Queen Latifah vs. Sue: The Epic Battle of IE

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I came across an Amazon.com review that mentioned this group, to which I said,

" Eureka! " I've been trading with a coach since February who is an IE success

story and I'm up 12 pounds trying to get the hang of IE. Is there room for one

more overachiever in this group?

Not that there hasn't been progress. One of the things I've been working on is

paying attention to the voices in my head. I've got one that's harsh, critical

and demeaning. I call this voice Sue, after the character on Glee. She's a bitch

and the goal is to tell her to shut up. Another voice (one that I have to borrow

from outside at times) is nurturing, respectful and tells me I can rock my

curves and that my size is just perfect. I call this voice Queen Latifah.

Unfortunately, Sue seems to be the default voice at the moment, and I don't

always even notice when she's talking because I'm so desensitized. But I know

that Queen Latifah is right, and that it is possible to be all things vital and

vibrant and beautiful at my current weight--even a Cover Girl model.

One thing that seemed impossible for me but has definitely happened over the

past month is that I got sick of sugar after letting myself have it all the

time. I honestly don't want desserts most days, except that I do crave fruit,

especially summer treats like peaches and cherries and mangoes. Sometimes I

think of having something sweet and creamy and the next thought is that it

sounds too sweet. It's not what I really want. About once a week I end up having

a sugar-fat-and-flour delivery system, and that feels fine. I prefer how I feel

with less sugar.

I'm also proud to say that I haven't been on a single diet for six months. Even

as I grew out of my clothes, I didn't go running back to Dr. Atkins or

Craig or any other expert to tell me what my own body needs most. Sometimes I am

sorely tempted but I haven't acted on it.

Sometimes I worry that I'll never lose weight, which most likely means I'm

missing the whole point of IE (Sue? Is that you?), but I must admit that it is

my desire to shrink. When I play volleyball I feel like I'm running in slow

motion lately. It's tiring carrying 30-40 pounds more than I need. I long to

just set it down.

I can't afford to buy the new wardrobe that my new size warrants at the moment.

I'm ending up in yoga pants a lot, and feeling the physical discomfort and

mental anguish (That's enough out of you, Sue!) of wearing clothes that are

too-tight some days. I've bought a few new things but it's not enough yet.

Also, I don't seem to have a grip on the stopping mechanism concept. (Shut up,

Sue!) Thursday I ran into a bottomless basket of chips that may end up on my

bottom (Sue, close the pie hole!). They were salty and delicious, but too many

of the little devils infiltrated my mouth.

One of my favorite comedians says he's really struggled to lose weight. He says

he's " tried everything short of diet and exercise. " That cracked me up, and now

the joke's on me because that's what I'm doing--trying everything short of diet

and exercise to lose weight. I still exercise, but not to lose weight--only

because it's fun to play outside and it happens to make me sweat and breath

hard.

Thanks in advance for letting me into your group. I hope to learn a lot from all

of you.

If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Thanks,