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?