Re: FINALLY giving up . . .

[Guest guest]

Hi Debbie,

What has been working for me best so far is to just pick one IE

practice ast a time and let it 'seep' into my life to where its

'natural' and comfortable. I started out with legalizing chocolate

because I thought it would be 'fun' and in was in one way too! Yet I

fought chocolate gremlins alllll the way until it became a 'food' for

me. Please share your adventures as you go your IE journey. I enjoy

reading these and they inspire me too.

Best to you - Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> Wow, I am so impressed with this group--what wisdom and practical

knowledge you guys are sharing! I have " lurked " in this group for a

while--read the Intuitive Eating book about five years ago, but just

haven't been able to really trust that diets don't work--I get scared

and jump back on the little " hamster wheel " of the latest diet.  I'm

43, and I've been on a diet of some sort since I was five years old.

My highest weight was 320, and I am staying around 220. I am so tired

of always trying, falling off the wagon, starting AGAIN--ugh. I so

want to be FREE--any suggestions for REALLY starting to live this way?

Thanks so much!

> Debbie

>

[Guest guest]

Debbie,

Glad you're here! I agree with Katcha...it may be easier to work

with 1 or more of the principles that really apply to your life. I

started out focusing on 4 principles: honor your hunger, exercise-

feel the difference, cope with emotions without using food, and

respect your fullness (in that order). These 4 principles

represented areas where I had alot of work to do. Some people may

want to start with the principles that may be easier for them to

ease into it. I tend to like to go through the tough stuff

first...just my personality. I believe that IE is about finding what

truly works for who you are as a person.

I sort of did personal research and experimentation for each of the

principles. Each principle inspired a different set of questions.

Example: Honor Your Hunger - What the heck does that mean? How do I

know when I'm hungry? In the beginning, I couldn't answer this

question. So, for several days I tracked what sensations and

emotions went on in my body around food and eating...watching what

happened in my body to signal when I was biologically hungry.

Before learning about IE there were three scenarios to my eating: 1)

I was eating on the clock (standard 3 meal times), 2) occassionally

I had some sense of real hunger when I was starving and I would eat,

or 3) I OFTEN ate when emotionally triggered (e.g., anger, boredom,

anxiety, peer pressure). I went through a whole process of learning

my true hunger signals and what hides or distorts my signals in the

past several months...and the rewards of this process are

indescribable. Practicing IE has helped me recognize the basic

intelligence of hunger signals. I've developed new eating scenarios:

1) Respond as quickly as possible to my hunger signals when I get

them 2) Check-in with myself for my hunger signals when feeling

pulled to eat and 3) I SOMETIMES eat when emotionally triggered

(e.g., anger, boredom, anxiety, peer pressure) though usually more

mindfully (I know I'm triggered and choose to eat).

Have FUN with it...there is no failure...practicing IE is an amazing

adventure and can bring so much healing, joy, and renewal. I also

started this process wanting feel liberated--free from the craziness

of being out of control or out of balance with eating and my body.

The benefits of IE are gained through practice.

Latoya:)

I so want to be FREE--any suggestions for REALLY starting to live

this way? Thanks so much!

> Debbie

>

[Guest guest]

Why does this take so long and hurt so much!Subject: RE: FINALLY giving up . . .To: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Thursday, October 9, 2008, 10:15 PM

Debbie, Your journey back to IE is so normal,

people come and go and eventually come back after exhausting all other

possibilities. This is good, because it means you are really ready! Here’s the thing – you cannot

fall off the wagon with IE. You can’t fail, you can’t do it wrong,

you can’t make a mistake. Every step back is a learning experience to be

embraced and to learn something that will help you develop your IE skills and

tools, not to mention trusting yourself. My suggestion is don’t start. That

sounds weird, but if you officially start, doesn’t that feel like a diet?

Just be. Incorporate IE principles into your life as you want to and take your

time. If you overeat, remember it’s not a mistake. It’s an

opportunity to figure out what happened and why. And all you have to do is move

on. Don’t skip your next meal or go workout like crazy, that’s

dieting. Just decide that the next time you are hungry, you will eat, and eat

what you want. I hope this helps, it really is a paradigm

shift and it’s easy to turn IE into a diet so watch for that.

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian

Hood-son, MS, ACSM Healthier Outcomes Get your report, "The 6 Steps to Guilt-Free Eating"

by visiting http://www.Healthie rOutcomes. com

Check out the upcoming Am I Hungry?

seminar beginning October 16th: http://www.BreakOut ofDietPrison. com

From:

IntuitiveEating_ Support@yahoogro ups.com

[mailto:IntuitiveEa ting_Support@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Brent DeRossett

Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008

5:38 AM

To:

IntuitiveEating_ Support@yahoogro ups.com

Subject: [intuitiveEating_ Support]

FINALLY giving up . . .

Wow, I am so impressed with this group--what wisdom and practical

knowledge you guys are sharing! I have "lurked" in this group for a

while--read the Intuitive Eating book about five years ago, but just haven't

been able to really trust that diets don't work--I get scared and jump back on

the little "hamster wheel" of the latest diet. I'm 43, and I've

been on a diet of some sort since I was five years old. My highest weight was

320, and I am staying around 220. I am so tired of always trying, falling off

the wagon, starting AGAIN--ugh. I so want to be FREE--any suggestions for

REALLY starting to live this way? Thanks so much!

Debbie