You tell me I can’t do something, and immediately my response is “just watch me”. I may not say it aloud, but I’ll think it for certain. That is pretty much the nature of mankind.
New Years 2007 I banished the "food police" and gave myself permission to eat the “forbidden foods” --like hot dogs. And guess what? They lost their appeal. Actually, hot dogs don’t taste very good to me--not like I’d remembered them (when I wasn’t allowing myself to eat, or at least enjoy eating, them).
Fast forward to the present. Having read the book Intuitive Eating I decided to give myself permission to eat when I was hungry and use physiological fullness as the stopping point instead of calorie restriction.
The result? I’m not hungry all the time. I’m not eating more than I did previously…in many cases I’m eating less. What happened to that constant hunger?
My assumption is that in large part it was driven by emotion…desire---wanting what I wasn’t supposed to have…wanting to satisfy my appetite--my hunger-- and not being allowed to do so…all which served to keep me from being filled and kept me in a constant state of hunger.
Will this last? I don‘t know. But I hope so. Having restricted myself, or having the thinking that I must restrict myself, has been a part of my psyche for so long, that I still at times must work to overcome that thinking, to rid myself of that mentality. I find the minute that old thinking creeps back in, I desire more food.
I‘ll keep you posted on how I‘m faring with the Intuitive Eating way of life. I haven‘t regained any of the 15 pounds I‘ve lost after following IE for about 10 days now…we‘ll see if I continue to lose.
In the meantime it feels so good…as if another burden has been lifted. And it feels like I can get on with the rest of my life…focusing on things besides food--what I‘ll eat, when I‘ll eat, where I‘ll eat, how much I‘ll eat… (need I say more?).
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For another blogger's review of Intuitive Eating go here....