Re: Principle #2 - Honor Your Hunger

[Guest guest]

This is exactly what nutritionist (who handed me an IE book) told me. I was

amazed that she wanted me to eat more, not less, carbs and fat. No more do I

take sugar-free yogurt and carrot sticks for lunch. On work days when I can't go

and get something to eat if I get hungry, I make sure I have at least the

suggested amount of carbs, fats, and proteins in my breakfast and lunch. Now

that I'm eating MORE for breakfast and lunch and having a snack to boot, the

urge to rush out of my workplace and devour a bag of chocolate or half a cake

has vanished.

I was reaching that point of triggering my primal drive to overeat every day,

and thought I just had no willpower. What a relief!

Sara

>

> Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment

of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting

and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage

for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

>

[Guest guest]

Haven't been able to get around to responding to this thread regarding Principle

#2. Short vacations, busy shopping for Christmas and 5 birthday gifts for

December, then sick and couldn't find what Principle we were doing. Now that I

have found it, I will go and work on it because I really like this format of

review. Right now I have had almost no sleep due to a miserable sore throat and

I am fasting for lab work(very hungry) but have another 2 hours before I can

eat. So I am not honoring my hunger and am drinking a lot of water for urine

test. At least my throat is feeling better and I am looking forward to a nice

breakfast when I can get to it. I find that I still fall back into old habits of

eating for reasons other than hunger. When I am not feeling well, I graze it

seems. I am not one of those people who can't eat when ill. I think I am

seeking some measure of comfort. Of course soup really does feel good and so do

liquids. I probably will have to write more on this later since my mind is not

functioning too well due to lack of sleep and food. There have been some

interesting changes in what I do eat, like a spinach protein shake, amaranth,

flax seed, a chocolate decadent fix made with dates, avocado and cocoa(haven't

tried that one yet). I am also reading a lot more fun stories/books designed

for teens about dragons. I have always been interested in dragons and these

stories are pure fiction. After reading the first one, I went and bought the

other 4 in the series. Sorry this is so long. Please keep this thread going.

Sandy

> > >

> > > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment

of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting

and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage

for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Haven't been able to get around to responding to this thread regarding Principle

#2. Short vacations, busy shopping for Christmas and 5 birthday gifts for

December, then sick and couldn't find what Principle we were doing. Now that I

have found it, I will go and work on it because I really like this format of

review. Right now I have had almost no sleep due to a miserable sore throat and

I am fasting for lab work(very hungry) but have another 2 hours before I can

eat. So I am not honoring my hunger and am drinking a lot of water for urine

test. At least my throat is feeling better and I am looking forward to a nice

breakfast when I can get to it. I find that I still fall back into old habits of

eating for reasons other than hunger. When I am not feeling well, I graze it

seems. I am not one of those people who can't eat when ill. I think I am

seeking some measure of comfort. Of course soup really does feel good and so do

liquids. I probably will have to write more on this later since my mind is not

functioning too well due to lack of sleep and food. There have been some

interesting changes in what I do eat, like a spinach protein shake, amaranth,

flax seed, a chocolate decadent fix made with dates, avocado and cocoa(haven't

tried that one yet). I am also reading a lot more fun stories/books designed

for teens about dragons. I have always been interested in dragons and these

stories are pure fiction. After reading the first one, I went and bought the

other 4 in the series. Sorry this is so long. Please keep this thread going.

Sandy

> > >

> > > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment

of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting

and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage

for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

A thought came to me as I was pondering honoring hunger today. Perhaps this is

simply a natural extension of the first Principle - to dump diet mentality.

Honoring hunger could just mean to recognize it for what it is - a signal from

one's body to supply nourishment. When I release diet mentality I no longer

fear, distrust or try to avoid hunger. I also do not turn hunger into a

replacement 'expert' for focusing my life on (a la dieting). Making too much of

hunger is as bad as ignoring it. Either way it gets put out of it real role -

sustaining life.

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> >

> > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment

of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting

and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage

for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I actually haven't given a lot of thought to this principle lately. When I

first started IE I was caught in between Geneen Roth's principles and the much

more simple principles of IE. I thought that listening for my body's hunger was

some complicated, esoteric thing I had to discover. That perhaps, if I allowed

myself to get hungry enough, what I really might need for breakfast was

butterfly wings with melba toast, and rose petal tea - or I dunno. Things

outside of my normal frams of reference; as if I'd know anything about myself...

But over time, and dumping the diet mentality (one day at a time, more or less),

I find hunger to be pretty clear and relatively simple. There are some times

when I'm hungry for something specific, but most of the time I'm just hungry and

need to eat.

I still get pulled into battling with forbidden foods at times and stress

eating, eating for social purposes rather than hunger, etc. but those are

probably graduate courses that I will master as time goes on. I'm figure I'm

still early in my re-education.

But, yes, I did have to discover my natural appetite the hard way by trying to

follow various nutrition/diet rules about what I thought I should be hungry for

when I let myself get hungry enough. (Whew, so heady...)

Even the other day I ate a salad for lunch with some rice crackers, very little

protein and I was ravenous by quitting time. I realized that was a mistake and

ate some cheese on the way home, but it really didn't balance me out very well.

I was too hungry when I went to the grocery store and bought chocolate mints

that I ate on the drive home. So that pretty much messed up dinner. It's true

what they say, you really can spoil your appetite.

So, yes, it is important to keep the body fed biologically. I do need to

remember to remember that when I'm pile-driving through my life still thinking I

should be bullet proof.

Thanks. Sandarah

>

> > >

> > > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment

of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting

and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage

for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I actually haven't given a lot of thought to this principle lately. When I

first started IE I was caught in between Geneen Roth's principles and the much

more simple principles of IE. I thought that listening for my body's hunger was

some complicated, esoteric thing I had to discover. That perhaps, if I allowed

myself to get hungry enough, what I really might need for breakfast was

butterfly wings with melba toast, and rose petal tea - or I dunno. Things

outside of my normal frams of reference; as if I'd know anything about myself...

But over time, and dumping the diet mentality (one day at a time, more or less),

I find hunger to be pretty clear and relatively simple. There are some times

when I'm hungry for something specific, but most of the time I'm just hungry and

need to eat.

I still get pulled into battling with forbidden foods at times and stress

eating, eating for social purposes rather than hunger, etc. but those are

probably graduate courses that I will master as time goes on. I'm figure I'm

still early in my re-education.

But, yes, I did have to discover my natural appetite the hard way by trying to

follow various nutrition/diet rules about what I thought I should be hungry for

when I let myself get hungry enough. (Whew, so heady...)

Even the other day I ate a salad for lunch with some rice crackers, very little

protein and I was ravenous by quitting time. I realized that was a mistake and

ate some cheese on the way home, but it really didn't balance me out very well.

I was too hungry when I went to the grocery store and bought chocolate mints

that I ate on the drive home. So that pretty much messed up dinner. It's true

what they say, you really can spoil your appetite.

So, yes, it is important to keep the body fed biologically. I do need to

remember to remember that when I'm pile-driving through my life still thinking I

should be bullet proof.

Thanks. Sandarah

>

> > >

> > > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment

of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting

and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage

for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I was thinking about that yesterday, too. That if we want food, maybe we need food. There all kinds of ways dieters try to get around this: What do I need that's making me want food? Am I thirsty rather than hungry? Am I bored and need something to do? Am I upset with someone and need to talk to them? Do something with my hands, like knitting, so I can't eat. Gee, maybe if we want food, we need food.OTOH, if we're eating when also aware of being absolutely not hungry, as I was last night, there's clearly something going on that's out of line. I had eaten so much junk I felt a little sick, but was still prowling around looking for snacks. So the desire for food doesn't always indicate a need for food. It's a puzzle. But I'm thinking I may not want to spend too much

time and energy trying to figure it out, because then I'll be obsessing about food just like when I'm dieting. I'm just going with, "Last night I had something going on with food. Today I don't. Move on."Ellie To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 9:02 PM Subject:

Re: Principle #2 - Honor Your Hunger

A thought came to me as I was pondering honoring hunger today. Perhaps this is simply a natural extension of the first Principle - to dump diet mentality. Honoring hunger could just mean to recognize it for what it is - a signal from one's body to supply nourishment. When I release diet mentality I no longer fear, distrust or try to avoid hunger. I also do not turn hunger into a replacement 'expert' for focusing my life on (a la dieting). Making too much of hunger is as bad as ignoring it. Either way it gets put out of it real role - sustaining life.

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

> >

> > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I find that is what I am doing, not obsessing on food, perhaps because I have been too sick.  There's grace in everything.  The words that keep echoing in my head are " Life gets in the way "   of eating when I am hungry and not on a schedule.  For example, on Mondays and Thursdays I go out with my friend for lunch and a walk or other.  He does not eat breakfast, I do.  He therefor is hungry and wants to eat at 11.  I eat breakfast when I am hungry, around 9 am, so I am not really hungry at 11.  What I have been doing is getting up early and eating earlier or eating only a little bit so I will be hungry by 11.  On Thursdays we spend the rest of the day together and I have eaten a small lunch until I am full, while he eats a lot(it is his main meal and he is very hungry).  That means I am hungry mid-afternoon long before he is.  Sometimes I bring a protein bar with me or some snack food.  Then about 5 pm we usually eat at 's.  He has a baked potato and chili(which I can't eat spicy food) and I have a double stack or sometimes a side salad with extras I have brought with me(cheese, chicken, nuts, etc.)  Sorry this is so long but it is helping me see how my life rules when I eat, not hunger.  Do you see it too?  Any suggestions or is this a good plan?  Sandy

 

I like those last few sentences; if I'm spending too much time thinking about what I ate and why, it's just like dieting. It happened, move on. Yep.

Sandarah

>

> I was thinking about that yesterday, too. That if we want food, maybe we need food. There all kinds of ways dieters try to get around this: What do I need that's making me want food? Am I thirsty rather than hungry? Am I bored and need something to do? Am I upset with someone and need to talk to them? Do something with my hands, like knitting, so I can't eat. Gee, maybe if we want food, we need food.

>

> OTOH, if we're eating when also aware of being absolutely not hungry, as I was last night, there's clearly something going on that's out of line. I had eaten so much junk I felt a little sick, but was still prowling around looking for snacks. So the desire for food doesn't always indicate a need for food. It's a puzzle. But I'm thinking I may not want to spend too much time and energy trying to figure it out, because then I'll be obsessing about food just like when I'm dieting. I'm just going with, " Last night I had something going on with food. Today I don't. Move on. "

>

>

> Ellie

>

>

>

>

> >________________________________

> >

> >To: IntuitiveEating_Support

> >Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 9:02 PM

> >Subject: Re: Principle #2 - Honor Your Hunger

> >

> >

> > 

> >A thought came to me as I was pondering honoring hunger today. Perhaps this is simply a natural extension of the first Principle - to dump diet mentality. Honoring hunger could just mean to recognize it for what it is - a signal from one's body to supply nourishment. When I release diet mentality I no longer fear, distrust or try to avoid hunger. I also do not turn hunger into a replacement 'expert' for focusing my life on (a la dieting). Making too much of hunger is as bad as ignoring it. Either way it gets put out of it real role - sustaining life.

> >

> >Katcha

> >IEing since March 2007

> >

> >> >

> >> > Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

> >> >

> >>

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Sandy, you sound as if you are honoring your hunger in a way that works for you.

Plan in the think-ahead way isn't plan in the have-to-follow-100% way ;-) IE can

be so subtle! Adjusting is better than constant diet seeking - phew! Lovely to

spend a day enjoying your friend without constant 'food' pressures.

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I find that is what I am doing, not obsessing on food, perhaps because I

> have been too sick. There's grace in everything. The words that keep

> echoing in my head are " Life gets in the way " of eating when I am hungry

> and not on a schedule. For example, on Mondays and Thursdays I go out with

> my friend for lunch and a walk or other. He does not eat breakfast, I do.

> He therefor is hungry and wants to eat at 11. I eat breakfast when I am

> hungry, around 9 am, so I am not really hungry at 11. What I have been

> doing is getting up early and eating earlier or eating only a little bit so

> I will be hungry by 11. On Thursdays we spend the rest of the day together

> and I have eaten a small lunch until I am full, while he eats a lot(it is

> his main meal and he is very hungry). That means I am hungry mid-afternoon

> long before he is. Sometimes I bring a protein bar with me or some snack

> food. Then about 5 pm we usually eat at 's. He has a baked potato

> and chili(which I can't eat spicy food) and I have a double stack or

> sometimes a side salad with extras I have brought with me(cheese, chicken,

> nuts, etc.) Sorry this is so long but it is helping me see how my life

> rules when I eat, not hunger. Do you see it too? Any suggestions or is

> this a good plan? Sandy

>

[Guest guest]

Sandy, you sound as if you are honoring your hunger in a way that works for you.

Plan in the think-ahead way isn't plan in the have-to-follow-100% way ;-) IE can

be so subtle! Adjusting is better than constant diet seeking - phew! Lovely to

spend a day enjoying your friend without constant 'food' pressures.

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I find that is what I am doing, not obsessing on food, perhaps because I

> have been too sick. There's grace in everything. The words that keep

> echoing in my head are " Life gets in the way " of eating when I am hungry

> and not on a schedule. For example, on Mondays and Thursdays I go out with

> my friend for lunch and a walk or other. He does not eat breakfast, I do.

> He therefor is hungry and wants to eat at 11. I eat breakfast when I am

> hungry, around 9 am, so I am not really hungry at 11. What I have been

> doing is getting up early and eating earlier or eating only a little bit so

> I will be hungry by 11. On Thursdays we spend the rest of the day together

> and I have eaten a small lunch until I am full, while he eats a lot(it is

> his main meal and he is very hungry). That means I am hungry mid-afternoon

> long before he is. Sometimes I bring a protein bar with me or some snack

> food. Then about 5 pm we usually eat at 's. He has a baked potato

> and chili(which I can't eat spicy food) and I have a double stack or

> sometimes a side salad with extras I have brought with me(cheese, chicken,

> nuts, etc.) Sorry this is so long but it is helping me see how my life

> rules when I eat, not hunger. Do you see it too? Any suggestions or is

> this a good plan? Sandy

>

[Guest guest]

Sandy, you sound as if you are honoring your hunger in a way that works for you.

Plan in the think-ahead way isn't plan in the have-to-follow-100% way ;-) IE can

be so subtle! Adjusting is better than constant diet seeking - phew! Lovely to

spend a day enjoying your friend without constant 'food' pressures.

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I find that is what I am doing, not obsessing on food, perhaps because I

> have been too sick. There's grace in everything. The words that keep

> echoing in my head are " Life gets in the way " of eating when I am hungry

> and not on a schedule. For example, on Mondays and Thursdays I go out with

> my friend for lunch and a walk or other. He does not eat breakfast, I do.

> He therefor is hungry and wants to eat at 11. I eat breakfast when I am

> hungry, around 9 am, so I am not really hungry at 11. What I have been

> doing is getting up early and eating earlier or eating only a little bit so

> I will be hungry by 11. On Thursdays we spend the rest of the day together

> and I have eaten a small lunch until I am full, while he eats a lot(it is

> his main meal and he is very hungry). That means I am hungry mid-afternoon

> long before he is. Sometimes I bring a protein bar with me or some snack

> food. Then about 5 pm we usually eat at 's. He has a baked potato

> and chili(which I can't eat spicy food) and I have a double stack or

> sometimes a side salad with extras I have brought with me(cheese, chicken,

> nuts, etc.) Sorry this is so long but it is helping me see how my life

> rules when I eat, not hunger. Do you see it too? Any suggestions or is

> this a good plan? Sandy

>

[Guest guest]

My friend is very considerate although we haven't discussed  IE. He is into diet/weight issues but is easing off from where he used to be, calorie counting, weighing so many times a day the battery in the scale ran out, etc.  Right now he is concerned with a carotid artery issue and is really watching his cholesterol intake, although neither of us is sure how much dietary cholesterol is related to plaque build-up.  So I am also paying attention to my nutrition because of the fatty liver issue, but I am not dieting.  I am choosing to eat healthy food and have been having fun experimenting with some new foods/recipes.  Here's one: a spinach protein shake with vanilla protein powder, a little peanut butter, banana, almond milk.  And it is delicious! Really.  I also like it because I buy spinach for salad and can't use it up before it spoils. I also am putting it in some soups.  And here's another recipe for the chocoholic in me.  6 dates, 1/2 avocado(which I don't like), 4 Tbsp cocoa powder and a little water. Process in processor or blender.  It is pretty good but I need to tweak some of the ingredients.  It is like a thick rich pudding.  So I have been having fun using my creativity in food preparation. I f I make something and don't like it, I will throw it out or adjust ingredients. Back to my friend and our eating out.  I think it is also time for me to be more active and assertive in choosing where and when we eat.  After all he can eat a little breakfast so we don't have to go so early. And the buffets fit his way of eating more than mine because he likes lots of vegetables even if they are soggy.  He is much less picky than I am.  I have discovered that I am not so crazy about desserts there but do not feel guilty having something. Writing this has helped me a lot to see my progress.  I am often a " glass half empty " person.  Thanks for listening and your feedback.  Right now I am hungry and am going to go eat.  Sandy

 

Sandy, you sound as if you are honoring your hunger in a way that works for you. Plan in the think-ahead way isn't plan in the have-to-follow-100% way ;-) IE can be so subtle! Adjusting is better than constant diet seeking - phew! Lovely to spend a day enjoying your friend without constant 'food' pressures.

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I find that is what I am doing, not obsessing on food, perhaps because I

> have been too sick. There's grace in everything. The words that keep

> echoing in my head are " Life gets in the way " of eating when I am hungry

> and not on a schedule. For example, on Mondays and Thursdays I go out with

> my friend for lunch and a walk or other. He does not eat breakfast, I do.

> He therefor is hungry and wants to eat at 11. I eat breakfast when I am

> hungry, around 9 am, so I am not really hungry at 11. What I have been

> doing is getting up early and eating earlier or eating only a little bit so

> I will be hungry by 11. On Thursdays we spend the rest of the day together

> and I have eaten a small lunch until I am full, while he eats a lot(it is

> his main meal and he is very hungry). That means I am hungry mid-afternoon

> long before he is. Sometimes I bring a protein bar with me or some snack

> food. Then about 5 pm we usually eat at 's. He has a baked potato

> and chili(which I can't eat spicy food) and I have a double stack or

> sometimes a side salad with extras I have brought with me(cheese, chicken,

> nuts, etc.) Sorry this is so long but it is helping me see how my life

> rules when I eat, not hunger. Do you see it too? Any suggestions or is

> this a good plan? Sandy

>