Re: Principle 1 - Reject the Diet Mentality

August 14, 2008

By the way, Gillian has put a couple good PDFs in the files section

on this topic. Go to: Files/Articles/Diet Mentality.

Arnie

>

> Hi All,

>

> Once a week we can start a thread of messages focusing on one of

the

> ten principles outlined in the book Intuitive Eating. Please post

> and let us know what you think about this week's topic. Perhaps you

> could quote a small section that meant something special to you. If

> you haven't read the book for a while, you might want to re-read

this

> section. Something new might jump out at you that you would like to

> share about. If you don't have the book that's okay too, just post

on

> the topic or other peoples comments about the topic.

>

> On Tuesday this week it became obvious to me how engrained the diet

> mentality is in my thinking. I went to the grocery store to pick up

> some stuff that was sounding very good to me. I ended up buying way

> too much of it. I would do that on diets because I would eat the

same

> thing day after day whether I was sick of it or not. I must

remember

> I don't need to do that anymore.

>

> One of the things that jumped out at me in reading this section of

> the book was when they talked about willpower. " Willpower does not

> belong in Intuitive eating. " That statement seems so refreshing to

> me. Intuitive Eating isn't about forcing myself to do anything. I'm

> tired of the struggle. I'm tired of having to be ever vigilant. I'm

> just going to take a leap of faith and go with this idea of

Intuitive

> Eating.

>

> If I were a scientist doing an experiment to find out if diets work

> for me, I would have proven ten times over that diets do not work

for

> me. It is time for me to stop this madness, and now that I have IE,

I

> have a method by which to revert my thinking to something saner.

>

> Arnie

>

August 14, 2008

Great idea to address a principle each week!

I liked what you said Arnie about reverting your thinking to something

more saner with IE. Many of us have heard or read the quote from

Albert Einstein " Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again

and expecting different results. " Diets are tricky critters

though...it's easy to think that we are doing something different with

each new diet.

When I first started IE, I didn't think that I had much of an issue

with letting go of the diet mentality until I got a glimpse of how

subtle and insidious it can be. I used to feel good and almost " brag "

about the fact that I didn't get hungry for hours on end...that I

didn't eat my first meal until noon or 2:00 p.m. I now think that a

part of the reason that I didn't get hungry was because " not eating "

was a " good " thing to do. I was unaware of and repressed my body

signals. Somehow, I could feel less bad about the fact that I was

overweight because I really didn't eat that much or I could go for

long periods without food. There was/is a certain pride in saying " I

only ate one meal today " or " I haven't eaten all day. " How crazy is

that? And yet, I feel like that mentality is supported and reinforced

by this society. I recognize more deeply than ever that our body

requires energy to be healthy and balanced and that food is one of the

great pleasures of life. And like many of you, I've also been

challenged with letting go of " good " versus " bad " food thoughts. The

diet mentality is short-term/linear thinking...if I eat a certain way

on such and such program then hopefully I'll lose weight. I'm

interested in and committed to a long-term and creative way of living

and working with IE is aligned with that.

Latoya

Working with IE since Jan '08

>

> Hi All,

>

> Once a week we can start a thread of messages focusing on one of the

> ten principles outlined in the book Intuitive Eating. Please post

> and let us know what you think about this week's topic. Perhaps you

> could quote a small section that meant something special to you. If

> you haven't read the book for a while, you might want to re-read this

> section. Something new might jump out at you that you would like to

> share about. If you don't have the book that's okay too, just post on

> the topic or other peoples comments about the topic.

>

> On Tuesday this week it became obvious to me how engrained the diet

> mentality is in my thinking. I went to the grocery store to pick up

> some stuff that was sounding very good to me. I ended up buying way

> too much of it. I would do that on diets because I would eat the same

> thing day after day whether I was sick of it or not. I must remember

> I don't need to do that anymore.

>

> One of the things that jumped out at me in reading this section of

> the book was when they talked about willpower. " Willpower does not

> belong in Intuitive eating. " That statement seems so refreshing to

> me. Intuitive Eating isn't about forcing myself to do anything. I'm

> tired of the struggle. I'm tired of having to be ever vigilant. I'm

> just going to take a leap of faith and go with this idea of Intuitive

> Eating.

>

> If I were a scientist doing an experiment to find out if diets work

> for me, I would have proven ten times over that diets do not work for

> me. It is time for me to stop this madness, and now that I have IE, I

> have a method by which to revert my thinking to something saner.

>

> Arnie

>

August 14, 2008

Most times I feel that in order to avoid diet mentality I need to wear

a blindfold, plug up my ears and eat only what I have in my home!

Because our sensing ability is 99% OUTward (as in danger management),

its very hard to ignore the ever present bombardment of diet diet

diet paraded in front of us every day. Its on every media, in the

voices of other people we know and even in the market as we purchase

food. If I haven't been totally brainwashed by this its a major miracle!

But I have great faith that there remains IN me my own voice and

management tools to keep this body that my brain has been entrusted

with alive, healthy and happy too. So when I now see or hear a diet

'should' I can QUESTION it and check out the validity of that 'should'

withIN myself. Awareness of the 'hook' helps me to avoid being drawn

in by it. And over time my defensiveness can and has been turned into

a strong stand for my own self and how I choose to take care of my

body. I will admit that I tend to smurck and poo-poo any and all

'diet' messages that jump in front of me! Heck its my turn to stick my

tongue out and raspberry these ill will gremlins :)

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

PS reading and posting here helps LOTS!!

August 14, 2008

Arnie -

Thanks so much for starting this! This seems like it will really be

the hardest principle to get through. It is so ingrained to diet

and eat " good " vs. " bad " food. I just went downstairs in my

building to get lunch adn wandered around trying to figure out

whether to have the standard salad I get every day or if something

else appealed to me more. I took my time looking around, debated

sushi which I ruled out as not filling enough for today, debated a

panini I absolutely love but decided I didn't want the greasiness

and ultimately ended up with a Mozzarella sandwich. Normally that

would be a no-no for me but I really tried to be open to what I

wanted vs. what was the " right " lunch to get.

Now I've eaten half and trying to decide if I'm hungry for the other

half or not!

To me, the scale as a symbol of dieting is a big learning within

this principle. I've resisted going on the scale but do feel a

little better since I've been trying to be more consious of why I'm

eating at night. The one thing I do think about though is when I'll

feel it's " safe " to go on the scale and not feel like a setback.

This is great to be sharing with others!

>

> Hi All,

>

> Once a week we can start a thread of messages focusing on one of

the

> ten principles outlined in the book Intuitive Eating. Please post

> and let us know what you think about this week's topic. Perhaps

you

> could quote a small section that meant something special to you.

If

> you haven't read the book for a while, you might want to re-read

this

> section. Something new might jump out at you that you would like

to

> share about. If you don't have the book that's okay too, just post

on

> the topic or other peoples comments about the topic.

>

> On Tuesday this week it became obvious to me how engrained the

diet

> mentality is in my thinking. I went to the grocery store to pick

up

> some stuff that was sounding very good to me. I ended up buying

way

> too much of it. I would do that on diets because I would eat the

same

> thing day after day whether I was sick of it or not. I must

remember

> I don't need to do that anymore.

>

> One of the things that jumped out at me in reading this section of

> the book was when they talked about willpower. " Willpower does not

> belong in Intuitive eating. " That statement seems so refreshing to

> me. Intuitive Eating isn't about forcing myself to do anything.

I'm

> tired of the struggle. I'm tired of having to be ever vigilant.

I'm

> just going to take a leap of faith and go with this idea of

Intuitive

> Eating.

>

> If I were a scientist doing an experiment to find out if diets

work

> for me, I would have proven ten times over that diets do not work

for

> me. It is time for me to stop this madness, and now that I have

IE, I

> have a method by which to revert my thinking to something saner.

>

> Arnie

>

August 14, 2008

Wonderful idea Arnie, I definitely think this once a week thing is a winner.

I tried to get the book out here in the UAE but couldn't find it so I'll have to

order it once

I'm settled and have a bank account.

And you're so right about everything, getting out of that diet mentality is

tricky because

we have to forget things that have to be automatic to us.

Like lately I haven't been hungry at all, and one of the rules in dieting is to

never skip a

meal so you force yourself to eat even though your body's just saying no; So

many times I

haven't been hungry and have at the table because it's lunchtime and realize

there's no

way anything can get in and it's alright; I'll just be hungry later.

Anyway again, great idea for the once a week thread I'm in specially that I

haven't read the

book yet.

Cheers

> >

> > Hi All,

> >

> > Once a week we can start a thread of messages focusing on one of

> the

> > ten principles outlined in the book Intuitive Eating. Please post

> > and let us know what you think about this week's topic. Perhaps you

> > could quote a small section that meant something special to you. If

> > you haven't read the book for a while, you might want to re-read

> this

> > section. Something new might jump out at you that you would like to

> > share about. If you don't have the book that's okay too, just post

> on

> > the topic or other peoples comments about the topic.

> >

> > On Tuesday this week it became obvious to me how engrained the diet

> > mentality is in my thinking. I went to the grocery store to pick up

> > some stuff that was sounding very good to me. I ended up buying way

> > too much of it. I would do that on diets because I would eat the

> same

> > thing day after day whether I was sick of it or not. I must

> remember

> > I don't need to do that anymore.

> >

> > One of the things that jumped out at me in reading this section of

> > the book was when they talked about willpower. " Willpower does not

> > belong in Intuitive eating. " That statement seems so refreshing to

> > me. Intuitive Eating isn't about forcing myself to do anything. I'm

> > tired of the struggle. I'm tired of having to be ever vigilant. I'm

> > just going to take a leap of faith and go with this idea of

> Intuitive

> > Eating.

> >

> > If I were a scientist doing an experiment to find out if diets work

> > for me, I would have proven ten times over that diets do not work

> for

> > me. It is time for me to stop this madness, and now that I have IE,

> I

> > have a method by which to revert my thinking to something saner.

> >

> > Arnie

> >

>

August 14, 2008

Even if you don't have the book already, you can read and print out

the 10 IE Principles at the IE web site -

http://www.intuitiveeating.com/

That way you can join in on these discussions now

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> Anyway again, great idea for the once a week thread I'm in specially

that I haven't read the

> book yet.

>

> Cheers

August 14, 2008

PS - the 10 Principles list is also right here in the Files section in

the General IE information Folder.

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> Anyway again, great idea for the once a week thread I'm in specially

that I haven't read the

> book yet.

>

> Cheers

August 14, 2008

Every once in awhile I find myself trying to figure out " how many points would that be? " ...old ingrained Weight Watcher thinking. What I have finally learned is that for the most part, I am making good decisions all on my own! Wish that we could erase all this old counting stuff (points, calories, etc.). But over time, it really is starting to go away...as soon as I find myself thinking that, I STOP! And then, consider, what is it that I really want to eat, and go with that!

Arnie -Thanks so much for starting this! This seems like it will really be the hardest principle to get through. It is so ingrained to diet and eat " good " vs. " bad " food. I just went downstairs in my

building to get lunch adn wandered around trying to figure out whether to have the standard salad I get every day or if something else appealed to me more. I took my time looking around, debated sushi which I ruled out as not filling enough for today, debated a

panini I absolutely love but decided I didn't want the greasiness and ultimately ended up with a Mozzarella sandwich. Normally that would be a no-no for me but I really tried to be open to what I wanted vs. what was the " right " lunch to get.

Now I've eaten half and trying to decide if I'm hungry for the other half or not!To me, the scale as a symbol of dieting is a big learning within this principle. I've resisted going on the scale but do feel a

little better since I've been trying to be more consious of why I'm eating at night. The one thing I do think about though is when I'll feel it's " safe " to go on the scale and not feel like a setback.

This is great to be sharing with others!>> Hi All,> > Once a week we can start a thread of messages focusing on one of the > ten principles outlined in the book Intuitive Eating. Please post > and let us know what you think about this week's topic. Perhaps

you > could quote a small section that meant something special to you. If > you haven't read the book for a while, you might want to re-read this > section. Something new might jump out at you that you would like

to > share about. If you don't have the book that's okay too, just post on > the topic or other peoples comments about the topic.> > On Tuesday this week it became obvious to me how engrained the

diet > mentality is in my thinking. I went to the grocery store to pick up > some stuff that was sounding very good to me. I ended up buying way > too much of it. I would do that on diets because I would eat the

same > thing day after day whether I was sick of it or not. I must remember > I don't need to do that anymore.> > One of the things that jumped out at me in reading this section of

> the book was when they talked about willpower. " Willpower does not > belong in Intuitive eating. " That statement seems so refreshing to > me. Intuitive Eating isn't about forcing myself to do anything.

I'm > tired of the struggle. I'm tired of having to be ever vigilant. I'm > just going to take a leap of faith and go with this idea of Intuitive > Eating. > > If I were a scientist doing an experiment to find out if diets

work > for me, I would have proven ten times over that diets do not work for > me. It is time for me to stop this madness, and now that I have IE, I > have a method by which to revert my thinking to something saner.

> > Arnie>

August 14, 2008

Hi I would suggest that you look up Geneen Roth's books. Some of her books are so much about what your talking about. 136 is NOT big. Why do you so want to be so small. Why that says to me is that you want to be go back to being very young and not having a woman's body.

She talks about wanting to slice pieces of her body off. She is wonderful and maybe you may find some of yourself in her books as I did. Sandi

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August 14, 2008

I find that now that I have begun to reject the diet mentality...........I find it everywhere. Not that it wasn't there in the first place. But ironically once I decide to let something go, it seems to appear everywhere! I am still in the beginning stages of this one. I did pull off some of the Diet books from my bookcase to recycle at the used book store. I have yet to get rid of my Health magazines...........that is how I found IE. Wow, instant justification. I am willing to reject the diet mentality and that is the first step in this journey. I am such an instant gratification girl. One of the lines in the chapter really speaks to me "You will learn to listen to and honor your inner cues, both physical and emotional-a powerful ability". I am realizing that I need to Slow Down and allow myself to live IE not to get IE. I am so grateful

for this group and all of your posts.

Sophia

IE 07/08

August 14, 2008

Sophia -

I found out about IE through Health Magazine too. It makes me

hesitant to get rid of the magazines since sometimes they can be

helpful. I get Health, Self, Fitness and O. Now that I've read IE I

have skipped right over the diet related stuff though I'm more

concious that there are more messages that seem to be tied to IE than

I realized.

>

> I find that now that I have begun to reject the diet

mentality...........I find it everywhere. Not that it wasn't there in

the first place. But ironically once I decide to let something go,

it seems to appear everywhere! I am still in the beginning stages of

this one. I did pull off some of the Diet books from my bookcase to

recycle at the used book store. I have yet to get rid of my Health

magazines...........that is how I found IE. Wow, instant

justification. I am willing to reject the diet mentality and that is

the first step in this journey. I am such an instant gratification

girl. One of the lines in the chapter really speaks to me " You will

learn to listen to and honor your inner cues, both physical and

emotional-a powerful ability " . I am realizing that I need to Slow

Down and allow myself to live IE not to get IE. I am so grateful for

this group and all of your posts.

> Sophia

> IE 07/08

>

August 15, 2008

Need proof that diets don't work. Keep reading...

On the home page of this group there is a statistic that says that

95% of al diets fail. I tend to be very skeptical of statistics so I

thought I'd poke around the internet and see what I could find. I

found that this number is often quoted, but is probably based on a

very old study with a small sample. But if anyone has other

information about where this number comes from I'd be interested in

it.

I continued to try and find studies of diet success rates. It is not

easy to find any long term studies. The most interesting thing I

found is this article

http://mann.bol.ucla.edu/files/Diets_don't_work.pdf of an independent

study done by some UCLA researchers. If this has been posted here

before please excuse me.

The article is published in American Psychologist. The authors

reviewed studies of the long-term outcomes of calorie-restricting

diets to assess whether dieting is an effective treatment for

obesity. The most surprising thing to me was how they found the

results of these studies to be skewed towards reporting greater

effectiveness of the diets that was the reality.

For those who like to cut to the chase and don't want to read the

entire report here is the last paragraph.

" In the studies reviewed here, dieters were not able to

maintain their weight losses in the long term, and there was

not consistent evidence that the diets resulted in significant

improvements in their health. In the few cases in which

health benefits were shown, it could not be demonstrated

that they resulted from dieting, rather than exercise, medication

use, or other lifestyle changes. It appears that dieters

who manage to sustain a weight loss are the rare exception,

rather than the rule. Dieters who gain back more weight

than they lost may very well be the norm, rather than an

unlucky minority. If Medicare is to fund an obesity treatment,

it must lead to sustained improvements in weight and

health for the majority of individuals. It seems clear to us

that dieting does not. "

Arnie

August 15, 2008

This is a great idea to work through a principle each week. I'm going to plan to re-read one principle each week as sort of a refresher course. It's been roughly 2 years since I first read the book (i've re-read most of it since then several times). I haven't picked up the book in a long time so it will be nice to read it again.

Kipkabob

(Intuitive eating since September 2006)

Yahoo! Canada Toolbar : Search from anywhere on the web and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now!

August 15, 2008

Good research Arnie!

I accept that THIS group is about as good a study as any and I've yet

to read here about ONE person who dieted, lost weight and kept it off.

I have read time and again about loosing weight and re-gaining plus.

That may not be scientific enough for a college level study, but those

are FACTS and plenty good enough for me :)

Its also a big eye opener to me that non-dieting has been embraced by

dietitians. Can't wait for the rest of the medical profession to wake

up too.

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> Need proof that diets don't work. Keep reading...

>

> On the home page of this group there is a statistic that says that

> 95% of al diets fail. I tend to be very skeptical of statistics so I

> thought I'd poke around the internet and see what I could find. I

> found that this number is often quoted, but is probably based on a

> very old study with a small sample. But if anyone has other

> information about where this number comes from I'd be interested in

> it.

>

> I continued to try and find studies of diet success rates. It is not

> easy to find any long term studies. The most interesting thing I

> found is this article

> http://mann.bol.ucla.edu/files/Diets_don't_work.pdf of an independent

> study done by some UCLA researchers. If this has been posted here

> before please excuse me.

>

> The article is published in American Psychologist. The authors

> reviewed studies of the long-term outcomes of calorie-restricting

> diets to assess whether dieting is an effective treatment for

> obesity. The most surprising thing to me was how they found the

> results of these studies to be skewed towards reporting greater

> effectiveness of the diets that was the reality.

>

> For those who like to cut to the chase and don't want to read the

> entire report here is the last paragraph.

>

> " In the studies reviewed here, dieters were not able to

> maintain their weight losses in the long term, and there was

> not consistent evidence that the diets resulted in significant

> improvements in their health. In the few cases in which

> health benefits were shown, it could not be demonstrated

> that they resulted from dieting, rather than exercise, medication

> use, or other lifestyle changes. It appears that dieters

> who manage to sustain a weight loss are the rare exception,

> rather than the rule. Dieters who gain back more weight

> than they lost may very well be the norm, rather than an

> unlucky minority. If Medicare is to fund an obesity treatment,

> it must lead to sustained improvements in weight and

> health for the majority of individuals. It seems clear to us

> that dieting does not. "

>

> Arnie

>

August 15, 2008

(my thought are in overdrive, so I'll try to make sense of them)

Being new to this lifestyle I'm having fun figuring out what I want to

eat and enjoying what I want since I've never really been 'allowed' (I

keep having to tell myself - I'm allowed to eat what I want when I

want - while I'm being hyperconscious of my body signals)... it's

frustrating but eating what I want is fun (although I am trying not to

worry about weight gain or loss or feel guilt)... what I did notice is

the habit of picking 'light' or 'low-fat' options when shopping or

gathering ingredients for cooking/baking (a diet mentality to make

those 'bad' foods 'more acceptable' for dieting - lower points,

calories, fat, whatever it is the current diet is tracking) so for a

dessert I made recently for a family get together I got 'regular'

ingredients and man, that dessert tasted soooo much better and I was

happy with less... go figure!

it's interesting noticing all this stuff - the diet mentality I'm

trying to break - and doing the opposite of those 'rules' we've

learned... feels like I'm being a rebel (going against 'authority')

and trying not to feel guilty... the hyperconsciousness is driving me

a little nuts (brain is in overdrive with all this thinking - as you

can probably tell), but I know it'll be for a short while. Old habits

and rules pop up and realizing it's diet mentality and purposely doing

the opposite (maybe just to spit it and prove I can?)...

I can talk to my husband about it (I was essentially relaying the book

to him when I was reading it since it was so interesting) but talking

to others (especially my mom and in-laws - diet mentality is VERY

ingrained and is often the topic) is hard cause they keep relaying all

the 'diet rules' back to you, so this group is great to hear others

say what I've been thinking or seeing what it could be like further

down the IE road or getting a reality check - so thanks all and I look

forward to the discussions on the other 9 principles...

August 15, 2008

There is a good reason why you were happy with less of the 'regular'

dessert - your body registers satisfaction sooner and longer when you

eat fat (vs. carbs). When I get into a 'sweet' kick, I notice that I

am much more likely to want more sooner as well as (low blood sugar?)

light headedness way too soon afterwards too.

I suggest that along with enjoying all the foods you want, do

experiment around with getting body feedback on these too. In the long

run you will benefit more and faster by knowing how YOUR body reacts.

Best to you - Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> what I did notice is

> the habit of picking 'light' or 'low-fat' options when shopping or

> gathering ingredients for cooking/baking (a diet mentality to make

> those 'bad' foods 'more acceptable' for dieting - lower points,

> calories, fat, whatever it is the current diet is tracking) so for a

> dessert I made recently for a family get together I got 'regular'

> ingredients and man, that dessert tasted soooo much better and I was

> happy with less... go figure!

August 15, 2008

I was searching for those statistics as well and came across an article that said the new statistic is more like 80%, BUT that is because the new studies were measuring success as if the person lost 10% of their body weight. So if a person needed to loose way more than 10% that was not taken into account. Here is the URL http://www.bigfatfacts.com/

Need proof that diets don't work. Keep reading...

On the home page of this group there is a statistic that says that

95% of al diets fail. I tend to be very skeptical of statistics so I

thought I'd poke around the internet and see what I could find. I

found that this number is often quoted, but is probably based on a

very old study with a small sample. But if anyone has other

information about where this number comes from I'd be interested in

it.

I continued to try and find studies of diet success rates. It is not

easy to find any long term studies. The most interesting thing I

found is this article

http://mann.bol.ucla.edu/files/Diets_don't_work.pdf of an independent

study done by some UCLA researchers. If this has been posted here

before please excuse me.

The article is published in American Psychologist. The authors

reviewed studies of the long-term outcomes of calorie-restricting

diets to assess whether dieting is an effective treatment for

obesity. The most surprising thing to me was how they found the

results of these studies to be skewed towards reporting greater

effectiveness of the diets that was the reality.

For those who like to cut to the chase and don't want to read the

entire report here is the last paragraph.

" In the studies reviewed here, dieters were not able to

maintain their weight losses in the long term, and there was

not consistent evidence that the diets resulted in significant

improvements in their health. In the few cases in which

health benefits were shown, it could not be demonstrated

that they resulted from dieting, rather than exercise, medication

use, or other lifestyle changes. It appears that dieters

who manage to sustain a weight loss are the rare exception,

rather than the rule. Dieters who gain back more weight

than they lost may very well be the norm, rather than an

unlucky minority. If Medicare is to fund an obesity treatment,

it must lead to sustained improvements in weight and

health for the majority of individuals. It seems clear to us

that dieting does not. "

Arnie

August 16, 2008

I re-read this chapter today. There were a few things that stood out for me.

1. The belief that the diet will change your life.....I used to believe this. I thought that when I lost weight that my life would become instantly perfect. I lost 80 lbs on WW and you know what...my life was exactly the same. I was still the same insecure person...just a lot smaller. I'm so much more confident now at a size 20 and roughly 250 pounds than I was when I was 190 and going to WW.

2. I am still pseudo dieting. I still put on a "false food face" in public. At work, I will eat something when I'm hungry but I try to eat better because other people are watching. And I sometimes don't eat enough...I'll eat for lunch what I think is a normal amount and sometimes I'm still hungry and won't eat anything else. Or I'll wait until the girl who shares my office leaves the room and then I'll eat something. Definitely need to work on this.

3. Connie's story on page 55. How many times I have felt like I've lost some weight doing this and then stepped on the scale to find it had barely moved. I've been wanting to weigh myself lately and this was a great reminder not to.

4. This is my favourite quote from the chapter: "You can't fail at Intuitive Eating- it's a learning process at every point along the way. What used to be thought of as a setback, will instead be seen as a growth experience. You'll get right back on track when you see this as progress, not failure."

Kipkabob

(Intuitive eating since September 2006)

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August 16, 2008

Great Idea! I'm looking forward to the discussions.

For me, rejecting the diet mentality was not so difficult - at the

base level. I came here less than a week after my last WW meeting

where I had the oh so pleasant experience of doing everything " right "

and gaining. I was fed up and happy to have the diet yoke off my

back.

What I'm finding difficult is rejecting the diet food. Old habits

die hard! I still find my cart loaded up with low fat foods because

that's simply how I've eaten for the last 10 years. For instance,

last week I bought two Lean Cuisine paninis. I thought about putting

them back and trying the non diet panini. I actually stood in the

frozen food aisle, boxes in hand, debating with myself. I decided to

go with the Lean Cuisines because they are familiar. I also ended up

with sugar free pudding cups because that's what I'm used to. I

broke the mold by buying the custard style yogurt - primarily because

they were out of the light and fit. I found myself a little panicky

with the idea of rethinking everything I put in my cart. I decided

to take it one item at a time. This week I'm going to buy bread that

isn't " low points " . I am going to buy a dense, chewy whole grain

bread. I'm so looking forward to it!

One thing that I was thrilled to bring back into my life is baking.

I love to bake. I never baked while dieting simply because I have no

self control around a pan of brownies. In the last three weeks, I've

made a batch of cookies, a pan of brownies from scratch, TWO peach

and blueberry cobblers, and a pan of rice krispie treats. My family

has enjoyed every one of them and I really have no desire to bake

right now. Maybe I exercised that demon!

To supplement my IE journey, I read the book Rethinking Thin. I know

Arnie started another thread about the statistics around dieting. If

you are interested in this type of research, I highly recommend the

book. It's an easy and informative read. I'll post more on my

thoughts about it there.

August 16, 2008

Shortly after I found this site, I checked Rethinking Thin and The

Obesity Myth out of the library. Both of them review the studies

that have been done regarding dieting, if they work, and if anyone is

better off for having done it.

Most of the time, the answer appears to be a big NO!

I recommend both the books - especially for those times when the diet

thoughts creep back in.

>

> Need proof that diets don't work. Keep reading...

>

> On the home page of this group there is a statistic that says that

> 95% of al diets fail. I tend to be very skeptical of statistics so

I

> thought I'd poke around the internet and see what I could find. I

> found that this number is often quoted, but is probably based on a

> very old study with a small sample. But if anyone has other

> information about where this number comes from I'd be interested in

> it.

>

> I continued to try and find studies of diet success rates. It is

not

> easy to find any long term studies. The most interesting thing I

> found is this article

> http://mann.bol.ucla.edu/files/Diets_don't_work.pdf of an

independent

> study done by some UCLA researchers. If this has been posted here

> before please excuse me.

>

> The article is published in American Psychologist. The authors

> reviewed studies of the long-term outcomes of calorie-restricting

> diets to assess whether dieting is an effective treatment for

> obesity. The most surprising thing to me was how they found the

> results of these studies to be skewed towards reporting greater

> effectiveness of the diets that was the reality.

>

> For those who like to cut to the chase and don't want to read the

> entire report here is the last paragraph.

>

> " In the studies reviewed here, dieters were not able to

> maintain their weight losses in the long term, and there was

> not consistent evidence that the diets resulted in significant

> improvements in their health. In the few cases in which

> health benefits were shown, it could not be demonstrated

> that they resulted from dieting, rather than exercise, medication

> use, or other lifestyle changes. It appears that dieters

> who manage to sustain a weight loss are the rare exception,

> rather than the rule. Dieters who gain back more weight

> than they lost may very well be the norm, rather than an

> unlucky minority. If Medicare is to fund an obesity treatment,

> it must lead to sustained improvements in weight and

> health for the majority of individuals. It seems clear to us

> that dieting does not. "

>

> Arnie

>

August 16, 2008

Thanks for mentioning this book. I'll look into it. I'd like to read

any reputable studies around diet success rates. I've deluded myself so

often into believing what I wanted to believe. I'd like to see if there

is any rael evidence regardless of whether it supports what I want it

to or not.

Arnie

>

> Shortly after I found this site, I checked Rethinking Thin and The

> Obesity Myth out of the library. Both of them review the studies

> that have been done regarding dieting, if they work, and if anyone is

> better off for having done it.

>

> Most of the time, the answer appears to be a big NO!

>

> I recommend both the books - especially for those times when the diet

> thoughts creep back in.

>

August 16, 2008

I had one bad morning this week. I was having a fine morning until I

put on my pants and thought they were a little tighter than

yesterday. Doing up the belt felt a little tighter too. Instant fear

and panic seized me. All kinds of nasty thoughts popped into my

head. " What the heck am I doing? I need to get right back on that

diet. I better go downstairs right now and weigh myself to see if

it's true. " Well I battled the thoughts. I didn't go and hop on the

scale. But I was kind of depressed for the next few hours, feeling

unsure of my decision to learn Intuitive Eating.

I want to thank everyone here. Reading your posts really helped me

stay the course. I don't know if this group is always as active as it

has been this week, but I sure appreciated it. Not just the volume of

posts, but if I keep printing out the ones that I think are

particularly excellent; I'll be chopping down a forest of trees for

it. I'll have to start saving them to a file instead of printing them

because you are one bunch of smart and caring people.

The bad mood passed and my resolve for IE returned. Not weighing

myself is one thing, but I'm afraid I won't be able to not put on

pants in the morning. I'm pretty sure my boss would have a problem

with that (LOL). I can't let my mood be dependent on my perception of

my body. But I'm glad I didn't abandon IE for something I've already

proven to myself doesn't work in the long term.

Arnie

August 16, 2008

Jennie, I just checked and both of these books are on the IE Book List

here on site. I've added your recommendations too

Thanks for sharing - Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> Shortly after I found this site, I checked Rethinking Thin and The

> Obesity Myth out of the library. Both of them review the studies

> that have been done regarding dieting, if they work, and if anyone is

> better off for having done it.

>

> Most of the time, the answer appears to be a big NO!

>

> I recommend both the books - especially for those times when the diet

> thoughts creep back in.

>

August 16, 2008

Arnie, I can so identify with what you went thru! Its painful really

to not have my clothes fit and of course the first thought is 'got to

loose weight'. Action, reaction. But as most of here have found from

personal experience - dieting is a false trail plagued with demons

that love to torture us and in the end deny us what we want anyway!

Its hard to take a breath, remind myself that my poor body has been

whipsawn by deprivation and other self imposed tortures so is it any

surprise that it holds onto what it can?!? Learning to trust ourselves

(mentally and physically) seems to go hand with casting out diet

mentality. Good for you talking yourself thru this difficult time. I

very much look forward to your post on how loose your pants have

become - and it will happen!!

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

PS just recently my hubby learned something from me that we gals all

know - how to lie on the bad to zip up overly tight pants! Not the

best way to deal with the situation he is finding himself in

presently, but until he can embrace IE like you have done, he will

just have to adapt and/or suffer the effects of overeating too. I

don't want to nag about it because its a decision he has to make for

himself. At least he knows about IE

>

> I had one bad morning this week. I was having a fine morning until I

> put on my pants and thought they were a little tighter than

> yesterday. Doing up the belt felt a little tighter too. Instant fear

> and panic seized me. All kinds of nasty thoughts popped into my

> head. " What the heck am I doing? I need to get right back on that

> diet. I better go downstairs right now and weigh myself to see if

> it's true. " Well I battled the thoughts. I didn't go and hop on the

> scale. But I was kind of depressed for the next few hours, feeling

> unsure of my decision to learn Intuitive Eating.

>

> I want to thank everyone here. Reading your posts really helped me

> stay the course. I don't know if this group is always as active as it

> has been this week, but I sure appreciated it. Not just the volume of

> posts, but if I keep printing out the ones that I think are

> particularly excellent; I'll be chopping down a forest of trees for

> it. I'll have to start saving them to a file instead of printing them

> because you are one bunch of smart and caring people.

>

> The bad mood passed and my resolve for IE returned. Not weighing

> myself is one thing, but I'm afraid I won't be able to not put on

> pants in the morning. I'm pretty sure my boss would have a problem

> with that (LOL). I can't let my mood be dependent on my perception of

> my body. But I'm glad I didn't abandon IE for something I've already

> proven to myself doesn't work in the long term.

>

> Arnie

>

August 17, 2008

This sounds very similar to me. I actually bought real ice cream this week and ate significantly less than if I bought the real thing. I always ate WW or lean cuisines for lunch and even though I am rejecting them, I am not sure yet what I can do about lunch that is quick and easy. But when I ate those, I was so hungry all afternoon that I would half the time end up eating junk in the afternoon or stuffing myself at dinner.

I read Rethinking Thin and actually burst into tears after reading feeling it was so hopeless to even try.