RE: another long post, but this one is happy

[Guest guest]

Wow. What a profound breakthrough! This is wonderful!

I had a major life-altering breakthrough yesterday. I was so happy I wanted to shout and sing and dance. I did cry. Here's the story.I started reading Thin Within (the newer version). Their program asks you to keep charts about how you are able to follow the guidelines they give you--you know, eat when hungry, stop before full, etc. So I started to do that. I've been trying to apply the principles of IE for months, of course, but I felt I wanted to try to record progress now. I sat and ate lunch. I began eating as soon as I could when I realized I was truly hungry. I tried to eat slowly and pay attention to fullness. I really tasted the food and found that yes, I did like what I was eating. When I finished eating, I sat back on the couch to record how the meal had gone and what I had observed. About 20 minutes later, I started to feel hungry.This is something that has happened to me for years. For ten years, I have complained that 20 minutes to an hour after eating and feeling full, I feel hungry again. For ten years I have grieved over this, felt guilty and ashamed about it, wondered what was wrong with me, sought doctor's advice about it, and on and on and on. Well, yesterday, when that old familiar feeling came again, and I knew I had just eaten very mindfully, I stopped. In Thin Within, the hunger scale is a bit different than in the IE book. TW tells you to eat when you are empty. To them, hungry = empty. Right then, as I started to write about what I was feeling, it came to me like a lightning bolt; clear as can be, these words popped into my head: "It's not hunger." What? "That feeling you are feeling right now is not hunger." I wasn't empty. I could feel that my tummy was full, but I did have this other physical sensation that I've always believed was hunger. But it's not. It's not hunger. It's not hunger. IT'S NOT HUNGER! Over the next two hours, it all fell into place for me as I thought about it and rejoiced and talked with my husband about it. All these years, I have thought there was something wrong with me because I'm hungry all the time. And I've felt compelled to feed that feeling to make it go away. I feed it and feed it, and an hour later, it's back. So I eat again. I feel compelled. Even with IE, when there are no rules, I made it a rule to eat when I'm hungry. But that's the problem: I'm always hungry (or so I thought) so I'm always eating. And that has never felt right, never felt good, never been conducive to maintaining a normal weight or even a healthy image of myself. What eventually began to happen over the years is that I began to eat WAY past fullness at every meal to try to prevent that hunger from coming back right away. Either that, or I would eat about a dozen meals a day.It became a kind of slavery to try to get ahead of that hunger. I was afraid of hunger, afraid I would never get enough food. Afraid of stopping at full, because what if that feeling comes back? Yesterday, I sat there and felt the feeling and analyzed it. I felt my tummy was full, but this feeling was not in my tummy. It's a feeling I have in my chest and throat. My husband said "I never feel hunger anywhere but in my stomach." As I sat with that feeling, I recognized how it's different from hunger. And suddenly, after years of wondering why I'm hungry and full at the same time, I realized it's not possible. And I was able to distinguish the two feelings. And I know I will continue to be able to distinguish them. I don't know what the other feeling is. I will continue to investigate it and try to figure that out, but that doesn't really matter that much right now. All I can say is what I said OVER and OVER yesterday: IT'S NOT HUNGER. I don't have to try to feed it. Don't you see? I'm free. I don't have to feed that feeling any more.Since then I've felt food losing its power over me. I no longer feel compelled to eat to try to make that feeling go away. I feel now that I have control. So much guilt and fear and self-criticism melted away as I realized that I'm not some freak who's hungry all the time. I can recognize when I'm full and it's not scary to stop eating. I'm still going to work a lot on knowing when to stop and resisting the temptation to clean my plate, but for the first time, I wasn't afraid. I'm not afraid.I'm rambling now, I think, but I hope you can all tell what a miracle this was yesterday. It's so simple and even silly, but this hungry = empty way of looking at things, is going to change my life. It already has. Yesterday, it was a joy to me to feel what my real hunger actually feels like. I could see how IE could actually work to help me go back to my body's natural size because yesterday (1 day is a good start!) food was just food. It was not love or punishment or anything else. Food was something to fill my empty tummy. And that's all I wanted it for.I actually really doubted even one day of that was possible. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I now know it's all possible. I'm not afraid anymore.I don't know if anything I've said will help anyone, but mostly I just wanted to share my joy. I'm overflowing with happiness about it. I feel hope and peace and freedom when I think about my body and my relationship with food.Thanks for listening.Ann

Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

[Guest guest]

That's awesome, I'm so glad for you - way to go and how inspiring!!!

KIm

-- another long post, but this one is happy

I had a major life-altering breakthrough yesterday. I was so happy I wanted to shout and sing and dance. I did cry. Here's the story.I started reading Thin Within (the newer version). Their program asks you to keep charts about how you are able to follow the guidelines they give you--you know, eat when hungry, stop before full, etc. So I started to do that. I've been trying to apply the principles of IE for months, of course, but I felt I wanted to try to record progress now. I sat and ate lunch. I began eating as soon as I could when I realized I was truly hungry. I tried to eat slowly and pay attention to fullness. I really tasted the food and found that yes, I did like what I was eating. When I finished eating, I sat back on the couch to record how the meal had gone and what I had observed. About 20 minutes later, I started to feel hungry.This is something that has happened to me for years. For ten years, I have complained that 20 minutes to an hour after eating and feeling full, I feel hungry again. For ten years I have grieved over this, felt guilty and ashamed about it, wondered what was wrong with me, sought doctor's advice about it, and on and on and on. Well, yesterday, when that old familiar feeling came again, and I knew I had just eaten very mindfully, I stopped. In Thin Within, the hunger scale is a bit different than in the IE book. TW tells you to eat when you are empty. To them, hungry = empty. Right then, as I started to write about what I was feeling, it came to me like a lightning bolt; clear as can be, these words popped into my head: "It's not hunger." What? "That feeling you are feeling right now is not hunger." I wasn't empty. I could feel that my tummy was full, but I did have this other physical sensation that I've always believed was hunger. But it's not. It's not hunger. It's not hunger. IT'S NOT HUNGER! Over the next two hours, it all fell into place for me as I thought about it and rejoiced and talked with my husband about it. All these years, I have thought there was something wrong with me because I'm hungry all the time. And I've felt compelled to feed that feeling to make it go away. I feed it and feed it, and an hour later, it's back. So I eat again. I feel compelled. Even with IE, when there are no rules, I made it a rule to eat when I'm hungry. But that's the problem: I'm always hungry (or so I thought) so I'm always eating. And that has never felt right, never felt good, never been conducive to maintaining a normal weight or even a healthy image of myself. What eventually began to happen over the years is that I began to eat WAY past fullness at every meal to try to prevent that hunger from coming back right away. Either that, or I would eat about a dozen meals a day.It became a kind of slavery to try to get ahead of that hunger. I was afraid of hunger, afraid I would never get enough food. Afraid of stopping at full, because what if that feeling comes back? Yesterday, I sat there and felt the feeling and analyzed it. I felt my tummy was full, but this feeling was not in my tummy. It's a feeling I have in my chest and throat. My husband said "I never feel hunger anywhere but in my stomach." As I sat with that feeling, I recognized how it's different from hunger. And suddenly, after years of wondering why I'm hungry and full at the same time, I realized it's not possible. And I was able to distinguish the two feelings. And I know I will continue to be able to distinguish them. I don't know what the other feeling is. I will continue to investigate it and try to figure that out, but that doesn't really matter that much right now. All I can say is what I said OVER and OVER yesterday: IT'S NOT HUNGER. I don't have to try to feed it. Don't you see? I'm free. I don't have to feed that feeling any more.Since then I've felt food losing its power over me. I no longer feel compelled to eat to try to make that feeling go away. I feel now that I have control. So much guilt and fear and self-criticism melted away as I realized that I'm not some freak who's hungry all the time. I can recognize when I'm full and it's not scary to stop eating. I'm still going to work a lot on knowing when to stop and resisting the temptation to clean my plate, but for the first time, I wasn't afraid. I'm not afraid.I'm rambling now, I think, but I hope you can all tell what a miracle this was yesterday. It's so simple and even silly, but this hungry = empty way of looking at things, is going to change my life. It already has. Yesterday, it was a joy to me to feel what my real hunger actually feels like. I could see how IE could actually work to help me go back to my body's natural size because yesterday (1 day is a good start!) food was just food. It was not love or punishment or anything else. Food was something to fill my empty tummy. And that's all I wanted it for.I actually really doubted even one day of that was possible. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I now know it's all possible. I'm not afraid anymore.I don't know if anything I've said will help anyone, but mostly I just wanted to share my joy. I'm overflowing with happiness about it. I feel hope and peace and freedom when I think about my body and my relationship with food.Thanks for listening.Ann

[Guest guest]

Those are the moments we all live for. Congrats on this discovery and

a real good place to build more IE upon as well. ehugs, Katcha

>

> I had a major life-altering breakthrough yesterday. I was so happy

I wanted

> to shout and sing and dance. I did cry. Here's the story.

>

> I started reading Thin Within (the newer version). Their program

asks you

> to keep charts about how you are able to follow the guidelines they give

> you--you know, eat when hungry, stop before full, etc. So I started

to do

> that. I've been trying to apply the principles of IE for months, of

course,

> but I felt I wanted to try to record progress now. I sat and ate

lunch. I

> began eating as soon as I could when I realized I was truly hungry.

I tried

> to eat slowly and pay attention to fullness. I really tasted the

food and

> found that yes, I did like what I was eating. When I finished

eating, I sat

> back on the couch to record how the meal had gone and what I had

observed.

> About 20 minutes later, I started to feel hungry.

>

> This is something that has happened to me for years. For ten years,

I have

> complained that 20 minutes to an hour after eating and feeling full,

I feel

> hungry again. For ten years I have grieved over this, felt guilty and

> ashamed about it, wondered what was wrong with me, sought doctor's

advice

> about it, and on and on and on.

>

> Well, yesterday, when that old familiar feeling came again, and I

knew I had

> just eaten very mindfully, I stopped. In Thin Within, the hunger

scale is a

> bit different than in the IE book. TW tells you to eat when you are

empty.

> To them, hungry = empty. Right then, as I started to write about

what I was

> feeling, it came to me like a lightning bolt; clear as can be, these

words

> popped into my head: " It's not hunger. " What? " That feeling you are

> feeling right now is not hunger. " I wasn't empty. I could feel that my

> tummy was full, but I did have this other physical sensation that I've

> always believed was hunger. But it's not.

>

> It's not hunger. It's not hunger. IT'S NOT HUNGER!

>

> Over the next two hours, it all fell into place for me as I thought

about it

> and rejoiced and talked with my husband about it.

>

> All these years, I have thought there was something wrong with me

because

> I'm hungry all the time. And I've felt compelled to feed that

feeling to

> make it go away. I feed it and feed it, and an hour later, it's

back. So I

> eat again. I feel compelled. Even with IE, when there are no

rules, I made

> it a rule to eat when I'm hungry. But that's the problem: I'm

always hungry

> (or so I thought) so I'm always eating. And that has never felt right,

> never felt good, never been conducive to maintaining a normal weight

or even

> a healthy image of myself. What eventually began to happen over the

years

> is that I began to eat WAY past fullness at every meal to try to prevent

> that hunger from coming back right away. Either that, or I would

eat about

> a dozen meals a day.

>

> It became a kind of slavery to try to get ahead of that hunger. I was

> afraid of hunger, afraid I would never get enough food. Afraid of

stopping

> at full, because what if that feeling comes back?

>

> Yesterday, I sat there and felt the feeling and analyzed it. I felt my

> tummy was full, but this feeling was not in my tummy. It's a

feeling I have

> in my chest and throat. My husband said " I never feel hunger

anywhere but

> in my stomach. " As I sat with that feeling, I recognized how it's

different

> from hunger. And suddenly, after years of wondering why I'm hungry

and full

> at the same time, I realized it's not possible. And I was able to

> distinguish the two feelings.

>

> And I know I will continue to be able to distinguish them. I don't know

> what the other feeling is. I will continue to investigate it and try to

> figure that out, but that doesn't really matter that much right now.

All I

> can say is what I said OVER and OVER yesterday: IT'S NOT HUNGER. I

don't

> have to try to feed it. Don't you see? I'm free. I don't have to

feed that

> feeling any more.

>

> Since then I've felt food losing its power over me. I no longer feel

> compelled to eat to try to make that feeling go away. I feel now

that I have

> control. So much guilt and fear and self-criticism melted away as I

> realized that I'm not some freak who's hungry all the time. I can

recognize

> when I'm full and it's not scary to stop eating. I'm still going to

work a

> lot on knowing when to stop and resisting the temptation to clean my

plate,

> but for the first time, I wasn't afraid. I'm not afraid.

>

> I'm rambling now, I think, but I hope you can all tell what a

miracle this

> was yesterday. It's so simple and even silly, but this hungry =

empty way

> of looking at things, is going to change my life. It already has.

> Yesterday, it was a joy to me to feel what my real hunger actually feels

> like. I could see how IE could actually work to help me go back to my

> body's natural size because yesterday (1 day is a good start!) food

was just

> food. It was not love or punishment or anything else. Food was

something

> to fill my empty tummy. And that's all I wanted it for.

>

> I actually really doubted even one day of that was possible. I have

a lot

> of work ahead of me, but I now know it's all possible. I'm not afraid

> anymore.

> I don't know if anything I've said will help anyone, but mostly I just

> wanted to share my joy. I'm overflowing with happiness about it. I

feel

> hope and peace and freedom when I think about my body and my

relationship

> with food.

>

> Thanks for listening.

> Ann

>

[Guest guest]

Ann,

Wonderful post, and great job. I'm so happy for you.

Just so you know, as others have shared, I too had that whole I am better than you because look at what I eat. It's tied up in the black and white thinking, we're either good or we're bad. We're never just ok the way we are. Now you get to be ok the way you are. I bet that's quite a relief, I know it is for me!

Thanks!GillianGillian Hood-son, MS, ACSMHealthier OutcomesIt's not just about losing weight! Want to eat your favorite foods without gaining weight? Get your copy of our fr*e special report, "6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating" by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of Ann DarringtonSent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 12:56 PMTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: another long post, but this one is happy

I had a major life-altering breakthrough yesterday. I was so happy I wanted to shout and sing and dance. I did cry. Here's the story.I started reading Thin Within (the newer version). Their program asks you to keep charts about how you are able to follow the guidelines they give you--you know, eat when hungry, stop before full, etc. So I started to do that. I've been trying to apply the principles of IE for months, of course, but I felt I wanted to try to record progress now. I sat and ate lunch. I began eating as soon as I could when I realized I was truly hungry. I tried to eat slowly and pay attention to fullness. I really tasted the food and found that yes, I did like what I was eating. When I finished eating, I sat back on the couch to record how the meal had gone and what I had observed. About 20 minutes later, I started to feel hungry.This is something that has happened to me for years. For ten years, I have complained that 20 minutes to an hour after eating and feeling full, I feel hungry again. For ten years I have grieved over this, felt guilty and ashamed about it, wondered what was wrong with me, sought doctor's advice about it, and on and on and on. Well, yesterday, when that old familiar feeling came again, and I knew I had just eaten very mindfully, I stopped. In Thin Within, the hunger scale is a bit different than in the IE book. TW tells you to eat when you are empty. To them, hungry = empty. Right then, as I started to write about what I was feeling, it came to me like a lightning bolt; clear as can be, these words popped into my head: "It's not hunger." What? "That feeling you are feeling right now is not hunger." I wasn't empty. I could feel that my tummy was full, but I did have this other physical sensation that I've always believed was hunger. But it's not. It's not hunger. It's not hunger. IT'S NOT HUNGER! Over the next two hours, it all fell into place for me as I thought about it and rejoiced and talked with my husband about it. All these years, I have thought there was something wrong with me because I'm hungry all the time. And I've felt compelled to feed that feeling to make it go away. I feed it and feed it, and an hour later, it's back. So I eat again. I feel compelled. Even with IE, when there are no rules, I made it a rule to eat when I'm hungry. But that's the problem: I'm always hungry (or so I thought) so I'm always eating. And that has never felt right, never felt good, never been conducive to maintaining a normal weight or even a healthy image of myself. What eventually began to happen over the years is that I began to eat WAY past fullness at every meal to try to prevent that hunger from coming back right away. Either that, or I would eat about a dozen meals a day.It became a kind of slavery to try to get ahead of that hunger. I was afraid of hunger, afraid I would never get enough food. Afraid of stopping at full, because what if that feeling comes back? Yesterday, I sat there and felt the feeling and analyzed it. I felt my tummy was full, but this feeling was not in my tummy. It's a feeling I have in my chest and throat. My husband said "I never feel hunger anywhere but in my stomach." As I sat with that feeling, I recognized how it's different from hunger. And suddenly, after years of wondering why I'm hungry and full at the same time, I realized it's not possible. And I was able to distinguish the two feelings. And I know I will continue to be able to distinguish them. I don't know what the other feeling is. I will continue to investigate it and try to figure that out, but that doesn't really matter that much right now. All I can say is what I said OVER and OVER yesterday: IT'S NOT HUNGER. I don't have to try to feed it. Don't you see? I'm free. I don't have to feed that feeling any more.Since then I've felt food losing its power over me. I no longer feel compelled to eat to try to make that feeling go away. I feel now that I have control. So much guilt and fear and self-criticism melted away as I realized that I'm not some freak who's hungry all the time. I can recognize when I'm full and it's not scary to stop eating. I'm still going to work a lot on knowing when to stop and resisting the temptation to clean my plate, but for the first time, I wasn't afraid. I'm not afraid.I'm rambling now, I think, but I hope you can all tell what a miracle this was yesterday. It's so simple and even silly, but this hungry = empty way of looking at things, is going to change my life. It already has. Yesterday, it was a joy to me to feel what my real hunger actually feels like. I could see how IE could actually work to help me go back to my body's natural size because yesterday (1 day is a good start!) food was just food. It was not love or punishment or anything else. Food was something to fill my empty tummy. And that's all I wanted it for.I actually really doubted even one day of that was possible. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I now know it's all possible. I'm not afraid anymore.I don't know if anything I've said will help anyone, but mostly I just wanted to share my joy. I'm overflowing with happiness about it. I feel hope and peace and freedom when I think about my body and my relationship with food.Thanks for listening.Ann

[Guest guest]

This is fantastic!!! Thank you for sharing with us because your

success is so encouraging. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Thank your for sharing. Thin Within is the next book to read on my list. I hope to start it next week. I can hear the excitment in your message! Congrats on you awareness!

Alana

-------------- Original message --------------

I had a major life-altering breakthrough yesterday. I was so happy I wanted to shout and sing and dance. I did cry. Here's the story.I started reading Thin Within (the newer version). Their program asks you to keep charts about how you are able to follow the guidelines they give you--you know, eat when hungry, stop before full, etc. So I started to do that. I've been trying to apply the principles of IE for months, of course, but I felt I wanted to try to record progress now. I sat and ate lunch. I began eating as soon as I could when I realized I was truly hungry. I tried to eat slowly and pay attention to fullness. I really tasted the food and found that yes, I did like what I was eating. When I finished eating, I sat back on the couch to record how the meal had gone and what I had observed. About 20 minutes later, I started to feel hungry.This is something that has happened to me for years

.. For ten years, I have complained that 20 minutes to an hour after eating and feeling full, I feel hungry again. For ten years I have grieved over this, felt guilty and ashamed about it, wondered what was wrong with me, sought doctor's advice about it, and on and on and on. Well, yesterday, when that old familiar feeling came again, and I knew I had just eaten very mindfully, I stopped. In Thin Within, the hunger scale is a bit different than in the IE book. TW tells you to eat when you are empty. To them, hungry = empty. Right then, as I started to write about what I was feeling, it came to me like a lightning bolt; clear as can be, these words popped into my head: "It's not hunger." What? "That feeling you are feeling right now is not hunger." I wasn't empty. I could feel that my tummy was full, but I did have this other physical sensation that I've always believed was hunger. But it's not. I

t's not hunger. It's not hunger. IT'S NOT HUNGER! Over the next two hours, it all fell into place for me as I thought about it and rejoiced and talked with my husband about it. All these years, I have thought there was something wrong with me because I'm hungry all the time. And I've felt compelled to feed that feeling to make it go away. I feed it and feed it, and an hour later, it's back. So I eat again. I feel compelled. Even with IE, when there are no rules, I made it a rule to eat when I'm hungry. But that's the problem: I'm always hungry (or so I thought) so I'm always eating. And that has never felt right, never felt good, never been conducive to maintaining a normal weight or even a healthy image of myself. What eventually began to happen over the years is that I began to eat WAY past fullness at every meal to try to prevent that hunger from coming back right away. Either that, or I woul

d eat about a dozen meals a day.It became a kind of slavery to try to get ahead of that hunger. I was afraid of hunger, afraid I would never get enough food. Afraid of stopping at full, because what if that feeling comes back? Yesterday, I sat there and felt the feeling and analyzed it. I felt my tummy was full, but this feeling was not in my tummy. It's a feeling I have in my chest and throat. My husband said "I never feel hunger anywhere but in my stomach." As I sat with that feeling, I recognized how it's different from hunger. And suddenly, after years of wondering why I'm hungry and full at the same time, I realized it's not possible. And I was able to distinguish the two feelings. And I know I will continue to be able to distinguish them. I don't know what the other feeling is. I will continue to investigate it and try to figure that out, but that doesn't really matter that much right no

w. All I can say is what I said OVER and OVER yesterday: IT'S NOT HUNGER. I don't have to try to feed it. Don't you see? I'm free. I don't have to feed that feeling any more.Since then I've felt food losing its power over me. I no longer feel compelled to eat to try to make that feeling go away. I feel now that I have control. So much guilt and fear and self-criticism melted away as I realized that I'm not some freak who's hungry all the time. I can recognize when I'm full and it's not scary to stop eating. I'm still going to work a lot on knowing when to stop and resisting the temptation to clean my plate, but for the first time, I wasn't afraid. I'm not afraid.I'm rambling now, I think, but I hope you can all tell what a miracle this was yesterday. It's so simple and even silly, but this hungry = empty way of looking at things, is going to change my life. It already has. Yesterday, it was a jo

y to me to feel what my real hunger actually feels like. I could see how IE could actually work to help me go back to my body's natural size because yesterday (1 day is a good start!) food was just food. It was not love or punishment or anything else. Food was something to fill my empty tummy. And that's all I wanted it for.I actually really doubted even one day of that was possible. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I now know it's all possible. I'm not afraid anymore.I don't know if anything I've said will help anyone, but mostly I just wanted to share my joy. I'm overflowing with happiness about it. I feel hope and peace and freedom when I think about my body and my relationship with food.Thanks for listening.Ann