Re: Looking for some guidance...

[Guest guest]

This works for some - but it can backfire. Have you read " overcoming

overeating " ? Basically the principle behind the book is that if you let

yourself eat as much as you want of your binge food, you'll eventually get sick

of it and stop wanting it. Hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes later, I know

that's not true. For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many cupcakes as

I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any less of them. I

never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the previous and my desire

only increased. My cholesterol, triglycerides and weight went up, but my

cravings never went down. I finally decided, I simply cant eat cupcakes because

I cant control them.

" what Katcha says here is the only thing to do. Eat as much as you need to of

the thing and you'll get over it "

[Guest guest]

imthinkingthin wrote:

> For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many

> cupcakes as I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any

> less of them. I never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the

> previous and my desire only increased.

Did you REALLY give yourself permission to eat them? Or was it more like

" I'll try this for a while and if I notice it doesn't work, I'm going to

go on a diet again? " , therefore creating a situation not unlike " last

supper eating " ? Get them while you still can?

This seems to be a quite common pit fall.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

Yes there can be foods that seem to never lose their 'trigger'. But the point of

legalizing is not to end up hating a food, but only to come to the realization

that 1) it is FOOD, not a comforting or punishment tool (or some such) and 2) to

take on your most challenging (frightening?) food and get to where you can trust

yourself around it - knowing that you CAN always eat it and WILL supply it for

yourself.

Over the course of your year of cupcakes did you keep a HUGE supply (surplus?)

on hand all the time? If you only bought/made a few and ate them all up before

you bought/made the next batch, it may be that you didn't really legalize so

much as just gave yourself permission to eat (and eat and eat). I'm currently

reading When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies (same authors as Overcoming

Overeating) and it has a lot better explanation of legalizing plus why/how we do

it 'half' way which doesn't work ;-)

BEST to you, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> This works for some - but it can backfire. Have you read " overcoming

overeating " ? Basically the principle behind the book is that if you let

yourself eat as much as you want of your binge food, you'll eventually get sick

of it and stop wanting it. Hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes later, I know

that's not true. For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many cupcakes as

I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any less of them. I

never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the previous and my desire

only increased. My cholesterol, triglycerides and weight went up, but my

cravings never went down. I finally decided, I simply cant eat cupcakes because

I cant control them.

>

>

>

> " what Katcha says here is the only thing to do. Eat as much as you need to of

the thing and you'll get over it "

>

[Guest guest]

Hmm- I think that explains my reactio to pepsi this weekend- when I went to study at my office and there were leftovers from a party- I drank one just because it was there , even though I didn't enjoy it! It felt like a 'rare' thing so I just HAD to have it, esp since it was FREE! I'm still a sucker for free food :/MikkiSent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerryFrom: "Katcha" Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:12:59 -0000To: <IntuitiveEating_Support >Subject: Re: Looking for some guidance... Yes there can be foods that seem to never lose their 'trigger'. But the point of legalizing is not to end up hating a food, but only to come to the realization that 1) it is FOOD, not a comforting or punishment tool (or some such) and 2) to take on your most challenging (frightening?) food and get to where you can trust yourself around it - knowing that you CAN always eat it and WILL supply it for yourself. Over the course of your year of cupcakes did you keep a HUGE supply (surplus?) on hand all the time? If you only bought/made a few and ate them all up before you bought/made the next batch, it may be that you didn't really legalize so much as just gave yourself permission to eat (and eat and eat). I'm currently reading When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies (same authors as Overcoming Overeating) and it has a lot better explanation of legalizing plus why/how we do it 'half' way which doesn't work ;-) BEST to you, Katcha IEing since March 2007 > > This works for some - but it can backfire. Have you read " overcoming overeating " ? Basically the principle behind the book is that if you let yourself eat as much as you want of your binge food, you'll eventually get sick of it and stop wanting it. Hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes later, I know that's not true. For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many cupcakes as I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any less of them. I never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the previous and my desire only increased. My cholesterol, triglycerides and weight went up, but my cravings never went down. I finally decided, I simply cant eat cupcakes because I cant control them. > > > > " what Katcha says here is the only thing to do. Eat as much as you need to of the thing and you'll get over it " >

[Guest guest]

I actually had an experience relating to this post this past weekend.

Earlier in my IE journey I really struggled with legalizing food. I struggle far

less now. I go through periods where I am fine with all food then have couple

day spurts where I freak out on a food item and its legalized! : )

Anyway this past Friday I bought a meduim sized bag of Peanut M & Ms. By Sunday

the entire thing was gone. It was delicious by the way. I knew I was feeling

emotionally overwhelmed and was using the food item for comfort but I went for

it anyway. At the time I felt like I really needed this, like I did not have the

energy to put into any more emotional work. So I decided to eat it when I felt I

needed it but not let myself feel any ounce of guilt. It was what it was.

Honestly, by Sunday I had a really bad belly ache and was completely sick of

m & ms. Right now, the thought of them kind of grosses me out. This is amazing for

me since I am widely known for my sweet tooth addiction... and in fact I have

finished most of that size bag in less than a weekend.

So my point is I am wondering if you really legalized cupcakes. For me, I view

legalizing food as allowing yourself to have as much of a food item whenever. To

me this looks like a giant tin of cupcakes you can eat from for three meals a

day. If you are anything like me you would be tired of the cupcakes within a few

days. Mostly because you would start feelin sick from belly and headaches. I

feel like at this point your brain is slowley being conditioned to eat food in a

moderation, which makes your body feel good.

When I first started legalizing food, it took me a lot longer than a weekend. It

was more like several weeks because it was so hard to get that little tiny voice

out of my head that said, " bad girl! " .

Hope this helps!

- K

> >

> > This works for some - but it can backfire. Have you read " overcoming

overeating " ? Basically the principle behind the book is that if you let

yourself eat as much as you want of your binge food, you'll eventually get sick

of it and stop wanting it. Hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes later, I know

that's not true. For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many cupcakes as

I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any less of them. I

never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the previous and my desire

only increased. My cholesterol, triglycerides and weight went up, but my

cravings never went down. I finally decided, I simply cant eat cupcakes because

I cant control them.

> >

> >

> >

> > " what Katcha says here is the only thing to do. Eat as much as you need to

of the thing and you'll get over it "

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Oh, I absoolutely gave myself full permission to eat them. And to go further, I

never really had to give myself permission, because I never made them off

limits. I've eaten them since a child and enjoyed them in the most intense way.

There was no guilt about eating them and there was no " last supper " approach.

Even while dieting, it was the one food I never gave up. I just enjoyed them

too much.

>

> > For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many

> > cupcakes as I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any

> > less of them. I never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the

> > previous and my desire only increased.

>

> Did you REALLY give yourself permission to eat them? Or was it more like

> " I'll try this for a while and if I notice it doesn't work, I'm going to

> go on a diet again? " , therefore creating a situation not unlike " last

> supper eating " ? Get them while you still can?

>

> This seems to be a quite common pit fall.

>

> Regards

> s.

>

[Guest guest]

I had a HUGE supply. I shop at sams club and would be a box of 48 and would by

2 boxes at a time. I had 96 cupcakes in my house each and every sunday, which

is when I shopped there, and they never lasted until the following sunday. I'd

usually run out to the grocery store on Friday and buy a couple dozen more. I

would say over 100 cupcakes a week was quite a supply.

" Over the course of your year of cupcakes did you keep a HUGE supply (surplus?)

on hand all the time? If you only bought/made a few and ate them all up before

you bought/made the next batch, it may be that you didn't really legalize so

much as just gave yourself permission to eat (and eat and eat). I'm currently

reading When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies (same authors as Overcoming

Overeating) and it has a lot better explanation of legalizing plus why/how we do

it 'half' way which doesn't work ;-) "

>

> BEST to you, Katcha

> IEing since March 2007

>

>

> >

> > This works for some - but it can backfire. Have you read " overcoming

overeating " ? Basically the principle behind the book is that if you let

yourself eat as much as you want of your binge food, you'll eventually get sick

of it and stop wanting it. Hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes later, I know

that's not true. For over a year, I allowed myself to eat as many cupcakes as

I wanted, which on days was over a dozen. I never wanted any less of them. I

never got sick of them. Each one tasted as good as the previous and my desire

only increased. My cholesterol, triglycerides and weight went up, but my

cravings never went down. I finally decided, I simply cant eat cupcakes because

I cant control them.

> >

> >

> >

> > " what Katcha says here is the only thing to do. Eat as much as you need to

of the thing and you'll get over it "

> >

>

[Guest guest]

" knowing that you CAN always eat it and WILL supply it for

yourself. "

Exactly. I knew I could always eat the cupcakes, so I did and I knew I would

always keep buying more so I did. It just never helped. My consumption of them

never decreased. I cant begin to tell you what eating over 100 cupcakes a week

did to my triglycerides and bad cholesterol. My doctor freaked when he saw the

results, I didn't lie to him - I told him exactly what I was eating and he told

me to stop or I was going to have a heart attack. That didn't matter to me

either.

[Guest guest]

I just listed in a couple different replies that I ate over 100 a week. Yes, I

had headaches, belly aches and major digestive problems. But none of the

physical sickness symptoms were greater than the pleaure I got from eating them.

The good outweighed the bad. I was sick to my stomach (throwing up) at least 5

times a week during that year and even that didn't make me want them less. They

were legalized in every way, as they were never not legal. I ate them starting

as a small child and it continued into adulthood. Like I said in an earlier

post, I bought 96 a week at sams club (48 per box) and by friday, I was running

out to the grocery store for more. I ate them probably not less than 5 times a

day. Oh how I love those cupcakes.

" So my point is I am wondering if you really legalized cupcakes. For me, I view

legalizing food as allowing yourself to have as much of a food item whenever. To

me this looks like a giant tin of cupcakes you can eat from for three meals a

day. If you are anything like me you would be tired of the cupcakes within a few

days. Mostly because you would start feelin sick from belly and headaches. I

feel like at this point your brain is slowley being conditioned to eat food in a

moderation, which makes your body feel good. "

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> It felt like a 'rare' thing so I just HAD to have it, esp since it was

> FREE! I'm still a sucker for free food :/

I have that " rare thing " and " free food " problem, too.

However, I think it's mostly a matter of money (not the Pepsi you

mentioned, but the free food), at least it seems to be for me.

The more expensive a rare, free food is (always granted I like eating

it, like sushi), the more attractive it is for me. I wonder if this will

change when I'll find a job and start working. We'll be a couple with

two incomes then and will be able to afford more expensive foods and it

should be without too much bad conscience.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

, I really wish there was prefect words to write to you so that you could

find YOUR answer to what/why cupcakes are such a concern to/for you. It seems

that the legalizing process is the first big hurdle that so many of us struggle

with and continues to pop up even after one has pretty much 'jumped' it

initially. I can only suggest that you keep looking into this for yourself,

perhaps reading more in When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies about legalizing and

quasi-legalizing. We will do what we can to support you as you go thru this

process, but not one of us can get 'inside' your body/head to find what is

driving the cupcake urge and delight they must bring to/for you. I can only hope

to encourage you to keep at this very meaningful effort and look forward to

reading your VICTORY! post when your AH HA! moment happens for you.

Also, I do know that Gillian (group owner) does do 'laser' coaching sessions

where you and she 'hammer' at a single topic in an intense (on telephone)

session to assist you in your digging at a 'why' for yourself.

BEST wishes to you - Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I just listed in a couple different replies that I ate over 100 a week. Yes,

I had headaches, belly aches and major digestive problems. But none of the

physical sickness symptoms were greater than the pleaure I got from eating them.

The good outweighed the bad. I was sick to my stomach (throwing up) at least 5

times a week during that year and even that didn't make me want them less. They

were legalized in every way, as they were never not legal. I ate them starting

as a small child and it continued into adulthood. Like I said in an earlier

post, I bought 96 a week at sams club (48 per box) and by friday, I was running

out to the grocery store for more. I ate them probably not less than 5 times a

day. Oh how I love those cupcakes.

>

> " So my point is I am wondering if you really legalized cupcakes. For me, I

view legalizing food as allowing yourself to have as much of a food item

whenever. To me this looks like a giant tin of cupcakes you can eat from for

three meals a day. If you are anything like me you would be tired of the

cupcakes within a few days. Mostly because you would start feelin sick from

belly and headaches. I feel like at this point your brain is slowley being

conditioned to eat food in a moderation, which makes your body feel good. "

>