Stop Worrying

If you can turn off the voices in your head you can take control of  your thoughts and stop worrying.  For the most part a person who lets there thoughts run rapid usually worry all the time.     First I would ask, is there something I can do about the situation? If you can change your situation then change it, by all means  turn off the voices in your head. To stop worrying, think of something else.  When that thing that worried you  returns, think of something else less stressful. After a while of casting down the thoughts you will get control over your thoughts and stop worrying so much. These are just my views

Wishy Washy

Still working on intuitive eating and it's still hard to put everything into place.  I practice eating when hungry but find myself picking up old habits by trying to eat certain foods.  I still feel like certain foods put weight on you when intuitive  eating says other wise.  I started eating more meat and fruit and I actually lost the weight I had gained back.  I had not been making entries because the weight started to come back on.  When I eat more meat and fruit (even can fruit) I start dropping weight.  I am currently trying to lose 10 pounds.  I was on a candy binge for a while and started to gain,  but I decided I will not buy any more candy.  If it comes my way I may eat some but I will not buy any for one month.  I am down again but I want to lose more than 20 pounds in a year.  I am giving myself until March 2011 to see if I can lose at least 30lbs, if not I may consider the lap band. This has become my online diary. Yesterday was the office Christmas party and I ate only when hungry.  Intuitive eating does work because I only ate 1/2 a piece of cheese cake I had a desire for.  I guess I am entering the Crystallization Stage  of intuitive eating but I am still falling back to diet mode a bit
325 yesterday was 323.8

Intuitive eating

I have read and have been trying intuitive eating since last october 2009.  I never thought of myself as having an eating disorder but I really fit the mold.  I thought I had the concept down but lately I am out of control again and gaining weight.  I still fall back because I don't seem to want to wait for hunger
 , at this point I can't figure out why.  I was on fire after reading the book and frustrated, happy, sad depressed.  I no longer have a thyroid problem so I know it is working  but not much evidence of weight loss lately.

Intuitive eating

I am really trying to make this intuitive eating work.  I keep trying to do what naturally thin people do.  Thin people don't question hunger, they just think of what they want to eat, then eat.  I on the other hand try to deny myself food when all I do is think about food.  On the way home from work, I thought, what will I have for dinner but in the back of my mind I told myself you couldn't possibly be hungry so I cracked open a small bag of cashews and finished them, then when I got home I at a Popeyes apple pie, then a 99 cent bag of cheetoes then of all things some healthy almonds.  I wondered why I just didn't make some dinner or even take out.  I think I have not let the diet mentally go yet .  Still trying intuitive.  This blog is for my personal escapade. I want to look back one day and see what I was putting myself through.  This blog has been such a healing thing for me.     

No more Hypothyroidism

This blog has become a personal journey.  I kept going up and down in my weight loss.  I like intuitive eating as a plan of weight loss but I am not losing weight fast enough. So I went back to square one, to the beginning.  At some point along the way  I picked up the diet rules again.  I started eating when it was time like early morning instead of when I was hungry. I my mind I went back to the thinking of I have got to get my metabolism going by eating breakfast.  When I started intuitive eating or thintuition I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and now a year later after taking  medication and eating when hungry I no longer take the medication prescribed for hypothyroidism.
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Yum Yum Cinnabons

When I think of Cinnabon at the mall, I think of cheating on  a diet.  Cinnabon was always a no no in my mind because I have learned that certain foods make you fat.  With intuitive eating you learn to eat when hungry and stop when you are no longer hungry any more.  But when I walk up to the counter at the Cinnabon, there are always these very slender people buying not one but two cinnabons.  I asked how do you stay so slim eating those buns.  I get the,  "I don't know, I eat them all the time."  then I have to ask, are you eating it because your hunger and I get the most puzzling look but what people don't realize is, fat people eat because of any occasion and hunger has nothing to do with it eating. 

I love those Twist and they have a new way to serve the bun, in a cup with icing all over called Center of the roll.   It  is the best part of their Classic Roll - the ooey gooey middle.  they are bite sized pieces and topped with their signature cream cheese frosting.  they are available through January 15, 2011

Life changes

When I think of how much my life has changed in the last year, I get so teary eyed.  But I look in the mirror and there is not much change and then sadness comes over me.  Then I think it took 29 years to get to the size I am now and I've only been learning intuitive eating for a year.  I plan to figure it out because deep down I think it will really work.  I look at the biggest loser contestants and I learn a good deal about exercise but I really don't push myself.  I feel better than I have ever felt as a fat person but now I want to see the fruits of my labor. Tomorrow I will use the resources around me to start moving my body more. 

Riding the bike is taking some of the pain out of my legs

Lately I have been having pains in my leg.  I started riding my stationary bike and the pain is slowly leaving.  I was so tired of limping so this is a good thing. 

Water

 I have been drinking lots of water.  When I drink the water I usually get really full and cannot eat as much.
I have got to remember to continue to drink the water.
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Treat failure as a learning experience

Tweet I have not been drinking my water again.  For some reason I forget to drink it.  I expected to lose 5 lbs but instead, I am back up to 328.0 today.  I will try again to drink plenty of water and eat only when hungry and look at the calories again.  There was a time in the past that I would have beaten myself up for the rest of the day and start a new diet tomorrow.   This is a learning experience for me.  I wrote Evelyn Tribole from the book intuitive eating  as shown in the margins and asked how long does this take to become an intuitive eater and she did respond that if you have dieted for a long time it may take a while.  I still will not diet because I feel really good.  I am posting this because I know the weight will come off and want to reflect back if needed to my old post for this journey.

Florence Scovel  Shinn is a a writer from the past.  I found her book in my dads library of  books he no longer reads.   She provided quotes through out her book of affirmations.

Every great work, every big accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision, and often just before the big achievement, comes apparent failure and discouragement.   

Giving opens the way for receiving.

Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.

No man is a success in business unless he loves his work.

The game of life is a game of boomerangs.  Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.

There is a supply for  every demand.

You will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success.  This is done by making an affirmation with "clicks"

328.1

all from Florence Scovel Shinn

Potassium

Lately I have been getting Charlie Horses in my legs and started to read about where they come from.  Wikipedia.org defines a Charley horse as a painful spasm or cramp in the leg muscle. It is also called dead leg, granddaddy or chopper.  I have heard that spasms and cramps can come from low potassium in the body. Low Potassium  can also cause poor  circulation and constipation.

• Good Source of Potassium            About 400 mg or more
• Banana                                                              1 medium banana
• Cantaloupe                                                        1 cup 8 oz
• Orange Juice                                                      1 cup 8 oz
• Baked Potatoe                                                  1 medium potato
• Tomato juice                                                     1 cup 8 oz
• Honeydew melon                                              1 cup 8 oz
• Nectarine                                                          1 large
• Dates                                                                1/2 cup 4oz
• Dried beans                                                       1 cup cooked 8oz
• Water squash                                                     1/2 cup cooked 4 oz

   

• Other good sources               200 to 400 mg
• Collard                                                   1/2 cup 4 oz            
• Milk                                                       1 cup 8oz
• Spinach                                                  1/2 cup frozen or boiled 4 oz
• Broccoli                                                 1/2 cup 4 oz
• Raw tomatoes                                        1 medium tomato
• Cooked tomatoes                                   1/2 cup 4 oz
• Avacado                                                1/2 avacado
• Prunes                                                    4 prunes

  
Look for daily recommended amount on wikipedia.org


What is Potassium?

Potassium is a trace mineral essential for growth and good health. It helps to maintain normal blood pressure, transmit nerve impulse and enable the contraction of muscles.

See more about Potassium on the USDA.com and wikipedia.org
Warning: To much potassium can be dangerous to your health

Food Choices

I know I've spoken a lot about eating what ever you want when hungry but not much emphasis  has to be on how food makes you feel after eating.  If I feel sluggish after eating a certain food, next time I may only eat a smaller portion and add some fruit and vegetables to that meal. I also pay attention to my joints and other parts of my body like my stomach and how often food passes through my body.  How many times should one pooh in a day?  I notice when I eat more leafy vegetable the scale drops  and that should be a clue for the next time I get hungry.

Getting off the diet band wagon

Step one :  Stop dieting.   When I first rise in the morning I usually eat a piece of toast with jelly and a small amount of butter.  The butter usually satisfies my flesh and  the toast with jelly are used to jump start my metabolism. By the time lunch time comes I will be extremely hungry.  What happen to me before I started this journey was I developed an under active  thyroid problem which meant my metabolism was not working and all I could do was gain weight.  I started taking prescription pills from my doctor so that the problem could be corrected.  I heard that once you start the thyroid pills you will take them for life.  I actually liked the pills because I no longer felt fatigue that I have been feeling for years with depression and low energy.  After going on this journey I am no longer prescribed the medication.  I want to say it as my diet (new/old way of eating)  but my doctor says it was never really serious. (so why did she prescribe the pills in  the first place)?  She will no longer prescribe them because my thyroid is working fine now.  This is only my  story, and  I do not claim this for everyone who has a thyroid problem. Any way when I started eating I got free from the diet mentality and started getting energized.  I only lost  19 pounds last year because I guess I had to relearn everything all over again.  Now the weight is coming off and I feel great.  I need vitamins and my body now craves fruit.  I had a mango last night and you would have thought it was the best thing in the world.  Next post will be step two of how I got free from dieting.  Even though losing 19 pounds is not a whole lot in a year I am so glad that I didn't gain 50 like I had in previous years.
321.4

Practice Practice Practice

I have increase my water intake, exercise for at least 10 minutes a day and I have waited until I feel a sort of burning sensation before eating and I have noticed a change in my weight loss.  I have actually started seeing the scale go down every couple days.  This is even after I spent 4 days in Tunica Mississippi on a trip where I ate at "the all you can eat buffets" for 4 days.  I only ate when I was hungry and stopped before I was stuffed with the exception of going to the Paula Deans buffet located at Sams Town gambling casino.  I really tasted many of her food choices and got so satisfied.  Boy was it good!   I even ate a bowl of fried shrimp that was really delicious. Before the trip I had decided to eat only when I was truly hungry for 21 days. As I tried, I continued to fall right back into my old habits but told myself not to worry and to keep trying.  I was so used to feeling full that when I got hungry I was so uncomfortable that I had to keep telling myself to try to adapt to the new feeling of what hungry really feels like.  It has taking me a whole year but I do not regret my decision to change the way I think about food, it has become a new way of life.  I am much happier now that I do not have to worry about what I will eat next.  I am starting to pay attention to how some foods make me feel whether it is the  feeling of being light or the feeling of heaviness. Some foods that I once loved now taste like junk.  There was a time that I used to love TACO Bell but now I can hardly swallow it because it does not have as much value as it did before.  It no longer taste as good to me.  I was using weight watchers for a short period of time and it showed me how to look at portions but I don't think it will be necessary for me at this time. True hunger and learning to stop when satisfied seems to be enough at this time and this blog has been a sort of diary for me.  Believe me I was a hard core dieter with rules about certain foods but dieted my way right up to 340 pounds and could not control the weight gain.  I can hardly wait until the weight comes off now.  At one point in July I decided to check out the lap ban and started talking to a nutritionist and seeing a physical therapist. They have both guided me into making better choices about foods and exercising . I no longer want the lap ban. I realize everything is a practice and you really need to get prepared to lose weight or anything in life you really want to change.  
321.6

Weight loss is stilll a struggle on vacation

Still struggling to wait for hunger.   It really does work if you wait for the hungry feeling.  I went on my yearly vacation and practice eating when hungry but the food looked so good, I went over board . The only difference between this year and last year was I only gained a few pounds instead of the usual 7 lbs. I did not beat myself up for eating so much, I enjoyed every minute of the delicious foods.  It has only been 5 days since  I returned home and already lost 4lbs. I really need to pay attention to the hungry feeling because I did not count calories  or weight watcher points. 
326.4 

Loose 52 pounds in 2 1/2 months diet

People are telling me that carbs are no good for me but I remember in biology that everyone needed at at  least 120 grams of carbs per day.  I remember eating the bacon and egg diet that says you can loose 25 lbs in two and a half months.  I tried on several occasions to loose on this diet but would always got depressed because as the diet stated this is a chemical break down diet but all it did was leave me feeling depressed in a chemical induced state of being. Around the afternoon lunch I would feel out of touch of sort and not feel like myself  but I would usually try to continue on the diet and only last until day three, by then,  I was out of control an looking for cake, cookies or chips.  I would feel like I  looked like a drug addict   searching for my next fix and usually would get so irritated  and quit saying I am failure again.  Thank God for this new way of eating. I was missing carbs on this diet but my body knew exactly what it needed. 
 

WHAT IF I CAN'T STOP EATING WHEN HUNGER STOPS

For me when ever I am out of control and can't seem to stop eating, it is usually because I am sad or upset.  During this process of eating when hungry I started to feel uncomfortable in my own skin.  I was irritated most days. I kept asking myself, what is wrong with you.  What happen was  I had come to a point where I was no longer using food to sadate myself so I had to feel all of the uncomfortable feelings I  pushed down with food.  I finally realized food was my drug of choice.  I would eat when I got off work because the day was so stressful.  I realize the job was making me fat and I either had to leave it or figure out how to deal with the stress without using food.  At this time I don't have the mind nor the fiances to leave the job so I need to figure out how to deal with the stress.  When I get off work now I come into the house and sit for about 30 minutes doing nothing with the thoughts of snacks and dinner in my head.  First I have explained to my children that Mommy needs 30 minutes to unwind so that we can all have a good evening.  My son usually ask."Did your 30 minutes start already? In this 30 minutes I ask myself, how was your day? then I answer exactly how it was.  I talk to myself about how upset something made me  and the best way to let it go. I tell myself that the uncomfortable feelings have become a way of life for my and I will try to embrace them until I figure out where to put them.  If I need to cry, then I will cry.  Putting them on paper has helped but I try to follow up with positive thoughts.  You might ask why is she making this blog but for me it has been very therapeutic.  I am greatful for the eating when hungry revelation. When I first started this blog I   really wanted to delete everything but as I go back and read it I really realize I have made such a transformation from my earlier depress state of mind.  I got off the yo yo dieting trip and I have never been happier. Now when I get those uncomfortable feelings I search my heart to see what it really needs.  You may not loose weight quickly but it does eventually come off.  Slowly but surely

What makes you feel tired?

Make good choices with your food so that you don't get sick.   If you like nachos, pay attention on how they make you feel.  I like donuts from Dun kin donuts and Crispy Creme but I think really hard before I eat them.  Usually I only like the first few bites but will devourer the whole donut but after I get tired and my energy level goes down.   I usually will  take a small piece of the cake donut then give the rest away because  I don't want that tired feeling plus I am usually satisfied after a bite or two.  Usually higher calories foods start to ware on your body and eventually make you sick in some way.  Pay attention to how you feel when you eat certain foods.  I love Auncha mima  pancakes with  Mrs Butters worth syrup but when I eat them I get so tired that I usually want to go back to bed so I only eat a really small amount to get satisfied then I wait for hunger then think about what I really want on the next meal and usually the rest of the pancakes are the further est thing from my mind.   Its not that I only eat small amount but I only eat small amounts of foods that make me tired. If trying to lose weight continue to eat when hungry and keep a track of your calorie intake.  I am using Weight Watcher points and My Daily Plate for a reference.  If I eat to many points on ww I don't worrry about it because it is only a reference guide. 
324.8

Drink lots of water

When trying to lose weight, drink lots of water.  It will make you fuller when eating and it makes your food digest better.  I try to drink 1/2 my body weight and when I do I get great results.  Just try it, you should see a difference in a matter of two days.  The first day you may look like you have gained a pound (maybe) but the next day it should be gone with outstanding results.  Water helped with my foot problem to.  I was having pangs in the middle of my food and realized I had not  drank much water for  few  days because I just forgot  drink it and the pain disappeared within one day after drinking 1/2 my body weight. When I told some one I was having trouble with my foot, I got the respond of," maybe its arteries" i fee like it was water defiance.  Continue to eat when hungry and stop when your not hungry any more and you should start to feel better and better

Sparkpeople and Weight Watchers

I want to lose 5 pounds by 10-31-3010 so I went to SparkPeople.com and signed up.   The site calculated I should be eating 1800 to 2010 calories per day. That is approximately 36  to 40 weight watchers  points. I must also burn 1080 calories per week which is do able.  This eating when hungry, calories and points seems like a math equation that finally makes since.   The exercise is only 18 minutes per day which is do able. Man I feel all over the place.  The SparkPeople.com site says I need to burn 360 today to meet my goal so my exercise of choice is Stationary Bicycling: vigorous for 15 minutes and I would have burned 370 calories

Weight Watchers with Intuitive Eating

I love IE and have finally let go of the diet mentality.  I only lost 17 pound since IE and that took me a year, from Oct 2009 to Oct 2010.  that does not seem like a lot but I am smaller than  a year ago and I never felt better. I don't think of food all the time and I eat what ever I want.  I no longer desired a bag of cookies and Doritos now I only eat one or two cookies and a few Doritos and I feel satisfied.  IE takes you through changes and changes the way you feel about food.  I have started to use WW with IE because I could use the a guide line about the portions I am eating.  If I follow my hunger I seem to maintain.  I have only used ww points for the past 3 weeks and I have lost 7 pounds. I do eat more than the allotted points ww give you.

Keep track of your calories

Try using a journal to keep track of your calories or  points because you may be supprised on how much you are really eating.  continue to eat when hungry and stop when you're not hungry anymore.
322.4

Edible Arrangements

Fruit has help me to  stay within my calorie range.  If I eat fruit for breakfast or mid day snack, I usually am able to keep my  calories low.  I love cantaloupe and watermelon they seem to give me staying power.  I was never much of a fruit eater until Shartira from Edible Arrangements came to my job with a beautiful fruit bouquet to share with the employees during a stressful time at work.  It was filled with mango, cantaloupe, kiwi and strawberries. The fruit was superb.  Her store is located at 12844 s Ashland Ave, Calumet City, IL and another location is 9945 S Halsted St Chicago, IL  EdibleArrangements.com  

Counting Calories and Weight Watchers points threw me right back into diet mode

This counting calories and points threw me right back into diet mode.  I started choosing foods that were lower in calories which taste ok but never gave me the satiety factor.  I never got satisfied so I kept looking for food.  I ate a lot of vegetable which I have started eating anyway on a daily basis but not enough of the other food groups so that I could keep the points down.  Yesterday I felt like I ate all day long but only got satisfied when I ate some onion rings dipped in cheese by this time I had eaten so many calories that I know this way of eating will put more weight on me.  Even though I ate health foods during the day I kept eating and eating I had no control just like I used to eat and when I saw the onion rings I had to have them which I had gotten away from. I was no longer doing  intuitive eating, I was dieting again.   I really need to pick foods with staying power.  For the next week I will add what I really want eat to this equation again and stop when not hungry I will keep counting points and calories  as research so that I can pinpoint when I should shout off the calories for the day.  I just want to see what happens still keeping fruit and vegetables in between meals.  I ate two slices of Canadian bacon with  2 eggs American cheese on whole wheat bread and a tablespoon of jelly.  11 weight points or 470 calories.   Very satisfied and no desire to eat anything. Content and full- not thinking of food like I did yesterday.  A year ago this would be a No -No meal but it is what I like. Stay tone, lets see
  327.2

Learning the work this intuitive eating thing

I am not dieting only cutting portions.  I still am still following intuitive eating but with a twist

Counting Calories and Points

Over the past week, I have been counting calories and points by weight watchers.  I am trying to see which will work best for me.  So far they both are working about the same but the weight watchers books are a little easier to carry.   I feel lighter but my body is still looking for that heavy feeling.  Since I realize I am changing I needed to just embrace the  lighter feeling even though my body seems to want to wallow in sluggishness. I plan to give myself 21 days to a month to change the amount of food I am putting in my body to see if this works with intuitive eating.  So far it is not hard at all.  Still no deprivation because I still eat when hungry and I choose what I want.  I do find myself picking lower calorie items.  Today instead of just eating a can of tuna with crackers eggs and mayo, I ate 1/2 a cup of lettuces,  tomatoes with light sweet and spicy dressing and some flat bread crackers by townhouse. I feel full and a little satisfied.  I love beer so I plan to count the calories for that and eat a 12in subway roast beef when I get hungry again.
326.2

Intuitive Eating and Weight Watchers

I have decided to count calories but pulled out my old weight watchers books.  I decided to try this with the calorie counting because with my schedule I can put the book in my purse and count my food intake.  I still used the concept of intuitive eating to eat when hungry and it worked.  When I ate 4 small chocolate chip cookies with a small bit of ice cream  between the two, I was delighted and no deprivation.  I am eating just what I wanted after waiting for hunger.  A year ago, I would not  have been able to stop with just two small sandwich cookies and the cycle would have begun.  Out of control I would have eaten  more points because I had no will power, then beat myself up for cheating.  Eating chocolate chip cookies would have been bad, then depression would have set in and I would have thought you are a failure and the diet cycle would have started again.  I have more energy today and I feel great.

New plan for intuitive eating

I was talking with a friend  and I started to explain, I eat healthier than I have ever eaten before and the weight is not coming off fast enough.  She suggested that I count calories because maybe I didn't know portions.  You know maybe she is right.  I went to my dailyplate.com and counted the calories and I in fact was eating 3500 calories.  I did this for a couple of days and realized I was eating between 3250 to 3330 calories each and every day.  No wonder I weight between 325 and 330.  Wow I really didn't think I was eating that much and because I was eating healthy I thought I was doing a good thing.  I remember reading somewhere this calculation, if you want to weight a certain weight you need to take that number and multiply for 10 and that is the amount of calories you should eat.  For instance if I wanted to weight 250 I need to take the 250 and multiply by 10 and that would give me 2500 calories to eat from.  It said your body will regulate it self to that weight.  I will try and post in about a week.         
 328

Today I am finally losing weight. I started intuitive eating October 2009 when I decided to never diet again. Intuitive eating is the process of letting go of the diet mentality. It teaches you how to go back to the basics of following natural hunger. The process was not easy for me.  I questioned what hunger is I started to ramble all day and became obsessed about hunger. I even used a scale to tell me when I was hungry.  I could not trust myself to make good choices and kept looking for the feeling of hunger.

I used this scale  to tell myself when to cut off eating.  When I realize it could help was when I sat at the table with a copy in front of me.  I fixed my plate and sat down. I started at number 1.  As I ate I went up the scale.  When I got to the number 5 while eating I realized what feeling content was and stopped at that point.   It takes is practice and practice is what I still do.  Sometimes I think, if  I wait till hunger I will be out of control and sometimes I am.  In these instances I drink a little fiber and that usually does the trick to slow me down.  I use Psyllium  Husk which expands in your stomach and helps stop some of those hunger pangs.  328

Woo woo woo

I have been practicing eating when hungry for almost a year. For a while I decided it was not working for me, but I knew I still could not diet any more so I started wondering why didn't this thing work. I did what they told me (intuitive eating), I feel much better, I have more energy so why didn't it work. For a while  I got a little sick, my blood pressure went up after eating everything under the sun. I went back to something I used to do when I lost 50lbs and that was adding fiber to my diet. That made all my unhealthy numbers go back into place. I'm back to my old healthy fat self. But I still wanted to lose the weight. Then I saw Geneen Roth on Oprah a few weeks ago, she said be kind to yourself.  What? I thought, what does that mean, "be kind to yourself". So I sat for a minute and said to myself, look deep, do you really like yourself. I thought who would you like to be more than you? After a long pause, I said, nobody. I really do like how I think, I really do like how kind I am. I really do like how I have raised my children, I have been a very good wife, I feel joy most of the time and I love learning new things. I said to myself, you're not bad looking, just a little fat.  I am who I am and I do like what I see.  Ever since that day, I have been waking up with, please show me more good things in me instead of bad things.

Make better choices about nutrition

I've tried to eat when hungry over and over again. I lost 17lbs since I started this journey. I've learned a lot from eating when hungry. I learned not make food so important. I gave it so much power. I use to think about food all day and on my way home from work I would think what will I have for dinner whether I was hungry or not. I use to come through the door and head straight for the kitchen. I'd cook but by the time the food got ready, I'd be full but would still sit down and eat. When I finished, I would be so tired that all I could do is watch TV and fall asleep. This eating when hungry worked on other things in my life. I realize I can eat every thing that I want but sometimes everything is not good for me. I started to make small changes in nutrition and found that I no longer have high blood pressure and my number for diabetes is 110. I am feeling good these days. I am still trying to lose weight and basically eating what I want but now I make better choices as far as nutrition. The point is to make better choices and feel better.

Make Living healthy a Habit Dr Ro

I love this, practice eating healthy for three weeks to create a habit. I will try this for the next three weeks.

Put some fiber in your life

Try some fiber to take hunger away. Dr Oz says you need about 30 grams per day to make your body work correctly. I usually look at for every 90 calories at least 2 grams of fiber. Look at your label. Don't start off too quickly with the fiber, try starting off slow maybe about 7 grams the first day and building up over time.

Good life insurance

Your life didn't just happen, it was designed by you. Your dreams and all of the choices are all yours. They are a gift from God. You choose happiness, sadness, boredom. You choose your own success, failures and fears. Every moment is a situation that provides a new choice and an opportunity to do things good or bad. Some times a bad situations gives you something to learn as well as a good situation. Ask God what you can learn from all situations and just wait on the answer.

Understanding dreams

Going through a process can be very exciting but we always look forward to the end product. The process seems to go on forever. The process is what makes you feel good learning all the things you need to know for the end product. When you dream a dream and it starts to manifest and you realize its not about the end product, its about the journey, You're the end product.

Food Addition

This journey has been so awesome relearning how to listen to my body and losing weight. There has been a lot of ups and downs but through it all I learned something each and every day. I prayed to God for an answer last year about my weight lost and wanted an answer quickly. I learned that maybe I wasn't ready for the weight lose all at once. I had to relearn how to think about food. I had to stop labeling good foods and bad foods. I had to deal with what was really wrong in my eating habits. I realized I was fat because I used food as a substitute for everything. I used it for loneliness, boredom and as a way of soothing all my emotions. Even after I stopped using food I stilled looked for the feeling of sedation I used to get after I overate . I was so used to over eating then getting so tired that all I could do is just lay down. The same drugged feeling I got from alcohol was the same sedated feeling I got from overeating food. I finally decided I no longer wanted to live with that sedated feeling and I love the energy that I have now. I still have only dropped about 20 pounds but it has come off naturally and it doesn't seem to return.

Clean Plate Club

As a child, I was part of the clean plate club. Where you had to eat everything on your plate before you could go back outside to play. I would wolf down the food and hurry out of the door. Now as an adult, I would pile up my plate with food and wolf it down before leaving the table. Old habits die hard but now there is more on my plate. If you are having this problem, leave something on your plate. I'm just saying.

Still- Really got a hold of me

Today I figured out why I use food to comfort me. I ate dinner and watched TV for a while when all of a sudden a thought of ice cream danced in my head. I reached down to see why I really wanted the ice cream and realized I really wanted to be with my husband and he was no where in site. In my mind, ice cream was not what I really wanted but I realized I could use it to buy some time until my husband returned home. It may not make sense most but after reaching down into my real feelings, this is want I came up with. I have been discovering that food has taken care of loneliness, boredom and it really helps just to past the time of day. I thank God that for this journey to discover why food has had such a hold on me. Eating when hungry has pulled out so many emotions because I used to just eat because it was time. It may not make sense to those who have life all figured out or for those who do not have a eating problem but it is a break though for me. Thank God for the little things.

Geneen Roth: Woman, Food and God

I keep seeing it pop up all over the place now about eating when Hungry. I agree with most of the book but some times if I eat something that doesn't satisfy my hungry I still have the "wanting s" compared to eating something that satisfies me. I search and search to see if something was triggering those wanting s but could not find anything that lead me to some kind of emotional thing. I have practicing this eating when hungry for about 7 months and no longer use food to soothe. I finally feel free.

Do you chew your food?

Remember when you were a child and learning about the body and digestion. I remember learning to chew my food so many times but over the years I seem to chew a few times them swallow. I never even tasted the food. Digestion starts in the mouth. How many times should a person chew their food? For something like peas it may require about 5 to 10 times to break them into small enough pieces to swallow, whereas a piece of steak may require 20 to 30 chews before swallowing depending on how tender it is. If I have to chew more than 30 chews the steak is probably too tough for my taste. This sounds so simple but somewhere along the way I seem to have lost touch with basic instincts.

Getting back on track

For the most part this blog has really helped me. For a while I thought I was off track because I wasn't losing weight but now the weight is coming off. For some people eating and controlling their weight is so simple but for some of us it is a daily struggle. This blog is not for all of you that have got it all together, its for people like me who in every aspect of my life I am successful but when it comes to controlling my weight it is like bumping my head against a brick wall. I diet then fail, that is until now. There were pit falls along the way. At times I ate so many different kinds of food that my blood pressure went out of control. That made me get on the elliptical machine and work out every day until it dropped. I started making better food choices and added fiber to me diet still waiting for hunger. The better food choice were not necessarily carrots sticks but foods that made me feel light instead of foods that made me want to fall asleep. I started desiring less sugary foods but sugar is still not off my radar. I found that there are no bad foods only foods that control how you feel. For the foods that make me tired, I just eat less of them during my meals.

Omega 3

Feeling down, try Omega3 which can be found in pill form or certain fish, like tuna and catfish.
I went to Dr. Oz show.com and read a post by Dr Michael Roizen that talked about sugar cravings which says you could be feeling depressed if you crave sugar. I tested this theory because I always crave sugar. What I learned was he may be right on point. As I eat the sugar, later I feel a little sad. I need to counter act the cravings and I thought of the benefits of Omega 3 fish oils. Since I have been reading more and more about Omega 3 which is in certain kinds fish and flax seed. I have been eating more fish, at least 3 times per week and I no longer feel depressed and the sugar craving do not come to me as much . I love tuna so I eat more tuna salad with crackers plus I add flax seed to my cereal. My hunger is satisfied and I still practicing eating when hungry. I still fall off and over do it sometimes but I just wait for hungry again. I love getting hungry.

They say its all about the journey--we'll see

I have been rambling and rambling about losing weight and eating what I want . It has been a long journey and I really thought I was on to something that could help but after 5 1/2 months I have only lost 13 pounds total. I have discovered things about myself that I am really greatful for. I no longer eat for for emotional reasons. I started getting the stress off my body by exercising which is something I usually don't do. I have worked up to 30 minutes on the eliptical machine. I can run up stairs now and I am feeling great but the weight loss is hard to handle. I wait for hunger most of the time but not all the time. I really need some help. I eat a lot of fish now because I heard it makes you feel happier. Still trying intuitive eating and learning a lot.

My desires try to over take me

After work today I had dinner and I ate until content. All hunger pangs are gone so I am sitting there watching TV. Out of the blue comes a thought of the cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer. I'm not hungry but the thought of the ice cream is driving me wild. I told myself, I have two choices, tell myself no and sit there until my desires over take me and I find my butt hanging out of the freezer or do I tell myself you can eat it next time you are hungry? If I wait until hungry my body will know just what to do with it and digested it like it is supposed to. Since I have been waiting to eat when I am hungry, I usually only want to taste it when hunger hits me again. If you have other suggestions please tell me in the comments section.

What you could do with depression

Since this journey I have eaten every forbidden food that I could think of but only when I was hungry. When you have dieted for as long as I have some foods are off limits. The only problem is now when I step out of my comfort zone, I don't know where to put my feelings I usually use food to calm myself but this time I have not eaten myself into a slumber. I prayed and wallowed in my uncomfortable place for a while not knowing what to do with all these unpleasant feelings. I got so depressed that I couldn’t crawl out of my funk until I got an idea. May be if I play on my elliptical machine I might feel better. I could barely stay on it for one minute. I told myself to push and don't get off until I felt better. That lasted 5 minutes before my body started to hurt and I started to sweat. Amazingly, immediately I felt better and decided I would do it again the next day but I would add another minute or two. I was able to do 10 minutes but I looked like I was moving in slow motion, but it didn't matter how I looked. The depression just left. I realize now exercise is not just for burning calories, it’s also for feeling better mentally and physically. Who knew exercise could feel so good?

CBS Evening News Video-Eating With Our Eyes

We are a nation of mindless eaters and professor Brian Wansink of Cornell University believes that many Americans are eating with their eyes rather than their stomachs

Picking foods you like

When you start picking foods you like, you will start to pay attention to how each food makes you feel. For instance I love chili with meat and beans, but the thought of how it makes me feel after eating makes me want to make another choose because chili makes me feel tired after eating. Maybe I eat to much of it but I just want to go to sleep after eating it . I know fiber from the beans is good for me but I just can't stand to feel sleepy when I know I have responsibilities to finish during the day. I want to feel energized so I might eat some greens or some mixed vegetables with fish or chicken but I must get that satisfying feeling at the same time. I will eat the chili later in the day during my down time.

Dr Schwartz ---Diets don't work

If you want to be naturally thin, then do what naturally thin people do. Naturally thin people do not diet they eat when they are hungry. I read a book called Diets still don't work by Bob Schwartz. He did an experiment on thin people who wanted to gain weight. It was called "My Special Weight Gain". He gave each person a personal eating plan which they followed for three days. They were warned that they would probably feel some side effects from the program. He told them some of them will feel hungry, irritable, cranky or tired. None of them cared about the side effects. (The diet was similar to an every day diet I am used to going on. which last about 3 days then I cheat.) After starting the diet, they complained how bad they felt and the Dr knew the diet was working. On the fourth day they all had lost 3 to 7 lbs. They were all pretty pissed off, but after a few more days they gained what they lost plus some more pounds. They returned to the Dr for more diets because they were thrilled about their weight gain. He gave them the same diet but after three days they only lost 1 to 5 lbs. they kept dieting until they reach their desired weight. These are some techniques that a professional dieter uses and after a while nothing comes off fast. I remember dieting on Monday's but before I started, Sunday I would have to eat everything I wanted before I started then I would go on the diet and deprive myself and last only and few days, cheat and beat myself up.

CVS Pharmacy-- Facts on Fiber

You really got a hold of me

A lot of people are afraid to try eating with their natural basis instinct, I mentioned it to a friend of mine and she said I was crazy and that I would end up gaining a whole lot of weight. She thought it was such an absurd idea to eat when you were hungry. I wondered why she wouldn’t try to eat when her body told her to. She stumped off mad because I told her I was doing such a thing. The whole diet industry has changed the way a person thinks. They say eat all meats this year, and eat all carbs next year or eat low fat, or eat low carbs and you’ll lose 10 pounds in a week. We manage to try every attempt to lose weight except by listening to our own bodies. When I first started, I was afraid to eat exactly what I wanted which was cheese fries and a mountain dew. The only problem was back then I didn’t know when I was full. It just so happened I only ordered a servings size of fries because I was afraid to over eat. My next meal was fried fish with tartar sauce with fries. I couldn’t really stop eating this combo until I was stuffed. I vowed the next meal I eat, I will stop in the middle of the meal and evaluate my level of hunger and stop right before full and it worked. Now I stop half way through and check in with myself and put the rest up for later. I realize I love fried fish and ordered it for a few days then I got tired of it, the next time I ate it, it wasn’t quite as good as I remember.
It is a process because after you eat fried fish for a few days, you no longer want it. I had to make a list of all the foods I wanted and I allowed myself to eat from the list until I had no more chooses but the catch was I was only to eat when I was hungry and stop right before feeling full. It really didn’t have the same hold as it did before.

Just some food for thought

After going through this process, I no longer have cravings. I have eaten just about every thing I really wanted with no weight gain. I actually lost a total of 15 lbs since I started. Today I choose healthy things to eat with the exception of Friday’s free coffee at Oberwise. I had a caramel latte coffee and it was delicious, it was sweet and creamy. Since I am a coffee drinker and I love a latte after work I also brought a coffee punch card for $1.00. the coffee is s free on  Fridays for a limited time.  A while back I would have been depressed about drinking the coffee because it was not on my diet. I decided to drink it right after work and still feel content. Tonight I have not eaten dinner because I am not hungry any more. The number one thing that I learned from this plan is I don’t need a lot of food to be content. When you allow yourself to eat forbidden foods you no longer have the strong hold you once let interfere with your life. It is a beautiful feeling to be free from thinking of food all the time and what you will eat next or what will be the next diet you will go on. This is a process where you need to go back to your basic instincts. The instincts you had as a child when you mother would call you in to eat dinner. I remember running into the house sitting down, taking a few bites and running right back out the side to play. Food was not an issue, it was always there and you never gave it much thought. Back then you had no idea of how many calories you were eating or if the food was healthy or not. But if you were part of the clean plate club you may have had a problem because you would need to clean your whole plate and if it held something you didn’t like you would ended up sitting until you were released from your plate. Over the years I think the family may have graphed that clean plate club because I do remember my brother falling asleep after staring at his potato salad and baked beans for an hour. His instincts were he didn’t really like those foods so why add it to his body and he was already content after eating the other things on his plate.

Balance your eating

Now that eating is under control, it’s time to start incorporating healthy foods into the meal plan. But remember to still eat when hungry, savor the flavor and stop right before full. As a former professional dieter, you already know to eat whole wheat breads, fruit and vegetables. Do not give up your favorite foods just add a balance to your meals. If you like pizzas for dinner cut the pizza down to one serving size and add some vegetables or fruit with your pizza. If you have sandwiches for lunch, eat a sandwich made of whole wheat bread, sliced deli meat with 3 big leaves for lettuce with sliced tomatoes. Eat slowly, eat when hungry and stop right before feeling full.

Weightloss without surgery

Wow, there is too much food in the world. I must eat everything in sight, but I just don’t get hungry enough. It was the office Christmas party and there are at least 15 items to choose from. I want everything I saw. This year the committee gave out tickets for your food. You got 11 tickets and each ticket was for a different food. I went from table to table to see what to put on my plate. I got fried chicken which I love, jerk turkey and cabbage which is another favorite with cornbread and a slice of cheese cake. I was trying to get to the other tables because I had more tickets. In my mind I had to get more food because it may be gone in a matter of minutes. It was surely enough food. One lady must have seen the desperation in my eyes and said, Joy, go sit down and enjoy your first plate and come back for more. She was so pleasant and it was those gentle words that brought me back to this new eating plan, eating when hungry. For a minute I was so out of control.
I had planned to do just what she said, return for more food after I finished that plate. I looked at my plate and was excited because it looks so good. My chicken was golden brown, I think she said it was Pecan fried chicken and the jerk chicken smelled spicy next to the cabbage. I got my hot sauce and pulled up my sleeves. I tasted the apple cheese cake first because it looked the tastiest. This was the first time I ate apple cheese cake you could have sold me for a dollar. It was It was soooo good!!. I ate it slow, it was so creamy. it was sweet. I was sitting with several co workers and could not show how good it was. I took a small amount on the fork and savored the flavor. I ate the fried chicken next and tasted the rest of the food. It was all equally good. I remembered to eat it slow and savor the flavor and before I could finish my plate, I was full. Wow, I waited for hunger and now its time to stop. I am satisfied; I don’t need any more food. For the first time in my life I am not on a diet.
From this point on I decided to put whatever I wanted on my plate but I decided to put small amount because I still wanted everything. It has taken 4 weeks for me to eat everything I craved since starting the diet and I have lost 10 lbs during this process. I feel grateful and energized. I can clean my house again because housework had taken a back seat to sleeping. I finally had my cake and ate it too.
Give in while getting in tune with her hunger.

Dream a little Dream with me

Hi, Thank you for reading my blog. Do you think I am just yammering? Please say Hi or tell me what your dreams are.




If you can, picture your dreams so that they can manifest.

Ask for something to happen in your life. Image what your life could really be like.

Dream a dream, surrender the dream to God and God can manifest

God can dream a bigger dream than you can dream for yourself.

Life is like a box of chocolates

Hi, Thank you for reading my blog. Do you think I am just yammering? Please say Hi or tell me what your dreams are.



I look at my life like a small story book. I've had ups where I was so happy that I could hardly contain myself and lows were I couldn't imagine things would get better but they always did. I guess I feel a bit lucky or something. I try to only stay down for a few minutes. Since I started this weight lose journey I've found that when I get down, I will go ahead and embrace it. Going though the difficult times made me the person I am today. I use to run to food to get me through the bad times and I guess I should be thankful the food was there when I really didn't know what to do with the negative feelings. Now if I am mad or hurt I just say it or yell it. I'm so damn mad! I try to wait to be alone when I yell. But mostly I just let myself go all the way into the funk, I feel the pain, and then I try to shake it off. I try to ask myself, can I fix it? If I can fix it, I try to put a plan into motion and fix it, if I can't fix it, I just ask out loud what should I do and wait for the answer. Sometimes I just don't do anything, I just wait for time to take care of any problems. As Forest Gump would say, "Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you'll get".

CVS Pharmacy--Appetite Supressant

Lose Weight Fast

This plan is geared to change the way you feel about food and get you to the naturally thin person you are in side. If you’re like me you’ve been given a whole lot of dieting nonsense that has made you fat. You have rules that say you must not eat certain foods or you must count every calorie you put in your mouth. If you still want to count calories this plan is not for you. You can go to my daily plate.com and count all the calories you want and you will lose some weight but can you keep the weight off. This plan is based on hunger. Hungry is a natural state of being. Hunger is just as natural as blowing your nose when you sneeze. We have been taught to ignore hunger or just don’t get hungry. We have been taught to eat 5 or 6 mini meals per day starting with breakfast weather you are hungry or not. These mini meals cause you not to get hungry but you never seem to get satisfied and you’re still hungry. So when the big bad cheese cake comes before your eyes you turn into a slobbering mess. You drool over the cheese cake and tell yourself no you can’t have it while salivating at the thought. When you final give in you are so filled with guilt that you become depressed because you don‘t have any will power. I bet you concur everything else in life, but not this weight loss thing over takes you. You tell yourself what a failure, you can’t even diet. You deny yourself at every corner. You eat your 10 carrot sticks and string cheese with your slim fast for a snack and are still hungry and by the end of the day, you are so out of control that you ate all of your nineteen hundred calories for the day and you are still not satisfied so now the cheese cake is on the counter and you devour it. O no now you’re up to 2500 calories and you failed again. Stop the madness it’s not your fault. I have been studying my new nephew. He is 8 months old. He cry’s when he’s hungry and demands his bottle now. He sucks the bottle until he is satisfied, and then rolls his eyes to the back into his head with satisfaction, and then in a moment he throws the bottle across the room when he’s not hungry any more. Why don’t we use our natural instincts anymore?
One day while on one of my most recent diets, (the abs diet, which I think is fantastic after you get your eating under control and if you still need it) I observed a lady who worked on the job with me. She weighed 98 pounds and seemed to eat whatever she wanted. I would always see her at the vending machine at our 10:00 break looking at the variety of chips, cookie and nuts it displayed. (While sitting there with my oatmeal with spenda dreading every bite full but not letting on). This day she picked honey roasted peanuts and Pepsi. I thought to myself that’s probably what she eats all day. Then I’d see her again the next day with Doritos and water. And again I’d be eating or drinking my protein shake (Slim Fast) and a piece of fruit counting every calorie I put in my mouth. I decided to ask her, how you stay so small. She says I don’t know but I’d like to gain some weight. I said gaining weight is easy and said all you need to do is go on a diet and drink plenty of diet pops (sodas). I said just eat 500 calories over what you are already eating and you will gain weight. We decided to swap meals, she wrote down a normal day of eating which consist of

Mrs. Robinsons Sample meals
Breakfast - 2 eggs with American cheese, 3 slices of turkey bacon, 2pieces of wheat bread, and orange juice –eat until content not full even if it’s only two bits . She explains sometimes I am so hungry I eat all of it, other times I eat only 1/2 it all depend s on how hungry I am.
Snack only if hungry—vending machine picks
Lunch only if hungry –fish sandwich with sauce lettuce and tomatoes on bread eat until content even if is only two bites or cheese fries with a mountain dew.
Dinner—She explains, since she has to cook for her husband she usually cooks a meat, vegetable and a starch and we have to have some kind of juice.


This is a dialog of our conversation
Me: What kind of meat?
Mrs. Robinson: Chicken, pork, turkey, lamb or beef.
Me: How do prepare it, baked for broiled?
Mrs. Robinson: Anyway you like it, fried, boiled, broiled, anyway you like it.
Me: I was confused; you mean you don’t try to stay slim?
Mrs. Robinson: No I eat when I’m hungry.

My meals
Breakfast usually no breakfast
Snack Slim Fast and fruit or oatmeal with splenda
12 inch low fat subway sandwich and diet pop
Snack Almonds and string cheese usually can’t stop eating the almonds until I see the bottom.
Dinner Spaghetti and meatballs


Why was I getting so big?
It was pay day and we decided right then to try the swap because each of us ate out on payday. I joked with her and said, When I was gaining weight rapidly, I would go to the hot dog joint, Portillos, thru the drive thru, and the order cheeseburger, onion rings and a strawberry shake and eat the onion rings before she gets back to the office . She told me to go get some cheese fries and Mountain dew.
When Mrs. Robinson got back to the office after eating the onion rings she said she was so full that she could not eat the rest but would try to finish by 3:00. I told her you know you still need to eat dinner; she finished by stuffing herself and said she felt like going to sleep. She explained I guess I should eat when I’m not hungry.

When I got back with my cheese fries which were one small order of fries with cheese and mountain dew, I was afraid to drink the mountain dew because, in my head, fat people don’t drink mountain dew or any other pop that is not diet. That is an underline rule but I can allow myself to drink a strawberry shake, imagine that. As I looked at my meal I felt so much guilt because I had been on the abs diet for 6 weeks and this would be considered cheating. As I ate the cheesy fries and sipped on the mountain dew, I began to feel a satisfaction I never felt before I had let the food do what it was suppose to do be eaten as fuel for the body not just over load. I actually enjoyed this forbidden food and was just a little full .I didn’t even want all of it but I ate it because that’s what I am use to. As I worked during the day I had energy like I used to have as a young adult. My mind was not cluttered and I felt light. I didn’t even want my afternoon snack because I had gotten satisfied. What happen to my appetite?
I was on to something. Eat when I am hungry stop right before filling full.

By the way as of today Mrs. Robinson had gained 10 pounds and is happy still trying to put on more weight.

Getting started
Wait for hunger before eating. Ok, its morning and you’re used to getting up and eating breakfast but ask yourself, are you really hungry or just used to eating at a certain time. When I first started testing to see what hunger felt like I wrote down how I felt with every sign of hunger. I waited for hours to get hungry. It was eight o’clock at night before my first hunger appeared and I was famished, since my husband had cooked a big dinner, I just loaded my plate and ate. I tasted each food on my plate then, I ate what I liked best first which was sweet potatoes covered in a sugary substance. Next I wrote down how I felt and gave it a rating point of 4, I was starting not to feel so hungry any more. I decided to pay attention to how I was feeling so that I can control my eating in the future. I rated slightly full as a 5 and that’s when I stopped eating. I made a mental not of how I was feeling. Next meal I will try to see what I will call the number 3. I think it takes practice to see when you really had enough or are you eating for taste.


Its morning and maybe you feel a little hungry or maybe you just want something in your mouth. Get a snack size of something that you love and wait for hunger. If you’re not hungry after 5 waking hours, ask yourself what you would like to eat at this time and we will call this number 3, pay attention to how you are feeling so that you can remember the next time you eat. Because most overweight people do not eat breakfast you may not know when you’re hungry. Now ask yourself what you would like to eat. If its broccoli then get broccoli, but if its pizza or cake, then get it and eat until number 5 of your point system and wrap up the rest for a time when you’re hungry again. This is not easy to do when first get started buy remind yourself you can have it later. For the next few days you will feel lighter and happier than you have felt in a long time. Pay attention to these feelings and act on these feelings. This way of eating naturally takes practice that’s why it may take at least 120 days. The first week you should notice a the pounds coming off daily but next week you may see it stops because you may slip back to getting full. Do not panic you are relearning how to get in touch with your basic instincts. You may feel like eating everything at this point because you have been living in deprivation for a long time. You are on a path of freedom and will get so much joy just realizing weight loss can be possible. Try to realize you will not lose weight over night on even in a month. I can’t promise you will lose 30 pounds in 30 day but I can promise you a new way of thinking and a better way to lose weight. You have tried what doesn’t work now try something new. You will eventually stop wanting and give your body what it desires. You will become in tune to cravings that your body needs. I was never fond of fruit, now I crave pineapples and mangos and apples. I love the juicing my fruit. I never imagined this could be possible.
Will I lose weight fast? probably not but you will feel better physically and mentally

To practice the principle, eating when your hungry and stopping before full, takes time. I would say it might take anywhere from a month to 5 months to make changes for life. Old habits are hard to stop. I used to say I was an emotional eater but realized that maybe food was the only thing to get me through a trying time. Now that I eat what ever I want when I am hungry I deal with my emotions up front and deal with the situation. If it's something I can fix, I fix it. If it's something I can't fix, I pray and let time take care of it. Yesterday's problem never seems to be the same after a good nights sleep.

Weight loss solution takes practice

Yesterday I learned that this road will take a while to practice, but during this weight loss solution I have more energy and I really need to just pay attention to the how good I have been feeling. When I was dieting I was tired all the time. I never had time to doing anything because all I wanted to do is sleep and rest. I have more energy and the depression has not taken hold of me like before. I really feel
free. Food does not have the same hold as it used to I am starting to realize it will always be there. I did a practice where I brought Chunky Monkey Ice cream which is my favorite. I ate some until content and threw the rest out. It was hard but it really set my mind free.

Pay attention to what you are feeling

Last week I gained a few pounds and got really bent out of shape about it. I started listening to the CD Intuitive Eating that I brought at Amazon and it helped me get back on track. It talked about more of the reasons why a person eats when they are not hungry. I started paying more attention to my feelings and low an behold this morning I got up not feeling very hungry and saw the fried chicken that was left over from last night. There was about 8 pieces left. With out thinking, I grabbed 4 wing lets and shoved one into my mouth like there was no tomorrow. I was so worried about someone eating them first and that there would not be enough later when I was hungry. Then the thought came over me, just buy some more if you want them later. and I put the chicken back. I was actually worried about not having enough food. I started thinking, where did that come from? For the first time I started thinking back to a time of lack in my life. I allowed myself to feel those feelings of lack and let it go. This week I paid attention to how good I feel eating when hungry and I don't think I will ever diet again. Eating when hungry is really something and if you have not tried it all I can say is its worth looking into.

How to eat yourself thin

We all know a person who is thin and eats what ever they want and never gains any weight. This person does not even work out but yet they stay slim. After surveying this person I had to ask how do you stay so slim. The response is, I eat when I'm hungry and and stop when I'm not hungry anymore. The person seem to think it was a trick question. After the survey I tried it and came up with these steps.

1. Eat only when you are hungry. This means when your stomach growls, its time to eat. If you eat when your not hungry, your body will store the food as fat for later.

2. When your stomach growls, slow down and calm down and take time to eat and enjoy your food. Eat it slowly.

3. Take small bites, savor the flavor in order to help your brain know you are getting full.

4. Drink water for tea between bites. I prefer green tea.

5. Breath one or two deep breaths between each bite. This will keep your mind calm while eating. If you are addicted to food, you will get a high while eating preventing you from paying attention to what you are doing. Do not unconsciously eat, calm your mind.

6. Stop when you are full.

Eat exactly what you want, savor the flavor and stop at first full feeling or right before full. Eat the best parts of your food choice first. If your like the kid who likes the middle or an Oreo cookie and save the chocolate cookie outside for last.

Happy New Year 2010

2009 came and went. I expect 2010 to be your best year ever as we go through this journey together. I'll be posting more information as I challenge myself to walk the walk getting thin. I have lost a total of 16 pounds since November 15th and have been practicing having my cake and eating it to. Last night I had Beggars Pizza with sausage and cheese with a little guilt. I know I can eat what I want but the old expert dieter reared its ugly head and says, "You know that is a forbidden food," When eating when hungry you can eat what you desire. In reality I only ate 2 squares of pizza and I was full so I stopped. I toasted the New Year in with my children and husband with Welsh's Sparkling grape juice. There was a time I would have hid the bottle and drank it by myself. As I woke up this morning I realize I need to deal with the guilt when eating the so called forbidden foods. I need to realize I have never lost this much weight eating foods that I love. In my house, when we order Beggars Pizza we usually do not have any left overs but this morning there were 4 pieces left. I think my family may be unconsciously joining in on my program.

When I used to diet I had so many rules that would not allow me to eat certain foods. I would start off on the New Year with a resolution of eating certain foods to loose weight and by the end of the day I would have cheated on a piece of cake or something and beat myself up for messing up for not being strong enough to stick to a diet. And since I made this big messed up I'd damn near eat the rest of the cake. Slice by slice, guilt thought by guilty thought beating myself up for being so weak. That little guilty thing got into my head last night and my husband said, "You really didn't eat that much and you said you were full." There it was again, I had forgotten the plan to eat when I'm hungry, savor the flavor and stop right before full. Today I am reminded to have my cake and eat it to, if I desire it when hungry. Yum cake does sound good, anybody know how to make an Atomic cake, my mom used to make it when I was a kid. It was chocolate cake with whipped cream, strawberries and some other ingredients.