Re: difficult first steps

[Guest guest]

Hi jen,

Congratulations on starting your IE journey! I think the beginning is very hard and scary for many of us.

Maybe you could try breaking down the steps? Awhile back someone suggested separating legalizing WHAT you eat from HOW MUCH you eat. That sounded like a cool suggestion to me.

Another idea would be to start with one meal a day, and trying to just be fully conscious during that one meal - tastes, textures, hunger and satiety. Perhaps you could start with this step without any other " shoulds " ? So if you need to only eat your " safe " foods, and to retrict quantities, you could do so and try to just quietly observe, without judgement, the experience of eating.

There are no rules to IE... but you " need " to progress at a speed that feels safe and comfortable for you.

Definitely keep posting and reading others' posts, and be gentle with yourself. You have already made real progress!

Best,

Abby

IE since 11/08

 

hi everyone,

well i have started the IE book and am really learning a lot and trying to take it all in.

my first attempts have not worked out so well!

so i hope for so wisdom from those who've been there and done that.

i'm finding it much harder than i thought to give up calorie counting and weighing myself...i think i use those activities to soothe anxiety and help feel in control. but they are the tools of the " diet mentality " i've just learned about and they need to go. why is this so hard?

i realized observing myself that i am using decaf coffee, which i guess has small amounts of caffeine, to fill up on during the day. i did read in IE that this is quite common.

i'm eating breakfast and lunch, but small amounts. and drinking quite a lot of decaf coffee all thru the day and evening. i get hungry but feel safest drinking decaf..,i'm afraid i'll eat all day too much!

so that's where i'm at in my first few days.

any feedback is welcome.

thanks for listening!

jen