Re: From pro dieter to normal overeater: Binges vs. Overeating

[Guest guest]

dear sue,

Thanks for your detailed response. It was very helpful. You've been doing ie for 8 years but did it take 8 years to get to the point where you think about food only when you are hungry? I notice I am not giving myself unconditional permission to eat, all the do's and don't's of diet mentality come booming in. any suggestions? Thanks again for your support and hope of what I can look forward to with intuitive eating,

To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Tue, February 16, 2010 11:13:49 AMSubject: Re: From pro dieter to normal overeater: Binges vs. Overeating

Hi : The "Appetite Awareness Workbook" can answer your question better than I can. However, I'll try to summarize what that book says. The author uses the term 'getting stuffed' to described binge eating, because bingeing can be so personal and subjective. Some people use the term 'binge', when they eat a 'forbidden' food. Others use 'binge' to mean any eating episode when you feel out of control. However, loss of control is also very subjective. For many people bingeing involves 'tuning out' while 'getting stuffed'.The AAW author says that some eating episodes are particularly distressing because we have conflicting feelings about eating. We intensely desire to overeat certain foods, while we also want to resist eating to lose or avoid gaining weight. So we resolve that conflict by 'tuning out' conscious awareness of 'don't eat' or 'stop eating' thoughts. AAW author calls all variations of 'tuning out' the "OH WHAT THE HECK"

response.My binges almost always involve 'tuning out' or telling myself 'oh what the heck' when I find myself overeating, but don't want to stop. So I liked what AAW suggested to eliminate binges: "use conscious decisions to eat to counteract your tendency to dissociate (tune out) parts of your awareness. Instead of pushing away your urge to eat/binge, you must give yourself conscious permissioin to eat the type of food you really want. You can eat a small amount, a moderate amount or even a substantial amount. You just don't give yourself permission to get uncomfortably full or stuffed ... That conscious decision undermines any sense of loss of control ... At first, you are likely to overeat to some extent, but gradually you will become more able to stop before you feel uncomfortably, then ultimately before you even feel completely full."The AAW author continues to define a binge as a 'temper tantrum', which include (1) 'deprivation

binges' (when we want specific foods we won't allow ourselves to eat outside of binges), (2) frustration binges (when we don't have control over getting what we want and feel powerless or helpless); and (3) leftover binges (when we put off bingeing for some time, while we cope with emotions without bingeing, until built up stress or even traumatic events finally influence us to cope with feelings with a binge). Above all, the author reassures us: "When you make a conscious decision to eat, or even overeat, you are not bingeing. You have not lost or given up control; you are able to stay aware and watch what the food is doing or not doing for you."I hope that helps you understand how binges can differ from conscious overeating. Nevertheless, I encourage you to read 'Appetite Awareness Training' by Craighead.SUEPS After practicing IE for almost 8 years, I eventually began to think about food only when I felt hungry,

needed to grocery shop or plan a special holiday meal or 'treats'. Although I previously feared cooking and baking, because I often binged, I now enjoy baking and preparing gourmet dishes. However, I prefer to do food projects when I'm not hungry (after a satisfying meal).>> > > > > > > > > > > hi, my name is . It may sound like a silly question but what is the difference between a binge and overeating? I'll definately check out appetite awareness book. Even though I am not overeating, I notice that if I eat from mouth hunger I feel as if I am breaking a rule so maybe to have a guideline that doesn't provoke

guilt. I look forward to when I am not thinking about food or weight.Are others who have been doing IE finding that they aren't thinking about food?> > > >

[Guest guest]

Hi : NO, actually it didn't take 8 years to only think of food when I'm

hungry, need to grocery shop or prepare food. The more often I let my stomach

hunger cue decide when to eat, the less often I thought about food between

'hungers'. Also when I relaxed about what I would eat, I observed that I tended

to eat favorite foods for certain meals. (For example I love either peanut

butter with fruit on a muffin or hot, cooked cereal with fruit for breakfast and

often eat those.) So when I felt hungry, those foods seemed to be exactly what

my body needed to satisfy hunger and keep me unhungry for hours afterwards. Also

choosing foods that kept me unhungry for hours as well as matched my cravings

let me think about other things between meals, because I wasn't hungry and I

wasn't obsessed with whether I would eat what I craved. Does that make sense?

SUE

>

> dear sue,

>

> Thanks for your detailed response. It was very helpful. You've been doing ie

for 8 years but did it take 8 years to get to the point where you think about

food only when you are hungry? I notice I am not giving myself unconditional

permission to eat, all the do's and don't's of diet mentality come booming in.

any suggestions? Thanks again for your support and hope of what I can look

forward to with intuitive eating,

>

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue,

That makes perfect sense. I think i am still eating from mouth hunger. I am not overeating but I don't know if it is always biological hunger every time I eat. I think if I only ate when i felt hunger, i fear I won't be eating much as after a few bites I can feel satisfied and fear feelings of deprivation getting triggered.I feel like I am giving myself what I want but like I mentioned to Sohni I think from all the restrictive eating I have an underlying subtle sense of desperation that arises when I eat and also I think is what contributes to my thinking about food when I am not hungry. Any thoughts? Thanks

To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Tue, February 16, 2010 6:39:03 PMSubject: Re: From pro dieter to normal overeater: Binges vs. Overeating

Hi : NO, actually it didn't take 8 years to only think of food when I'm hungry, need to grocery shop or prepare food. The more often I let my stomach hunger cue decide when to eat, the less often I thought about food between 'hungers'. Also when I relaxed about what I would eat, I observed that I tended to eat favorite foods for certain meals. (For example I love either peanut butter with fruit on a muffin or hot, cooked cereal with fruit for breakfast and often eat those.) So when I felt hungry, those foods seemed to be exactly what my body needed to satisfy hunger and keep me unhungry for hours afterwards. Also choosing foods that kept me unhungry for hours as well as matched my cravings let me think about other things between meals, because I wasn't hungry and I wasn't obsessed with whether I would eat what I craved. Does that make sense?SUE>> dear sue,> > Thanks for your detailed response. It was very helpful. You've been doing ie for 8 years but did it take 8 years to get to the point where you think about food only when you are hungry? I notice I am not giving myself unconditional permission to eat, all the do's and don't's of diet mentality come booming in. any suggestions? Thanks again for your support and hope of what I can look forward to with intuitive eating, > > >>

[Guest guest]

Hi :

I totally understand those fears of 'deprivation' when I wait to eat when I am

physically hungry and pay attention to my satisfaction/fullness cues. I'm not

overweight and didn't want/need to lose more weight during the past few years.

So I previously rationalized that I didn't need to pay attention to fullness as

much as someone who needed to lose weight. However, ignoring fullness made me

feel very uncomfortable. I also sometimes ignored my first hunger cues and

waited too long to eat, which made me 'uncomfortably' hungry. So eventually I

began to eat when I felt 'comfortably hungry' (not starved or just craving food

without stomach hunger sensations) and stop eating when I felt 'comfortably

full' (not the exact moment when hunger disappeared, but more often when my

stomach felt moderately full and after I had savored each bite slowly and felt

satisfied that I had tasted and swallowed enough for now).

For me psychological satisfaction or the pleasure I experience from eating is as

important as the physical sensation of 'comfortable fullness' (as opposed to

uncomfortable overly fullness) for determining when I stop eating. In order to

want to stop eating when my stomach feels comfortably full, I need to eat

slowly, without distractions and really concentrate on the flavors and textures

of each bite. Otherwise, I may get to 'full', but want to ignore than sensation

so that I can go on tasting, chewing and swallowing until I feel 'stuffed' and

extreme discomfort makes me want to stop eating.

Finally I need to allow myself to eat not only foods that taste good in my

mouth, but foods that feel good in my body (and don't cause allergic reactions

LOL) and keep me unhungry for long periods. I prefer to take time to sit at a

table, relax and eat 3 satisfying meals, rather than suppress or 'medicate' my

hunger all day with small snacks. Nevertheless, I need to eat at least small

amounts really tasty foods (like frosted, valentine shaped spice cookies or ice

cream) at least once a day to prevent feeling deprived.

I don't eat those 'antideprivation' foods as whole meals, but rather as small

'desserts' (does anybody still eat desserts after meals?) after satisfying

meals. So I try to satisfy my physical hunger, my need to taste, chew and

swallow foods and my cravings for sweet tastes at each meal. I rarely have

really sugary sweet foods for breakfast, but I usually have sweet fruit.

However, I almost always have at least a small 'dessert' at lunch and/or dinner

(sometimes both).

I obsess about food between meals (1) when I don't eat foods or melas that keep

me unhungry for long periods (so I'm actually slightly hungry) or (2) I don't

let myself eat foods I love (and feel deprived). So when I eat foods that both

my body (stomach) love and my mouth enjoys, I can forget about eating between

'hungers' or meals.

SUE