Re: diet creep

[Guest guest]

,

This is where I go with what you have shared. You have some great

opportunities presented to you. I'd like to pose some questions for

you to think about, no reply required. When you were " overeating " at

grandma's, did you make a conscious and active choice to do it, or do

it mindlessly, at the time? If the food was so yummy that you made a

decision to overeat, can you live with that and just say, " yeah, she

makes the best _______ and I don't get it except when she makes it

and I so enjoyed it " and be done? So, basically, were you conscious

all the way through? That's a big part of what we're trying to do,

right? get conscious? OR, was there something else

behind " overeating " at grandma's? My mother died quite recently and

I was back with family, which is not a good thing for me. I,

sometimes during that five days overate, by choice, knowing I was

eating for comfort, knowing that it is a very old habit, but clearly

choosing to go ahead and use the food for comfort. It was a little

scarey at the time, wondering if I would completely lose my mind with

the food for weeks after, with the self-recriminations, etc. Well,

when I got home, feeling porky and a little disgusted with myself and

TEMPTED to diet, I reminded myself that I made a choice to use food

for comfort, it was okay and my need for that comfort was no longer

here. I got back to good choices almost immediately. And because I

CONSCIOUSLY would not allow myself to freak out over the overeating,

reminding myself that I made the choice for comfort (and it DID

comfort me when I was doing it, it worked okay), I did not have to

beat myself up and get ugly with myself and my body. Normally all

the ugly head trips that come AFTER just compound the problem. I

refused to do the head trips and just picked up where I left off. It

was a CHOICE. And the totally weird thing was that I ate much less

the week I returned home--I just wasn't that hungry. Now the problem

is the grief and loss of appetite, but I am CONSCIOUSLY trying to

deal with that too; part of it is making the BEST choice I can make

by choosing foods that pack a nutritional punch when I am hungry,

knowing that because I have a poor appetite right now, I need to take

extra good care of myself with the things I DO manage to eat. So,

did you eat at grandma's because the food was so good or because you

needed comfort or ? These are your opportunities, as I see them, to

evaluate what you did, why you did it and think about how you want to

do it in the future, will you do it differently?

Now, you have the added bonus that your scale did not confirm your

worst fears--you did not balloon up, another gift. Take it and run.

Run away from any diet you are being tempted to engage and run BACK

TO what you KNOW is ABSOLUTELY the best for you, which is IE and all

that that involves. You know that if you keep your commitment to IE

and sanity and health, the " gut " will take care of itself. Perhaps

it won't be on YOUR schedule, but how has it gone in the past

according to YOUR schedule?

Well, just my much more than .02. Be good to yourself. See the

opportunities presented and TAKE THEM QUICK!

Ellen

>

> Good morning everyone.

>

> I'm experiencing diet creep. I was at my grandma's for the weekend

> and I felt like I ate a lot and often until I was full. I was

trying

> not to " food police " but at the same time I couldn't shut down the

> craving for more cake or chips or whatever even though my stomach

was

> saying " We're full down here! " Anyway, I'm back and eating is

pretty

> normal this week but I am still feeling a little bloated from the

> weekend. I weighed myself this morning just to see if I had indeed

> gained and I didn't gain anything over last weekend. It was proof

> that one weekend does not a failure make me. But WW is calling.

I'm

> really disliking my body right now. Even the clothes that fit feel

> really uncomfortable because my gut hangs over since the c-section.

>

> I'm trying to resist the urge to diet the way I used to resist the

> urge to eat anything on my old " No-no list. " It is hard to resist

the

> marketing promises. Somehow, the idea that you can look like this

> supermodel in a bikini is so much more sexy (marketing-wise) than

you

> can have a healthy relationship with food and your body. The

problem

> is that the first statement is a lie.

>

> Anyway, I just needed to vent because the struggle is on right now

as

> my poor body image battles my common sense. THanks for listening.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I only have a minute right now, but I just wanted to say that I agree

with Ellen. This is the real world, and we are human. In the

real world circumstances change and things happen, and even " normal "

eaters overeat sometimes. Sometimes naturally skinny " normal " eaters

comfort themselves with food, or overeat just because the food is

really good, or there is a celebration such as the holidays, or maybe

a at special restaurant, or on vacation. I think the thing that

makes the difference is that they don't beat themselves up then try

to comfort themselves with food because they already ate too much.

They don't go off on a binge because they feel bad or are mad at

themselves. They just say (if they even say anything to themselves

about it at all) " I feel better now " , or " boy that was good " ,and then

they just go back to eating the way they do every day. They eat when

they are hungry and stop when they are satisfied. Take it from

someone who has lost hundreds of pounds dieting and gained it back

more times than I can count, from someone who wasn't even overweight

when she started dieting, don't do WW or any other diet. Just learn

to eat intuitively, expect to overeat every once in a while, and then

just shrugg it off and get back to eating when you are hungry and

stopping when you are satisfied. I really believe the weight will

come off eventually eating this way, and in the process we will be

able to keep the weight off. One more thing. Most women's bodies

are not model perfect. Very few women have " perfect " bodies. Your

tummy may never be quite the same after your C-section, but learn to

let that be okay. Try to see the beauty of childbirth when you look

at your tummy. I am almost 60 years old have gained and lost weight

so many times that my skin will never shrink back to " normal " again.

I have had to come to grips with the fact that my body will not look

like it did when I was thirty again. I'm gonna get more wrinkles and

more sags, but that is life, and I'm just going to have to accept

it. My husband still thinks I'm beautiful and desirable, so that is

what I'm going to focus on. Maybe I don't look as bad as I think I

do for someone my age. I can't compare myself to a thirty year old,

or even myself 20 or 30 years ago. Don't compare yourself to someone

who has never had a C-section, or even to yourself before you had

your baby. Just rejoice in being a mother and looking like a mother,

and try to see the beauty in your tummy where your baby came into the

world from. Just my 2 cents worth plus a little more.

>

> Good morning everyone.

>

> I'm experiencing diet creep. I was at my grandma's for the weekend

> and I felt like I ate a lot and often until I was full. I was

trying

> not to " food police " but at the same time I couldn't shut down the

> craving for more cake or chips or whatever even though my stomach

was

> saying " We're full down here! " Anyway, I'm back and eating is

pretty

> normal this week but I am still feeling a little bloated from the

> weekend. I weighed myself this morning just to see if I had indeed

> gained and I didn't gain anything over last weekend. It was proof

> that one weekend does not a failure make me. But WW is calling.

I'm

> really disliking my body right now. Even the clothes that fit feel

> really uncomfortable because my gut hangs over since the c-section.

>

> I'm trying to resist the urge to diet the way I used to resist the

> urge to eat anything on my old " No-no list. " It is hard to resist

the

> marketing promises. Somehow, the idea that you can look like this

> supermodel in a bikini is so much more sexy (marketing-wise) than

you

> can have a healthy relationship with food and your body. The

problem

> is that the first statement is a lie.

>

> Anyway, I just needed to vent because the struggle is on right now

as

> my poor body image battles my common sense. THanks for listening.

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your posts. I knew on Saturday I was overeating and

that I was doing it for comfort. Being there brings up a lot of

emotional issues. I acknowledged that I was doing it for comfort and

decided to let that happen. I consciously thought that I would

examine my need for comfort in that situation for deeply once I had

mastered IE in my everyday normal environment.

You are all right. I made that choice as an intuitive eater who was

listening to my body. I haven't been as hungry the last couple of

days. I haven't ballooned up. I had a great day yesterday listening

to my body. It wasn't perfect and I still tend to eat till a 7 or 8

instead of a 6 or 7 but it isn't a 10! That is progress. I'm not

going to do WW again. This is soooooo much better. I may eat for

comfort now and then but it will be on my terms and it will be

mindful. Thank you everyone. I'm here, eating mindfully,

contemplating a morning muffin, deciding I don't really want one now,

maybe later or maybe something else...when I am hungry.