Re: Any past calorie counters out there?

[Guest guest]

I used to count Weight Watchers points which was just another way of counting calories. I never thought I'd ever get those points out of my head! But over time, your thoughts of calories should become less and less. Though even after doing this for over 2 years, a couple of weeks ago I found myself telling my sister that York peppermint patties are only 1 point! She was buying them for her husband and that just came out of the blue. After I said it I also said "where the %^$ & did that come from?" I guess subconsiously some of those points are still in there. But I truly do not think of points/ calories very often.

It sounds like you are having a hard time "rejecting the diet mentality." I think that is the hardest thing in IE- to truly reject dieting. I know I had a hard time with it! Give it time and I'm sure your calorie thoughts will go away. This IE business isn't quick or easy!

Kipkabob

(Intuitive eating since September 2006)

Subject: Any past calorie counters out there?To: IntuitiveEating_Support Received: Monday, December 8, 2008, 10:06 AM

I spent the weekend having a good time with my boyfriend and his family. It was so difficult to focus on IE. So I totally and completely overate this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I did not binge so that is good! BUT I ate way beyond the point of being full. I felt so uncomfortable and even now I have a bad belly ache. But I just kept on eating and eating all the delicious food. Even now I could go for a bag of doritos? Ugh, why is that?! I am feeling very frustrated right now. I feel like it is so hard for me to decipher and honor my IE cues from years of compulsive eating. Anyway on and off for the past two years I have counted calories. About a year ago I tried to do IE but quickly abondoned it after I let the stress from a new job overcome me. These past few weeks I decided IE is really the only way for me and I need to truely focus on it. But calorie counting is so

ingrained in my head! I have the calories of pretty much every food item memorized so it is very easy for me tally my daily calories within a couple of seconds. As I am pursuing IE my anxiety levels about my weight have increased. I am feeling less in control. So I have found it increasingly more difficult to avoid calorie counting as a means to minimize my concerns. Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks for reading... : ) - K

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[Guest guest]

Thank you! It is so good to hear that someone was able to move beyond

the daily counting.

Your reply helped me realize I get so focused on the end result I

always lose sight of how the journey helps me get there.

I remember last time this is where I got tripped up, rejecting the diet

mentality. At the time I was in a very stressful point in my life and I

just felt exhausted so I gave up.

I can't do that again...

Thanks!

- K

[Guest guest]

normaaaaaaaa wrote:

> Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks for reading... : )

Yes, I even went to my old foodplaner accunt today after discovering

that I gained weight during exam preparation. My jeans are tighter than

they used to be.

I will stop this. It's so damn toxic. I try to be nice to myself but

catch myself thinking " how can I cut calories " during the last days over

and over again.

No wonder I gained weight during exam preparation. I ate past fullness

way too often and I drank more alcohol than usually. It's really

alarming how weight gain can blow anything IE for me. I hate that. Not

that I was the only one gaining weight during exam preparation. Several

colleagues complained about that. Not that they would be fat right now

even though they probably gained more weight than I did...

I feel the urge to " revamp my diet " again. It's so tempting right now.

I'm sorry I was no help. I need help myself right now with this issue.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

No, you were a huge help... I appreciate any response! Even knowing

that someone else out there is struggling with this is a huge help to

me.

I find myself panicking that I will gain weight through I.E. So I

calorie count to control that panic feeling.

But I just try to tell myself that, regarding my weight, I am unhappy

if I am dieting, binging, overeating, restricting etc... So I need to

finally call all of this off. Nothing has worked for me, it has only

made me more unhappy. I don't want to look back on my life as a

struggle with weight. I want to eventually be able to move into some

sort of positive direction. Anything but the constant circles!

For me, I always would emotionally/over/binge eat so I figure if I do

IE at the very worst I won't gain weight... because I won't be

binging on food but eating it in moderation. But only time will tell.

I refuse to let myself weigh in until I know there will be a positive

result.

So today I won't let myself tally my calories. I have let myself do

that until now... I am fighting the urge. Tallying my calories to

justify my IE only reinforces the diet mentality. It is a hard urge

to fight... Usually I pull out my cell phone calculator and do it

real fast but not today.

I am trying to tell myself one step at a time... We can do it! ; )

- K

>

> > Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks for reading... : )

>

> Yes, I even went to my old foodplaner accunt today after discovering

> that I gained weight during exam preparation. My jeans are tighter

than

> they used to be.

>

> I will stop this. It's so damn toxic. I try to be nice to myself but

> catch myself thinking " how can I cut calories " during the last days

over

> and over again.

>

> No wonder I gained weight during exam preparation. I ate past

fullness

> way too often and I drank more alcohol than usually. It's really

> alarming how weight gain can blow anything IE for me. I hate that.

Not

> that I was the only one gaining weight during exam preparation.

Several

> colleagues complained about that. Not that they would be fat right

now

> even though they probably gained more weight than I did...

>

> I feel the urge to " revamp my diet " again. It's so tempting right

now.

>

> I'm sorry I was no help. I need help myself right now with this

issue.

>

> Regards

> s.

>

[Guest guest]

>

>

> Subject: Any past calorie counters out

there?

> To: IntuitiveEating_Support

> Received: Monday, December 8, 2008, 10:06 AM

>

>

>

>

>

>

> I spent the weekend having a good time with my boyfriend and his

> family. It was so difficult to focus on IE. So I totally and

completely

> overate this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I did not binge so

that

> is good! BUT I ate way beyond the point of being full. I felt so

> uncomfortable and even now I have a bad belly ache. But I just kept

on

> eating and eating all the delicious food. Even now I could go for a

bag

> of doritos? Ugh, why is that?! I am feeling very frustrated right

now.

> I feel like it is so hard for me to decipher and honor my IE cues

from

> years of compulsive eating.

>

> Anyway on and off for the past two years I have counted calories.

About

> a year ago I tried to do IE but quickly abondoned it after I let

the

> stress from a new job overcome me.

>

> These past few weeks I decided IE is really the only way for me and

I

> need to truely focus on it.

>

> But calorie counting is so ingrained in my head! I have the

calories of

> pretty much every food item memorized so it is very easy for me

tally

> my daily calories within a couple of seconds.

>

> As I am pursuing IE my anxiety levels about my weight have

increased. I

> am feeling less in control. So I have found it increasingly more

> difficult to avoid calorie counting as a means to minimize my

concerns.

>

> Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks for reading... : )

>

> - K

>

>

> I just started IE officially last Saturday, having got the book and

spent time studying it and reading it over the weekend. I come from

of place of diligent calorie counting and of course, it did not

work! I always ended up rebelling against the " rules " . So I too,

must get deprogrammed from that. I am trying to do the mental work

of telling myself to FORGET ABOUT THE CALORIES! I usually would have

2 T. of creamer in my coffee, for example. Now I pour some in and

won't allow myself to measure, therefore I can't really " know " how

many calories were in that. We can sort of sabotage the dieting

mentality by not letting our portion sizes be too precise, such as

trying for that 1/2 c. or 1 c. or this or that. The we can't really

calculate, even if we want to. Does that make sense?

I hope this is helpful....I am just beginning on the journey and it

is scary and uncomfortable at times already. But the alternative,

dieting, is not the answer to a healthy relationship with food for

the rest of my life. It will only bring me more dysfuntion, not

healing.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

So much food! But you are right it was a good learning experience to

why I let myself eat that much... For me, it was the fact that any

time there is a fun social event it always involves overeating

delicious food. But I eat so fast and so much I barely remember what

it tastes like. Next time I will try to be more conscious of all

this.

Thanks!

- K

> > >

> > > > Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks for reading... : )

> > >

> > > Yes, I even went to my old foodplaner accunt today after

discovering

> > > that I gained weight during exam preparation. My jeans are

tighter

> > than

> > > they used to be.

> > >

> > > I will stop this. It's so damn toxic. I try to be nice to

myself but

> > > catch myself thinking " how can I cut calories " during the last

days

> > over

> > > and over again.

> > >

> > > No wonder I gained weight during exam preparation. I ate past

> > fullness

> > > way too often and I drank more alcohol than usually. It's really

> > > alarming how weight gain can blow anything IE for me. I hate

that.

> > Not

> > > that I was the only one gaining weight during exam preparation.

> > Several

> > > colleagues complained about that. Not that they would be fat

right

> > now

> > > even though they probably gained more weight than I did...

> > >

> > > I feel the urge to " revamp my diet " again. It's so tempting

right

> > now.

> > >

> > > I'm sorry I was no help. I need help myself right now with this

> > issue.

> > >

> > > Regards

> > > s.

> > >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Sheesh, it is scary how ingrained the diet mentality is in my head...

and even worse in the people around me!

Last time I tried IE this is exactly where I tripped up.

Thanks for the input!

- K

[Guest guest]

I can completely relate... I also " wear my weight on my sleeve " . I

imagine people staring at me and wondering what is wrong with her.

But I force myself to ignore those thoughts because I know people

aren't thinking that at all, I am thinking that. I am bringing myself

down.

At first I expected IE to be this positive lifechanging force... But

now I see that it uncovers all of the emotions I have been soothing

over with food. For me so far, it has actually been a very emotional

and intense experience. There is something more convenient in eating

food rather than actually doing what I need, like sleeping or

relaxing or being angry.

I am also really scared to gain more weight. I am trying to lose the

20 pounds I gained this past year at a stressful job. But I tell

myself I need to be happy and do something for myself. IE will help

me with this. So even if it means temporarily gaining a couple of

pounds I am okay with it as long as I am moving beyond my weight

struggles. I feel completely emotionally exhausted from years of

obsessing over my weight. I am so tired of it and ready to just do

something substantial to move on from it all. I feel as if I am at

the end of my rope.

This weekend I was also in panic mode because I ate a ton of " junk

food " . But I tried to keep myself focused on IE. And now a couple of

days later I find myself balancing out. I don't want to devour a bag

of doritos like I did on Saturday.

I hope that helps in some way.

- K

[Guest guest]

Exactly Abigail Awareness, being gentle with one's self and

allowing for time to work for you are wonderful steps down the IE journey.

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I dont count calories or points, but i did radically overeat over

> thanksgiving, not just for one day, but for several days in a row.

So i can

> relate to that part of the experience.

>

> I tried to just keep telling myself that it was okay if that

happened for a

> couple of days, and that in a way, I was succeeding in doing IE

because I at

> least I was more aware of what I was doing, and was much more

conscious of

> being too full, even if I overate anyway.

>

> I tried to see it as a success along the road to IE. I really

believe that

> with every experience we learn, so that it's moving us closer to our own

> personal destination.

>

> So if you learned something about yourself, that's valuable.

>

> When I came back home, i was trying to honor my hunger, and was

horrified

> that I was starving about every two hours, even though I had been

stuffing

> myself the past three days. And still wanted sweets and white bread. But

> after a day of that, my appetite dropped way down.

>

> Just try to tune back in to your body, forgive yourself, remind yourself

> that however you eat, you keep on learning about yourself. and just

try to

> focus today on listening to your body again.

>

> This wasn't a failure, this was a learning experience!

[Guest guest]

Right on attitude and thoughts Sally. Add to that giving yourself the

gift of TIME to 're-set' back to a more original/healthy INternal

direction for your body's needs and you are well on your way on your

IE journey.

Best to you, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

I just started IE officially last Saturday, having got the book and

> spent time studying it and reading it over the weekend. I come from

> of place of diligent calorie counting and of course, it did not

> work! I always ended up rebelling against the " rules " . So I too,

> must get deprogrammed from that. I am trying to do the mental work

> of telling myself to FORGET ABOUT THE CALORIES! I usually would have

> 2 T. of creamer in my coffee, for example. Now I pour some in and

> won't allow myself to measure, therefore I can't really " know " how

> many calories were in that. We can sort of sabotage the dieting

> mentality by not letting our portion sizes be too precise, such as

> trying for that 1/2 c. or 1 c. or this or that. The we can't really

> calculate, even if we want to. Does that make sense?

>

> I hope this is helpful....I am just beginning on the journey and it

> is scary and uncomfortable at times already. But the alternative,

> dieting, is not the answer to a healthy relationship with food for

> the rest of my life. It will only bring me more dysfuntion, not

> healing.

[Guest guest]

Hi K, I can totally relate to what you've posted. And what you wrote

is a great ay to remind ourselves: " But I just try to tell myself that,

regarding my weight, I am unhappy if I am dieting, binging, overeating,

restricting etc... So I need to finally call all of this off. Nothing

has worked for me, it has only made me more unhappy. I don't want to

look back on my life as a struggle with weight. I want to eventually be

able to move into some sort of positive direction. Anything but the

constant circles! "

I can also relate to this: " I find myself panicking that I will gain

weight through I.E. So I calorie count to control that panic feeling. "

I SOOO fear a life of struggles struggles struggles. Sure, I can

accept the average struggles of human existence, but I don't want to

keep living with struggles regarding food/body image, etc.

Your post helped me a lot. Thank you!!