Intuitive eating | Imamother

imasinger

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 2:26 pm

Why I am still in the game...

http://www.gocomics.com/wumo

amother

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 4:08 pm

imasinger

will you fill me in?

My filter wont open your link

amother

Sanguine

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 5:02 pm

I'm so glad this thread came back. I love this diet. I don't have the book (no kindle). I simply say "Am I hungry"? If I'm not, I don't eat it.
Kind of simplified the diet (after reading the threads here). I know I want to lose weight so thinking Am I hungry does it for me. If I see a cookie, I say Am I Hungry? Then if I say YES, then I must want more than one cookie so I better find real food and sit down and eat it. If I say NO I then have to answer, do I want to lose weight?
I have a weight loss contest going with daughters for 1 1/2 years. We weigh ourselves Friday morning and chart it. So I also have to think that I'll have to face them on Friday morning if I don't lose. So that's why "Am I hungry?" works for me

amother

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 5:28 pm

Good article:
Lianda Ludwig

Lianda is a former 180DegreeHealth site author, and has recently written a book which you can download for free HERE.

The first time I heard Matt Stone was when I was trying yet another diet, this time the Paleo plan. I was so gung-ho that I paid to listen to the Paleo Summit. I’d listen to the recordings while going on long walks that were part of my exercise component of the diet.

When I first listened to Matt’s interview I thought: wow, this is different. This guy is contradicting so much of what I thought was going to be the final diet plan I’d ever need. Honestly, at that time I thought he was pretty impertinent (but Matt would probably prefer if I described him as cocksure! See Matt, even us older generation ladies can be sophomoric). But at this point, I was realizing that Paleo didn’t work for me either! Matt’s talk was my breakthrough in understanding that there was nothing wrong with me- it was the very concept of dieting that was at fault.

I’m in the older range of readers on the 180DegreeHealth site (early 60’s). I had started dieting back in my 20’s when I was slender and athletic. I was unhappy with certain parts of my body, and thought that dieting would slenderize my feminine posterior. But the fact is, that’s just what my butt looked like, and no amount of dieting, other than being put into a place like Guantanamo Prison would have taken off enough fat to change my natural shape. But I didn’t think that way back then. I needed to look different – better – more like other young women.

I was on a life-long “losing battle” quest trying one diet after another; and failing at every one of them. I lost a little weight on most, but it stopped pretty quickly. And then the weight would slowly re-appear and bring along extra pounds. I couldn’t imagine why this was happening to me. After all, I was normally eating very little: I’d skip breakfast, just have some coffee, a yogurt for lunch and small dinner. I was mystified. My best friend Yolanda, ate every meal with gusto and never gained an ounce. We’d exercise together, but she stayed slim and ate at least twice as much as me.

After each diet failure I’d find something wrong with me: “I didn’t exercise enough, I didn’t weigh the food accurately, I cheated and had a cookie.” I was convinced that there was something wrong with my body, and my thyroid gland wasn’t working. My negative focus on myself and my body was incredibly stressful. I strongly believe in a Mind/Body connection that creates our health conditions. Looking back over years of dieting and my negative mindset, I can see how it created my overweight and eventual auto-immune disease of my thyroid gland (Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis). I’ve learned how stress can set off over or under-eating, and even cause a change in your metabolism and weight without changing anything you’ve been eating!

If you’re reading on 180 Degree Health, you are undoubtedly ready to consider a different viewpoint. With so much diet information available on the internet, despite being an avid reader I didn’t realize that I was just finding the Diet Industry dogma: the “eat less and exercise more” myth. Matt’s talk jettisoned me into finding the “alternative” dieting world. It’s almost like entering the world of “The Matrix.” The Mattrix, I guess I should say. Smile

I’ve met and spoken with so many women who have lived this same experience, and have found that weight is a very complex issue. Genetics, epigenetics, socio-economic factors, and stress hold many of the answers to your weight challenge. And it turns out that lowering the BMI to include what was previously considered a normal weight, was encouraged by a Diet Industry, thus creating a false obesity “epidemic.” This industry, which does its own research and skews much of the results, is populated by diet clinics that make a handsome living by scaring people into dieting to prevent diseases that have not been proven to be affected by weight!

Weight problems for most women are probably the result of dieting and calorie/food restriction. If we never started dieting, we would never have yo-yo’d our weights higher, and begun a vicious cycle. Women’s body obsession, to fit ourselves into society’s standards of beauty and acceptability of the day, is now starting in girls as young as six years old! And the truth is, more women are dieting because of the importance of their appearance rather than a desire to be healthy.

One of the most tragic things I’ve read was the answer to this question:

If you could take a pill that would guarantee you would be able to maintain whatever weight you wanted, would you take the pill if it lowered your life expectancy? If so, how many years are you willing to trade?

78% of 273 dieters (mostly women) said yes, with the average number agreeing to subtract 5.7 years off their life.

What has happened to us when we have forgotten that our purpose in life is more than focusing on our appearance? These are some of the issues that I discuss in my book, Diet Industry Lies That Make You Gain Weight: How Eat Less and Exercise More is a Hoax Designed to Keep You Coming Back.

I’ve made this a free download on Amazon from Feb. 26- March 2nd to encourage 180 D readers to use their open minds to discover more very enlightening information that can be life changing and life affirming. I’ll also be presenting a free webinar, so be sure to sign up for the details. www.MakeItSoMindset.com/report

from here:
http://180degreehealth.com/new.....ue-4/
the password is 180d

Linksamother

imasinger

Mon, Mar 17 2014, 12:56 pm

amother wrote:

imasinger

will you fill me in?

My filter wont open your link

amother

Sorry! It was a picture of a person in a fast food restaurant with both hands filled with food, the table loaded, and a full mouth. The caption read, "Day 5 in every diet ever."

So, how was Purim for you? This was my first Purim since discovering intuitive eating, and I was pleased. I enjoyed the day (other than being too busy and tired), and was not utterly stuffed after the seudah, but was comfortably full. We had Shabbos guests that included a talented cook, who brought us some really special hamentaschen, but I declined on Friday night because I was too full to appreciate them properly, and then really savored them for kiddush the next day.

amother

Tue, Mar 18 2014, 4:23 pm

So it's the day after Purim
I get on the scale
I know I ate very little
But still I am trembling and pale
Having a virus (without an appetite) helped a ton
Trying to focus on the day and enjoying the fun
It was all about the mood
Not about the food
And I succeeded beyond my wildest fears
The number was so low, the lowest its been in years
Yay I jumped for joy with glee
I have only a few more pounds to victoreeeee!
(eight pounds to my goal weight)

PinkFridge

Tue, Mar 18 2014, 6:14 pm

amother wrote:

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Hope you're feeling better!
Now all you anti-Purim poem people out there, you have to admit, this was a good one! (Though sorry you went through that, amother.)

amother

Tue, Mar 18 2014, 6:19 pm

I am the poet above. I am still not feeling 100% okay but who cares? Its just a virus/ cold/whatever. Main thing is I got rid of most of the junk. Ate only a little of what I really love. Feel great about that!

PinkFridge

Tue, Mar 18 2014, 8:11 pm

amother wrote:

Personally, on the whole I'm glad to see my nekudas habechira for certain things is at a new set point, b"H. We had all sorts of baked goods. I sorted them - tossed those from people I wasn't sure about, or that I knew no one would eat, and left the rest out (in bags) for the olam to nosh this week. One thing I did liberate was a baggie of kichel/biscotti my daughter got from her teacher. This woman is greatness personified, and I've been rationing it this week - I feel like it's bread of emunah ;-)

behappysk

Tue, Mar 18 2014, 9:24 pm

Wow! You guys are amazing! I'm trying so hard! I really have to focus every day every minute what I'm feeling.
I'm glad to see it's working for you all and eventually get there too.

Blue jay

Tue, Mar 18 2014, 9:35 pm

OK,
I will confess I had some problems with my intuitive eating wiring this past Purim. Taanis Esther really through me off! I really felt inspired and committed to fasting but when it was over I just could not stop eating sugary/carby foods. After not eating for almost 24 hours the last thing on earth I wanted to eat was oatmeal or a sweet potato or salad.

After binging on mm goodies for the past few days. I decided to "diet". that lasted 18 hours (go figure) and now here I am trying to come back to myself. What a wirl wind! I need a better plan for Pesach!

Blue jay

Thu, Mar 20 2014, 11:17 am

Im proud to say that today:

I had a min bagel sliced with tuna, cole slaw and a nice small pumpkin/french vanilla flavored coffee. Tickled all the right taste buds. I ate at the bagel shop and savored every bite. I actually made the bagel person search the back for a mini bagel because I did not want so much bagel and eating a half of a large bagel is not the same as eating a whole mini bagel. ( lack of proper crust)

Yesterday I made australian meatballs, inspired by the chef Curtis Stone with potato salad. Green peas on the side.

Finally eating good again! And you know what, it feels good!
Thanks for reading my post!

imasinger

Thu, Mar 20 2014, 11:22 am

Good for you, Queen Bee! Three cheers!

Blue jay

Thu, Mar 20 2014, 11:23 am

thanks imasinger!

smss

Thu, Mar 20 2014, 11:27 am

QueenBee3 wrote:

I also get very thrown off by fasts. does anyone have any tips for that? I find they can really set me back in my old habits for a good few weeks...

amother

Thu, Mar 20 2014, 12:15 pm

smss wrote:

I also get very thrown off by fasts. does anyone have any tips for that? I find they can really set me back in my old habits for a good few weeks...

Me too. I had a bad experience on the fast day too. I did not fast because I have little kids and I thought it would be too hard. But it's the first time since I'm not nursing or preg. that I decided not to fast. I felt so guilty that I binged a lot on that day. Sad

To some that may not make sense, but I have a feeling at least some of you will understand.

I haven't emotionally eaten like that in months, it felt horrible.
I also do get thrown off by fasts, it's like my body is panicking about not having food and thinks it's dieting or something!

Blue jay

Thu, Mar 20 2014, 12:19 pm

amother wrote:

Totally can relate! The whole body panicking reaction...Thats why I went bananas after the fast on anything I set my eyes on!

amother

Wed, Apr 23 2014, 8:17 pm

Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing well. Here is another good article from here:
http://rachelwcole.com/2014/01.....path/

Sugar, specifically white refined sugar, has gotten a bad rap.

While I typically abide by a “to each their own” approach to food, it seems that lately there has been a deluge of bloggers ‘coming out’ about their sugar-free lifestyle.

To many this seems logical and saintly. To me this is yet another extreme shift of the dietary pendulum that leaves people swinging between restriction and over consumption, more obsessed with food and less at ease in life

Out of a desire to offer a different perspective and perhaps provide a middle path, I bring you my thoughts on the matter. This post isn’t for the nutrition police who have, for the time being, made up their mind. This is for those of you lost in the middle of a world that plies you with sugary sodas and tells you it’s poison at the same time.

Here are six thoughtful ‘spoonfuls’:

Thoughtful Spoonful #1 A sweet role model on the sweet middle path…

Henry Ware. “Hal” to most. Grandpa, or more often Bapa, to me.

At 91, my grandfather lives alone, remains active, and, for his age, is very healthy. He’s also eaten dessert nearly everyday of his life. [Cue needle scratch]

When I hear of people saying sugar is poison I simply call him up and reminisce about the lemon meringue pie I used to bake with my grandmother. It was so delicious.

Thoughtful Spoonful # 2: When there is nothing to rebel against…

In my experience, when I have something to rebel against, I rebel. When I have nothing to rebel against, I’m free and travelling an easeful middle path. A no-sugar rule would, and has, in my more restrictive days, made me straight-up bonkers. Being a freedom-junkie is what has kept me from being a sugar-junkie.

Thoughtful Spoonful #3: Play food has a place…

Here’s an excerpt from a favorite book of mine, Intuitive Eating:

“Sometimes you have a desire for food that has no nutritionally redemptive powers. We call this food play food. We prefer this term to one of the most commonly used terms to describe what’s considered unhealthy foods–junk food. The term junk food implies that there is no intrinsic value in this food–in fact, that it probably should be thrown in the garbage can. But we feel that this thinking is unwarranted. There are times when a piece of red velvet cake or a stick of licorice is just the food that will satisfy your taste buds. And eating these types of foods doesn’t mean you are an unhealthy eater.”

I have often found important, health-promoting, value in foods with little nutritional value.

Thoughtful Spoonful #4: Every body is wise…

I trust my body implicitly. This is a hard won fact. Most of the time my body, and most well-fed, well-pleasured bodies, don’t crave tons of sugar. Carbohydrates? Yes. My body and brain love carbohydrates. They keep me full, happy, functioning.

With my body leading the way I haven’t been lead straight to the firey hell of Candy Land…just to a sweet middle path.

Thoughtful Spoonful #5: The secret ingredient…

Food is way more than just a sum of it’s macro and micronutrients. Michael Pollan calls this misconception nutritionism. The truth is that there are intangibles in food that we can’t quantify. For example, why does, for some of us, our mother’s version of a dish taste so much better than our own? The answer is something we can’t see under a microscope or write into a recipe. Food, if we pay attention, has (or doesn’t have) soul to it. A factor often ignored when we eliminate whole categories of food.

Thoughtful Spoonful #6: Pleasure as a food group…

Speaking of intangibles in food. I’ve found that just like I can eat a diet deficient in fat or Vitamin C, I can be deficient in pleasure. I’ve learned to treat pleasure like a food group with a hearty dose of daily servings. This is how I feel most well-fed and this sometimes includes sugar.

Thoughtful Spoonful #6: We’re all moderators…

Some people argue that people can be divided into moderators and abstainers – people who have just a little of something and people who can’t. I balk at this argument.

In my experience, an inability to “have just a little” of something is a result of the pendulum swing that occurs for everyone where there is some sort of psychological belief that the item is scarce (“Remember, you only get to eat this when you’re on vacation”) or shouldn’t be eaten (“Good thing no one is here to see you stuffing your face with this naughty food”). When we truly feel free to eat whatever we want, whenever we want, in any quantity we want we naturally find that we don’t overdo much. In my experience, overdoing is a result of compensation for some form of restriction. Moderation is the result of being free and deeply trusting oneself.

Thoughtful Spoonful #6: Information overload…

Lest you think I’m clueless about nutrition and sugar’s effect on our bodies, rest assured that I know my omega-3’s from my omega-6s. At the height of my own eating disorder I was a walking nutritional encyclopedia. I also spent three years spent earning my master’s degree in holistic health education where I studied everything from the USDA guidelines to Ayurvedic eating approaches; raw food to the Weston A. Price approach; Chinese medicine to eco-political food systems.

In the end, I believe we suffer from a dangerous mix of information overload, food paranoia, and body disconnection.

:::::::::::

I don’t want to live a life without sugar. I’m all for taking into account what my body and our planet need in order to be healthy, but I’m not willing to sacrifice my mental health for it. I also think the answer is always somewhere in shades of gray, not in the black and white approach of forgoing sugar all together. Turns out I don’t have to. Thank goodness.

So this is the path I have chosen: turn down the noise, ignore fads of the moment, aim for a middle path (all things in moderation, including moderation), restrict nothing, listen to my body, pay attention to the seasons and where my food comes from, and deeply enjoy sweet foods when I want them.

Linksamother

PinkFridge

Wed, Apr 23 2014, 8:56 pm

Very interesting article, especially as I'm in the middle of reading a no-sugar book. Not because I was heading there but because I was in the library and it looked interesting.
I've spoken about my food plan, and I'm getting back on the wagon. I made a decision over Pesach that if I was going to eat certain foods - no whole wheat crackers for kiddush, yes choc. chip cookies (we eat gebroks) - I was going to let myself enjoy and savor. I think it worked. I had an easy time making the kind of choices I wanted to today without feeling deprived. Honestly, I really WANTED oatmeal for breakfast. It was great ;-)

amother

Wed, Apr 23 2014, 9:26 pm

I'm getting a lot of inspiration from this link:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/foru......html