Re: Re: The Line Between Intuitive Eating and Bingi

[Guest guest]

For me keeping a journal is almost like giving me an excuse to sabotage my efforts. Instead of seeing it as having something to work on I see it as a failure when I binge or don't eat the things I should or the way I should i.e. when I eat when I am not hungry. If I journal it is there in black and white that I failed so my irrational mind says what the heck you failed drown your sorrows in comfort food. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Anyone else have this problem?

Seth

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."Native American Saying

But as you said, the journal is strictly about awareness, not judgment. I usually say that the worse you think it looks as far as what and how much you ate, the better for us to have things to work on.

[Guest guest]

Seth,

I understand your concern. That's why I believe it's a very individual decision whether to use a journal or not. And it's not all or nothing, you can always use it if and when you think it will be helpful. I can tell you as a long time veteran of IE and a coach for many years helping others with IE, you are not the only one. This is very normal. That's why I think you need to trust your instincts and decide if you would really benefit or not from writing things down.

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, if you think writing things down would help, you can choose what you want to record. You don't have to record your food if that's a trigger for you. You don't have to record your hunger or fullness numbers if you are going to get upset when you overeat. Some people find benefit in just writing down any thoughts, feelings, moods, "a-ha" moments, etc. that happen around eating. You could even just write without there being any diary. Just write down what you're feeling, or your fears, positive moments, or whatever helps you be more aware. Do what comes naturally - I've seen people use blogs (which can be made private), notebooks, voicemail, and even daily emails to record whatever it is they want to keep track of. It needs to work for you, no one has to conform to what someone else says works for them.

One thing I will tell clients who are concerned about using a diary, especially if they are going to send it to me for review, that all I want it for is "data collection". Imagine I'm a scientist that isn't allowed to have any opinions, I simply collect and report facts. And that's what I do, I use it to look for patterns, places where we can look for solutions, and many other things that will help with the IE process. But I make it very clear that I will never, ever judge anyone based on what or how much they eat. I don't care, I care about why and how we can help the person put an end to the suffering so they aren't eating to cope anymore.

Bottom line, try to remove the black and white in your thinking. Stay in the gray areas. I like to visualize a photographic gray card. When a photographer is trying to get just the right light and exposure of a subject, he or she will often use a gray card that has many different shades of gray on it to help get the exposure right. It's not either completely bright white, and it's not black, the right exposure is somewhere in between among the infinite number of shades of gray. If you're a visual person, that may help you see it in a different way.

Keep asking questions, it gets easier and better over time.

Thanks!GillianGillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Get your report, "The 6 Steps to Guilt-Fr*e Eating" at http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gillianhood

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of WoodsedgeQH@...Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:38 PMTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Re: Re: The Line Between Intuitive Eating and Bingi

For me keeping a journal is almost like giving me an excuse to sabotage my efforts. Instead of seeing it as having something to work on I see it as a failure when I binge or don't eat the things I should or the way I should i.e. when I eat when I am not hungry. If I journal it is there in black and white that I failed so my irrational mind says what the heck you failed drown your sorrows in comfort food. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Anyone else have this problem?

Seth

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."Native American Saying

In a message dated 2/4/2010 1:14:43 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, gillianhealthieroutcomes writes:

But as you said, the journal is strictly about awareness, not judgment. I usually say that the worse you think it looks as far as what and how much you ate, the better for us to have things to work on.