Struggling Today

[Guest guest]

Hi, Tai,

It's understandable that you'd feel such uncertainty as you begin this new journey. After relying for years on some diet or fitness guru to tell me what to eat and when, while promising me results that were always temporary and fleeting, I got used to telling myself that it must be something wrong *I* was doing that made the diet or fitness regimen not work. I'm just now beginning to trust that my body knows better than anyone else (of course!) what it needs to function beautifully. But at first, I felt like I was in free-fall: terrifying, yes!

I think whether or not you gain weight depends in part on whether you've been seriously restricting before you start IE. Severe restricting can lead to emotional and weight rebounds, but this is normally a temporary thing. Although I've only been at this about two months now, I haven't gained weight; in fact I'm pretty sure I've lost some (haven't weighed in two weeks, but I was down some then). But for me so far the blessing has had nothing to do with my weight, but instead how peaceful I began to feel after the first week or so. Food suddenly was no longer a big deal, no longer an obsession. I stopped thinking about it all the time.

Let your body make its choices, and try not to let the inner critical voice second-guess what your body wants and needs. Eat what your body wants slowly, with appreciation and enjoyment if you can, and see if you can stop when you feel satisfied. If it seems to go all wrong, lovingly ask yourself what you needed that you weren't getting. It was probably something other than food. And then start making gentle plans for how you can get those things you need in your life so that food won't have to take on so much importance.

Hang in there. It gets better. It's a daily practice you give yourself, so that you can live peacefully with yourself and find out what you need to live joyfully.

All best,

Laurie

Tai wrote:

>>>So I just began IE within the past week. I'm still in the initial phase; allowing all of the "forbidden" foods, trying to be gentle with myself, and still getting used to the idea that this will all take time.

Today I struggled to really listen to my body and tended to eat more than I needed. I felt bad about the choices that I made, but am trying to allow myself these things. After work I went look for a few new pairs of pants and struggled to find any that I liked which didn't help me to feel much better about myself. The hardest part is knowing that I will gain more weight initially before things level out and the thought of that is terrifying to me.

Any suggestions or thoughts from those of you who got through this initial phase and were able to allow these foods without guilt and fear? Thanks,

Tai<<<