Neecee O.

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10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

1. Reject the Diet Mentality Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

2. Honor Your Hunger Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for re-building trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace with Food Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

5. Respect Your Fullness Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you've had "enough".

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

8. Respect Your Body Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

10 Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.


Here is a hunger scale also. There are lots of different versions but they are all based on the same idea.

HUNGER SCALE

10 - STUFFED: so full that you feel nauseous
9 - VERY UNCOMFORTABLY FULL:
you need to loosen your clothes
8 - UNCOMFORTABLY FULL: you feel bloated
7 - FULL: you feel a little bit uncomfortable
6 - PERFECTLY COMFORTABLE: you feel satisfied
5 - COMFORTABLE: you're more/less satisfied,
but could eat a little more
4 - SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE: you're just
beginning to feel signs of hunger
3 - UNCOMFORTABLE: stomach is rumbling
2 - VERY UNCOMFORTABLE: you feel irritable
& unable to concentrate
1 - WEAK & LIGHT-HEADED: your stomach acid is churning



** Begin eating when you're at a 3 or 4
** Stop at 5, if you're trying to lose weight
** Stop at 6, if you're wanting to maintain your weight

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tzu

Four Golden Rules:
1) When You're Hungry....Eat!
2) Eat What You Want!  (not what you think you should eat)
3) Eat Consciously!....chew each bite 20 times, put down your fork in between bites
4) When You Think You're Full, Stop Eating!

"Being Enough" and it's written by Leigh Sanders.

"Willingly confronting the obstacles in our lives and avoiding the temptation to paint them as problems.  Choosing rather to savor the rush of spontaneity they can introduce in our experience of this particular time.  Patiently abiding the periods in our life passage during which activity wanes, visible progress ceases and we have only to wait for our good to appear without struggle.  Content to be in this moment, blessing the process and accepting the past with quiet gratitute."

"In our striving to prove ourselves, to compete, to please, to succeed, we lose touch with our own adequacy and our natural wholeness.  And why?  Most often because we are attempting to live a truth that is not ours, to follow a path that is not natural for us.  We bend, stretch and reach beyond our grasp to achieve, to perform.  But for whom?"

"I am thoroughly in love with me -- honoring who I am today, blessing my progress and supporting my quest to serve and my deservedness to receive.  I am free -- free because I have awakened to my lack of control.  Letting go of my attachment to the outcomes -- holding only to the quality of the spiritual growth and the richness of life experience."

For me, i went to Overeaters Anonymous due to binging/purging.  Clearly, that was insane behavior and required intervention. Not everyone who goes to OA is a binger, though. There are all levels of food compulsion. I think OA addresses the more spiritual side to why we gain, why we eat. It is actually NOT all about weight reduction, it is more into managing the addiction by removing character flaws that contribute to bad choices.

 What is hard with groups like OA is a person is dependant on the local group and its capabilities/leadership. If there is just not a good dedicated group, it can fall apart and not be of much help to anyone. It's also a lot of work, and not many of us are willing to walk the talk.

OA  helped me immensely. Many fellow OA-ers then had made the comment that it was better than one on one therapy, which can be very self-involved rather than allowing a "patient" to have perspective. Of course, being in a group, you know you are not as sick as "that one", but compared to "this one", you are doing awesome.  You can be an inspiration to some who view you are the shizzy, and conversely you can aspire to where someone else is and get advice and guidance from someone who has been there.

Again, the principles can be difficult to digest. I had a jump on some folks cuz i had been attending Al-anon. OA uses the exact same principles that AA does.

We had a discussion along the way about the one place (in my mind) that OA does not fit real well:  abstinence. One cannot quit eating like ya do for drugs. It is hard to stay away from bad food/good food discussions. That is a very subjective area. 

For me, abstinence was about eating things like fast food in a normal way. I'll attempt to explain it this way:  Previously, if I went to McD's, It was usually a sneak trip, which was a trigger for me to purge it. After OA, if I chose to go to McD's, it was a planned meal (such a nutritional nightmare as it was), and purging was not an option afterward. Nor was "kicking myself", shame about food choices became more managed with OA.

I quickly learned about my trigger foods:  pizza, fast food, pasta, rice, crackers.  For a time I did not allow myslef to go where it was slippery and not eat those foods. Now i trust myself, though if my head is not right, it can be ugly. I need to have other things in place when I eat them:  not be too hungry when i sit down, big salads, raw veggies, etc. 

okay...i did not mean for this post to be so huge. As simply stated as possible:  OA can be useful if you really feel insane with your food issues. Even if you feel a little crazy, it can be an oasis.

these are tools from dialectical behavior therapy - a treatment based on trying to get people to deal with stress in more positive ways. is one of the treatments used for binge eating disorder but are generally good skills for everyone....the "self-soothe" section, which i think is most helpful, has more in the moment things you can do using your senses (instead of eating).

Distress Tolerance 
Crises Survival Strategies

DISTRACT
(to reduce contact with emotional stimuli )

A useful way to remember these skills is the phrase
Wise Mind ACCEPTS

With ACTIVITIES:
Distress Tolerance helps you to feel better, and as you feel better and productive, your self esteem rises and endorphin’s are released. When you do physical activity, you can get a good feeling because chemicals release when we exert ourselves. Do something physical like exercise, hobbies, cleaning, go to community events, call or visit a friend, play computer games, go walking, work, play, participate in sports, go out to a meal, have decaf coffee or tea, go fishing, chop wood, do gardening, play pinball. Do whatever works for you.

With CONTRIBUTING:
Contribute to someone, do volunteer work; give something to someone else, make something nice for someone else, do a surprising, thoughtful thing.

With COMPARISONS:
Watch disaster movies, watch soap operas, visit an ER waiting room, or a hospital waiting room, compare yourself to people coping the same as you or less well than you.

With EMOTIONS
(Opposite Emotions): Be sure what you do will create the opposite emotion to what you are feeling. You could watch comedies like "I Love Lucy" or "Carol Burnett" or watch emotional movies or listen to emotional music. Read emotional books or stories.

With PUSHING AWAY
(use this skill last - as a tuning out): Push the situation away by leaving it for a while, leave the situation mentally. Build an imaginary wall between yourself and the situation or push the situation away by blocking it out of your mind. Censor ruminating. Refuse to think about the painful aspects of the situation. Put the pain on a shelf. Box it up and put it away for a while.

With THOUGHTS
(other thoughts): Count to 10; count colors in a painting or tree or out the window. Do anything, work puzzles, watch TV, read.

With SENSATIONS
(other intense sensations): Hold ice in your hand, squeeze a rubber ball very hard, take a hot shower, listen to loud music, sex, snap a rubber band on your wrist, suck on a lemon.

SELF SOOTHE

A way to remember these skills is to think of soothing each of your FIVE SENSES

With VISION:
Buy one beautiful flower, make one space in a room pretty, light a candle and watch the flame. Set a pretty place at the table, using your best things for a meal. Go to a museum with beautiful art. Go sit in the lobby of a beautiful old hotel. Look at nature around you. Go out in the middle of the night and watch the stars. Walk in a pretty part of the town. Fix your nails so they look pretty. Look at beautiful pictures in a book. Go to a ballet or other dance performance, or watch one on TV. Be mindful of each sight that passes in front of you, not lingering on any.

With HEARING:
Listen to beautiful or soothing music, or to invigorating and exciting music. Pay attention to sounds of nature like waves, birds rainfall, rustling leaves. Sing your favorite songs, hum a soothing tune, learn to play an instrument. Call 800 or other information numbers to hear a human voice. Be mindful of any sounds that come your way, letting them go in one ear and out the other.

With SMELL:
Use your favorite perfume or lotions, or try them on in the store, spray fragrance in the air, light a scented candle. Put lemon oil on your furniture. Put potpourris in a bowl in your room. Boil cinnamon, bake cookies, cake or bread. Smell the roses. Walk in a wooded area and mindfully breathe in the fresh smells of nature.

With TASTE: (use with discretion if you have eating issues!)
Have a good meal, have a favorite soothing drink, such as herbal tea or hot chocolate (but no alcohol). Treat yourself to a dessert. Put whipped cream on your coffee. Suck on a piece of peppermint candy. Chew your favorite gum. Get a little bit of special food you don't usually spend the money on, such as fresh squeezed orange juice or organic vegetables. Really taste the food you eat, eating one thing mindfully and focusing on its taste.

With TOUCH:
Experience whatever you are touching, notice that the touch is soothing. Take a bubble bath, put clean sheets on the bed, pet your dog or cat, have a massage, soak your feet, put creamy lotion on your whole body. Put a cold compress on your forehead, sink into a really comfortable chair in a hotel lobby or in your home, put on a silky blouse, dress, or scarf. Try on fur-lined gloves. Brush your hair for a long time. Hug someone.

IMPROVE THE MOMENT :

A way to remember these skills is in the word IMPROVE

With IMAGERY:
Imagine very relaxing scenes or soldiers fighting and winning. Imagine a secret room within yourself, seeing how it is decorated. Go into the room whenever you feel threatened. Close the door on anything that can hurt you. Imagine everything going well. Imagine coping well. Make up a fantasy world that is calming and beautiful and let your mind go with it. Imagine hurtful emotions draining out of you like water out of a pipe.

With MEANING:
(create a track record of endurance) Find or create some purpose, meaning or value in physical or emotional pain. Remember, listen to, or read about spiritual values. Focus on whatever positive aspects of a painful situation you can find. Repeat them over and over in your mind. Make lemonade out of lemons.

With PRAYER:
(walk & talk out loud or kneel and pray to your higher power, to God, Goddess, whoever) Open your heart to a supreme being with great wisdom, whatever that means to you. It could be God or your own wise mind for instance. Ask for the strength to bear the pain in this moment. Turn things over to God or a higher being.

With RELAXATION:
Find humor and laugh. Try relaxing each large muscle group, starting with your hands and arms, going to the top of your head, and then working down. Listen to a relaxation tape, exercise hard, take a hot bath, or sit in a hot tub. Drink hot milk, massage your neck and scalp, or your calves and feet, get in a tub filled with very cold or hot water and stay in it as long as you can tolerate. Breathe deeply, half-smile, change your facial expression

With ONE THING IN THE MOMENT:
Focus your entire attention on just what you are doing right now. Keep yourself in the very moment you are in in the present. Focus your entire attention on physical sensations that accompany nonjudgmental tasks. (e.g. walking, washing, doing dishes, cleaning, fixing). Be aware of how your body moves during each task. Do awareness exercises.

With VACATION:
Give yourself a brief vacation. For instance, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., get in bed and pull the covers over your head for 20 minutes. Rent a motel room at the beach or in the woods for a day or two. Unplug your phone for a day, or let your answering machine screen your calls. Take a 1 hour breather from work that needs to be done. Look at a magazine, bundle up in a chair, eat slowly. Allow yourself to be a kid again - take a break from adulthood.

With ENCOURAGEMENT:
Cheer lead yourself. Repeat over and over: “I can stand it. This won't last forever. I will make it out of this. I'm doing the best I can. I can do it. I am OK.”

Thinking of PROS and CONS

Make a list of the pros and cons of tolerating the distress. Make another list of the pros and cons of not tolerating the distress - that is, of coping by hurting yourself, abusing alcohol, or drugs, or doing something else impulsive. Focus on long-term goals, the light at the end of the tunnel. Remember times when pain has ended. Think of the positive consequences of tolerating the distress. Imagine in your mind how good you will feel if you achieve your goals, if you don't act impulsively. Think of all of the negative consequences of not tolerating your current distress. Remember what has happened in the past when you have acted impulsively to escape the moment. Ask yourself, “Will this event that is distressing me going to matter in 5 years?”

First off, beleive you CAN get addicted to exercise! I cringe when I hear people say "I've always been this way" - that is negative self talk in disguise.  Change that thought...thoughts are very powerful.

Also, when i first started my daily exercise, my inspiration was a 78 year old man (Bob) who jogged around my neighborhood.  Somehow, it occured to me watching Bob, that exercise is for as long as i live, not something that stops after I lose weight. 

If you been around more than a couple weeks, you may read some of my posts that basically give a personal exercise program FAR more credit in OTHER body health areas:  Exercise is not only for losing weight. Take that notion and put it lower on the list. 

Exercise does so many things:
stress relief
energy builder (for real - you will have MORE enery!)
immune booster
curve, tone maker
bone builder
builds capillaries all over your body to take work off your heart
helps cells get rid of oxidation
improves thinking
clears up skin
helps digestion
improves sleep patterns
helps with portion control (unless you are a competitor or have 2-3 hours a day to work out, you are only doing some slight damage control!) 

looking at that list, how could anyone NOT believe how wonderful exercise is and make time to do it on a regular basis. To me, it is the basic belief that it does wonderful things. 

Secondly, it takes a commitment to form a new habit. If you *always* come home and flop onto the couch and flip on Dr. Phil, it's time to establish a *new* habit...walk in the door and put on walking shoes. 

What worked for me was to designate early morning as MY exercise time.  It is sacred and very few things will usurp what that time is designated for. I began by designating a half hour, then over time, added to get to to at least an hour. 

Best of luck to you.  Give yourself a gift - start today! 

I will leave you with a thought...if you had (God forbid) a heart attack tomorrow, i wager you would make the time to recover and change your life. You would do whatever it took, right?  me too.  let's both cut to the chase scene and get moving.

Down to 186! This was my ninth week of Weight Watchers, so roughly lost 9 pounds to date that way. 

Since August 1, 2006, down 34 pounds. The best part, I am not suffering all that much. Sure, i still whine...

Eating a decent supper is great, but the lull of the handy dandy bariatric foods just works so well for my work day. I don't have to think about food so much and at work, this is good. I have a high stress job. 

And I feel so inpired by my decreasing BMI - the 20's feels so close.

I am down to 188#, coming off very slowly! 

Last Sunday i completed 60 miles at the Wildflower Bike ride.  I changed up on doing the metric century to be with my friend Beckie - her first 30 mile ride! We rode together for the first 7 miles or so.

How fun it was.  This is my third time and I never felt better.  I was in shape enuf for the metric in the mountains, who knew? I did not get to ride much in March, tho the early time change did help some. It rained a bunch, and I did not do it anyway. I have not ridden in the rain too much, don't know why.

Bike time:  6 hours.  Rest stop time total:  20 minutes.

I had two "low" moments - one rather early in the ride that concerned me, but I did snap out of it.  The next one was during the last 15 miles and for about 40 minutes I went very slow. I had faced a headwind for the last 25 miles, and it got to me. 

What I learned:

having the camel back filled with water was awesome - kept me hydrated the whole way

eating every 45 minutes or so about 200 calories was good!

moving my feet even slightly every so often helped tremendously - pedaling with the middle of my foot, the back of it, etc.

using yoga moves for my arms once in a while kept my arms and wrists from icking out.

not taking the short way back improved my self esteem. 

going faster in the begining was important, and perhaps i wouldn't have felt that tired later in the day.