Re: Re: My trip: the good, bad, and ugly...

[Guest guest]

Thanks, everyone for the positive feedback! I am a pro at beating myself up when I don't do things "according to plan." That is one of the problems of dieting for me. I feel a high when I follow the plan exactly and then fall into a void when I wander even just a bit. Yup, I would feel guilty for eating an extra grape.

B., I am so impressed that you are even working at all on IE given where you are in your life!! I only spent a bit of time with my grandmother and I could feel the stress course through my body. She just sat whistling. I mentioned to a friend that my grandmother just sat and whistled. She

said, "Well, that's nice." I responded, "No, it wasn't. It was

eerie. It felt like something from the Twilight Zone." I can't imagine having a meal with her let alone living with her and taking care of her. You are a remarkable woman!! Red Re: My trip: the good, bad, and ugly...

>

> Well, I almost typed that I fell off the IE bandwagon while on vacation. But, then I

> remembered, you can't fail IE. I love that!

There are LOTS of issues I was dealing

> with -- aging parents, health issues with my parents, grandmother who no longer

knows

> me (adult dementia), eating issues that come up,... The list goes on and on. I have to

> admit, it became VERY difficult to hear myself think let alone decide whether I was

hungry.

> So, I cut myself some slack. I ate more than I would have liked to, but I did it knowingly.

Good for you, Red, for being kind to yourself and cutting yourself some slack. There are

some situations where eating intuitively comes very naturally. There are other situations

where it feels almost impossible to eat intuitively.

I can really relate to your post. I take care of my mother, who is in late stage Alzheimer's. I

have to cut myself some slack almost every day with eating intuitively because of the

incredible stress and anxiety I feel around my mother. I tried eating separately, but it

became too cumbersome. I know my mother likes my company at the table. I can't spend

my ENTIRE day sitting at the dining room table, sitting with her and then eating my meals

later.

At this stage, my mother mutters to herself constantly and will often tap her leg or pat her

placemat with a very rapid motion. This can go on for several minutes at a time. When

this starts up, I can feel the adrenaline surging through my body and I start shoveling the

food in and eating much too fast.

This is not the way I want to eat, nor the kind of environment I want to eat in. But this is

just the way things are at this point in my life. I finally decided to cut myself some slack

and told myself that I am doing the best that I can right now and stopped beating myself

up about it.

I REALLY understand what you mean about it being difficult to hear yourself think. To eat

intuitively, it really helps a lot to be able to hear yourself think, and to feel what you are

feeling. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets too "noisy" for that to happen. So we do the

best we can, right? :-)

Hope things get less "noisy" for you in the days ahead. :-)

Best wishes,

B.