Intuitive Eating Challenge Update

I know I always say it but IE changed my life.
Im so grateful you are sharing your journey with us.

Don’t be so hard on youself- it sounds like you learned a lot this week! I hear you on the living alone thing. Sitting by myself in silence is hardly enjoyable :/

Best of luck this week – I can’t wait for updates!

itz funny you say you’re not good at following directions… sometimes i feel like that too and i’m a teacher!!

I love both of these quotes — I needed them this morning!

I can totally relate to what you mean about overeating when you already don’t feel well. I don’t know, but it’s like this pull to just put more food in your mouth. Whenever I get bad stomach pains or many of the other side effects of my off-stomach, I can’t help but think of food. Then I go and eat something and just make it all so much worse. It’s a never-ending cycle sometimes!

Yah, I second what Miz says. Teaching myself IE has changed my relationship with myself first and, as a consequence, with food. I’m really glad you’re going on this journey and you’re sharing it too. 2 steps forward one step back, but still one step at a time.

There’s more than one of the above lessons I can relate to. Stubborn? Yes. Over-eating or simply eating out of habit is something I need to work on, too. What I did realize these past days more than ever, though, was that I’m able to stop after eating less than my usual amount of chocolate. Having made it a habit I used to finish a single-serving bar every evening not listening to my cravings. I have a lot more to work on, too, but I’m glad to have made this baby step.
I’m sure you’ll be able to work on your habits. Don’t beat yourself up for having a rough start!

great lessons learned! hang in there!

Thanks for the link back to my post – I think you may find, a bit like I did, that this is actually a rough experience. When I did my experiment I actually over ate more, however that was just what I needed to learn. By the end of my challenge I was so much more aware. So it may take some time before you feel like you have any positives to show, but they will come!

I am guilty of the same thing in regards to overheating when full and doing it because you already feel bad. It’s a tough obstacle to overcome! Plus, I eat alone for my meals during the day and have recently forced myself to sit at the table to eat. I’ve found it to be quite soothing because its my time- and then I can get back to life!

I can totally relate to the “fear of hunger” thing. I did the March challenge and when I actually take a second to see if I REALLY want what I’m reaching for I realize most of the time I’m not actually hungry, but scared that I might get hungry LATER! It seems so silly/crazy, but whatever, it’s my reality. Just keep going along. After doing this for a couple weeks, I wish my food habits would be better, but I know that will come with time and I have noticed how much KINDER I am to myself, which is a HUGE triumph for me!

I also overeat when I feel crappy. This is especially bad when I feel bad because I overate the day before. I’ll just continue to fill myself with junk because, hey, I already feel horrible! How much worse can I feel? Crazy!

You haven’t “failed” at all! Sure, life can provide setbacks and such, but you only fail when you completely stop caring.

keep on truckin babygirl! you’ll be in tune with your sexy bod before you know it!

I really identify with this:
As hippie as I feel saying this, I’ve learned I’m not “in tune with my body.” I taught myself to eat at certain times, to wait 3-4 hours between meals, or to eat even if I’m not hungry for fear of being hungry later.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! It’s helpful to those not as far along in recovery! YOU CAN DO IT!

Hey Katie. I always ate in front of my computer as well. For the past week, though, I haven’t been and it has been soooo amazing. The book Thingenious explains how and why to eat free from distraction really well. I highly recommend it. I had a slip with my IE last night, so I’m right there with you struggling. But! Intuitive eating is going to be one of my weekly goals for BBB, and I have many more days with X’s in theist week than without. A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been eating intuitively at all! I havent been perfect but I am trying. That in itself is something to be proud of.

Oh yes, there are SO many struggles and setbacks…for every moment of ‘YES! I just ate that and I didn’t think about what time it was, if I could ‘afford’ it, etc.’ I have had the lying awake at night trying to mental tally everything I’ve already eaten to see if I went overboard…or the moments of ‘I really didn’t eat very much today…let me at that granola!!!” It is definitely not easy, but I’m impressed that you are taking the time to truly verbalize what you are learning about yourself.

And living alone makes it harder, I swear. Some people have told me it is easier when they have to make meals for someone else, too, because they can’t think as much about numbers, etc., and I just think, “But what about the single ladies?!?!” [I don’t know if you are single, but living and prepping meals alone is the same idea…]

I live alone too & try to make an effort to eat on real plates (vs. paper which is 100X easier in a studio). I also take my meal outside and eat there, even if it’s just a snack. It is more peaceful than eating inside in front of the computer or TV.

Hey, baby steps right? And to be fair, I don’t do the eat in silence either…I’d rather be at the computer or watching something.

I LOVE LOVE these reflections, your honesty WILL Help you succeed in this challenge, and be an IE for life. Promise. Self awareness is TOUGH stuff, but it’s how lives are improved. If we won’t be honest with ourself, it’s hard to honestly feed that body.

You’re amazing, Katie! email me if you have questions too 🙂 xo

I just wanted to comment with a little trick I came up with for myself when I first lived alone (& struggled massively with food, eating, etc.; still a work in progress!). I went to a pier 1 and got a single set of totally fun dishes (in other words, one plate I LOVED, a tea mug I LOVED, etc.) which helped a little bit when it was time to have a meal by myself – I’d save a great book to read while I ate and I’d use my favorite mug, etc. I also keep thinking I should suggest a book to you, “The Truth About Beauty” by Kat James. Hang in there – loving and caring for yourself is the biggest challenge of all, I think; and the most worth-while thing we can do!

As a college student, I eat in front of the computer ALL the time. I realize it’s a bad habit, but sometimes I’m just watching a show on Hulu. I definitely don’t do this when I’m at home with family, but I think it’s hard to eat alone and stare at the walls 😉

Intuitive Eating is a challenge and so difficult for us to get back into since we have been eating NOT intuitively for so long! I also have a hard time making a pretty place setting and stopping eating when I’m already uncomfortable. It is a process and I keep trying to remind myself of this over and over 🙂

I have the hardest time not eating at the computer or on my phone. I’ll start out at the table, all nice and peaceful, then my brain starts overworking – did I remember to move that appointment? What is the capital of Greece? I know that actress from the movie last night from somewhere, what was she in? Then it’s game over.

Haha I am the same way… stubborn and not good at following instructions! Although, I try to think of being stubborn as a good thing, when I am set on doing something my way, I get it done! Happy Monday 🙂

Thank you for sharing this post- it’s a very important topic that not many people like to talk about, so go you! I can relate to every single one of your points, especially the one about not feeling in tune with my body. I feel like I’m going through a physical funk at the moment- my hunger/ fullness is all over the place!

Oh girl, I am RIGHT there with ya on these! I seem to have gotten really good with cueing in on my hunger during my meal and taking notice when I reach the point of fullness, but here and there I let it go a bit far and overeat…then I have this guilt that comes over me. Like not only did I fail myself, but I failed the challenge (of all things!). Of course that guilt ends up being something I try to remedy with MORE food…a cycle that I really need to break! Right now I’m just trying to focus on forgiveness and acceptance. It’s normal to make these sort of mistakes…we are STILL learning and this way of thinking with food (in an unhealthy/unbalanced sort of way) is something that took a while for us to develop…we can’t expect to “snap out of it” in a a few days!

Hugs!

I can totally relate – thank you for sharing! (And great blog!)

katie – thank you so much for sharing all of this. like i said to you in my email, i’m really excited (that’s not the right word for it, i don’t think but whatever) to see you go on this journey and hear about your experiences since so much of it seems like what i’ve been going through – though you’re a bit farther along than i am currently, i’d say. like other commenters have said i LOVE your personal posts – they make me feel like i’m getting to know you and i really am inspired by all the choices you make about your life/exercise/eating/etc. thanks for sharing!

GREAT POST and thanks for being so open and honest 😀 <3

Well, I can definitely relate to you about making meal time a pleasurable experience. I will be blogging about this at some point, but I am in the same place as you "I live alone, so nahhhhhh I'll just eat right out of the fridge" well, every time I do this I get sad and think "I know I would have enjoyed that so much more if I ate it in a nice manner/way :(" so, like I say, live and learn and TAKE THE EXTRA TIME because to me it's worth it 🙂

always here for you chickie poo and it's ONLY going to get easier 😀

I have been hit with that same realization several times since beginning the IE challenge. And even when I stop and think “I’m not physically hungry so WHY am I still eating?” it isn’t always easy to push the food aside. But I think just being aware is taking a big step forward and is definitely progress toward being more in tune with ourselves.