Diet Rebel won't quit

[Guest guest]

Help!! I have working on IE since early November. I think

I have made lots of progress honoring my hungry and legalizing foods. That’s

really great.

But now…

I have the ‘what the heck’ backlash. I’m

thinking … “I eat what I feel like when I am hungry, ranging from cookies

to salad. Everything is ok. So, eat whatever and lots of it … what difference

does it make.” My clothes are too tight. I am really trying to fight the

rebel and just eat until I’m full. But ‘full’ doesn’t

seem to happen. After cleaning the plate or getting to the bottom of the bowl, I

stop. 30 minutes later I am way too full.

This is a cycle that’s been pulling on me for the last

week or so. I have sabotaged myself many times before and haven’t

figured out why. I am at a loss for what to do or how to think another

way. Any suggestions or ideas to try?

Thanks,

Amie

[Guest guest]

Hi Amie: Do you have the IE book? If so, reread chapter 9 about 'Feel Your

Fullness'. If not, here's what helped me learn to stop when I felt moderately

full:

(1) I start eating when I feel comfortably hungry, not famished, but obviously

hungry. If I wait too long to eat, I don't want to stop eating, but if I'm not

hungry when I start eating, I don't have an obvious (from hungry to full)

stopping point.

(2) I eat satisfying foods, not just foods that taste good in my mouth, but

foods that feel good in my stomach. So when I've eaten enough, I no longer feel

the discomfort of hunger. When I'm satisfied, I feel the comfort of having eaten

just enough of foods that feel good in my stomach.

(3) I had to work really hard to learn to recognize 'moderately' or

'comfortably' full. What helped most was eating with NO distractions (no tv,

reading or even conversation) for at least one meal a day. So without

distractions I could pay attention to how my stomach felt. After every few bites

I would check to see if I still felt any hunger. When I began to feel slightly

full, I reminded myself that I could only eat 1-2 more bites before I felt full.

Beyond that, the food had done all it could for me. More food would not make me

'more satisfied'. More food would just make me feel uncomfortable.

(4) I had to 'vote for the inside' (ala the WWSHTB book) or choose to stop when

I feel comfortably full, rather than when all the food was gone, especially when

the food still tastes good. Some IE experts say that food doesn't taste as good,

when you get full. However very sweet foods or very salty foods will ALWAYS

taste sweet or salty. Only the subtle flavors seem to diminish when I get full.

(5) Eventually I learned how much food usually made me feel comfortably full. So

I would serve myself a 'comfortable' portion, to avoid that battle between my

mouth and my stomach at every meal. (My stomach would say " Stop already, I've

had enough " , but my mouth would say " NO WAY, this still tastes good. " ) If I

listened to my mouth, I would feel uncomfortable by the time I stopped eating.

So I had to commit ahead of time to listen to and obey my stomach cues.

(6) Above all I remind myself that I can have more of whatever I stop eating at

the next meal or the next day or whenever I am hungry and crave that food again.

Otherwise, I would feel deprived emotionally when I stop eating tasty food.

However, I would deprive myself of physical comfort, if I kept eating past

'full'. So promising myself to have that same food again helped me 'let go'

when I need to stop when food still on my plate.

I have to say that stopping when comfortably full took me the longest to learn

of any of the IE principles. So hang in there, listen to your body and learn

from the discomfort of overeating, but don't condemn yourself for mistakes.

SUE

>

> Help!! I have working on IE since early November. I think I have made lots

> of progress honoring my hungry and legalizing foods. That's really great.

>

>

>

> But now.

>

> I have the 'what the heck' backlash. I'm thinking . " I eat what I feel like

> when I am hungry, ranging from cookies to salad. Everything is ok. So, eat

> whatever and lots of it . what difference does it make. " My clothes are too

> tight. I am really trying to fight the rebel and just eat until I'm full.

> But 'full' doesn't seem to happen. After cleaning the plate or getting to

> the bottom of the bowl, I stop. 30 minutes later I am way too full.

>

>

>

> This is a cycle that's been pulling on me for the last week or so. I have

> sabotaged myself many times before and haven't figured out why. I am at a

> loss for what to do or how to think another way. Any suggestions or ideas to

> try?

>

>

>

> Thanks,

>

> Amie

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you Sue. Your posts are always quite helpful for me. I

need to print and tape this one to the wall. I am on my third read of the book since

I pickup more each time. I think I’m doing ok with #6 already, but the

other need some work. I appreciate your help.

I really do feel like something in my talk-track is sabotaging

the program. I hear it, but haven’t figured out where it’s coming

from.

Amie

[Guest guest]

Amy,

I'm sorry for the frustration you have experienced lately. I wonder if your Diet Rebel is surfacing because the other guidelines are more of a mandate for you, though, rather than best practices that we use most of the time. After all, naturally thin people sometimes eat past fullness, and there is nothing wrong with that. It takes time and a process to get to where you WANT to stop at 'comfortable' and if, instead, you are telling yourself that you HAVE to stop at the number 7, satisfied-but-not-full, the satisfied sigh, etc, then your Diet Rebel will see that as another diet and rear her protective head. Perhaps you need a bit more freedom to make her happy :-)

~

www.jenny-fair.blogspot.com

[Guest guest]

–

Thank you. I tell myself I should stop eating and haven’t

gotten to WANT to stop, yet. There are times when I have stopped, but

then either feel hungry or very full, soon afterwards. I guess I need more time

to tune it up.

Amie

[Guest guest]

I have definitely had my share of periods like this during my 3+ years of IE.

For me, after I while, I realize that I've been subconsciously restricting

myself.

Sometimes, I start focusing on weight loss, I start trying too hard, and I end

up overeating. Sometimes, I resist the idea of hunger subconsciouly. Other

times, I realize that I'm trying to stop eating too early.

I come out of it the same way every time. I need to give myself complete

permission to eat whatever I want whenever I want. As soon as I realize I'm the

tiniest bit hunger--not stomach grumbling, that's too far, just those tiny

hunger pangs that hit me first--I eat. Before I start, I commit to eating until

I'm completely satisfied. This gives me the calmness to eat slowly, savoring

every bite. Sometimes, I would have a period where I still have a feeling of

over-fulness a while after eating. If I stayed focused on giving myself

permission to eat and overeat, eventually my sense of satiety would come back in

line, so that it would become actually hard to overeat.

It seems like every time I have trouble with one pillar of IE, it's because I'm

letting my old dieting mentality seep back into that or another pillar of IE.

Hope this helps.

Sara

>

> Help!! I have working on IE since early November. I think I have made lots

> of progress honoring my hungry and legalizing foods. That's really great.

>

>

>

> But now.

>

> I have the 'what the heck' backlash. I'm thinking . " I eat what I feel like

> when I am hungry, ranging from cookies to salad. Everything is ok. So, eat

> whatever and lots of it . what difference does it make. " My clothes are too

> tight. I am really trying to fight the rebel and just eat until I'm full.

> But 'full' doesn't seem to happen. After cleaning the plate or getting to

> the bottom of the bowl, I stop. 30 minutes later I am way too full.

>

>

>

> This is a cycle that's been pulling on me for the last week or so. I have

> sabotaged myself many times before and haven't figured out why. I am at a

> loss for what to do or how to think another way. Any suggestions or ideas to

> try?

>

>

>

> Thanks,

>

> Amie

>