Yes, I do still exist...

[Guest guest]

Gillian Glad to have you back and thanks for sharing your story I also tend to eat when I am stressed and have discovered the same thing you did that when I feel stressed and want to eat to cope I now eat less then I normally would have before IE I also find that those times are less and less now. Yesterday I was nervous about something and ate some chocolate when I was already satisfied and I knew it wasn't going to help me and I was just doing it to comfort myself. I had bought a very large bar of really fine chocolate cut it up into small sections and put it in the fridge for those occassional times when I crave chocolate (not that I was craving it but it has always been a comfort food) so I ate one small section slowly and that was all it took to comfort me. I was also starting to get a cold and needed comfort so I was happy that all it took was a small section of chocolate. Eva

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been wanting to pop in and say hello for some time now, it seems like forever since I’ve participated in the conversations. I’ve been staying in touch, reading the messages and it’s been really cool to see how well you all are supporting each other. There is so much wisdom in this group, every single post is helpful to someone in the group, even the silent majority. We now have over 1200 members, the word is spreading!

I want to thank both Katcha and Eva for all their help in my absence, it’s been so helpful knowing they are here to keep things running smoothly while I was dealing with my own stuff this summer.

Also, welcome to all our new members! It seems many of you have settled into the group and are getting and offering support. If you have any questions or concerns about the group, don’t hesitate to email me directly.

I have had a challenging and very stressful summer, which is the reason I have not been very active here. I have to believe it’s behind me now and I can get back to my “normal†life. But whenever I am dealing with something really difficult or stressful, I always try to look back and see what I was supposed to learn from that situation or what the positive was that came from it. Not always easy, of course, but it helps put things in perspective. One of my observations from this time may be encouraging for those of you still at the beginning of your IE journey.

I don’t remember a more stressful time in my life than this summer. It was not because of what was going on, it was the number of things happening at once. We were right in the middle of the Northern California fires for almost 8 weeks, under the threat of evacuation. We were safe and never had to leave, so we were lucky, but it was scary. I also had three family emergencies happen within a 2 week period, and other things that I won’t bore you with. It’s not my intention to be a victim here or whine about my life, I just want to set the scene for you. That’s because even though I have been eating intuitively for quite a while now and usually don’t have urges to binge, those old desires to binge came up a lot this summer.

I’m sure many of you feel like you’ll never get past the binging or break the cycle of stress/emotional eating. I know I felt that way a lot. It seemed like maybe this works for other people, but it isn’t going to work for me. What I started to see and hopefully what you’re seeing is a decrease in that behavior and maybe you have noticed that your binges aren’t as intense or as long as they used to be before you discovered IE. Eventually I stopped binging and my urges to binge went away as well. But like I said, they came back this summer. It really scared me at first. Then I calmed down, remembered that it was my choice to binge if I so choose, and that this was my coping mechanism for years and years, so of course under extreme stress my brain was going to turn to binging. At one point I decided to go ahead and have that binge I wanted so bad, even though I knew it wouldn’t solve anything and I would probably not feel well afterwards. I remained aware of what I was doing and the consequences and decided to do it without feeling guilty afterwards.

Here’s the best part: I had all the food ready, went to the store, got all my “favoritesâ€. I started eating, and after about 10 minutes, I didn’t want anymore. I was done physically and my body did not want me to eat anymore. It was impossible for me to binge! In the moment, it’s a bit disappointing, my friend binging is gone for good, but looking back it’s awesome. When I looked at how much I had eaten on my so-called binge, it was basically enough to get me to full or satisfied, not stuffed, not overly full, just enough.

The point of this long rambling is to encourage all of you to keep going, it gets easier, it becomes more natural, and will become a part of your life that generally takes care of itself.

If I can be of any help to any of you, don’t hesitate to contact me. And please keep posting here, share your experiences, ask for support, and get what you need! A big part of IE is asking for and getting what you need. We are all here to support you in this, even if no one else outside of the group understands.

Thanks!GillianGillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Healthier Outcomes

Get your report, "The 6 Steps to Guilt-Free Eating" by visiting http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com Check out the upcoming Am I Hungry? seminar beginning October 16th: http://www.BreakOutofDietPrison.com

New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News more. Try it out!

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been wanting to pop in and say hello for some

time now, it seems like forever since I’ve participated in the

conversations. I’ve been staying in touch, reading the messages and it’s

been really cool to see how well you all are supporting each other. There is so

much wisdom in this group, every single post is helpful to someone in the

group, even the silent majority. We now have over 1200 members, the word is

spreading!

I want to thank both Katcha and Eva for all their help in my

absence, it’s been so helpful knowing they are here to keep things

running smoothly while I was dealing with my own stuff this summer.

Also, welcome to all our new members! It seems many of you

have settled into the group and are getting and offering support. If you have

any questions or concerns about the group, don’t hesitate to email me

directly.

I have had a challenging and very stressful summer, which is

the reason I have not been very active here. I have to believe it’s

behind me now and I can get back to my “normal” life. But whenever

I am dealing with something really difficult or stressful, I always try to look

back and see what I was supposed to learn from that situation or what the

positive was that came from it. Not always easy, of course, but it helps put

things in perspective. One of my observations from this time may be encouraging

for those of you still at the beginning of your IE journey.

I don’t remember a more stressful time in my life than

this summer. It was not because of what was going on, it was the number of

things happening at once. We were right in the middle of the Northern

California fires for almost 8 weeks, under the threat of

evacuation. We were safe and never had to leave, so we were lucky, but it was

scary. I also had three family emergencies happen within a 2 week period, and

other things that I won’t bore you with. It’s not my intention to

be a victim here or whine about my life, I just want to set the scene for you.

That’s because even though I have been eating intuitively for quite a

while now and usually don’t have urges to binge, those old desires to

binge came up a lot this summer.

I’m sure many of you feel like you’ll never get

past the binging or break the cycle of stress/emotional eating. I know I felt

that way a lot. It seemed like maybe this works for other people, but it isn’t

going to work for me. What I started to see and hopefully what you’re

seeing is a decrease in that behavior and maybe you have noticed that your

binges aren’t as intense or as long as they used to be before you

discovered IE. Eventually I stopped binging and my urges to binge went away as

well. But like I said, they came back this summer. It really scared me at

first. Then I calmed down, remembered that it was my choice to binge if I so

choose, and that this was my coping mechanism for years and years, so of course

under extreme stress my brain was going to turn to binging. At one point I

decided to go ahead and have that binge I wanted so bad, even though I knew it

wouldn’t solve anything and I would probably not feel well afterwards. I

remained aware of what I was doing and the consequences and decided to do it

without feeling guilty afterwards.

Here’s the best part: I had all the food ready, went

to the store, got all my “favorites”. I started eating, and after

about 10 minutes, I didn’t want anymore. I was done physically and my

body did not want me to eat anymore. It was impossible for me to binge! In the

moment, it’s a bit disappointing, my friend binging is gone for good, but

looking back it’s awesome. When I looked at how much I had eaten on my

so-called binge, it was basically enough to get me to full or satisfied, not

stuffed, not overly full, just enough.

The point of this long rambling is to encourage all of you

to keep going, it gets easier, it becomes more natural, and will become a part

of your life that generally takes care of itself.

If I can be of any help to any of you, don’t hesitate

to contact me. And please keep posting here, share your experiences, ask for

support, and get what you need! A big part of IE is asking for and getting what

you need. We are all here to support you in this, even if no one else outside

of the group understands.

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Healthier Outcomes

Get your report, " The 6 Steps to Guilt-Free Eating "

by visiting http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com

Check out the upcoming Am I Hungry?

seminar beginning October 16th: http://www.BreakOutofDietPrison.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Gillian and all,

I have also noticed that when I eat emotionally or feel like I want to binge, I cannot eat the same quantity! My body says "enough" and I just don't want to keep eating. Sometimes I'm more full than just satisfied, but I don't feel stuffed. And the binge/emotional eating has only happened a few times in the past 2 months.

Today was one of those days. I have been feeling really sad - issues with my husband and son - and when I got home from work, I was slightly hungry. I decided I wanted muffins and bagels (toasted w/pnut butter). Classic binge food for me. I sat down and started with the muffins. Well, I ate 1 and then part of another. Then I was full! I didn't want any more food! And guess what, I'm still sad, and that's ok!! My day will go on, and the feeling will dissapate when it's meant to. Which means I can get through an uncomfortable emotion and not binge!!

IE is definitely working for me. It's a process and I'm learning alot. Best of all, I'm learning to trust myself and my body. I don't have to be perfect

Kim

IE since Aug 08

Subject: Re: Yes, I do still exist...To: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2008, 3:09 PM

Gillian Glad to have you back and thanks for sharing your story I also tend to eat when I am stressed and have discovered the same thing you did that when I feel stressed and want to eat to cope I now eat less then I normally would have before IE I also find that those times are less and less now. Yesterday I was nervous about something and ate some chocolate when I was already satisfied and I knew it wasn't going to help me and I was just doing it to comfort myself. I had bought a very large bar of really fine chocolate cut it up into small sections and put it in the fridge for those occassional times when I crave chocolate (not that I was craving it but it has always been a comfort food) so I ate one small section slowly and that was all it took to comfort me. I was also starting to get a cold and needed comfort so I was happy that all it took was a small section of chocolate. Eva

In a message dated 10/7/2008 1:45:59 P.M. Central Daylight Time, gillian@healthierou tcomes.com writes:

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been wanting to pop in and say hello for some time now, it seems like forever since I’ve participated in the conversations. I’ve been staying in touch, reading the messages and it’s been really cool to see how well you all are supporting each other. There is so much wisdom in this group, every single post is helpful to someone in the group, even the silent majority. We now have over 1200 members, the word is spreading!

I want to thank both Katcha and Eva for all their help in my absence, it’s been so helpful knowing they are here to keep things running smoothly while I was dealing with my own stuff this summer.

Also, welcome to all our new members! It seems many of you have settled into the group and are getting and offering support. If you have any questions or concerns about the group, don’t hesitate to email me directly.

I have had a challenging and very stressful summer, which is the reason I have not been very active here. I have to believe it’s behind me now and I can get back to my “normal” life. But whenever I am dealing with something really difficult or stressful, I always try to look back and see what I was supposed to learn from that situation or what the positive was that came from it. Not always easy, of course, but it helps put things in perspective. One of my observations from this time may be encouraging for those of you still at the beginning of your IE journey.

I don’t remember a more stressful time in my life than this summer. It was not because of what was going on, it was the number of things happening at once. We were right in the middle of the Northern California fires for almost 8 weeks, under the threat of evacuation. We were safe and never had to leave, so we were lucky, but it was scary. I also had three family emergencies happen within a 2 week period, and other things that I won’t bore you with. It’s not my intention to be a victim here or whine about my life, I just want to set the scene for you. That’s because even though I have been eating intuitively for quite a while now and usually don’t have urges to binge, those old desires to binge came up a lot this summer.

I’m sure many of you feel like you’ll never get past the binging or break the cycle of stress/emotional eating. I know I felt that way a lot. It seemed like maybe this works for other people, but it isn’t going to work for me. What I started to see and hopefully what you’re seeing is a decrease in that behavior and maybe you have noticed that your binges aren’t as intense or as long as they used to be before you discovered IE. Eventually I stopped binging and my urges to binge went away as well. But like I said, they came back this summer. It really scared me at first. Then I calmed down, remembered that it was my choice to binge if I so choose, and that this was my coping mechanism for years and years, so of course under extreme stress my brain was going to turn to binging. At one point I decided to go ahead and have that binge I wanted so bad, even

though I knew it wouldn’t solve anything and I would probably not feel well afterwards. I remained aware of what I was doing and the consequences and decided to do it without feeling guilty afterwards.

Here’s the best part: I had all the food ready, went to the store, got all my “favorites”. I started eating, and after about 10 minutes, I didn’t want anymore. I was done physically and my body did not want me to eat anymore. It was impossible for me to binge! In the moment, it’s a bit disappointing, my friend binging is gone for good, but looking back it’s awesome. When I looked at how much I had eaten on my so-called binge, it was basically enough to get me to full or satisfied, not stuffed, not overly full, just enough.

The point of this long rambling is to encourage all of you to keep going, it gets easier, it becomes more natural, and will become a part of your life that generally takes care of itself.

If I can be of any help to any of you, don’t hesitate to contact me. And please keep posting here, share your experiences, ask for support, and get what you need! A big part of IE is asking for and getting what you need. We are all here to support you in this, even if no one else outside of the group understands.

Thanks!GillianGillian 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

New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News more. Try it out!

[Guest guest]

GOOD to read a post from you Gillian! I know you have been working

your way back here, but its wonderful to actually have you here too.

Excellent post about long term IE does bring significant changes that

we all so doubt will ever be possible when we start. You have been

IEing for at least 7 years right?!? IE for life I say :)

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> Hi Everyone!

>

>

>

> I've been wanting to pop in and say hello for some time now, it

seems like

> forever since I've participated in the conversations. I've been

staying in

> touch, reading the messages and it's been really cool to see how

well you

> all are supporting each other. There is so much wisdom in this

group, every

> single post is helpful to someone in the group, even the silent

majority. We

> now have over 1200 members, the word is spreading!

>

>

>

> I want to thank both Katcha and Eva for all their help in my

absence, it's

> been so helpful knowing they are here to keep things running

smoothly while

> I was dealing with my own stuff this summer.

>

>

>

> Also, welcome to all our new members! It seems many of you have

settled into

> the group and are getting and offering support. If you have any

questions or

> concerns about the group, don't hesitate to email me directly.

>

>

>

> I have had a challenging and very stressful summer, which is the

reason I

> have not been very active here. I have to believe it's behind me now

and I

> can get back to my " normal " life. But whenever I am dealing with

something

> really difficult or stressful, I always try to look back and see

what I was

> supposed to learn from that situation or what the positive was that came

> from it. Not always easy, of course, but it helps put things in

perspective.

> One of my observations from this time may be encouraging for those

of you

> still at the beginning of your IE journey.

>

>

>

> I don't remember a more stressful time in my life than this summer.

It was

> not because of what was going on, it was the number of things

happening at

> once. We were right in the middle of the Northern California fires for

> almost 8 weeks, under the threat of evacuation. We were safe and

never had

> to leave, so we were lucky, but it was scary. I also had three family

> emergencies happen within a 2 week period, and other things that I won't

> bore you with. It's not my intention to be a victim here or whine

about my

> life, I just want to set the scene for you. That's because even though I

> have been eating intuitively for quite a while now and usually don't

have

> urges to binge, those old desires to binge came up a lot this summer.

>

>

>

> I'm sure many of you feel like you'll never get past the binging or

break

> the cycle of stress/emotional eating. I know I felt that way a lot. It

> seemed like maybe this works for other people, but it isn't going to

work

> for me. What I started to see and hopefully what you're seeing is a

decrease

> in that behavior and maybe you have noticed that your binges aren't as

> intense or as long as they used to be before you discovered IE.

Eventually I

> stopped binging and my urges to binge went away as well. But like I

said,

> they came back this summer. It really scared me at first. Then I calmed

> down, remembered that it was my choice to binge if I so choose, and that

> this was my coping mechanism for years and years, so of course under

extreme

> stress my brain was going to turn to binging. At one point I decided

to go

> ahead and have that binge I wanted so bad, even though I knew it

wouldn't

> solve anything and I would probably not feel well afterwards. I remained

> aware of what I was doing and the consequences and decided to do it

without

> feeling guilty afterwards.

>

>

>

> Here's the best part: I had all the food ready, went to the store,

got all

> my " favorites " . I started eating, and after about 10 minutes, I

didn't want

> anymore. I was done physically and my body did not want me to eat

anymore.

> It was impossible for me to binge! In the moment, it's a bit

disappointing,

> my friend binging is gone for good, but looking back it's awesome.

When I

> looked at how much I had eaten on my so-called binge, it was basically

> enough to get me to full or satisfied, not stuffed, not overly full,

just

> enough.

>

>

>

> The point of this long rambling is to encourage all of you to keep

going, it

> gets easier, it becomes more natural, and will become a part of your

life

> that generally takes care of itself.

>

>

>

> If I can be of any help to any of you, don't hesitate to contact me. And

> please keep posting here, share your experiences, ask for support,

and get

> what you need! A big part of IE is asking for and getting what you

need. We

> are all here to support you in this, even if no one else outside of the

> group understands.

>

>

>

>

>

> Thanks!

> Gillian

>

> Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM

>

> Healthier Outcomes

>

>

>

>

>

> Get your report, " The 6 Steps to Guilt-Free Eating " by visiting

> http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com <http://www.healthieroutcomes.com/>

>

>

> Check out the upcoming Am I Hungry? seminar beginning October 16th:

> http://www.BreakOutofDietPrison.com

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Gillian,

Welcome back! I have missed you! I am sorry you have been going

through such a difficult time. If I had to live under the threat of

evacuation for 8 weeks, I would feel like bingeing too! Talk about

nervewracking! It makes my stomach churn just thinking about it.

I am really glad you shared your experience with discovering that at

this stage in your journey that even when you WANT to binge, it is

impossible for you to do so. I have made a similar discovery lately

but it was not until I read your post that I realized what a big step

that is for me and that it is something I should really feel good

about. Because I am morbidly obese, I tend to focus more on my

concern that I am not losing weight. But your post reminds me that I

also need to focus on the positive, and one of the major positives is

that I think I have only binged twice since starting I.E. 6 months

ago. I used to binge once a week or at least every two weeks.

I have been trying to legalize Halloween candy for the past few

weeks. I bought 3 large bags of all my favorite candy and dumped

everything into a huge bowl. I felt like I was making up for YEARS of

deprivation regarding Halloween candy. What has happened is that

every night after dinner, instead of having a home made dessert or

fresh fruit, which would be my custom, I have been sitting down with

this huge bowl of candy and eating my fill of it. Now if that doesn't

sound like and look like a binge, I don't know what does. I was

feeling pretty down about the whole thing until a few nights ago I

put on my Food Anthropologist hat and looked at the issue objectively.

My Food Anthropologist said, " Why are you calling this a binge? This

is not a binge. Each night, you are eating about 4 or 5 mini-candy

bars. You are carefully selecting the ones you want, so you will be

satisfied, you are eating them slowly and enjoying them, and you are

stopping when you are full. This is no different than you enjoying

your normal dessert after dinner. "

That was quite a revelation to me. I guess I thought of it as a binge

because I was sitting there with a big bowl of what I admittedly

still think of as " forbidden food " in my lap, eating my fill. But

that is the operative phrase, EATING MY FILL. If I were bingeing, I

would not have stopped when I was full, I would have stopped when all

the little packets of M & M's in the bowl were gone.

And as I thought more about it, I realized on some nights, when I

might have had an extra candy bar, I would get that old, panicky

binge feeling. " Oh no! I am out of control! Help! Keep eating! Eat it

ALL! Get rid of this stuff! " And I would go to take another packet of

candy and my body would just say, loud and clear, " Ugh. No more. I am

full. Step away from the candy.You may feel like punishing yourself

but I am not going along for the ride since I am the one who will

have to feel sick for the rest of the night! " And, like you, Gillian,

even though my mind was saying, " Eat! Eat " , my body would not permit

it.

And now that I think about it, the fact that I have been sitting

every night for the past 2 weeks with a huge bowl of candy in my lap

and NOT bingeing is HUGE progress. Yay me! I have been focusing so

much on the negative " (What you are doing to yourself? Candy every

night? You will rot out your teeth! You will develop diabetes! You

are playing with fire! " ),that I wasn't even able to see this as a

positive thing and a sign of progress. Thank you for helping me to

see the light, Gillian! It's so good to have your positive and strong

voice back among us!

I.E.ing since April '08

[Guest guest]

, what a HUGE step for you!! I look to you guys who are further

along and I see such hope. Thank-you so much for sharing that.

dawnz

>

> Hi Gillian,

> Welcome back! I have missed you! I am sorry you have been going

> through such a difficult time. If I had to live under the threat of

> evacuation for 8 weeks, I would feel like bingeing too! Talk about

> nervewracking! It makes my stomach churn just thinking about it.

>

> I am really glad you shared your experience with discovering that at

> this stage in your journey that even when you WANT to binge, it is

> impossible for you to do so. I have made a similar discovery lately

> but it was not until I read your post that I realized what a big step

> that is for me and that it is something I should really feel good

> about. Because I am morbidly obese, I tend to focus more on my

> concern that I am not losing weight. But your post reminds me that I

> also need to focus on the positive, and one of the major positives is

> that I think I have only binged twice since starting I.E. 6 months

> ago. I used to binge once a week or at least every two weeks.

>

> I have been trying to legalize Halloween candy for the past few

> weeks. I bought 3 large bags of all my favorite candy and dumped

> everything into a huge bowl. I felt like I was making up for YEARS of

> deprivation regarding Halloween candy. What has happened is that

> every night after dinner, instead of having a home made dessert or

> fresh fruit, which would be my custom, I have been sitting down with

> this huge bowl of candy and eating my fill of it. Now if that doesn't

> sound like and look like a binge, I don't know what does. I was

> feeling pretty down about the whole thing until a few nights ago I

> put on my Food Anthropologist hat and looked at the issue objectively.

> My Food Anthropologist said, " Why are you calling this a binge? This

> is not a binge. Each night, you are eating about 4 or 5 mini-candy

> bars. You are carefully selecting the ones you want, so you will be

> satisfied, you are eating them slowly and enjoying them, and you are

> stopping when you are full. This is no different than you enjoying

> your normal dessert after dinner. "

>

> That was quite a revelation to me. I guess I thought of it as a binge

> because I was sitting there with a big bowl of what I admittedly

> still think of as " forbidden food " in my lap, eating my fill. But

> that is the operative phrase, EATING MY FILL. If I were bingeing, I

> would not have stopped when I was full, I would have stopped when all

> the little packets of M & M's in the bowl were gone.

>

> And as I thought more about it, I realized on some nights, when I

> might have had an extra candy bar, I would get that old, panicky

> binge feeling. " Oh no! I am out of control! Help! Keep eating! Eat it

> ALL! Get rid of this stuff! " And I would go to take another packet of

> candy and my body would just say, loud and clear, " Ugh. No more. I am

> full. Step away from the candy.You may feel like punishing yourself

> but I am not going along for the ride since I am the one who will

> have to feel sick for the rest of the night! " And, like you, Gillian,

> even though my mind was saying, " Eat! Eat " , my body would not permit

> it.

>

> And now that I think about it, the fact that I have been sitting

> every night for the past 2 weeks with a huge bowl of candy in my lap

> and NOT bingeing is HUGE progress. Yay me! I have been focusing so

> much on the negative " (What you are doing to yourself? Candy every

> night? You will rot out your teeth! You will develop diabetes! You

> are playing with fire! " ),that I wasn't even able to see this as a

> positive thing and a sign of progress. Thank you for helping me to

> see the light, Gillian! It's so good to have your positive and strong

> voice back among us!

>

>

> I.E.ing since April '08

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your uplifting story. I'm sorry you had such a stressful

summer and I hope everything is good again. I can relate to what you

said about your binge as the other day I too was stressed, tired and

angry and I knowingly grabbed the bag of cheesies and crunched on a

few then without thinking I put the bag away and dealt with my anger

then it was over and I was calm again. Sometimes it feels like this

will not work for me but deep down inside once the stress has moved

on it gets a little easier to cope each time. I'm hanging onto

weight right now but not stressing about it as I'm dealing with

things differently. I would like to get better at eating when hungry

as now if I say I don't know if I'm hungry I either stop eating or

don't start.

Thanks for your encouraging words.

J.

>

> Hi Everyone!

>

>

>

> I've been wanting to pop in and say hello for some time now, it

seems like

> forever since I've participated in the conversations. I've been

staying in

> touch, reading the messages and it's been really cool to see how

well you

> all are supporting each other. There is so much wisdom in this

group, every

> single post is helpful to someone in the group, even the silent

majority. We

> now have over 1200 members, the word is spreading!

>

>

>

> I want to thank both Katcha and Eva for all their help in my

absence, it's

> been so helpful knowing they are here to keep things running

smoothly while

> I was dealing with my own stuff this summer.

>

>

>

> Also, welcome to all our new members! It seems many of you have

settled into

> the group and are getting and offering support. If you have any

questions or

> concerns about the group, don't hesitate to email me directly.

>

>

>

> I have had a challenging and very stressful summer, which is the

reason I

> have not been very active here. I have to believe it's behind me

now and I

> can get back to my " normal " life. But whenever I am dealing with

something

> really difficult or stressful, I always try to look back and see

what I was

> supposed to learn from that situation or what the positive was that

came

> from it. Not always easy, of course, but it helps put things in

perspective.

> One of my observations from this time may be encouraging for those

of you

> still at the beginning of your IE journey.

>

>

>

> I don't remember a more stressful time in my life than this summer.

It was

> not because of what was going on, it was the number of things

happening at

> once. We were right in the middle of the Northern California fires

for

> almost 8 weeks, under the threat of evacuation. We were safe and

never had

> to leave, so we were lucky, but it was scary. I also had three

family

> emergencies happen within a 2 week period, and other things that I

won't

> bore you with. It's not my intention to be a victim here or whine

about my

> life, I just want to set the scene for you. That's because even

though I

> have been eating intuitively for quite a while now and usually

don't have

> urges to binge, those old desires to binge came up a lot this

summer.

>

>

>

> I'm sure many of you feel like you'll never get past the binging or

break

> the cycle of stress/emotional eating. I know I felt that way a lot.

It

> seemed like maybe this works for other people, but it isn't going

to work

> for me. What I started to see and hopefully what you're seeing is a

decrease

> in that behavior and maybe you have noticed that your binges aren't

as

> intense or as long as they used to be before you discovered IE.

Eventually I

> stopped binging and my urges to binge went away as well. But like I

said,

> they came back this summer. It really scared me at first. Then I

calmed

> down, remembered that it was my choice to binge if I so choose, and

that

> this was my coping mechanism for years and years, so of course

under extreme

> stress my brain was going to turn to binging. At one point I

decided to go

> ahead and have that binge I wanted so bad, even though I knew it

wouldn't

> solve anything and I would probably not feel well afterwards. I

remained

> aware of what I was doing and the consequences and decided to do it

without

> feeling guilty afterwards.

>

>

>

> Here's the best part: I had all the food ready, went to the store,

got all

> my " favorites " . I started eating, and after about 10 minutes, I

didn't want

> anymore. I was done physically and my body did not want me to eat

anymore.

> It was impossible for me to binge! In the moment, it's a bit

disappointing,

> my friend binging is gone for good, but looking back it's awesome.

When I

> looked at how much I had eaten on my so-called binge, it was

basically

> enough to get me to full or satisfied, not stuffed, not overly

full, just

> enough.

>

>

>

> The point of this long rambling is to encourage all of you to keep

going, it

> gets easier, it becomes more natural, and will become a part of

your life

> that generally takes care of itself.

>

>

>

> If I can be of any help to any of you, don't hesitate to contact

me. And

> please keep posting here, share your experiences, ask for support,

and get

> what you need! A big part of IE is asking for and getting what you

need. We

> are all here to support you in this, even if no one else outside of

the

> group understands.

>

>

>

>

>

> Thanks!

> Gillian

>

> Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM

>

> Healthier Outcomes

>

>

>

>

>

> Get your report, " The 6 Steps to Guilt-Free Eating " by visiting

> http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com

<http://www.healthieroutcomes.com/>

>

>

> Check out the upcoming Am I Hungry? seminar beginning October 16th:

> http://www.BreakOutofDietPrison.com

>

[Guest guest]

" I know this sounds annoying to many of my clients, because I say it

all the time, but it's true - every time you overeat it's an

opportunity to learn something. And that learning will contribute to

taking another forward step on your IE journey. "

Gillian,

This was incredibly helpful for me to hear this morning. Incredibly.

So maybe I AM on the right track.

dawnz