Guest guest Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Welcome to the group JB! When I started IE, coping with emotions without food was my number one intention and still is... Food has been my default method of dealing with any discomfort in my body. I'm just starting to really build a repository of alternative and more healing methods. I noticed the list of 101 things to do besides eat in the IE group files section. After reading this list, I decided to start my own personal list of things that I enjoy and that bring me a sense of pleasure or peace. What are those things for you? What works for me depends on how overstimulated or understimulated I am. I have set an intention to really focus on self-care so that I don't get into states that I feel compelled to use food. Walking everyday to relieve built up tension, expressing myself constructively, breathing, boxing and tennis, lying with my back on the floor and feeling myself supported...etc...usually something physical to help the emotions process through my body. I've also had some success with waiting five to ten minutes to see if I'm really hungry. I've been sort of doing research with my body to figure out what works and when for me and creating a list of those things as a go to resource. I've found that it takes a certain skill/ability to delay gratification or release around my emotions. Food usually provides immediate relief from my emotions and the new solutions that I am creating are starting to help me feel balanced more quickly. I liked how the Intuitive Eating book talked about how our emotional eating is a nice direct sign that we need to basically pay more attention to ourselves...to nurture ourselves more...to address our real needs. Bringing my awareness and committment to the possibilities and different ways of helping resolve emotions in my body has been big. Latoya:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 This is the first Yahoo group I've been on so I hope that I'm replying to the group, and not someone's mailbox. Thank you for your welcome. I've been reading your posts (past and present) and see that we all have similar problems. I wanted to share a little more about myself (now that I've " met " you all). I'm 62, divorced, retired and live alone. I have 2 sons and 5 granddaughters. I'm diabetic, arthritic, and now wear a brace on one leg because of post polio syndrome. In my life I've been on literally thousands of diets (since I was 9 yrs old), bulimic when I was younger, and compulsive overeating/binge eating & secret eating when I got older. I was first introduced to the IE concepts in the late 80's when I read a book called " overcoming overeating " . I have semi-worked it since then, with frequent detours into diets. I have read all but one of the books in your book list (and more) over those years. 5 or 6 years ago I promised myself I would never diet again and I haven't except for one slip that made me crazy, and made me gain weight again. I took care of my chronically ill mother (lung disease) for nearly 20 years. She died 2 years ago, and I came to realize that for the very first time in my life, I was living totally by myself. I went from living with my family, to living in a dorm, to marriage, to kids, then to having my mom in my house. My therapist (anyone who lives with an elderly parent needs one)told me that my first time alone was the perfect time to work on me. I threw myself into doing IE, because I didn't have to cook or buy for anyone but me - didn't have to explain why I was eating ice cream when I'm 100 lbs overweight, didn't feel compelled to eat in secret (who was I keeping it a secret from?), didn't feel like I had to justify every bite. I still struggle with a lot of things, but I see from this group that we all do, so I'm beginning to see I'm not the only one that has these problems. I'm just so happy to be here with people who understand. Whoever mentioned boredom hit another real problem for me. I get bored and I immediately want to find food. I've had some success with doing things to keep my hands busy. It worked when I quit smoking 30 years ago, and I'm hoping I'll have another success with that " mindless " eating. Computer games are great for that. I also do needlework while watching tv at night. Sometime I even just go to bed when all else fails. Thanks for giving me someplace and someone to " talk " to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Welcome and so good to have you here too. My sister-in-law is post polio and that is a challenge in its self for sure. I have found that 'yakking' helps me with dealing with whatever's 'eating' me and typing about it is way preferable over using my hands to put food (that I don't need) into my mouth ;-) Looking forward to reading more posts from you too - Best to you - Katcha > > > This is the first Yahoo group I've been on so I hope that I'm > replying to the group, and not someone's mailbox. > > Thank you for your welcome. I've been reading your posts (past and > present) and see that we all have similar problems. I wanted to > share a little more about myself (now that I've " met " you all). I'm > 62, divorced, retired and live alone. I have 2 sons and 5 > granddaughters. I'm diabetic, arthritic, and now wear a brace on one > leg because of post polio syndrome. In my life I've been on > literally thousands of diets (since I was 9 yrs old), bulimic when I > was younger, and compulsive overeating/binge eating & secret eating > when I got older. I was first introduced to the IE concepts in the > late 80's when I read a book called " overcoming overeating " . I have > semi-worked it since then, with frequent detours into diets. I have > read all but one of the books in your book list (and more) over those > years. 5 or 6 years ago I promised myself I would never diet again > and I haven't except for one slip that made me crazy, and made me > gain weight again. I took care of my chronically ill mother (lung > disease) for nearly 20 years. She died 2 years ago, and I came to > realize that for the very first time in my life, I was living totally > by myself. I went from living with my family, to living in a dorm, > to marriage, to kids, then to having my mom in my house. My > therapist (anyone who lives with an elderly parent needs one)told me > that my first time alone was the perfect time to work on me. I threw > myself into doing IE, because I didn't have to cook or buy for anyone > but me - didn't have to explain why I was eating ice cream when I'm > 100 lbs overweight, didn't feel compelled to eat in secret (who was I > keeping it a secret from?), didn't feel like I had to justify every > bite. I still struggle with a lot of things, but I see from this > group that we all do, so I'm beginning to see I'm not the only one > that has these problems. I'm just so happy to be here with people > who understand. > > Whoever mentioned boredom hit another real problem for me. I get > bored and I immediately want to find food. I've had some success > with doing things to keep my hands busy. It worked when I quit > smoking 30 years ago, and I'm hoping I'll have another success with > that " mindless " eating. Computer games are great for that. I also do > needlework while watching tv at night. Sometime I even just go to > bed when all else fails. > > Thanks for giving me someplace and someone to " talk " to. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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