Re: Exploring Intuitive Fullness/Satisfaction....

[Guest guest]

I have a friend from high school who is naturally very, very skinny.

She eats absolutely whatever she wants! In fact, in high school she

ate giant chocolate chip cookies and Nutty Buddy bars for lunch.

We'd all look at her like, how can you do that? So one time I asked

her, and she told me that she hates to feel full, so as soon as she

felt food in her stomach, she stopped eating. It was interesting to

watch because she'd get a giant cookie and some days she would eat

the whole thing plus a Little Debbie cake, but then other days, she

didn't even finish half of her cookie. So it was easy to see that

even though she obviously wasn't eating healthy, she was staying

skinny because she truly was listening to her body. Your comment

about feeling the " pressure " in your stomach is perfect! Because

it's so hard to determine when you're full, but I think it's just a

matter of hating, HATING the feeling of being overstuffed. So much,

that you can stop as soon as you feel food in your stomach, all the

while knowing that the next time you are hungry, you can eat again

and have whatever you want.

It's helps to learn lessons from the skinny people!

<3-----

>

> I find myself overeating at times because I want to feel a sense of

> comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction from eating and the fact is

that I

> don't experience comfort, pleasure, or satisfaction every time. I

> don't want experiencing pleasure to become a requirement or should

at

> every meal either.

>

> I've realized the difference between my sense of fullness and

> satisfaction. As I eat, a sense of heaviness and pressure builds up

in

> my stomach as I'm getting " fuller. " I've also tried to do as the

book

> suggests and taste when the food becomes less appealing. I typically

> feel that sense of heaviness and pressure whether or not I feel a

> sense of " satisfaction " from eating. More and more, the heaviness is

> enough of a indicator to automatically prevent me from eating more.

A

> couple of times this week, I've been feeling the sense of stomach

> heaviness and I still ate more because the food tasted good and I

felt

> internal pressure to keep eating to maintain the feeling of

pleasure.

>

> Optimally, I want to figure out how I can learn to automatically

honor

> my fullness indicator most of the time. Maybe I can play as Gail

> does...I can imagine taking my first bite of every meal/food and

> taking the time to savor whatever pleasure is present...the smell,

the

> texture, the sight of the food. I can imagine honoring the feeling

of

> heaviness in my stomach and feeling a sense of alignment and peace

> with my body. I can also imagine not honoring the feeling of

heaviness

> and feeling a sense of discomfort and unease in my body.

>

> Latoya

> Practicing IE since Jan '08.

>

[Guest guest]

The longer I am working on intuitive eating. the more I am hating

that feeling of being overfull and bloated. I had dinner at an

Italian restaurant with a friend the other night. There were about 4

bites too many on the plate, not enough to ask to take home in a

doggie bag, but too good to leave behind, or so I thought. After

eating those 4 bites, I felt AWFUL for a few hours. I had all this

pain and pressure in my belly, felt like I was going to explode. It

seems to be a fine line, at least for me, from full to overfull. I

need to really start heeding that voice in my head that tries to warn

me that I have had enough.

I used to just accept that bloated, stuffed feeling as a fairly

common event. " This too shall pass. " But now that it only happens

rarely, thanks to Intuitive Eating, when it DOES happen, I can't

believe how miserable I feel. I suspect this is a good thing and I

will be less tempted to ignore my body's signals as time goes on.

Intuitive Eating since 4/08

> >

> > I find myself overeating at times because I want to feel a sense

of

> > comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction from eating and the fact is

> that I

> > don't experience comfort, pleasure, or satisfaction every time. I

> > don't want experiencing pleasure to become a requirement or

should

> at

> > every meal either.

> >

> > I've realized the difference between my sense of fullness and

> > satisfaction. As I eat, a sense of heaviness and pressure builds

up

> in

> > my stomach as I'm getting " fuller. " I've also tried to do as the

> book

> > suggests and taste when the food becomes less appealing. I

typically

> > feel that sense of heaviness and pressure whether or not I feel a

> > sense of " satisfaction " from eating. More and more, the heaviness

is

> > enough of a indicator to automatically prevent me from eating

more.

> A

> > couple of times this week, I've been feeling the sense of stomach

> > heaviness and I still ate more because the food tasted good and I

> felt

> > internal pressure to keep eating to maintain the feeling of

> pleasure.

> >

> > Optimally, I want to figure out how I can learn to automatically

> honor

> > my fullness indicator most of the time. Maybe I can play as Gail

> > does...I can imagine taking my first bite of every meal/food and

> > taking the time to savor whatever pleasure is present...the

smell,

> the

> > texture, the sight of the food. I can imagine honoring the

feeling

> of

> > heaviness in my stomach and feeling a sense of alignment and peace

> > with my body. I can also imagine not honoring the feeling of

> heaviness

> > and feeling a sense of discomfort and unease in my body.

> >

> > Latoya

> > Practicing IE since Jan '08.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

latoyajw wrote:

> I

> don't want experiencing pleasure to become a requirement or should at

> every meal either.

I think this is a very important statement. Wanting to feel pleasure and

satisfaction at EVERY meal can be quite stressful in itself I think.

About the satisfaction and fullness: I can feel fullness but I'm never

satisfied. What does satisfaction regarding food feel like? Truly not

wanting anymore food at this moment? I feel full before some sense of

" satisfaction " comes along.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

,

It has definitely helped to get insight from other people on how they

intuitively/automatically determine when to eat and when to stop

eating as I've been relearning my body cues. So, thanks so much for

sharing what you learned from your friend. I also ask my brother, who

has been a stick for most of his life and also eats anything he wants

and never holds weight for long. He said that when he eats, he gets to

a point where he feels like he never wants to eat again and he stops.

I'm really going to work with honoring those first feelings of

pressure in my stomach more.

Latoya

she told me that she hates to feel full, so as soon as she

> felt food in her stomach, she stopped eating. Your comment

> about feeling the " pressure " in your stomach is perfect! Because

> it's so hard to determine when you're full, but I think it's just a

> matter of hating, HATING the feeling of being overstuffed. So much,

> that you can stop as soon as you feel food in your stomach, all the

> while knowing that the next time you are hungry, you can eat again

> and have whatever you want.

>

> It's helps to learn lessons from the skinny people!

>

> <3-----

[Guest guest]

,

I've been having similar experiences. Two days ago, I knew I was done

with eating some fabulous tacos I got at a Mexican grill. I only had 1

of the 3 tacos and some gucamole and I felt the pressure sign in my

stomach. I continued to eat anyways because they tasted so good in the

beginning. I wanted to finish the meal because the tacos usually turn

soggy and the guac starts to turn brown if I leave the food for a

second meal and I was really loving the meal. I did leave 1 taco and

some of the guac. Though when I came home late around 9:30 p.m. after

my meeting that night...I sort of " convinced " myself that I was

feeling hungry again in order to finish the rest of the meal. The taco

was soggy and I ate it anyway. The next day, I had the worst gas that

I've had in months at work. Ugh! Another lesson and I'm learning and

getting the message more and more.

Latoya

>

> The longer I am working on intuitive eating. the more I am hating

> that feeling of being overfull and bloated. I had dinner at an

> Italian restaurant with a friend the other night. There were about 4

> bites too many on the plate, not enough to ask to take home in a

> doggie bag, but too good to leave behind, or so I thought. After

> eating those 4 bites, I felt AWFUL for a few hours. I had all this

> pain and pressure in my belly, felt like I was going to explode.

[Guest guest]

About the satisfaction and fullness: I can feel fullness but I'm

never satisfied. What does satisfaction regarding food feel like?

Truly not wanting anymore food at this moment?

Yes that's a part of it for me...truly not feeling the want/need for

anymore food at that time. My body feels at peace. Though if I'm

already emotionally on edge or feeling physical discomfort, usually

no amount of food helps me feel internally peaceful. So, it's

important for me to work through or be able to let go of the

emotions/discomfort in order to feel satisifed when I eat.

Satisfaction for me is also like the food " sigh " that's been talked

about or a feeling like " yea...that [food] really hit the spot, "

when the food helps provide tastes or feelings that are comforting,

pleasurable, or just what you needed at that time. Some of it is

probably physiological...like your body needing certain nutrients

and eating the foods that really matchs up with that need. In

extremely satisfying eating, sometimes my eyes close and it's almost

orgasmic. Have you ever seen the movie " Like Water for Chocolate " ?

Latoya

[Guest guest]

latoyajw wrote:

> Satisfaction for me is also like the food " sigh " that's been talked

> about or a feeling like " yea...that [food] really hit the spot, "

> when the food helps provide tastes or feelings that are comforting,

> pleasurable, or just what you needed at that time.

Yes, I remember that discussion but it didn't really strike a chord in

me. (You know, when someone says/write something and you think " Yeah,

that's it! " )

Sometimes I think that I should " lower my expectations " , viewing food

more as fuel than as a source of pleasure and satisfaction.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

I'm doing a happy dance for you ! That is exactly the type of

bosy feedback that we all seek to re-gain when we start IE. What a

fabulous mile marker you have made in your IE journey :)

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> The longer I am working on intuitive eating. the more I am hating

> that feeling of being overfull and bloated. I had dinner at an

> Italian restaurant with a friend the other night. There were about 4

> bites too many on the plate, not enough to ask to take home in a

> doggie bag, but too good to leave behind, or so I thought. After

> eating those 4 bites, I felt AWFUL for a few hours. I had all this

> pain and pressure in my belly, felt like I was going to explode. It

> seems to be a fine line, at least for me, from full to overfull. I

> need to really start heeding that voice in my head that tries to warn

> me that I have had enough.

>

> I used to just accept that bloated, stuffed feeling as a fairly

> common event. " This too shall pass. " But now that it only happens

> rarely, thanks to Intuitive Eating, when it DOES happen, I can't

> believe how miserable I feel. I suspect this is a good thing and I

> will be less tempted to ignore my body's signals as time goes on.

>

>

> Intuitive Eating since 4/08