Natural Weight

[Guest guest]

Has anyone on this board actually returned to a normal weight using IE? Or are

headed in the direction of weight loss?

[Guest guest]

Wow, McKella.... I really relate to these couple of sentences (actually your whole story but especially this part.) I wish my depression and anxiety would lift away but it's going to take a lot of steps and a lot of time to change my living situation and heal. Ellie I

think the click happened when I realized that life's trials are here to teach us, and to be grateful for those lessons. I swear, my years of depression and anxiety lifted away, I moved away from a work and living situation (nanny job from Hell) that didn't work for me, and gave myself time to heal, both body and mind.

[Guest guest]

Wow, McKella.... I really relate to these couple of sentences (actually your whole story but especially this part.) I wish my depression and anxiety would lift away but it's going to take a lot of steps and a lot of time to change my living situation and heal. Ellie I

think the click happened when I realized that life's trials are here to teach us, and to be grateful for those lessons. I swear, my years of depression and anxiety lifted away, I moved away from a work and living situation (nanny job from Hell) that didn't work for me, and gave myself time to heal, both body and mind.

[Guest guest]

Wow, McKella.... I really relate to these couple of sentences (actually your whole story but especially this part.) I wish my depression and anxiety would lift away but it's going to take a lot of steps and a lot of time to change my living situation and heal. Ellie I

think the click happened when I realized that life's trials are here to teach us, and to be grateful for those lessons. I swear, my years of depression and anxiety lifted away, I moved away from a work and living situation (nanny job from Hell) that didn't work for me, and gave myself time to heal, both body and mind.

[Guest guest]

McKella, excellent, excellent response. You sound balanced and happy about life. This is exactly the place that I feel IE is taking me. A place where food is enjoyable and in its proper place in my life and I am honoring myself, both body and soul. Thanks.

Mimi

Subject: Re: Natural WeightTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Monday, December 19, 2011, 10:14 AM

, I returned to my "natural weight" this summer after a couple years of struggling to "get" IE. I've mentioned it a few times on this board, but I don't want to focus on it or sound like I'm bragging. I found IE in October of 2008 when I was just a few pound over the range that seems to be best for me. I was struggling with anxiety attacks and depression which drove my emotional eating. Over the next two and a half years, I slowly released the diet mentality and tried to make peace with food, but I had a hard time feeling fullness or waiting until I was hungry to eat. I started eating compulsively and gained 20 pounds or so. This March, I visited a holistic doctor who ran a series of revealing blood tests (turns out I was deficient in many mood-related nutrients) and my blood sugar was so low that I should have been in a coma. She also gave me her book "Healing from the Heart." I read that book and it was like something in my

mind shifted. It's an amazing book. I think the click happened when I realized that life's trials are here to teach us, and to be grateful for those lessons. I swear, my years of depression and anxiety lifted away, I moved away from a work and living situation (nanny job from Hell) that didn't work for me, and gave myself time to heal, both body and mind. I respected my body and ate to manage my blood sugar while taking a few supplements to correct my nutritional deficiencies and heal my adrenal glands. I reconnected with my creativity, which is a huge part of me that I'd been neglecting, and I started waiting until I was hungry to eat, stopping when I was full, my emotional eating decreased a ton (I still struggle with it sometimes) and in general, I started choosing life over food. For the first time in years, I enjoyed some things more than food. And yes, I lost weight. Almost quicker than I'd lost it from dieting. If you want

numbers, it was a steady loss of about 30 pounds between April and August. I only weighed once a month or so when I visited my mom, but I wasn't focused on weight. I was just so happy that I was enjoying life again and helping my body feel good that food didn't seem to important. At the end of the summer, I stopped losing and I felt really good. It wasn't the thinnest I've ever been, about 9 pounds over actually, but it felt perfect. Now that it's winter, I'm struggling with winter blues like I do every year (I'm very susceptible to depression, as you may have guessed) and I've put on about 6 pounds, which still feels comfortable and doesn't make a difference in my clothes because I'm tall. I get really cold, so I kind of feel like my body wanted some "insulation". I'm taking steps to cope with winter blues and the very real-feeling emotions that come with it, but I'm not panicking at all. I know that my moods will return to normal in the spring

and my body will WANT to release any extra weight. I didn't mean to ramble on, but I've never really told the whole story on here. It was never about weight, but about taking care of myself physically and especially emotionally. -McKella

[Guest guest]

McKella, excellent, excellent response. You sound balanced and happy about life. This is exactly the place that I feel IE is taking me. A place where food is enjoyable and in its proper place in my life and I am honoring myself, both body and soul. Thanks.

Mimi

Subject: Re: Natural WeightTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Monday, December 19, 2011, 10:14 AM

, I returned to my "natural weight" this summer after a couple years of struggling to "get" IE. I've mentioned it a few times on this board, but I don't want to focus on it or sound like I'm bragging. I found IE in October of 2008 when I was just a few pound over the range that seems to be best for me. I was struggling with anxiety attacks and depression which drove my emotional eating. Over the next two and a half years, I slowly released the diet mentality and tried to make peace with food, but I had a hard time feeling fullness or waiting until I was hungry to eat. I started eating compulsively and gained 20 pounds or so. This March, I visited a holistic doctor who ran a series of revealing blood tests (turns out I was deficient in many mood-related nutrients) and my blood sugar was so low that I should have been in a coma. She also gave me her book "Healing from the Heart." I read that book and it was like something in my

mind shifted. It's an amazing book. I think the click happened when I realized that life's trials are here to teach us, and to be grateful for those lessons. I swear, my years of depression and anxiety lifted away, I moved away from a work and living situation (nanny job from Hell) that didn't work for me, and gave myself time to heal, both body and mind. I respected my body and ate to manage my blood sugar while taking a few supplements to correct my nutritional deficiencies and heal my adrenal glands. I reconnected with my creativity, which is a huge part of me that I'd been neglecting, and I started waiting until I was hungry to eat, stopping when I was full, my emotional eating decreased a ton (I still struggle with it sometimes) and in general, I started choosing life over food. For the first time in years, I enjoyed some things more than food. And yes, I lost weight. Almost quicker than I'd lost it from dieting. If you want

numbers, it was a steady loss of about 30 pounds between April and August. I only weighed once a month or so when I visited my mom, but I wasn't focused on weight. I was just so happy that I was enjoying life again and helping my body feel good that food didn't seem to important. At the end of the summer, I stopped losing and I felt really good. It wasn't the thinnest I've ever been, about 9 pounds over actually, but it felt perfect. Now that it's winter, I'm struggling with winter blues like I do every year (I'm very susceptible to depression, as you may have guessed) and I've put on about 6 pounds, which still feels comfortable and doesn't make a difference in my clothes because I'm tall. I get really cold, so I kind of feel like my body wanted some "insulation". I'm taking steps to cope with winter blues and the very real-feeling emotions that come with it, but I'm not panicking at all. I know that my moods will return to normal in the spring

and my body will WANT to release any extra weight. I didn't mean to ramble on, but I've never really told the whole story on here. It was never about weight, but about taking care of myself physically and especially emotionally. -McKella

[Guest guest]

McKella, excellent, excellent response. You sound balanced and happy about life. This is exactly the place that I feel IE is taking me. A place where food is enjoyable and in its proper place in my life and I am honoring myself, both body and soul. Thanks.

Mimi

Subject: Re: Natural WeightTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Monday, December 19, 2011, 10:14 AM

, I returned to my "natural weight" this summer after a couple years of struggling to "get" IE. I've mentioned it a few times on this board, but I don't want to focus on it or sound like I'm bragging. I found IE in October of 2008 when I was just a few pound over the range that seems to be best for me. I was struggling with anxiety attacks and depression which drove my emotional eating. Over the next two and a half years, I slowly released the diet mentality and tried to make peace with food, but I had a hard time feeling fullness or waiting until I was hungry to eat. I started eating compulsively and gained 20 pounds or so. This March, I visited a holistic doctor who ran a series of revealing blood tests (turns out I was deficient in many mood-related nutrients) and my blood sugar was so low that I should have been in a coma. She also gave me her book "Healing from the Heart." I read that book and it was like something in my

mind shifted. It's an amazing book. I think the click happened when I realized that life's trials are here to teach us, and to be grateful for those lessons. I swear, my years of depression and anxiety lifted away, I moved away from a work and living situation (nanny job from Hell) that didn't work for me, and gave myself time to heal, both body and mind. I respected my body and ate to manage my blood sugar while taking a few supplements to correct my nutritional deficiencies and heal my adrenal glands. I reconnected with my creativity, which is a huge part of me that I'd been neglecting, and I started waiting until I was hungry to eat, stopping when I was full, my emotional eating decreased a ton (I still struggle with it sometimes) and in general, I started choosing life over food. For the first time in years, I enjoyed some things more than food. And yes, I lost weight. Almost quicker than I'd lost it from dieting. If you want

numbers, it was a steady loss of about 30 pounds between April and August. I only weighed once a month or so when I visited my mom, but I wasn't focused on weight. I was just so happy that I was enjoying life again and helping my body feel good that food didn't seem to important. At the end of the summer, I stopped losing and I felt really good. It wasn't the thinnest I've ever been, about 9 pounds over actually, but it felt perfect. Now that it's winter, I'm struggling with winter blues like I do every year (I'm very susceptible to depression, as you may have guessed) and I've put on about 6 pounds, which still feels comfortable and doesn't make a difference in my clothes because I'm tall. I get really cold, so I kind of feel like my body wanted some "insulation". I'm taking steps to cope with winter blues and the very real-feeling emotions that come with it, but I'm not panicking at all. I know that my moods will return to normal in the spring

and my body will WANT to release any extra weight. I didn't mean to ramble on, but I've never really told the whole story on here. It was never about weight, but about taking care of myself physically and especially emotionally. -McKella

[Guest guest]

>> Hi All,> > This question has been dancing around in my head from the beginning. I didn't want to ask it but then I saw that it said "natural weight" right on the cover of the "Intuitive Eating" book.> > How many of you who've been doing this for a while have gotten to what you would call your "natural weight"?> > Thanks in advance,> > Evan>

One thing that has helped me a lot in shifting my thoughts about this matter was to think that we humans are, basically, animals. When, by using our reason - which is unnatural, artificial - we suppress our instincts, our body will try and get what it wants.This is true for everything, but I will focus on the eating part for the purpose of this post: your reason can dictate a diet, there seems to be nothing wrong with it, but your body will know, and it will try to survive. Remember the fittest animal is the one that eats: starving ones - as a very eloquent proof - often don't mate. A further sign is that women who restrict too much their calories lose their periods: the body knows it won't be able to handle a pregnancy. Neuropeptide Y, leptin, ghrelin, cholecystokinin and other hormones involved in complicated biological systems all work in this direction: they try to "biologically" convince your mind that you have to eat to survive! That's why most dieters think they lack willpower, but they're actually only experiencing their body's rebelliion against that "unnatural" reason.Going back to your question, I believe there's no natural weight. Your well-being is not and should not be influenced by that meaningless number on the scale. Remember a few excess pounds could be water, or undigested food, or muscle! And not even a pair of jeans that used to fit and that now seem very tight should discourage you: it is the pair of jeans that has to fit you, and not you who have to fit THAT pair of jeans!Being fine just means enjoying every little bit of your life. If you are hungry, you shall eat to survive. If you eat and derive pleasure from it, as you will slowly learn to, it will be even better. But if you feel well, if you can do your chores, your job, whatever you like to do, that means you are enjoying your life, you are living as you are supposed to, and that's what matters.Your weight can fluctuate - it could go up a few pounds in winter, for example - but that's natural too! Remember that fat keeps your body warmer. Your body could ask you more food because it may need a bit of fat in winter, and then in summer it will let it go away.Bottom line: if you listen to your body (after you have learned to, obviously), you can't go wrong.

[Guest guest]

Thank you, McKella, for sharing your story. This gives me hope.

> >

> > Has anyone on this board actually returned to a normal weight using IE? Or

are headed in the direction of weight loss?

> >

>