be focused on one thing, but find my mind drifting to obsessing about what and when to eat) What I'm working on right now is that I'm making a list of disordered diethead beliefs that I have (suggested by Koenig's book), and then working on writing out the dispute and then a new non-diet belief. I hope to read the list of non-diet beliefs several times a day. If you find anything else that works, let us know! > > Hi all, > > This is my first post to this group. I was an intuitive eater for the > first 27 years of my life, fairly active and naturally slim without > even thinking about it. Then one day, after a period of enforced > inactivity during which I gained approx 5kg, I decided to go on a > " sensible " diet to lose those extra kilos (500 calorie per day deficit > to lose half kg per week). And it worked great - until I came off the > diet and found I couldn't stop thinking about food. I started binging, > then obsessively exercising, then binging and purging... and 3 years > down the track it's pretty much taken over my life. So much for > sensible dieting! > > Anyway, I know that IE is the way to go, since it kept me slim and > happy for 27 years. And I am seeing a therapist to help with the > emotional stuff (which was all there pre-diet, but I didn't binge > then?!) But the thing I want freedom from the most is the obsessive > thoughts about food. How do you not think about something? > > As soon as I've finished a meal I start thinking about when I will > next be able to eat. I ask myself 100 times over " am I hungry yet? " > until, by the time the hunger signal comes, I can't tell whether it's > for real or it's just my body saying " alright, I'll say you're hungry > if you'll just go away and leave me alone! " . Sometimes I get so tense > thinking about how I'm going to binge that I just go and do it so that > once it's done it's done and I don't have to think about it any more! > > Does anyone else suffer from this problem, or have you overcome it? If > so, how? I want to free my mind and put all that energy into something > positive instead! > > T xx > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Boy does that ever sound familiar!! Although it took me much more dieting to get to that point. I think that's what IE and normal eating are all about, reaching a point where we don't have to think about eating at all until we're hungry, and then we just do it--eat--and move on when we're satisfied. I don't really have much of an answer as to how to deal with the obsessive thoughts in the meantime. I try distracting my mind, music, crossword puzzles, jigsaws, etc. (But I have a really hard time focusing at work, where I'm supposed to be focused on one thing, but find my mind drifting to obsessing about what and when to eat) What I'm working on right now is that I'm making a list of disordered diethead beliefs that I have (suggested by Koenig's book), and then working on writing out the dispute and then a new non-diet belief. I hope to read the list of non-diet beliefs several times a day. If you find anything else that works, let us know! > > Hi all, > > This is my first post to this group. I was an intuitive eater for the > first 27 years of my life, fairly active and naturally slim without > even thinking about it. Then one day, after a period of enforced > inactivity during which I gained approx 5kg, I decided to go on a > " sensible " diet to lose those extra kilos (500 calorie per day deficit > to lose half kg per week). And it worked great - until I came off the > diet and found I couldn't stop thinking about food. I started binging, > then obsessively exercising, then binging and purging... and 3 years > down the track it's pretty much taken over my life. So much for > sensible dieting! > > Anyway, I know that IE is the way to go, since it kept me slim and > happy for 27 years. And I am seeing a therapist to help with the > emotional stuff (which was all there pre-diet, but I didn't binge > then?!) But the thing I want freedom from the most is the obsessive > thoughts about food. How do you not think about something? > > As soon as I've finished a meal I start thinking about when I will > next be able to eat. I ask myself 100 times over " am I hungry yet? " > until, by the time the hunger signal comes, I can't tell whether it's > for real or it's just my body saying " alright, I'll say you're hungry > if you'll just go away and leave me alone! " . Sometimes I get so tense > thinking about how I'm going to binge that I just go and do it so that > once it's done it's done and I don't have to think about it any more! > > Does anyone else suffer from this problem, or have you overcome it? If > so, how? I want to free my mind and put all that energy into something > positive instead! > > T xx > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Boy does that ever sound familiar!! Although it took me much more dieting to get to that point. I think that's what IE and normal eating are all about, reaching a point where we don't have to think about eating at all until we're hungry, and then we just do it--eat--and move on when we're satisfied. I don't really have much of an answer as to how to deal with the obsessive thoughts in the meantime. I try distracting my mind, music, crossword puzzles, jigsaws, etc. (But I have a really hard time focusing at work, where I'm supposed to be focused on one thing, but find my mind drifting to obsessing about what and when to eat) What I'm working on right now is that I'm making a list of disordered diethead beliefs that I have (suggested by Koenig's book), and then working on writing out the dispute and then a new non-diet belief. I hope to read the list of non-diet beliefs several times a day. If you find anything else that works, let us know! > > Hi all, > > This is my first post to this group. I was an intuitive eater for the > first 27 years of my life, fairly active and naturally slim without > even thinking about it. Then one day, after a period of enforced > inactivity during which I gained approx 5kg, I decided to go on a > " sensible " diet to lose those extra kilos (500 calorie per day deficit > to lose half kg per week). And it worked great - until I came off the > diet and found I couldn't stop thinking about food. I started binging, > then obsessively exercising, then binging and purging... and 3 years > down the track it's pretty much taken over my life. So much for > sensible dieting! > > Anyway, I know that IE is the way to go, since it kept me slim and > happy for 27 years. And I am seeing a therapist to help with the > emotional stuff (which was all there pre-diet, but I didn't binge > then?!) But the thing I want freedom from the most is the obsessive > thoughts about food. How do you not think about something? > > As soon as I've finished a meal I start thinking about when I will > next be able to eat. I ask myself 100 times over " am I hungry yet? " > until, by the time the hunger signal comes, I can't tell whether it's > for real or it's just my body saying " alright, I'll say you're hungry > if you'll just go away and leave me alone! " . Sometimes I get so tense > thinking about how I'm going to binge that I just go and do it so that > once it's done it's done and I don't have to think about it any more! > > Does anyone else suffer from this problem, or have you overcome it? If > so, how? I want to free my mind and put all that energy into something > positive instead! > > T xx > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I can really relate to that. I bring my lunch to bring everyday and I struggle with wanting to eat simply because I know it is there. I also have been working to try to determine if my hunger is real or " phantom " (i.e. because I want a reason to eat). After doing IE for a couple weeks, I have noticed that I tend to want to eat more during the morning and then it tapers off in the afternoon and evening. It can be so tough to try and determine if the hunger is " true " or not though. One little trick that helps is to ask myself " If it wasn't sitting in your desk drawer, would you drive somewhere to get it? " > > Boy does that ever sound familiar!! Although it took me much more > dieting to get to that point. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I can really relate to that. I bring my lunch to bring everyday and I struggle with wanting to eat simply because I know it is there. I also have been working to try to determine if my hunger is real or " phantom " (i.e. because I want a reason to eat). After doing IE for a couple weeks, I have noticed that I tend to want to eat more during the morning and then it tapers off in the afternoon and evening. It can be so tough to try and determine if the hunger is " true " or not though. One little trick that helps is to ask myself " If it wasn't sitting in your desk drawer, would you drive somewhere to get it? " > > Boy does that ever sound familiar!! Although it took me much more > dieting to get to that point. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I'm just the opposite , I can not eat in the morning and by the evening I'm bored and want to eat. I like the question you ask " if it wasn't in my desk drawer would I drive to go get it? " le I can really relate to that. I bring my lunch to bring everyday and I struggle with wanting to eat simply because I know it is there. I also have been working to try to determine if my hunger is real or " phantom " (i.e. because I want a reason to eat). After doing IE for a couple weeks, I have noticed that I tend to want to eat more during the morning and then it tapers off in the afternoon and evening. It can be so tough to try and determine if the hunger is " true " or not though. One little trick that helps is to ask myself " If it wasn't sitting in your desk drawer, would you drive somewhere to get it? " >> Boy does that ever sound familiar!! Although it took me much more > dieting to get to that point. > -- I'm not mean, you're just a sissy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Boy do I know about the obsessive thoughts that come to mind at the beginnning of intuitive eating. It was so hard for me to get past the disappointment of " this is allll I'm hungry for " or " I really want that ice cream now and I can't believe I have to wait until I'm hungry to eat it...when will I be hungry!? " I think this is part of the process, though. What has helped me is to pray and also keep very busy so that I don't have too much free time to sit and think about food. Also, after you become comfortable with eating from hunger to satisfaction you will stop desiring to eat any other way because that is how you were made to eat - food tastes best and is most enjoyable when you are hungry! It really does take time to come to a place where you don't really think much about food unless you're hungry. You'll get there, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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