Re: Popping out from lurkdom with questions

July 27, 2009

, what popped into my mind was wondering if you have done any exercises to

experience your (body) hunger? I know that feeling my hunger became a big

concern for me when I started IE. I began eating something, that I thought I

wanted, and then took a timer, set it for an hour, and checked in with myself

after that hour to see if I felt hungry (again). Sweets or starches (only) would

'hold' me for about an hour. If I ate something with fat or protein I could go

3-4 hours without feeling hunger. This not only helped me reacquaint with my

hunger signals (as well as checking them too), it also helped me to 'know' if I

COULD be hungry or other (emotional) driven to eat.

Discovering this for myself has served me in other ways. I now have a something

like toast or piece of pastry with my coffee when I first get going in the

morning. I don't fret if this is 'breakfast' or not, its just what I like (and

need) upon awakening. Then when I feel hungry later in the (late) morning, I eat

what I want then. No more trying to slot my eating into 'should' piegon holes or

thinking in terms of holding meal times hallowed.

The hard part becomes not feeling hunger, but finding what to do when you find

that you are feeling 'hungry' but you KNOW that your stomach is full and you

don't really have a drive to eat something (specific/desired). When you can see

and work on that, your concerns with body hunger will return to a physical

hunger basis instead of being a mask for other reasons that you are (currently)

having difficulty dealing with.

This is perhaps the most scary and HARD part of IE to do. Don't push, worry or

beat yourself up over needing to take the time to get to the place where you can

and do do this. Hoping you will share your struggles and victories as you can

here. It really helps everyone, not just you, when we share our efforts.

Ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> 1) I'm trying to honour my hunger but am having difficulty knowing

> whether what I'm experiencing is a true desire for food or just a

> defence mechanism urge. For example, am I really hungry this morning or

> is it just because I know that there is food around and I'm wanting a

> distraction from the figures I'm working on? Where is the line between

> waiting it out to see if the feeling is true hunger versus pushing

> hunger past its first indicators?

>

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