Re: Diets can be useful - an interesting paradox

[Guest guest]

" I also needed professional help. Yeah, and I'm worth every penny. " -- I LOVE

it!! (I'm assuming you're talking about therapy.) You are worth it!

--

>

> Yes, I said it. I'm changing the way I'm thinking and it was after seeing a

commercial for Chantix - a quit smoking pill.

>

> I watched the woman on the Chantix commercial. She said something that stayed

with me - " I loved to smoke. "

>

> And for some reason I thought about how hard it is for someone to quit

smoking. Dont we always hear of how so many who try to quit do so and then pick

it right back up again? How humiliated they must feel - how powerless. So this

pill - is really only a TOOL I thought to myself. And when the person is really

ready in their mind, they will quit smoking. The pill is only a TOOL.

>

> So then I started thinking about diets. I've come to think of diets as TOOLS

as well. Craig didnt really NOT WORK for me. I just wasnt ready - it's

only a tool.

>

> So I no longer think of diets as evil. They serve a purpose like Chantix does

for smokers. The problem with having an eating disorder is that I was using a

TOOL as the FIX when the answer and change had to come from within me. I also

needed professional help. Yeah, and I'm worth every penny.

>

> Now that I've made up my mind that I no longer need to diet, I can use any

TOOL I wish to use and the result will be different.

>

>

> Deb

>

[Guest guest]

Sure, Sohni, I'll do my best to clarify what I'm talking about.

Intuitive Eating rises us to a new " plane " of thinking - and living. And by

practicing it, it allows a sort of healing to take place within us. This has

absolutely nothing to do with dieting. IE is spiritual. Practicing IE is

causal. Practicing dieting is treating an effect.

The paradox I'm referring to is that through practicing intuitive eating, I am

beginning to see diets in a new light. And I guess it was the tv commercial

about the quit smoking pill that brought this into my consciousness. The

negative can become the positive. The diet can be a useful tool. But IE is the

vehicle.

Diets arent bad. They just dont fix eating disorders.

I'm sorry if I have confused anyone. Sometimes it is hard to put in words.

Deb

> >

> >

> > Yes, I said it. I'm changing the way I'm thinking and it was after

> > seeing a commercial for Chantix - a quit smoking pill.

> >

> > I watched the woman on the Chantix commercial. She said something that

> > stayed with me - " I loved to smoke. "

> >

> > And for some reason I thought about how hard it is for someone to quit

> > smoking. Dont we always hear of how so many who try to quit do so and

> > then pick it right back up again? How humiliated they must feel - how

> > powerless. So this pill - is really only a TOOL I thought to myself.

> > And when the person is really ready in their mind, they will quit

> > smoking. The pill is only a TOOL.

> >

> > So then I started thinking about diets. I've come to think of diets as

> > TOOLS as well. Craig didnt really NOT WORK for me. I just wasnt

> > ready - it's only a tool.

> >

> > So I no longer think of diets as evil. They serve a purpose like

> > Chantix does for smokers. The problem with having an eating disorder

> > is that I was using a TOOL as the FIX when the answer and change had

> > to come from within me. I also needed professional help. Yeah, and I'm

> > worth every penny.

> >

> > Now that I've made up my mind that I no longer need to diet, I can use

> > any TOOL I wish to use and the result will be different.

> >

> > Deb

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb: I believe I understand what you're trying to say. Diets only treat the

SYMPTOMS of overeating or weight gain. However Intuitive Eating addresses the

CAUSES of overeating, bingeing and/or restricting.

I binged and purged for over 35 years, partly because I had digestive disorders

(celiac disease and food allergies), but mostly because I restricted what I ate

even before I was diagnosed with food allergies. I restricted some foods

according to calories but others according to 'healthy eating' guidelines,

because I was sick for so long before I was diagnosed with CD. A few years after

I learned intuitive eating, I was finally accurately diagnosed with CD and food

allergies.So I looked for allergy free versions of my favorite foods so that I

wouldn't feel deprived. I believed I had enough medical 'internal' restrictions

without imposing unnecessary 'external' restriction based on the latest health

fad. Even though I follow an 'gluten free' diet, I still eat intuitively any

food that doesn't contain gluten or my other food allergens.

Now, when I notice myself overeating or even wanting to binge, I consider what

foods I have unintentionally restricted, like when I buy a less expensive

dessert, rather than my favorite ice cream or buy what my husband would also

like to eat, rather than exactly what I want. Even unintentional restriction can

make me feel deprived, not feel satisfied and often overeat the foods I do eat.

So I stop and ask myself what foods I miss. Then I make that food available in

my house for the next time I crave that food. I may not even eat that food more

than a few times. However, having that food available lets me choose what I

really want to eat when I feel hungry.

So I agree with your comment that 'diets aren't bad', but I believe diets alone

don't promote long term weight loss. Rather than just changing WHAT we eat, we

need to reconsider when, how and how much we eat, as well as why we eat, in

order to become healthier, weightwise or otherwise. Lists of good and bad foods

(diets) don't address when, why, how and how much we eat.

SUE

>

>

> Sure, Sohni, I'll do my best to clarify what I'm talking about.

>

> Intuitive Eating rises us to a new " plane " of thinking - and living. And by

practicing it, it allows a sort of healing to take place within us. This has

absolutely nothing to do with dieting. IE is spiritual. Practicing IE is

causal. Practicing dieting is treating an effect.

>

> The paradox I'm referring to is that through practicing intuitive eating, I am

beginning to see diets in a new light. And I guess it was the tv commercial

about the quit smoking pill that brought this into my consciousness. The

negative can become the positive. The diet can be a useful tool. But IE is the

vehicle.

>

> Diets arent bad. They just dont fix eating disorders.

>

> I'm sorry if I have confused anyone. Sometimes it is hard to put in words.

>

> Deb