~Intuitive Eating~

[xbumblebeex]

Hi guys! I thought I would start a new thread. I haven't labelled it as June because last months thread was a little quiter than the one before, I wondered if we should just have a thread until it gets a little too long. It really is up to you all.


Anyway to all of the regulars To anybody new

This is a thread where we discuss the principles of intuitive eating and try our best to practice them. You may just be interested in the idea or you may want to live the intuitive way, but please pop in. We do love a chat.

Everyone here is doing a mixture. Some are maybe trying to focus on just one or two of the principles and some are trying to do them all. It really is up to you as long as it works for you and you feel happy with it.

Right now I'm trying to still watch my calorie intake but focus on only eating when hungry and stopping when full.

So I hope that we all reach our goals! Good luck to you all!


10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

1. Reject the Diet Mentality Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

2. Honor Your Hunger Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for re-building trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace with Food Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

5. Respect Your Fullness Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you've had "enough".

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

8. Respect Your Body Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

10 Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.


Here is a hunger scale also. There are lots of different versions but they are all based on the same idea.

HUNGER SCALE

10 - STUFFED: so full that you feel nauseous
9 - VERY UNCOMFORTABLY FULL:
you need to loosen your clothes
8 - UNCOMFORTABLY FULL: you feel bloated
7 - FULL: you feel a little bit uncomfortable
6 - PERFECTLY COMFORTABLE: you feel satisfied
5 - COMFORTABLE: you're more/less satisfied,
but could eat a little more
4 - SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE: you're just
beginning to feel signs of hunger
3 - UNCOMFORTABLE: stomach is rumbling
2 - VERY UNCOMFORTABLE: you feel irritable
& unable to concentrate
1 - WEAK & LIGHT-HEADED: your stomach acid is churning



** Begin eating when you're at a 3 or 4
** Stop at 5, if you're trying to lose weight
** Stop at 6, if you're wanting to maintain your weight

[Kissa]

Oh thanks Bumble, I am happy to post here now I know it's here. DOH!

[dae_tona]

Wow. This place is so quiet. Where is everyone?

I am still doing good with my no-scale, no-diet.

I cannot tell you how much of a burden has been lifted off of me since I decided to go this route & not be so obsessive anymore. It is such a great feeling to be in freedom...well, as long as I don't take it as far as I did awhile back.

I'm aware of foods that will trigger me (whipped cream) and foods that will keep me satisfied (mainly fat & protein)

But I still allow myself the burger & fries. But the DH and I decided to cut back on the fries and start splitting a small instead of a large because we both know a small fry would be enough for us. Or a small onion ring.

And it's also good to spread this message of freedom to the people around me at my church & work as well. I think some of them are still amazed at my new attitude toward this. I'm still amazed at it.

Dyan

[Kissa]

Dyan, how long have you been doing IE?

I am still adjusting. I gave in to the scale this morning but was only up a couple of pounds which we all know is not a lot, providing the trend does not continue!

I almost went back to LC on Sunday evening after a too large lunch. Just ate meat that evening.

However I have decided to fight on and conquer the urge to 'diet'. I want this too much to give in!

[dae_tona]

I've been doing this since March 31st. So I just got through 2 months.

I stick closely to the foods I enjoy: meat, eggs, oils, veggies, nuts/seeds, berries, high percentage dark chocolate. These are the foods I truly enjoy but I will have a burger & fry once a week. And then sometimes, I might have some toast. When we go out, I might have a meal along with a dessert or a drink. I am aware that nothing is off limits so my desire for certain foods (sweets, breads, etc.) is gone. If I was being restrictive & was told that I couldn't have XXXX, then I'd want it all the more & give in to it. But as long as I know I can have it, it is no longer an obession for me. And I am aware that one piece of chocolate cake will not put weight on me. One slice of bread will not put weight on me.

I came close to wanting to 'diet' again. But the DH pointed out what I was doing to myself. "You're doing things right this time around. And I can see the results. (with attitude and body shaping) Don't try to do anything differently." He told me when I talked about feeling like I was following the path to least resistance. His replY? "No. That's not the path to least resistance. The path you're following is to freedom."

Dyan

[mjais]

Hi Guys!

Bumblebee, thanks for starting the new thread.

IE has definitely been a path for me to rid myself of diet mentality and control my stress eating. At this point on my IE journey, I trust the way I eat and my activity level and my body weight has been stable for quite some time.

I'm sharing this because I hope it helps someone else. IE is not easy and it may not be a choice for everyone, but I do believe if one can work through the food and body issues, the body will and does learn to regulate itself.

Have a great day!

[Kissa]

Thanks Dyan and Mjais, this is just what I need to hear.

I am going ahead with this, it was a good day today.

[steady]

Originally Posted by dae_tona

I am aware that nothing is off limits so my desire for certain foods (sweets, breads, etc.) is gone. If I was being restrictive & was told that I couldn't have XXXX, then I'd want it all the more & give in to it. But as long as I know I can have it, it is no longer an obession for me.


I came close to wanting to 'diet' again. But the DH pointed out what I was doing to myself. "You're doing things right this time around. And I can see the results. (with attitude and body shaping) Don't try to do anything differently." He told me when I talked about feeling like I was following the path to least resistance. His replY? "No. That's not the path to least resistance. The path you're following is to freedom."

Dyan

What a beautiful post and a great DH you have!!! I agree; my desire for certain food is gone, and restrictive thing is also counterproductive for me. You are in a great "mindset" now...go with it...don't look back...DH is right..this is your path to freedom.

[Kissa]

Yesterday evening went really well. I ate consciously, left some of my first course, finished my main, did not order desert but warned the other 3 that I would be tasting theirs! Tiny taste of each was very nice.

I am in a pair of my 'slim' jeans today, always a happy feeling!

[dae_tona]

I ate half an 86% dark chocolate bar yesterday. TOM was close & I just wanted chocolate so that's what I had...it was very satisfactory.

Then the rest of the day, I had eggs. For some reason, that is all I have been wanting lately. Well, I did have a slice of whole grain bread yesterday, too.

I have found-for me-that taken myself off of any one plan works in my favor. I no longer bloat when I have something that has wheat or grains in it. I don't even bloat if I have something that's a little higher in carbs than normal. I don't know why that is. It is just amazing to me. Even though I do lean toward the lower carb foods, I still will have a slice of bread. It seems like I have had one slice every day this week. I can control that for some reason but I can't control whipped cream. I used to be the opposite-I could control whipped cream but not bread. Weird how things change as time goes on.

I posted in the Main Lobby yesterday about To Scale or Not To Scale. The DH thinks I am at a place now where I could be able to get on once a week without being obsessive. And I know I am there, too. But I haven't made that final decision yet. It would be a guide more than anything else. But my jeans can be more of a guide. So it's still in consideration but nothing has been done yet.

Dyan

[Kissa]

WTG Dyan.

I have had a berry smoothie and a thin slice of fat free ginger cake that I normally buy for DH.

Chicken salad tonight, yummy.

[steady]

Cindy and Dyan sounds like you are both doing great.
Cindy- When I feel like I am on the brink of indulging, I sometimes put on my skinny jeans to remind me that I want to be able to fit in these tomorrow. It is probably one of the most successful tactics I use.
Dyan- When I was diet free (about 5 years of successful IE w/o effort) I would often eat just a chocolate bar because that is what I wanted...it never adversely affected my weight. If fact, chocolate does not have the psychologic power over me that some other foods do and I attribute that to "allowing" myself to have it when I wanted it.

I have learned to "feel" weight fluctuations. I know when I have gained and lossed without a scale---even as little as a half pound. I weigh using a scale about 1 time a month just to gauge/recalibrate my internal scale. Being scale free had help me learn what and how much I can eat and maintain. For me, using a scale gets me caught up in a diet...because I like "to win" and will behave/eat to achieve a certain number. I want to be diet free. I know that is just a personal thing. Just though I would share.

Have a good weekend. I am going to the beach this weekend. DH and I are trying to commit to working out regularly...so we are going for a run Saturday morn and we will see how we feel on Sunday.

[Kissa]

Thanks Steady, I so appreciate your advice.

Today I only ate an apple and a banana and then had a great dinner out with my FIL and DH. I have no idea about the calorie or carb count. Trying not to think about it.

Good work on the running with DH.

[xbumblebeex]

Hi guys! I am so sorry I haven't posted, it's just I'm not really doing IE just now. I just can't cope with the thought of summer coming up... I feel like I need to be on a "diet". I know it's terrible! I'm really sorry but I just feel like I can't do IE just now. I did enjoy it I just found I wasn't getting results. I guess I still have that diet mentality. I'm pretty frustrated with myself after trying so hard. Anyways, I do hope to get back to IE at some point. Keep up the good work!

[Kissa]

You'll be fine, no harm in a little dieting if that is what your body is telling you to do.

We are here ready to welcome you, anytime.

[Kissa]

Well yesterday was a good day except that I drank too much wine.

Today is going well and I feel very positive.

The weather is perfect and I am so lucky to live in London!

I met a friend who is here from Hong Kong for lunch. We talked for hours and simply shared a little hummus, some olives and 2 pitta bread with a glass of wine.

Going to the theatre this evening with DH and will eat chicken breasts and salad on our return.

[mjais]

Hi Guys!

Bumblebee: You have our support. Do what you think is best with regards to your eating and your weight. It's a learning process. I hope you will post and let us know how you are doing.

Cindy: It sounds like you're doing great! Congrats on wearing the 'slim' jeans, too. Did you enjoy the theatre? Which play did you see?

As for me, lately, I've been eating more fruit. I'm sure part of the reason is the spring/summer season. I love nectarines, strawberries and grapes, so I've been enjoying my fruit salads.

[Kissa]

We saw Rattigan's 'Deep Blue Sea' with Gretta Scatchi (sp). Very good.

Ate all my pizza last night, despite not needing it, not to worry, I hope these things even out.

Off to my step class now, hope to burn off some of those calories!!!!

I have a beautiful papaya with lime to look forward to later.

[Kissa]

Great weekend and I really feel I am in charge now. I love being able to order whatever I like on a menu and even the supermarket looks different when all the fruits are available to me. I am still eating mostly meat, fish, veggies and fruit but ordered a pasta dish on Saturday while dining out, really enjoyed it but didn't eat it all.

Happy me.

Hope everyone else is enjoying their freedom as much as I am.

[Kissa]

Hellooooo!

[fjeld]

Hi Cindy! I can understand if you are starting to feel sort of alone here. I'm glad you are doing so well Total IE does not work for me as a WOE, and I'm trying to figure out what does

I've ordered two new books, Life Without Bread and the latest by Barry Groves. I'm hoping for some more insight from them.

/fjeld

[Kissa]

Hi Fjeld, I think it is okay to have certain 'rules' within IE. We are all doing this for ourselves and are adult enough to make things work for us.

I have been using Paul Mckenna's I Can Make You Thin CD and book, which really is all about IE by another name. Listening to the CD has helped tremendously. I recommend it.

[wendysmiling]

Hi!

[Kissa]

Hi Wendy!

I am keeping up the fight to eat intuitively. I find I really don't want potatoes. Fruit salad goes down very well though and I do enjoy a sandwich when I am out sometimes.

Weight is pretty stable at around 132/133. I am happy with that for a while though I prefer to be 5 lbs lighter. I have not gained though and I haven't been at the gym as regularly as I like to, so I am quite comfortable with the scales.

I do find I eat more than I probably need at a meal when I am eating out with friends. I don't pay enough attention to my body telling that I am full.

[belleadonna]

I am so over diet plans!! I have tried every one under the bleeding sun. My problem is not too many carbs, too much protein, too many fats, not enough carbs and protein and too many fats, not enough fats and too little carbs, yada, yada, yada. My problem is that I overeat calories. PERIOD!! So, having said that, I am eating what I want but watching my caloric intake. I have never been one much for sweets or franken foods anyway so that is not a problem. I will strive to feed my body only when it is hungry and too feed it what it craves. Right now I am craving fresh local produce. YUM.

FREEDOM !!!

[Kissa]

Hi Bella, I am so enjoying freedom too!

I am not losing at present but neither am I gaining. My fruit intake is right up as the summer fruits are so appealing.

I think I still eat a little more than I really need, it is the knowing when to stop is the trickiest bit of IE.

Good to see you here, it has been very quiet lately.