Re: Hunger/Fullness Scale/Journal

[Guest guest]

This post struck a chord for me as I'm experiencing a lot of push/pull with ice

cream during my foot surgery recovery. It's been totally forbidden for a long

time and there have been years when I haven't eaten any at all. Eating even a

little is scary and brings up a lot of doubts about my ability to " manage " it.

I've never gone through the exercise with allowing one previously forbidden food

- taking it to a fully conscious level. Maybe I'll try that - rather than swing

back and forth with pretending I'm being intuitive when I'm just playing with

the formerly forbidden and it's power over me. Thanks. Sandarah

>

> Amy, it does not sound like you have really given yourself unrestricted

permission to eat what you want. When you really have that full permission, (and

I don't know what you specifically are calling junk food) the desire for that

food will diminish. I'm concerned that only partial permission won't work, but

will just keep the desire alive. Isn't there something else in your life that

you really had to have and when you got it, the object of your desire lost its

allure? It sounds to me like a kind of panic ( " If I have all I want all I eat

for years will be chocolate " ). Maybe you need to even back up a bit, and just

give yourself full unrestricted permission to eat one previously forbidden food

when you want to. Let's say your forbidden food is potato chips. Do you want

them for breakfast? OK, eat potato chips for breakfast. Hungry again? How does

potato chips sound? GL to you PS I found a food journal too restrictive, but

I did some days of a check

> mark for stomach hunger and a check mark for eating for other reasons. Judy

>

>

> To: IntuitiveEating_Support

> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:42 AM

> Subject: Hunger/Fullness Scale/Journal

>

>

>  

> How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am still

eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't want to

be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control over that), but

I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day. So, I was thinking that

journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food) and my hunger/fullness

level might just help me see if I am eating too much junk! What do you all

think?

> .

>

[Guest guest]

This post struck a chord for me as I'm experiencing a lot of push/pull with ice

cream during my foot surgery recovery. It's been totally forbidden for a long

time and there have been years when I haven't eaten any at all. Eating even a

little is scary and brings up a lot of doubts about my ability to " manage " it.

I've never gone through the exercise with allowing one previously forbidden food

- taking it to a fully conscious level. Maybe I'll try that - rather than swing

back and forth with pretending I'm being intuitive when I'm just playing with

the formerly forbidden and it's power over me. Thanks. Sandarah

>

> Amy, it does not sound like you have really given yourself unrestricted

permission to eat what you want. When you really have that full permission, (and

I don't know what you specifically are calling junk food) the desire for that

food will diminish. I'm concerned that only partial permission won't work, but

will just keep the desire alive. Isn't there something else in your life that

you really had to have and when you got it, the object of your desire lost its

allure? It sounds to me like a kind of panic ( " If I have all I want all I eat

for years will be chocolate " ). Maybe you need to even back up a bit, and just

give yourself full unrestricted permission to eat one previously forbidden food

when you want to. Let's say your forbidden food is potato chips. Do you want

them for breakfast? OK, eat potato chips for breakfast. Hungry again? How does

potato chips sound? GL to you PS I found a food journal too restrictive, but

I did some days of a check

> mark for stomach hunger and a check mark for eating for other reasons. Judy

>

>

> To: IntuitiveEating_Support

> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:42 AM

> Subject: Hunger/Fullness Scale/Journal

>

>

>  

> How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am still

eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't want to

be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control over that), but

I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day. So, I was thinking that

journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food) and my hunger/fullness

level might just help me see if I am eating too much junk! What do you all

think?

> .

>

[Guest guest]

But what will you do if you conclude that you are eating "too much junk"? Restriction seems to be the next step, which I think is an iffy place to go with IE and may lead back to diet mentality. I agree with noticing what you're eating and a journal may be good for that. I would approach a journal as a learning tool, not an opportunity to conclude that you are eating "bad" foods too often and then to subtly punish yourself for it. Good luck!

Mimi

Subject: Hunger/Fullness Scale/JournalTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 10:42 AM

How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am still eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't want to be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control over that), but I really don't want to be eating "play foods" every day. So, I was thinking that journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food) and my hunger/fullness level might just help me see if I am eating too much junk! What do you all think?

[Guest guest]

Amy, food journals are strongly associated in my own mind with all my past diet

attempts. Nowadays, I am focusing on this moment alone. I don't want to

trigger my controlling nature by collecting data. I am trusting that over time,

I will gradually move towards healthier fare overall, as junk loses some of its

appeal. I am noticing that many of my formerly restricted foods are just not

all they were cracked up to be. I used to really get into milk chocolate, for

example, but now we have a large container of it and often when the family has

some after dinner I find I have no interest in it. In the past, I'd have eaten

it at every opportunity until it was all gone, even though it made me feel sick.

But my body is telling me never mind much of the time now.

So I vote " NO " for me on a food journal.

I also don't find a hunger/fullness scale helpful. I only focus on " hunger " and

" no hunger. " And that's all I need to know. Simplicity itself.

Jane

>

> How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am still

eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't want to

be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control over that), but

I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day. So, I was thinking

that journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food) and my

hunger/fullness level might just help me see if I am eating too much junk! What

do you all think?

>

[Guest guest]

Amy, food journals are strongly associated in my own mind with all my past diet

attempts. Nowadays, I am focusing on this moment alone. I don't want to

trigger my controlling nature by collecting data. I am trusting that over time,

I will gradually move towards healthier fare overall, as junk loses some of its

appeal. I am noticing that many of my formerly restricted foods are just not

all they were cracked up to be. I used to really get into milk chocolate, for

example, but now we have a large container of it and often when the family has

some after dinner I find I have no interest in it. In the past, I'd have eaten

it at every opportunity until it was all gone, even though it made me feel sick.

But my body is telling me never mind much of the time now.

So I vote " NO " for me on a food journal.

I also don't find a hunger/fullness scale helpful. I only focus on " hunger " and

" no hunger. " And that's all I need to know. Simplicity itself.

Jane

>

> How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am still

eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't want to

be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control over that), but

I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day. So, I was thinking

that journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food) and my

hunger/fullness level might just help me see if I am eating too much junk! What

do you all think?

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy,

Fabulous question. One of the aspects of IE that does not get talked about it

(or if it does, I'm missing it) is doing practices that help you love and

respect your body more. Practices like deep breathing, gratitude, looking in the

mirror and finding one thing we love and just focusing on that, becoming aware

of all the things our body allows us to experience (eating chocolate, feeling

the breeze on our bare arms, dancing to our favorite music, a gentle caress,

etc).

I think the more we engage in " body loving " practices, the more connected we

become to our bodies. This can really help when choosing what you want to eat.

If your feeding your body foods you love (but foods that don't " honor your

body, " ), it becomes easier to hear what your body truly desires (and it makes it

easier to honor that). Of course I don't mean this to in any way diminish the

permission you've given yourself to eat what you want.

Another thing I do when I feel like eating something that clearly my body does

not want, is I ask myself, " what do I really desire? " (that I'm trying to get

from food " and " what am I afraid of? "

This can lead to - I want to be nurtured, I want some love, I want to feel safe,

etc. Maybe I'll take a bath instead or call a good friend, etc. Things that will

give me what I truly desire.

>

> > **

> >

> >

> > How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

> > basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am

> > still eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't

> > want to be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control

> > over that), but I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day. So,

> > I was thinking that journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food)

> > and my hunger/fullness level might just help me see if I am eating too much

> > junk! What do you all think?

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I think a journal can be a helpful tool, IF it is used as a tool of observation,

and not something to measure how " healthy " we are eating by outside standards.

This morning, I ate a breakfast of toast, butter, honey, and orange juice.

Afterwards, I noticed that I had a very, very slight asthmatic reaction. It was

so slight that I would probably have never noticed it before, but now I'm

wondering which of the foods I ate caused it. (I have very minor asthma that is

induced by certain foods.) I think journaling how I feel after I eat could be

very helpful in the process of observation of how my body is reacting to foods.

I think we miss so much by not paying enough attention to how our bodies are

reacting to things! For example, I was miserable a few years ago, with jaw pain

that required daily pain medicine, stomach problems, terrible neck and shoulder

pain that made it so I could barely turn my head, extremely painful breasts, and

trouble sleeping. I asked God to help me figure out what was causing some of

these things, and over a process of time, circumstances, and observation, He

brought caffeine to my attention. I didn't want to cut caffeine out - I was

consuming a lot of it, and I liked it. But I tried, and guess what? ALL of those

symptoms went away. Just eliminating that one thing from my diet made me feel at

least 20 years younger, and a lot less cranky!

All this to say that I think an important part of IE is experimenting with our

diet, and observing how different foods make us feel. And I think journaling can

be a big part of that process.

Joanna

>

> How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am still

eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I don't want to

be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control over that), but

I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day. So, I was thinking

that journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food) and my

hunger/fullness level might just help me see if I am eating too much junk! What

do you all think?

>

[Guest guest]

What Daphne said reminded me of something that I was doing for awhile, but then

forgot about. I think the suggestion initially came from Tribole's IE book, but

it was a serioes of questions for myself. First, am I hungry? If the answer is

yes, then the question becomes " what do I feel like eating? " . And if the answer

is no, then the question becomes " What am I feeling? " and " what do I need? " . I

found that little catechism very helpful.

Tilley

> >

> > > **

> > >

> > >

> > > How many of you use a food journal or a hunger/fullness scale on a daily

> > > basis? I am doing very well eating intuitvely, but want to make sure I am

> > > still eating healthy,I feel that I am eating way too much junk food. I

don't

> > > want to be strict(I have in the past been, but feel much more in control

> > > over that), but I really don't want to be eating " play foods " every day.

So,

> > > I was thinking that journaling what I am eating(not amounts just the food)

> > > and my hunger/fullness level might just help me see if I am eating too

much

> > > junk! What do you all think?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> >

>