Guest guest Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 > > Hello - I am new to the group and this is my first post. Hi Lake, Welcome to the group! I certainly know what you mean about Intuitive Eating is a simple idea but difficult to practice. When I started, I figured, " Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full. How hard can that be? " But once I discovered how often I used food to cope with my emotions, I realized it was going to be a real challenge. But the many rewards are well worth the effort. As far as your situation at work with the upsetting email and determining your hunger, to me, that is like trying to figure out how to lower the lifeboats from the ship after you hit the iceberg. :-) By that I mean that since you say you haven't really begun to practice Intuitive Eating yet, it would be quite difficult for you to distinguish between true hunger or emotional hunger at this point when you haven't really had a chance to identify true hunger and have no frame of reference. So for now, I would just do the best you can and wait for the crisis to pass before you try to identify true hunger. It took me about 2 weeks of trying to read my body's signals before I could distinguish between emotional hunger and true hunger and that was during a relatively nonstressful time for me. One thing you will learn about this way of eating is that is takes a lot of TIME and PATIENCE to incorporate the principles. Most people find it best to just tackle one principle at a time. Keep on posting! You will find this group very helpful and supportive. Best wishes, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Lake, Welcome to the group! I definitely see Intuitive Eating as a ongoing practice too, which is both simple and complex at the same time. I think that the fact that you have an awareness of where your stress tends to reside in your body is really useful. My stress tends to reside in my arms and neck...so I hadn't thought about what it would mean if my stress tended to reside more in my abdomen like yours through signals like stomach cramping. You may want to try things to help the stress circulate through your system....to move out of your abdomen to help give more space for your true hunger signals. Have you tried deep relaxing breathing into your abdomen, drinking water, massaging your back or abdomen, or a possible yoga move? I tend to jump up and down, shake my arms, rotate my neck, or visualize to help myself process emotions. You made such a great step by noticing how stress is affecting your eating and doing something different today! Working with emotions like working with IE is figuring out what works best for you. I've been amazed about how awareness and working with my body helps me find the perfect method to deal with my unique issues. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your IE journey and how you work with this issue. Latoya Practicing IE since Jan '08 > > Hello - I am new to the group and this is my first post. I have read > Intuitive Eating and find it to be a simple idea but not easy > practice. I have only been considering this concept for the last two > weeks and can't say I have even begun to practice this theory but am > considering how I might move into practice. > > Today was a day I wanted to be extra aware of my eating and see if I > could recognize hunger and take care of myself by eating. I have > very busy days and often ignore hunger then use food to manage > stress, tiredness and other emotions. > > My first test of awareness came with a very anxiety-producing email > from my boss. My stomach immediately began to cramp and the > tightness in my abdomen and chest feel like hunger but I think it is > directly related to stress. Usually at a time like this I would not > hesitate to eat anything and everything - to elleviate the stress and > because it is " lunch time " so I " should " be hungry anyway. > > An hour later I still feel sick with anxiety but also wonder if I am > hungry. How do you tell the difference between emotional eating and > hunger eating when all of your emotions live in your abdomen? > > Thanks for any encouragement or ideas you can offer - > > Lake > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Good start Lake - awareness is where you find the information you need to make better decisions for yourself. Do allow yourself to be as comfortable around FOOD as possible all the while knowing that this process will take time and patience on your part. It can also be fun when you experiment with differnet foods, times to eat, and 'booting' diet demons out of your life. Keep posting and sharing Katcha IEing since March 2007 > > Hello - I am new to the group and this is my first post. I have read > Intuitive Eating and find it to be a simple idea but not easy > practice. I have only been considering this concept for the last two > weeks and can't say I have even begun to practice this theory but am > considering how I might move into practice. > > Today was a day I wanted to be extra aware of my eating and see if I > could recognize hunger and take care of myself by eating. I have > very busy days and often ignore hunger then use food to manage > stress, tiredness and other emotions. > > My first test of awareness came with a very anxiety-producing email > from my boss. My stomach immediately began to cramp and the > tightness in my abdomen and chest feel like hunger but I think it is > directly related to stress. Usually at a time like this I would not > hesitate to eat anything and everything - to elleviate the stress and > because it is " lunch time " so I " should " be hungry anyway. > > An hour later I still feel sick with anxiety but also wonder if I am > hungry. How do you tell the difference between emotional eating and > hunger eating when all of your emotions live in your abdomen? > > Thanks for any encouragement or ideas you can offer - > > Lake > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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