Re: Making the transition to less food

[Guest guest]

I used to think I just " liked food " until I started looking into my behavior and

noticed I " reward " myself with food.

One thought I had, is that you think people notice how much you are eating, I

don't know about others on this group, but I rarely notice how much people are

eating, especially at events because people are talking and doing other things.

It's possible that you are being hard on yourself and judging yourself and the

other people don't really care or notice what you eat. We are our own worse

policemen.

I remember listening to a podcast recently about caregivers and how food becomes

a big issue because they never have time to sit down and eat. Or they have to

eat according to other people's schedules, menus because they become " more

important " than oneself. Is that happening?

Kate

>

> I've just been reading through all the latest emails, so this is a general

response. Although I wish everyone didn't have to go through all the ups and

down, it is very affirming to read your e-mails and know I am no different, even

though I seem to be surrounded by more conscious eaters than I am. For ex., in

my book group we get together once a month for a fabulous meal and discussion.

Out of the women, I'm the one who takes larger portions and seconds. The others

have either more self-discipline or more mindfulness about their eating, or--I

suspect, better lifelong thin-person eating habits.

>

> Whoever said they are eating 1/4 of what they used to: I have a feeling that

could be me, but I absolutely don't want to have to eat so little. I love food!

I do eat less when I'm being mindful, but not as little as I probably need.

>

> Dinner is my bugaboo because it's a sacred time to get together with my

husband and daughter almost every night. But I'm often not hungry or not that

hungry. Big issues of deprivation kick in: why them and not me? I don't want

to have to limit my intake to truly match my hunger-fullness scale. Feeling

slightly full makes me know I'm not being deprived (e.g. 5-6 out of a 10, when a

4-5 would do).

>

> Well, I guess this is something I will have to work on and test-drive.

Italians love food, but they walk a lot and don't eat between meals, and tend to

be slim. French people, too. So one approach would be to orchestrate my hunger

so that it better coincides with dinnertime, and not be afraid to skip breakfast

(as long as I have my latte). I hear that " Eat your breakfast, it's the most

important meal of the day " in my head. But reading different posts, I think

it's time to give that a rest and tune in to my hunger signals when I'd normally

just go ahead and eat breakfast.

>

> I'm not sounding very spiritual here, but I've had a lot of losses lately that

have made me be more doubting than I used to be. I've been hesitant to read

Geneen's new book, because if there is a God I'm mad at her.

>

> I do recommend AM I HUNGRY? by May, M.D. She also has a workbook and

a second book about freeing yourself from restrictive eating. One thing I like

about her is that she has lots of info about nutrition and gives sensible input

that takes into account nutrition and health, while giving yourself permission

to eat what you want WHEN you're hungry and stop when you're satisfied.

>

> Best of luck to everyone,

> Ellen

>

> PS I've had the middle of the night munchies, and have found that skipping

just one night helps me reprogram.

>