Re: Another newbie and a victory!!!

[Guest guest]

You are embarking on a truly worthwhile journey! I've been practicing intuitive

eating for a couple of years. The Intuitive Eating book has changed my

relationship with food and myself. It is not too good to be true. It is freedom.

I'm in love with the IE book still. As someone else wrote, it is not a quick fix

but a process that works if you keep at it. The principles get you back in tune

with your body, getting to know yourself from the inside out. It's been an

incredible journey for me. I can't believe how far I've come thanks to this

book. I still refer to it when I need to reinforce the principles to combat the

diet mentality and unrealistic expectations that surround us everywhere we look.

I'm truly taking care of myself for the first time in my life. I truly accept

myself for the first time in my life. I'm so happy for you and excited for your

discovery of IE. Eventually you will look back at your old thought process and

old feelings about food and yourself and be absolutely amazed at how far you've

come and how free you feel.

Freja

[Guest guest]

Welcome! I'm new too and am reading Intuitive Eating as well. I think, from the

way your post sounds, you will love it here.

Warrior

>

> Hello, all....

>

> I'm a chronic yo-yo dieter, Weight Watchers being my diet of choice. I have

successfully lost weight with WW FOUR TIMES!!! Notice a problem there? I am

back to my high weight, about 15 lbs overweight, but I absolutely can't go back

to counting the darn points again!!

>

> A friend suggested the IE book and I just started it the other day.

>

> What a Ah-Ha moment. Could it be that I could just learn to listen to my body

and what it needs... not obsess about every thing I put into my mouth? Almost

sounds too good to be true. Actually, it sounds like FREEDOM!!!

>

> Today I went to lunch with my office mates. I had a chicken wrap sandwich

and, about half way through, recognized that I had satisfied my hunger. But

instead of finishing the thing (like I would normally do), I left it on my

plate. This is a BIG step for me as I am a charter member of " The Clean Plate

Club " (Thanks to Grandma and Mom for that one!).

>

> I'm reading through the posts and find you all very inspiring!!

>

[Guest guest]

Forgot to say...I am a WW recoverer as well.

Warrior

>

> Hello, all....

>

> I'm a chronic yo-yo dieter, Weight Watchers being my diet of choice. I have

successfully lost weight with WW FOUR TIMES!!! Notice a problem there? I am

back to my high weight, about 15 lbs overweight, but I absolutely can't go back

to counting the darn points again!!

>

> A friend suggested the IE book and I just started it the other day.

>

> What a Ah-Ha moment. Could it be that I could just learn to listen to my body

and what it needs... not obsess about every thing I put into my mouth? Almost

sounds too good to be true. Actually, it sounds like FREEDOM!!!

>

> Today I went to lunch with my office mates. I had a chicken wrap sandwich

and, about half way through, recognized that I had satisfied my hunger. But

instead of finishing the thing (like I would normally do), I left it on my

plate. This is a BIG step for me as I am a charter member of " The Clean Plate

Club " (Thanks to Grandma and Mom for that one!).

>

> I'm reading through the posts and find you all very inspiring!!

>

[Guest guest]

Freja,

After you first read the book, did you feel changed immediatley, or did it take

time? I just read the book for the first time and am new here to this group. Any

suggestions? I still feel controlled by calories and have small binges a night.

Side note: What do you consider a binge. In my last post I sat down and ate

about 20 Oreo cookies because they tasted so good and felt I couldn't stop. Is

that binging, or no?

Stacie

>

> You are embarking on a truly worthwhile journey! I've been practicing

intuitive eating for a couple of years. The Intuitive Eating book has changed my

relationship with food and myself. It is not too good to be true. It is freedom.

I'm in love with the IE book still. As someone else wrote, it is not a quick fix

but a process that works if you keep at it. The principles get you back in tune

with your body, getting to know yourself from the inside out. It's been an

incredible journey for me. I can't believe how far I've come thanks to this

book. I still refer to it when I need to reinforce the principles to combat the

diet mentality and unrealistic expectations that surround us everywhere we look.

I'm truly taking care of myself for the first time in my life. I truly accept

myself for the first time in my life. I'm so happy for you and excited for your

discovery of IE. Eventually you will look back at your old thought process and

old feelings about food and yourself and be absolutely amazed at how far you've

come and how free you feel.

>

> Freja

>

[Guest guest]

Stacie, I can't help but wonder how you react to the suggestion of leagalizing

something like these Oreos? Have you read and understood that part of the IE

book? I and many others have found this to be a challenging, but also very valid

step to take. Wishing you lots of success with it too.

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> Side note: What do you consider a binge. In my last post I sat down and ate

about 20 Oreo cookies because they tasted so good and felt I couldn't stop. Is

that binging, or no?

>

>

> Stacie

[Guest guest]

" After you first read the book, did you feel changed immediatley, or did it take

time? "

~ I felt a change in that there was hope. To expect things to just change

automatically is having high expectations which can lead to disappointment. You

are where you are now because of long-held beliefs and thinking patterns that

shaped your actions. The book teaches you to think differently about food and

yourself. You need to get hyper-aware of your thoughts and feelings. I worked on

a principle one at a time. Sometimes I'd forget to work on it and slip back into

old behaviours a little bit. Then I'd become aware again, and work on it some

more. You need to go at a pace that is comfortable for you. Don't compare

youself to anyone else. It's all part of the process.

" I just read the book for the first time and am new here to this group. Any

suggestions? "

~ You know, I don't consider that I'm ever done reading the IE book. There is

always something that I notice that I didn't notice before. I will read intently

for a couple of days and then put it aside and let things sink in and become my

thoughts and belief so that it will influence my behaviors. I refer to it to

reinforce the principles when I feel like I might be slipping from them.

Listening to satiety signals is the hardest for me.

" I still feel controlled by calories and have small binges a night. "

~ This will change in time. Just keep reading and thinking about what you're

reading. I highlighted portions, made notes in the margins, dog-eared pages. I

would go back over those points many many times. It does take a lot of thought

and awareness.

>

" What do you consider a binge. "

~ Whenever an emotion/feeling is behind my eating. I've binged on two cookies

because my motive for eating them was to numb myself. For me it all comes down

to motive. How am I feeling while I'm eating? Am I present and thoroughly

enjoying and savouring without guilt? Yes? Then that's not a binge for me. But

if I'm soothing myself with food, it's a binge no matter the amount or type of

food. I still find myself wanting to eat when I feel a certain way. The

difference now is that I recognize what's happening and say to myself, " IT'S NOT

ABOUT THE FOOD. IT'S ABOUT THE EMOTION. " I keep repeating that and it helps.

Eventually once that emotion passes, so does the desire to have a food hug.

" In my last post I sat down and ate about 20 Oreo cookies because they tasted so

good and felt I couldn't stop. Is that binging, or no? "

~Only you can answer that for yourself. There's nothing to rebel against in IE.

You answer only to yourself.

I hope some of my experiences are helpful to you, Stacie.

[Guest guest]

Your message is so helpful to me, thank you for addressing Stacie's questions

one by one...they are so often my questions, too.

I wish i had a bracelet as well that said " It's not the food it's the emotion. "

Guess I could just write it on one of those rubber bracelets, maybe someday get

an engraved one! :-)

>

> " After you first read the book, did you feel changed immediatley, or did it

take time? "

> ~ I felt a change in that there was hope. To expect things to just change

automatically is having high expectations which can lead to disappointment. You

are where you are now because of long-held beliefs and thinking patterns that

shaped your actions. The book ...

[Guest guest]

I would just like to say how much I appreciate your comments, Stacie!

" I've binged on 2 cookies because my motive for eating them was to numb

myself " ... Exactly! I've binged on peas! I know that for me, if I'm

questioning whether it was a binge, then it was. In fact, for me, part of a

meal can be a binge. As soon as I pass the point of eating in response to

hunger and fullness, and eat into a place of eating because it feels " good " to

be numb like that, it's a binge. Not the first part of the meal, JUST THAT BITE

and beyond.

I'm not very far in to the IE book yet, but I did read somewhere once that an

important part of this process is to accept bingeing as a valid coping strategy.

Not necessarily a great strategy, because of course one of our goals is to find

new strategies. But just to accept, " I feel ___ and I don't like it. I want to

feel numb. Today, I am using food to deal with my feelings of ___. " The point

is, bingeing IS a stragegy, and it WORKS for us. If that's the only stragegy we

have right now, in this moment, then it's the strategy we're going to use. Over

time, hopefully we gain more strategies to deal with those uncomfortable

emotions.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, though!

Dawn

[Guest guest]

" If I'm questioning whether it was a binge, then it was. In fact, for me, part

of a meal can be a binge. As soon as I pass the point of eating in response to

hunger and fullness, and eat into a place of eating because it feels " good " to

be numb like that, it's a binge. "

~ Me too!! Everything you said here, exactly! Part of my meals have been binges.

" The point is, bingeing IS a stragegy, and it WORKS for us...Over time,

hopefully we gain more strategies to deal with those comfortable emotions.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, though! "

~ I think you're bang on, Dawn. Sometimes it's just what works and what you need

to do because you don't have anything else in your tool arsenal at the moment. A

big part of it too, is not beating ourselves up for it. It really is our way of

trying to take care of ourselves the only way we know how at that point in time.

After I've had a " food hug " I will try to use the Nurturing voice. I refuse to

beat myself up anymore. That just creates a vicious cycle.

Freja

[Guest guest]

sometimes with IE, I feel like I've moved to Kenya, or Bali, or Thailand,

somewhere with a completely differentl culture than mine, and I am learning to

live all over. Hope that makes sense. It's just that my thinking is changing

so much, new ideas that I've never considered before about food (and life) are

sneaking into that brain of mine. lol So reading posts like Dawn's and Freja's

here, I think...I understand this! I can't believe I do, but I do! lol

In response to these particular ideas, I am grateful to be learning how to break

that guilt/binge cycle, how the guilt just makes it worse. I also am learning

to find places I want to go to for comfort besides food, like a steaming hot

bath and a candle and maybe even some mindless " gossip rags " or just something

to read that's an escape, not learning stuff. lol Or a new one for me is

finding out that I love photography, so I'll either take pics. or even sit on my

but on the couch and edit them in a wonderful editing software I've found. To be

able to have a creative outlet is a huge bonus to it for me.

Warrior

>

> " If I'm questioning whether it was a binge, then it was. In fact, for me,

part of a meal can be a binge. As soon as I pass the point of eating in

response to hunger and fullness, and eat into a place of eating because it feels

" good " to be numb like that, it's a binge. "

> ~ Me too!! Everything you said here, exactly! Part of my meals have been

binges.

>

> " The point is, bingeing IS a stragegy, and it WORKS for us...Over time,

hopefully we gain more strategies to deal with those comfortable emotions.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, though! "

> ~ I think you're bang on, Dawn. Sometimes it's just what works and what you

need to do because you don't have anything else in your tool arsenal at the

moment. A big part of it too, is not beating ourselves up for it. It really is

our way of trying to take care of ourselves the only way we know how at that

point in time. After I've had a " food hug " I will try to use the Nurturing

voice. I refuse to beat myself up anymore. That just creates a vicious cycle.

>

> Freja

>