Guest guest Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 Welcome so glad to have you with us. Eva Hi fellow IEs! I just started (1 week ago) reading about Intuitive Eating and look forward to changing my relationship with food. I've been on a deprive/binge eating plan since I was about 15 years old, and now as I just celebrated my 40th birthday, I'm looking to have a healthier relationship with the food I eat. I've always managed a middle ground with my weight and exercise, but not necessarily a healthy ground. I am one of those who viewed my eating as having good days and bad days. If I started off bad, I gave myself the green light to be very bad, gorging myself sick with food. If I started off good, I gave myself the red light on any indulgences. As I read through the book, I can totally understand the cycle I've been on most of my life. And now, as I make peace with food, my body and learn to honor my hunger, I'm trying to get on a different path in life. So far, I've given myself permission to eat, but I have to say that I've been thinking so much about this new way of eating, I also find that I might be a little to obsessed with it, which takes me back to my dieting mentality. It's hard to surrender food issues when your thinking so much about hunger and food. I know the beginning of IE must be the most challenging, so I appreciate any initial suggestions or advice to stay on this journey, making my relationship with food a healthy one. ------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 Welcome IE is challenging at different levels at different times ;-) Its easy to start off like a house afire and actually make some good head way too. Its also usual for there to be peaks and valleys as we travel this IE journey. When you find yourself walking in circles don't be dismayed, you can take a new turn and discover another path! What worked best for me was to choose an IE suggested practice and work on it alone. Its too easy to try and gobble IE down all in one bite, but that hasn't worked for most of us here ;-) Hope you can also find that re-discovering eating can be fun and pleasant without galloping guilt or fretting either. Looking forward to your posts - Katcha IEing since March 2007 > > Hi fellow IEs! I just started (1 week ago) reading about Intuitive > Eating and look forward to changing my relationship with food. I've > been on a deprive/binge eating plan since I was about 15 years old, > and now as I just celebrated my 40th birthday, I'm looking to have a > healthier relationship with the food I eat. I've always managed a > middle ground with my weight and exercise, but not necessarily a > healthy ground. I am one of those who viewed my eating as having > good days and bad days. If I started off bad, I gave myself the > green light to be very bad, gorging myself sick with food. If I > started off good, I gave myself the red light on any indulgences. As > I read through the book, I can totally understand the cycle I've been > on most of my life. And now, as I make peace with food, my body and > learn to honor my hunger, I'm trying to get on a different path in > life. So far, I've given myself permission to eat, but I have to > say that I've been thinking so much about this new way of eating, I > also find that I might be a little to obsessed with it, which takes > me back to my dieting mentality. It's hard to surrender food issues > when your thinking so much about hunger and food. I know the > beginning of IE must be the most challenging, so I appreciate any > initial suggestions or advice to stay on this journey, making my > relationship with food a healthy one. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 , Welcome to the group! Being super focused on food and eating in the beginning is normal for alot of people...it definitely was for me. When I first started IE, I diligently tracked my hunger and thought about IE constantly. After two weeks, I realized that I was driving myself crazy and relaxed about the process. I needed to go through that extreme phase to find a comfortable relationship with the principles and the process. As you continue incorporating IE into your life, you'll discover what works best for you. You said that you want to have a " healthier relationship " with the food that you eat. What does that mean specifically for you? What does that look and feel like? The more you can feel, envision, and talk about what that " healthier relationship " is...the more you will be able to determine where you want to focus at each stage in your IE journey. As an example, I knew that one of my core issues was emotional eating. So, I've invested alot of time with principle 7. Each new insights about my emotional eating guides me to new and betters ways to support and respond to my needs. Each new insight you gain about your hunger and fullness...guides you to the next step in working with your hunger and fullness. All of this is to say that the practice of IE (working with the principles daily) is the path and the process helps reveal the next steps as you go along. It takes time and practice to transform old habits into new more balanced way of eating and taking care of your body. One of my top suggestions is to have fun with IE! Latoya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Thanks for the insight, Latoya. I'm sure it takes a while to settle into this journey, especially after 25 years of diet destruction. One thing I've also noticed since beginning IE is how I've responded to my children and their eating habits. Before, I thought I was teaching my children how to eat healthy, eliminating all " junkie " foods from our kitchen. Now I realize I'm just teaching them how to be deprived, causing them to crave it even more. Since I started IE, I'm not only changing my own way of eating, but relaxing on how my children eat. Before, I would say things like, " No, that's junkie food, let's eat something healthy. " Now, I let them eat it without making them feel like it's an extra special treat, or because they've been good. It's just food after all. I guess I thought that if I let my kids have junk food, they would want it all the time, but it's really the opposite. For children especially, the forbidden fruit is most desired and kids can obsess until they get what they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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