Re: New member... struggling

[Guest guest]

Mali,I really " hear " your frustrations! This process can be so difficult!Unfortunately, I really don't believe that IE can be part of a calorie restricted diet. The premise of IE is based on accepting your body right now. This doesn't mean that you don't want to change anything about it! But it does mean, I feel, that you are prioritizing your relationship with your body over your weight. As you learn to honor your body, your hunger and fullness, your body will likely move towards its natural weight.

You already know that diets don't work. If they did, you wouldn't be here. Unfortunately, a diet is always a diet. Trust the IE process, and focus on honoring your body for now. I do believe that being positive will get you to your goal sooner, anyway. That said, I do think there are certain nutrition principles that you can be loosely aware of and incorporate into your eating... as long as you are conscious to not let them drive your eating, but only gently influence them. You can read the IE book's chapter on Gentle Nutrition for more info about this.

Good luck,Abby

 

Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new here. I love IE and did it very well almost two years ago and managed to even lose weight. My nutritionist got me on IE after I went to her complaining that I hit a plateau and was not losing any more weight. She said that I wasn't eating enough and my metabolism had slowed down. She worked with me to learn IE and I remember the freedom I felt and how clear things were in my mind. I did not obsess about food, loved my body and just enjoyed discovering and eating the foods that I loved instead of obsessing about random foods that I thought I wanted but didn't really enjoy.

Unfortunately, I got very sick for a few months and was totally thrown off my balance. I tried to get on diets to lose the weight and ended up binging and gaining even more weight.

I saw my nutritionist again and she reminded me of IE and how wonderful it was to live a normal life and not obsess about food or weight.

I'm really trying to get back there and I'm being good about honoring my body signals and eating IE, however, while I'm starting to feel the freedom again and love the focus on health, not weight, I'm feeling a pull back to my old ways. The reason is that I'm really dissatisfied with my current body. The last time I was doing IE was after I had lost a good 20 lbs by dieting and exercise and it was easier to accept my body then and to patiently commit to IE.

I accept that my body is what it is, and I'm grateful to be healthy again and to be able to move and exercise, but I just wish the pounds would come down more quickly.

I definitely feel a lot better and much happier than a month ago when I was going on the diet roller coaster and know that diets don't work as a long term solution. However, I just really feel soooo heavy. My ankles, back and joints hurt, and its hard for me to stay active. Despite this all, I'm working out and enjoying it, but I just want to be done with all of this already. I feel trapped. I feel that now I finally have a healthy mindset and healthy habits, but its going to take so long for them to turn into real weight loss and for me to feel light again.

I want to be patient, but I feel that these feelings may be holding me back.

Sometimes I contemplate going on a healthy calorie restricted diet (while incorporating IE, not depriving myself, being mindful, etc...) just for a few months or so to lose some weight faster and then stop counting calories and continue on with IE.

I'm worried about embarking on this and getting sucked into the diet mentality again and ruining all the hard work I have already put in.

But I just feel that I have to do something... something more to incorporate weight loss...

Does this make any sense?

Do any of you feel this way?

Sorry for the long message, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks so much!

Mali

[Guest guest]

Hi, Mali,

I understand the temptation (too well) of wanting to "just lose some weight first" and then coming back to IE. Whenever I think about doing that, I remember Geneed Roth saying in one of her books that everytime someone says that to her, they come back in one year, or two, or five, weighing more than they did when they told her they "just wanted to lose some weight first." Diets really don't work, or you wouldn't be faced with trying to lose that same weight again. Sad, but true.

Good luck with this,

Laurie

Mali wrote:

Sometimes I contemplate going on a healthy calorie restricted diet (while incorporating IE, not depriving myself, being mindful, etc...) just for a few months or so to lose some weight faster and then stop counting calories and continue on with IE.

[Guest guest]

Hi, Mali,

I understand the temptation (too well) of wanting to "just lose some weight first" and then coming back to IE. Whenever I think about doing that, I remember Geneed Roth saying in one of her books that everytime someone says that to her, they come back in one year, or two, or five, weighing more than they did when they told her they "just wanted to lose some weight first." Diets really don't work, or you wouldn't be faced with trying to lose that same weight again. Sad, but true.

Good luck with this,

Laurie

Mali wrote:

Sometimes I contemplate going on a healthy calorie restricted diet (while incorporating IE, not depriving myself, being mindful, etc...) just for a few months or so to lose some weight faster and then stop counting calories and continue on with IE.

[Guest guest]

Hi, Mali,

I understand the temptation (too well) of wanting to "just lose some weight first" and then coming back to IE. Whenever I think about doing that, I remember Geneed Roth saying in one of her books that everytime someone says that to her, they come back in one year, or two, or five, weighing more than they did when they told her they "just wanted to lose some weight first." Diets really don't work, or you wouldn't be faced with trying to lose that same weight again. Sad, but true.

Good luck with this,

Laurie

Mali wrote:

Sometimes I contemplate going on a healthy calorie restricted diet (while incorporating IE, not depriving myself, being mindful, etc...) just for a few months or so to lose some weight faster and then stop counting calories and continue on with IE.