Guest guest Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Personally, I don't think there is. I have been unable to really believe in and follow the tenets of IE while still holding on to the ghost of weight loss. The first principle is to " Reject the Diet Mentality. " I know some people have to deal with health problems related to their weight so I'd love to hear from people who have experience with this perspective, but for me personally I would be unable to heal my relationship with food and my body if I was trying to lose weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Tricia, my first thought is that you are feeling pressured to meet a goal (weight loss) rather than reaching for something you desire for yourself. That type of effort tends to trigger diet demons and rebellion for me! The act of weighing is another trigger for me. It TOTALLY alters my focus away from my paying attention to what I need to follow and misdirects me towards EXternal 'goals' not of my making. I jokingly promised myself that I wouldn't weigh myself until my pants fell off. I haven't weighed myself in over 2+ years but I am also wearing the same pants now as then. That is wonderful in and of itself as far as I am concerned. For me the number game of weight is a carrot on a stick used mainly by the medical profession as encouraged by the diet industry (a multi billion dollar industry). If you are physically uncomfortable with your body at this point in your life, SAY THAT (to yourself). If you direct your efforts towards making your physical comfort better, rather than setting a 'good girl' goal of X#, I think you will find that you will have a better chance at achieving that comfort than all the shoulding in the world can drive you. EHUGS!! and best to you, Katcha IEing since March 2007 > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 I totally agree with Katcha! Tricia, my first thought is that you are feeling pressured to meet a goal (weight loss) rather than reaching for something you desire for yourself. That type of effort tends to trigger diet demons and rebellion for me! The act of weighing is another trigger for me. It TOTALLY alters my focus away from my paying attention to what I need to follow and misdirects me towards EXternal 'goals' not of my making. I jokingly promised myself that I wouldn't weigh myself until my pants fell off. I haven't weighed myself in over 2+ years but I am also wearing the same pants now as then. That is wonderful in and of itself as far as I am concerned. For me the number game of weight is a carrot on a stick used mainly by the medical profession as encouraged by the diet industry (a multi billion dollar industry). If you are physically uncomfortable with your body at this point in your life, SAY THAT (to yourself). If you direct your efforts towards making your physical comfort better, rather than setting a 'good girl' goal of X#, I think you will find that you will have a better chance at achieving that comfort than all the shoulding in the world can drive you. EHUGS!! and best to you, Katcha IEing since March 2007 > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Exactly!(I don't think there's anything wrong with weighing yourself... it's what you do with that information that's the problem!)Abby I think whether or not weighing yourself is consistent depends on what you do with the information. If you weigh yourself and regardless of whether it is up or down, you shrug it off, that is consistent with IE. It is knowing for the sake of knowing- your IE practice is unaffected. However, if you cannot gain weight, I do not think you can weigh yourself and successfully practice IE (at least not in this stage of your journey). If you really cannot gain any weight, if you practice IE and the the scale goes up, what are you going to do? Your choices are to: 1) To continue trying IE (letting the number just be a number and not letting affect your practice). In this case you may keep gaining weight and if you absolutely cannot gain weight, then this isn't a healthy option. 2) Try to keep up IE but consciously try to eat less or to eat " better " foods. This isn't really IE; this is a diet. 3) To do some combination of exercise and diet to reduce weight. This isn't IE. Basically, if you are taking your weight to decide how to eat instead of listening to your body to decide how to eat, you are not practicing IE. As ridiculous as it may sound, I don't think IE would recommend taking your blood pressure every morning for the same reason. If, for your health, your blood pressure cannot fluctuate, and doing IE may cause fluctuations in blood pressure, you cannot logically take the risk of starting IE. Not that you shouldn't ever get weighed or have your blood pressure taken. For example, these values can be important to medication choices and amounts and your doctor may need specific numbers to give you accurate treatment. But if they need to be particular values, putting yourself fully into IE might just not be an option for you right now. I wish you all the greatest success in whatever you decide is best for your physical and emotional health. ~ > > Tricia- > > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't " feel " a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a " fact " - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused. > > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said " So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter? " Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this " metabolic syndrome " my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny > > > > > Question on weighing > > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 What about the option of working harder at listening to your body signals and honoring your hunger? Seems to me that IE and weight loss do and should go together, at least when one is as big as I am. So if I gain because I'm allowing myself to eat anything I want, but forgetting to eat only when hungry and stop when full, then I need to practice the other principles of IE with more commitment to at least not gain, if not actually lose at this point. That's how I'm working it now and have done well for the past 6 weeks. My goal, of course, is to get the whole IE concept at the same time, some day. Meanwhile I'm already certain I'll never diet again and I love the things I'm learning as I get farther into IE. We are all different though and I don't think IE is black and white. Sunny I think whether or not weighing yourself is consistent depends on what you do with the information. If you weigh yourself and regardless of whether it is up or down, you shrug it off, that is consistent with IE. It is knowing for the sake of knowing- your IE practice is unaffected. However, if you cannot gain weight, I do not think you can weigh yourself and successfully practice IE (at least not in this stage of your journey). If you really cannot gain any weight, if you practice IE and the the scale goes up, what are you going to do? Your choices are to: 1) To continue trying IE (letting the number just be a number and not letting affect your practice). In this case you may keep gaining weight and if you absolutely cannot gain weight, then this isn't a healthy option. 2) Try to keep up IE but consciously try to eat less or to eat "better" foods. This isn't really IE; this is a diet. 3) To do some combination of exercise and diet to reduce weight. This isn't IE. Basically, if you are taking your weight to decide how to eat instead of listening to your body to decide how to eat, you are not practicing IE. As ridiculous as it may sound, I don't think IE would recommend taking your blood pressure every morning for the same reason. If, for your health, your blood pressure cannot fluctuate, and doing IE may cause fluctuations in blood pressure, you cannot logically take the risk of starting IE. Not that you shouldn't ever get weighed or have your blood pressure taken. For example, these values can be important to medication choices and amounts and your doctor may need specific numbers to give you accurate treatment. But if they need to be particular values, putting yourself fully into IE might just not be an option for you right now. I wish you all the greatest success in whatever you decide is best for your physical and emotional health. ~ > > Tricia- > > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't "feel" a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a "fact" - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused. > > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said "So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter?" Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this "metabolic syndrome" my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny > > > > > Question on weighing > > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Great point. I need to remember the other principles other than eating what I want. I do ok until late afternoon/evening and then I'm back to old patterns. Snacking on anything and everything. Haven't been able to get this under control yet. This is where journaling would be good or some distraction. I seem to be " stuck " at this time of day. I have so many things to be doing but don't. And I mean fun, enjoyable things, like reading, artwork, writing(I've published m first few little books), " moving " (just getting up and away from this computer), writing poetry, stories, more. Not sure yet what is holding me back and why I am choosing to eat instead. Back to IE principles of eating when I am hungry and stopping when I am full. I too know I will never diet again and I also know I will work more diligently on IE. Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts. Sandy What about the option of working harder at listening to your body signals and honoring your hunger? Seems to me that IE and weight loss do and should go together, at least when one is as big as I am. So if I gain because I'm allowing myself to eat anything I want, but forgetting to eat only when hungry and stop when full, then I need to practice the other principles of IE with more commitment to at least not gain, if not actually lose at this point. That's how I'm working it now and have done well for the past 6 weeks. My goal, of course, is to get the whole IE concept at the same time, some day. Meanwhile I'm already certain I'll never diet again and I love the things I'm learning as I get farther into IE. We are all different though and I don't think IE is black and white. Sunny I think whether or not weighing yourself is consistent depends on what you do with the information. If you weigh yourself and regardless of whether it is up or down, you shrug it off, that is consistent with IE. It is knowing for the sake of knowing- your IE practice is unaffected. However, if you cannot gain weight, I do not think you can weigh yourself and successfully practice IE (at least not in this stage of your journey). If you really cannot gain any weight, if you practice IE and the the scale goes up, what are you going to do? Your choices are to: 1) To continue trying IE (letting the number just be a number and not letting affect your practice). In this case you may keep gaining weight and if you absolutely cannot gain weight, then this isn't a healthy option. 2) Try to keep up IE but consciously try to eat less or to eat " better " foods. This isn't really IE; this is a diet. 3) To do some combination of exercise and diet to reduce weight. This isn't IE. Basically, if you are taking your weight to decide how to eat instead of listening to your body to decide how to eat, you are not practicing IE. As ridiculous as it may sound, I don't think IE would recommend taking your blood pressure every morning for the same reason. If, for your health, your blood pressure cannot fluctuate, and doing IE may cause fluctuations in blood pressure, you cannot logically take the risk of starting IE. Not that you shouldn't ever get weighed or have your blood pressure taken. For example, these values can be important to medication choices and amounts and your doctor may need specific numbers to give you accurate treatment. But if they need to be particular values, putting yourself fully into IE might just not be an option for you right now. I wish you all the greatest success in whatever you decide is best for your physical and emotional health. ~ > > Tricia- > > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't " feel " a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a " fact " - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused. > > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said " So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter? " Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this " metabolic syndrome " my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny > > > > > Question on weighing > > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Well perhaps I will not be able to be an "IE purist", because I absolutely feel that monitoring my weight and my blood pressure are necessary for my health and wellbeing - I monitor my weight weekly and my bp daily. typically with both, the first thing I think of is not eating habits, but rather have I been exercising consistently that week and how much stress am I under at work - as those two things are directly related to my bp going up as well as my weight (due to emotional eating). I am not concerned with a 1-2 pound fluctuation in my weight (although my weight does need to be lower, as I said, for my health) - I just can't have a 5-10+ lb gain. I feel that I can still make good use of the IE principles for eating and still monitor these numbers. I am working on paying attention to my hunger signals for eating and I am not eating "diet" foods - but asking myself what specificaly I want to eat. I am working on pausing while eating to monitor my hunger/fullness level and choosing what will be my very last mouthful of whatever I am eating (as opposed to "cleaning my plate"). I am giving myself permission to eat whatever it is I want, but I am also trying to monitor whether I am "wanting" something because of hunger or for someother emotional reason - and if I'm not hungry I tell myself out loud that I'm not hungry - and then I am no longer eating mindlessly, but actually making a conscious choice of whether or not I want to eat that item even though I have admitted that I'm not hungry - or maybe I realize what I really want is a piece of gum or a glass of water or a mint and not food at all.For me, all of that has nothing to do with my scale. If my scale number starts going up, then I need to focus more on helping my emotional eating (which has nothing to do with my body's hunger signals). So maybe I will not be 100% on the program, but IE can still help me a lot. Thanks for all of your input - I read everybody's responses and appreciate the help! Tricia To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 5:32:55 PMSubject: Re: Question on weighing I think whether or not weighing yourself is consistent depends on what you do with the information. If you weigh yourself and regardless of whether it is up or down, you shrug it off, that is consistent with IE. It is knowing for the sake of knowing- your IE practice is unaffected. However, if you cannot gain weight, I do not think you can weigh yourself and successfully practice IE (at least not in this stage of your journey). If you really cannot gain any weight, if you practice IE and the the scale goes up, what are you going to do? Your choices are to:1) To continue trying IE (letting the number just be a number and not letting affect your practice). In this case you may keep gaining weight and if you absolutely cannot gain weight, then this isn't a healthy option.2) Try to keep up IE but consciously try to eat less or to eat "better" foods. This isn't really IE; this is a diet.3) To do some combination of exercise and diet to reduce weight. This isn't IE.Basically, if you are taking your weight to decide how to eat instead of listening to your body to decide how to eat, you are not practicing IE. As ridiculous as it may sound, I don't think IE would recommend taking your blood pressure every morning for the same reason. If, for your health, your blood pressure cannot fluctuate, and doing IE may cause fluctuations in blood pressure, you cannot logically take the risk of starting IE. Not that you shouldn't ever get weighed or have your blood pressure taken. For example, these values can be important to medication choices and amounts and your doctor may need specific numbers to give you accurate treatment. But if they need to be particular values, putting yourself fully into IE might just not be an option for you right now. I wish you all the greatest success in whatever you decide is best for your physical and emotional health.~>> Tricia-> > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R> > > > > ________________________________> > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM> Subject: Re: Question on weighing> > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't "feel" a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a "fact" - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused.> > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia> > > > > ________________________________> > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM> Subject: Re: Question on weighing> > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said "So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter?" Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this "metabolic syndrome" my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny> > > > > Question on weighing> > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight?> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 You're doing great! and your post has helped me a lot. Thanks. Sandy Well perhaps I will not be able to be an " IE purist " , because I absolutely feel that monitoring my weight and my blood pressure are necessary for my health and wellbeing - I monitor my weight weekly and my bp daily. typically with both, the first thing I think of is not eating habits, but rather have I been exercising consistently that week and how much stress am I under at work - as those two things are directly related to my bp going up as well as my weight (due to emotional eating). I am not concerned with a 1-2 pound fluctuation in my weight (although my weight does need to be lower, as I said, for my health) - I just can't have a 5-10+ lb gain. I feel that I can still make good use of the IE principles for eating and still monitor these numbers. I am working on paying attention to my hunger signals for eating and I am not eating " diet " foods - but asking myself what specificaly I want to eat. I am working on pausing while eating to monitor my hunger/fullness level and choosing what will be my very last mouthful of whatever I am eating (as opposed to " cleaning my plate " ). I am giving myself permission to eat whatever it is I want, but I am also trying to monitor whether I am " wanting " something because of hunger or for someother emotional reason - and if I'm not hungry I tell myself out loud that I'm not hungry - and then I am no longer eating mindlessly, but actually making a conscious choice of whether or not I want to eat that item even though I have admitted that I'm not hungry - or maybe I realize what I really want is a piece of gum or a glass of water or a mint and not food at all.For me, all of that has nothing to do with my scale. If my scale number starts going up, then I need to focus more on helping my emotional eating (which has nothing to do with my body's hunger signals). So maybe I will not be 100% on the program, but IE can still help me a lot. Thanks for all of your input - I read everybody's responses and appreciate the help! Tricia To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 5:32:55 PMSubject: Re: Question on weighing I think whether or not weighing yourself is consistent depends on what you do with the information. If you weigh yourself and regardless of whether it is up or down, you shrug it off, that is consistent with IE. It is knowing for the sake of knowing- your IE practice is unaffected. However, if you cannot gain weight, I do not think you can weigh yourself and successfully practice IE (at least not in this stage of your journey). If you really cannot gain any weight, if you practice IE and the the scale goes up, what are you going to do? Your choices are to: 1) To continue trying IE (letting the number just be a number and not letting affect your practice). In this case you may keep gaining weight and if you absolutely cannot gain weight, then this isn't a healthy option. 2) Try to keep up IE but consciously try to eat less or to eat " better " foods. This isn't really IE; this is a diet.3) To do some combination of exercise and diet to reduce weight. This isn't IE.Basically, if you are taking your weight to decide how to eat instead of listening to your body to decide how to eat, you are not practicing IE. As ridiculous as it may sound, I don't think IE would recommend taking your blood pressure every morning for the same reason. If, for your health, your blood pressure cannot fluctuate, and doing IE may cause fluctuations in blood pressure, you cannot logically take the risk of starting IE. Not that you shouldn't ever get weighed or have your blood pressure taken. For example, these values can be important to medication choices and amounts and your doctor may need specific numbers to give you accurate treatment. But if they need to be particular values, putting yourself fully into IE might just not be an option for you right now. I wish you all the greatest success in whatever you decide is best for your physical and emotional health.~ >> Tricia-> > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R> > > > > ________________________________> > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM> Subject: Re: Question on weighing> > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't " feel " a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a " fact " - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused.> > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia> > > > > ________________________________> > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM> Subject: Re: Question on weighing> > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said " So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter? " Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this " metabolic syndrome " my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny> > > > > Question on weighing> > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight?> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Very healthy attitude Dawn, and one that eludes so many of us. Your post reminds me of how there are any (hard and fast) 'rules' for IE - including weighing one's self! Reacting to the number in the same way one's pants fit is quite good. Katcha IEing since March 2007 > > Tricia- > > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't " feel " a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a " fact " - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused. > > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said " So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter? " Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this " metabolic syndrome " my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny > > > > > Question on weighing > > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Believe me, I understand your fears around the high blood pressure. I too have high blood pressure. But you cannot let that be your control factor. Start doing things that you can now to remain healthy despite the high blood pressure. Start moving more and be eating foods that honor your body. Be nice, loving and gentle with yourself and don't beat yourself up. If you make these things the basis of your focus and not being afraid of your high blood pressure, your high blood pressure will start to stabalize and/or go down. I know because by exercising on a regular basis because if feels amazing to me - not because I have to to loose weight - and by eating foods that honor my body and having an attitude that all-foods-fit-in-moderation my blood pressure has gone down and my Dr. has agreed to drop one of my medications. Have I lost weight? A tiny bit - about 16 lbs. All by doing IE. Every time I myself step on the scale outside of the Dr's office I set myself up for failure. It makes me feel like crap! It never is what I think it should be or what I want it to be, so why should I torture myself that way. IE works if you can take out the weight loss factor. Trust those of us that have been doing it for a while and work the steps in the book one at a time! Wishing you the best. Alana > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't " feel " a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a " fact " - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused. > > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point.    Thanks, Tricia > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > >  > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said " So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter? "  Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question.  For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this " metabolic syndrome "  my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny > > > > > Question on weighing > > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 There are many ways to reduce blood pressure that are not weight related... a little less salt is a food rule. But, there's: Exercise Meditation (is a BIG ONE) Yoga Other mindfulness and spiritual practices Getting excess stress out of one's life Learning to Go with the Flow and on and on. I have a friend who is very thin with high blood pressure...he just works himself very hard. Good luck! > Believe me, I understand your fears around the high blood pressure. > I too have high blood pressure. But you cannot let that be your > control factor. Start doing things that you can now to remain > healthy despite the high blood pressure. Start moving more and be > eating foods that honor your body. Be nice, loving and gentle with > yourself and don't beat yourself up. If you make these things the > basis of your focus and not being afraid of your high blood > pressure, your high blood pressure will start to stabalize and/or > go down. I know because by exercising on a regular basis because if > feels amazing to me - not because I have to to loose weight - and > by eating foods that honor my body and having an attitude that all- > foods-fit-in-moderation my blood pressure has gone down and my Dr. > has agreed to drop one of my medications. Have I lost weight? A > tiny bit - about 16 lbs. All by doing IE. Every time I myself step > on the scale outside of the Dr's office I set myself up for > failure. It makes me feel like crap! It never is what I think it > should be or what I want it to be, so why should I torture myself > that way. IE works if you can take out the weight loss factor. > Trust those of us that have been doing it for a while and work the > steps in the book one at a time! Wishing you the best. > > Alana > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Tricia, you have probably helped a lot of people with this post! Thanks for saying exactly how I feel. I also need to monitor BP and weight for health reasons. Just like you said, they are tool that help me know what I need to focus on if either of them is slipping in the wrong direction. Sunny Well perhaps I will not be able to be an "IE purist", because I absolutely feel that monitoring my weight and my blood pressure are necessary for my health and wellbeing - I monitor my weight weekly and my bp daily. typically with both, the first thing I think of is not eating habits, but rather have I been exercising consistently that week and how much stress am I under at work - as those two things are directly related to my bp going up as well as my weight (due to emotional eating). I am not concerned with a 1-2 pound fluctuation in my weight (although my weight does need to be lower, as I said, for my health) - I just can't have a 5-10+ lb gain. I feel that I can still make good use of the IE principles for eating and still monitor these numbers. I am working on paying attention to my hunger signals for eating and I am not eating "diet" foods - but asking myself what specificaly I want to eat. I am working on pausing while eating to monitor my hunger/fullness level and choosing what will be my very last mouthful of whatever I am eating (as opposed to "cleaning my plate"). I am giving myself permission to eat whatever it is I want, but I am also trying to monitor whether I am "wanting" something because of hunger or for someother emotional reason - and if I'm not hungry I tell myself out loud that I'm not hungry - and then I am no longer eating mindlessly, but actually making a conscious choice of whether or not I want to eat that item even though I have admitted that I'm not hungry - or maybe I realize what I really want is a piece of gum or a glass of water or a mint and not food at all. For me, all of that has nothing to do with my scale. If my scale number starts going up, then I need to focus more on helping my emotional eating (which has nothing to do with my body's hunger signals). So maybe I will not be 100% on the program, but IE can still help me a lot. Thanks for all of your input - I read everybody's responses and appreciate the help! Tricia To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 5:32:55 PM Subject: Re: Question on weighing I think whether or not weighing yourself is consistent depends on what you do with the information. If you weigh yourself and regardless of whether it is up or down, you shrug it off, that is consistent with IE. It is knowing for the sake of knowing- your IE practice is unaffected. However, if you cannot gain weight, I do not think you can weigh yourself and successfully practice IE (at least not in this stage of your journey). If you really cannot gain any weight, if you practice IE and the the scale goes up, what are you going to do? Your choices are to: 1) To continue trying IE (letting the number just be a number and not letting affect your practice). In this case you may keep gaining weight and if you absolutely cannot gain weight, then this isn't a healthy option. 2) Try to keep up IE but consciously try to eat less or to eat "better" foods. This isn't really IE; this is a diet. 3) To do some combination of exercise and diet to reduce weight. This isn't IE. Basically, if you are taking your weight to decide how to eat instead of listening to your body to decide how to eat, you are not practicing IE. As ridiculous as it may sound, I don't think IE would recommend taking your blood pressure every morning for the same reason. If, for your health, your blood pressure cannot fluctuate, and doing IE may cause fluctuations in blood pressure, you cannot logically take the risk of starting IE. Not that you shouldn't ever get weighed or have your blood pressure taken. For example, these values can be important to medication choices and amounts and your doctor may need specific numbers to give you accurate treatment. But if they need to be particular values, putting yourself fully into IE might just not be an option for you right now. I wish you all the greatest success in whatever you decide is best for your physical and emotional health. ~ > > Tricia- > > I just wanted to say, that while my IE practice is far from perfect, I do think > you can IE with the scale in your life. For me, the scale has never been > anything but a number. It doesn't ruin my day, nor does it make my day. Oh, I > like the number lower, but if I'm up a pound or two, I can shrug and know that > tomorrows another day. It's kinda like checking to see how my pants feel. One > day they feel great, and the next, not so great. Oh well. It will change again > soon enough. So, I say, if for you, the scale is just an object that reflects a > number, and with health concerns that weight aggravates, you can totally do it. > > > > Dawn R > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Wed, March 9, 2011 1:41:40 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Hi Sunny - yes, I agree - for MY health, gaining an extra 5-10 lbs really does > matter because my blood pressure is directly related to my weight - if i gain > that much my bp goes up (and I do not want to have to raise my medications > because of that). It's not so much a matter of loving myself or my body no > matter what shape I am in, as knowing that the weight/size I am is not healthy > for ME. So I feel that I have to monitor my weight. I understand what everyone > has said and what IE says, but if losing weight is the right thing to do for me > and my health, then how else am I going to know I'm on the right path? I really > can't "feel" a 5-6 lb gain because it creeps up on you - that's why I depend on > the scale to tell me. I don't stress out over the scale - it's just a "fact" - > like taking my blood pressure every morning. Would ie say not to check my blood > pressure either? To me it's the same kind of thing. That's why I'm confused. > > I appreciate everybody's input on this and I thank you for your support. I'm > doing better on the eating when I'm hungry, but not so good on the stopping when > i'm no longer hungry. But i'm trying to stay as in tune with my hunger signals > as I can at this point. Thanks, Tricia > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: IntuitiveEating_Support > Sent: Mon, March 7, 2011 7:15:52 PM > Subject: Re: Question on weighing > > > Tricia, You echo my thoughts exactly. I have asked the same question and > mostly I think there has to be a balance. Everything in life is about balance > to some degree, right? For me, gaining any more is NOT something I can relax > and accept, healthwise, even if it's only temporary. Weight is never temporary > for me. I absolutely love what I'm learning as I get more and more into IE, but > I have gained and my health is worse for it. Someone said "So what if you gain > 10 pounds, what does it really matter?" Well for me, it matters a whole lot. > I'm sicker than ever and finding it that much hard to get any movement > happening. I wasn't happy with the answers I got when i asked this > question. For me it's not really about wanting to lose x amount of weight in x > amount of time. I just want to be able to do things without pain and to at > least have my meds able to control my multitude of issues. seriously, I don't > even have a need to get off the meds anymore. I'd simply settle for having them > actually control the issues caused by this "metabolic syndrome" my doctors have > decided to call it. So I'll keep trying to find a way to lose weight and learn > IE, because I have to. I can't make myself believe I'm good the way I am. > > > Sunny > > > > > Question on weighing > > > > > > I know everyone says not to weigh yourself and not to focus on your weight... > but for *health* reasons I need to lose weight and I feel so much better when I > weight myself once a week. Isn't there some way to balance intuitive eating > PLUS losing weight? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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