Shmookitty's Journal

[Shmookitty]

I will definitely veganize anything that looks otherwise good, and Chris can still use those recipes himself. I got the other air fryer book in the mail today - this one has both vegetarian and vegan recipes (my husband keeps trying to transition to lacto-ovo vegetarian and wants some good meal options). I am prioritizing the Intuitive Eating book right now, but will definitely be paging through my new cookbooks soon.

Annette, thanks for the recommendation! Now I have the info for air fries already!

So many new people today! I hope they all have life-changing experiences as I have had.

I did not eat very intuitively at dinner today. It wasn't that I ate too much nutrient-wise, I dished out about what I usually eat for a barley bowl, but if I had bothered to check in with myself, I was already full after 2/3 of it. I should have stopped eating, but I was focused reading on Facebook more than eating, and just kept spooning the food in. Now I feel uncomfortable. I have already given myself permission to throw out food if I get full, now I just have to remember to check if I am getting full before I am finished with the meal. OOF. Lesson learned.

I spent a good part of the day typing up a book outline for my Intuitive Eating book, just on my computer in OpenOffice. It took me back to college days when I used to have to do that! I started to continue reading, but then I felt like I really wanted to review the chapters I have already read first. The way I learn best is to write in my own handwriting, or type something out myself, so that's what I am doing. It's really helping to internalize all the new concepts. I will continue doing this as I read - read a couple of chapters and then stop and outline them before continuing to read. I find it ironic that I typed about making sure you are still hungry partway through the meal, but then had to learn it the hard way anyway once I was eating dinner! I am such a hardhead sometimes!

It also gives me a side effect of practicing my typing skills. It's been five years since I worked (except for my once-a-week volunteer clerical job) and my typing is a bit rusty when it comes to copying from a particular text and doing data entry. This will help me with that. I have been looking for a job since May, have had several interviews, but no offer. Hoping 2020 is my year for that. I want to get off disability. It's hard to compete with people who haven't been out of the job market though, and of course it comes up when I am asked about most recent experience. On my resume I just list length of time at each job, not specific dates, but the interview always brings up the gap. Something will come up, I hope.

[Shmookitty]

I getting so much from my Intuitive Eating book that I spent my January "treat money" allotment to order four books from Amazon:

~ The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy by Caroline Dooner
~ Nourish: How to Heal Your Relationship With Food, Body, and Self by Heidi Schauster
~ embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and Quiet That Critical Voice!) by by Connie Sobczak
~ Body Kindness: Transform Your Health from the Inside Out - and Never Say Diet Again by Rebecca Scritchfield

The F*ck It Diet came recommended on someone's Sparkpeople page so I checked out the preview on Amazon. Looks excellent! I will read that one first.

Wasn't too hungry this morning after overeating at dinner yesterday, but then it started kicking in around 1 p.m. We went to the grocery store and I got my day's craving foods - Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, and bananas. Also got a small bag of frozen mango that was on sale. My husband got six pints of lemon sorbet...and a big bag of Miss Vickie's salt and vinegar potato chips. Those are super yummy but I am not tempted by them today. I think he is taking them to work tomorrow anyway. He works at the UPS Store, and they are expecting record numbers of online returns shipping tomorrow. Thank goodness he's at the retail store and not actually at UPS. At least he can shut down at 6. The drivers will probably be working much later getting everything to the distribution center and airport.

If anyone has read the four books above, let me know how they are!

[Shmookitty]

I am really excited about the new reading! Thanks for commenting! Three of the four books have shipped already.

I have not lost weight since early December, so I am evaluating what I'm doing to see if I need to tweak. I am going to try replacing my mid-afternoon starch with fruits. That's been what my taste buds have wanted anyway. I have been eating about 80-85% starches every day since early December and I think that might just be a little too much for me as an overall rule. I know others on McDougall have commented here and on the Facebook McDougall groups that they had to slightly lower their starch percentage to resume weight loss. I am ready for my clothing to start getting baggy again! I am still uncomfortable in my body.

I have been eating plenty of starches, no worry there, and I will still be eating over 50%. It's time to experiment a little though. Can't hurt. Thanks to Serene for pointing it out, and the Intuitive Eating book, I have now accepted that no two days will look the same but in general I am going to see if reducing my huge starch percentage will be helpful.

Still McDougall compliant so it's not a matter of off-plan foods.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here or not (so, sorry if I repeat myself) but one thing the Intuitive Eating book has given me is the gift of releasing a specific number on the scale as a weight loss goal. Instead they teach the concept of the body's natural healthy weight, which may or may not be what you think it is. I have set "magic" numbers on my Sparkpeople page in the past year - 180, 175, 170, 150, 155, 160 - not knowing exactly where I will hit. Does that number sound too big? Too small?

Well, we all know that there are daily fluctuations in body weight, so it's virtually impossible to maintain an exact number. And I have not been under 190 since 1993. So I have no business trying to guesstimate a number for me at age 49 and obsessively holding myself to it. No more. I am not going to worry about the exact number of pounds, or the exact BMI as I've seen people do here. One of my goals for 2020 is to completely stop using the scale, though I am not quite there yet. The most I will define as of now is that I think I will be in a size 14 (I'm in an 18 now). That's always been where my body does best. We'll see where I land in the long-term. I am completely open to whatever my natural healthy weight is now in my older body. For now I am just ready to be getting smaller again.

[Shmookitty]

About whether I need to tweak my starches - I looked back on my Sparkpeople nutrition tracker in October when I was still losing two pounds per week. What was I doing right then that I'm not doing now?

One thing I noticed is that when I was doing my grain bowls, I was only eating one whole grain with one bean and then completed the meal with non-starchy veggies. In December, I started adding both corn and peas to the mix. So, starchy grain, corn, peas, and beans. Maybe that is simply too much starch for me if I want to resume the weight loss phase.

I certainly can remove the corn and peas again, and just go back to the grain/bean/veggie mix. I did that tonight (ate my husband's last three scallions too, hopefully he wasn't planning on a salad for dinner!). It was a bit less food than I have been eating with the corn and peas added, but was still very satisfying and it completely took away my hunger without being too much.

So I am going to go back (in general, it's certainly allowable to make periodic exceptions!) to having fruits or veggies for my mid-afternoon snack instead of starch, and removing the corn and peas from my grain bowls. I know I could eat half as much grain and then have corn and peas, but I love barley so much, I don't want to halve the portion! I eat it once or twice a day!

Just something to think about. Also, since I started reading the Intuitive Eating book last week, I became aware of several instances when I didn't stop eating after reaching full, but continued to eat until I finished what I dished out. I have already given myself permission to leave food behind, I just kept stuffing food in. That is not healthy, and is a behavior I want to modify.

All I know is that it's been nearly four weeks since I lost any weight (and I had gained three pounds in the ten days before that), and I am uncomfortable in my body and ready to continue losing again. I see many people post on the Facebook McDougall groups and here who are told that some people can't handle the percentage of starches I have been eating since early December. Maybe it's just as simple as I am one of them and I need to go to more like 50-60% instead of 80-85%. I don't want to do MWL, because I don't want something more restrictive than what I am doing already. I think I can figure this out while remaining on the regular SS program. I like my bread once or twice a week, tofu, soy yogurt, and occasional pepitas sprinkled in a grain bowl.

I will weigh myself around the 15th of the month to give myself time to adjust to the tweaks. Hopefully they help. It's not that I am in a rush to lose, but I've been stalled for nearly a month, and I'm too far away from my healthy weight for that to be happening.

[deweyswakms]

IOn my resume I just list length of time at each job, not specific dates, but the interview always brings up the gap. Something will come up, I hope.

Good luck in 2020 on getting that job! The best defense is a good offense, so consider bringing up the gap first. At least in your cover letter, you can explain it (then of course expand on it during the interview). Example, "I had to step away from full time work for awhile to take care of aging parents. I kept my skills up during that time by .......... But now I am ready to get back to full time work."

Hope it works! Marsha

[moonlight]

Hi Renee,
After reading your entry on tweaking your diet, I thought of a posting from Jeff Novick. I'm not good at linking to a thread so I just copied it here. He is addressing the MWL group, I think, but there's some good advice for people following the regular program, too. I saved it when I read it the first time so that I could refer back to it. Soup is one way I help keep myself satisfied without adding a lot more of the starches. Like you, I enjoy probably 70% of my diet coming from starches. I just feel more satisfied. I'm trying the IE to help me get past feeling that my stomach needs to be full at all times for me to be comfortable. I hope you can take something from Jeff's comments that will help you with the tweaking. Sounds like you have a good plan going.

Weighing yourself on a scale, as I mentioned above on a weekly basis is the best method to tell if you are in a negative calorie balance. On average, you should be able to safely and healthfully lose about 1% of your weight a week and maybe even more. That is an average over time and some weeks will be better and some weeks will be less. While it may not seem like much, if you multiply the number out by 12 weeks or 24 weeks or 52 weeks, this could be 24, 48 or 100 lbs lost.

If weight is not coming off as fast as you would like, then you have to make some adjustments to what you are doing. There are several adjustments you can make in regard to the caloric in end and the caloric out end.

In regard to calories out, you have three areas you can adjust which are frequency, intensity and time (FIT). You can exercise on more days or more times in a day (Frequency), you can raise the intensity of your exercise (Intensity), and/or you can do it for a longer period of time (Time).

In regard to calories in, you can lower the calorie density of the diet, by shifting the composition of your meals to include more foods that are the lowest in calorie density (vegetables, salads, soups, etc).

In addition, the following items are also known (and proven) to reduce calorie intake

1) - Calorie density- Make sure 1/2 of the bulk/volume of all your meals are low calorie dense non starchy vegetables and fruit. The other 1/2- should unrefined, un-(or minimally)-processed complex carbohydrates (legumes, intact whole grains, starchy vegetables, beans)

2) - Salt - Salt may act as an appetite stimulant and encouraging some to consume more food.

3) - Variety- the less variety, the less consumption.

4) - Raw Foods - Foods you can eat raw tend to be lower in calorie density and you may not digest as efficiently. Cooking begins the digestion process.

5) - Sequencing - Eating the lowest calorie dense foods first, fills you up so you eat less of the higher calorie dense foods

6) - Make sure you are avoiding (or strictly limiting) all higher fat, calorie dense plant foods, nuts, seeds, oils, avocados, tofu, etc

7) - Make sure you are avoiding (or strictly limiting) all refined processed grains and starches that are higher in calorie density (breads, bagels, crackers, cookies, dry cereal, etc and anything made from ground up flour) even if they are whole grain

-Avoid (or strictly limit) all refined concentrated sugars/sweeteners, even if they are natural and organic

9) Also, aim for 30 minutes a day of moderate activity.

If you do this, and make adjustments as necessary, you will lose weight.

In Health
Jeff

[Shmookitty]

Marsha, thanks for your comments! I did originally mention on my resume and cover letter that I had to take a leave from my previous job due to illness but am now fully recovered. I only got one interview during that time. After I changed it and didn't mention the employment gap, I had four interviews. I thought it would be better to be up front about it and not try to hide it, but people aren't very understanding.

The last interview I had was among my worst ever - I'd had two very positive and welcoming interviews at that company, and then the big boss was mean and unwelcoming. She harped on the employment gap...and had just taken three weeks off herself when a close relative died, so you would think she would understand. Some people have too much power.

moonlight, thanks for the post! I think that was on the MWL page somewhere, but you're right, it does have some excellent advice. For the most part, I do eat "under the line" on the calorie density chart. I was starting to feel like my starches were too much though when my belly would blow up after my grain bowls (though not as bad as with potatoes). That never used to happen before I started increasing my daily starches.

I think I am just one of those people who does better around 50% starch so that is what I am going to do, along with increasing my non-starchy veggies and fruits accordingly so I am still eating to satisfaction. It feels like a better way of doing things for me. It's good to keep these journals so we can go back and see where we came from! (And in my case, I was still tracking my food on Sparkpeople for the first few weeks).

I think I have finally broken my plateau - one pair of pants that fit four weeks ago fell off yesterday - but I am not going to weigh myself until mid-month. I don't need to do it for now, I am just happy that my clothes are starting to fit better!

[Shmookitty]

Just wanted to share since I think there are others here who would be interested - I am at the beginning of reading what is so far a really good book by Connie Sobczak, called Embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and quiet that critical inner voice!). I have read the introduction and welcoming chapters and am really looking forward to getting into the 5 Competencies this week. I ordered this book as a follow-up to Intuitive Eating, to continue that general idea, but more mind and self-love oriented.

Before I started the book, I spent some time at Connie's website for her non-profit, http://www.thebodypositive.org where I was introduced to a beautiful woman named Naomi Finkelstein. She is a Director at The Body Positive, and she has her own website - http://www.naomifinkelstein.com

There is a lot of great information on both sites, including extensive blogs. I am getting so much out of their pages, so I wanted to share them here for others to check out.

I will post more on Connie's book as I read through it. I also started Body Kindness by Rebecca Scritchfield yesterday and today. Started. In multiple places. I read the entire chapter on intuitive eating but the rest of it just didn't resonate, so I am going to donate that book to Goodwill. I did spend a total of about three hours with the book, it just didn't click. Oh well.

[Shmookitty]

Here's some excerpts from the Embody book by Connie Sobczak.

BOOK INTRO:
"Imagine living in a world where people possess genuine self-love and are free to experience their own authentic beauty - a world where a compassionate, forgiving voice is consistently brought forth to counteract self-criticism, where having an appetite for life is both honored and valued. This is the world of The Body Positive. It is more than the name of a nonprofit organization; it is a state of mind and a growing cultural movement that offers people the opportunity to put down the burdens of judgment, comparison, and shame in order to cultivate a relationship with themselves that is built on a foundation of self-love and trust." (p. 17)

Connie mentions two big motivators for her work - her six year eating disorder in her younger years, and the death of her sister, Stephanie, after leaking silicone breast implants. She also says that she wanted her daughter, Carmen, to grow up in love with her own body, free from body hatred, and not brought down by negative outside influences.


WELCOME chapter:
Connie introduced the Be Body Positive Model and it's five core Competencies:
1. Reclaim Health
2. Practice Intuitive Self-Care
3. Cultivate Self-Love
4. Declare Your Own Authentic Beauty
5. Build Community

"The Be Body Positive Model teaches you to become the expert - the authority - of your own body by first recognizing, and then trusting, its innate wisdom." (p. 29)

"We do not offer a step-by-step plan to follow from Point A (body dissatisfaction, dieting, obsession with weight and image) to Point B (self-love, intuitive self-care, freedom from obsession). Our work does not resemble typical diet, health, fitness, or other self-improvement programs that instruct clients to follow certain steps to the letter in order to arrive at a promised definition of success - where if someone "fails" it's considered their fault, not the failing of a set of strict rules that can be impossible to stick to over the long term, even when offered with the best of intentions." (p. 29-30)

What the Body Positive Model Offers:
1. Tools for a lifetime of exploration.
2. A practical framework of self-inquiry
3. A whole-person health model.
4. A definition of health that is based on self-care and self-love.
5. No double binds.
6. Attuned self care.
7. A foundation of self-love and forgiveness.
8. A celebration of diversity as beauty.
9. The development of positive communities.
(p. 30-31)

[Shmookitty]

More from the Embody book by Connie Sobczak - the two major concepts woven through Chapter 1 are Health At Every Size (HAES) and the set-point theory...

CHAPTER 1 - Reclaim Health
"Reclaim Health, the first Competency of the Be Body Positive Model, explores health from a weight-neutral, pleasure-focused position that is grounded in the study of human physiology. Extensive research supports the argument that measurements of physical activity and metabolic fitness, such as blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar levels, are far better indicators of physical health than body size. This allows us to move away from moralistic, judgmental views of weight towards a whole-person approach - based on sound evidence - that values a positive relationship with one's body and long term, stable, self-care behaviors as primary to physical wellbeing." (p. 40)

Reclaiming your health is an opportunity to become the authority of your own body. This does not mean you rule over it and attempt to beat it into submission. Rather, you treat it with respect by listening to its wisdom so you know what you need in order to thrive. You are empowered to act in accordance with this innate knowledge, even if it means living outside of society's expectations of what a healthy person looks like. YOU are the ultimate expert of your body.
(p. 40)


Obstacles to Achieving Balanced, Sustainable Self-Care -
Talks about how dieting leads to the "famine response" where the body can't differentiate between a diet and a famine, and will slow itself down to conserve calories, and how repeated cycles of diet-binge-diet are bad for us. Also, diets set us up for failure because they don't sustain long-term weight stability for the majority of people. There is also the idea that people often set unrealistic goals for factors like heredity or age.

They talk about how BMI is an unreliable indicator of health, and spend a large portion of the chapter talking about Health At Every Size concepts like "sizeism" and how bariatric surgery is a dangerous "cure for obesity," and present some science to support their model as well as adding a statement that "balanced self-care trumps dieting in health improvement."

They have a section specifically for addressing skepticism for the HAES model. I must admit I have a hard time with this myself, as I have always been told that obesity is the cause for many of the long-term serious illnesses that have become epidemic. I tried reading through this chapter with an open mind, but I am still not very convinced that people can be in their best health in a truly obese body. I will keep reflecting on this as I continue the book...


What IS a Healthy Weight? - "We believe that healthy weight is achieved by creating a balanced relationship with food, exercise, and rest. This means that most of the time we eat when we're hungry, stop when we're full, and eat a wide variety of foods. We stay physically active on a regular basis (even at a moderate level), and rest when we're tired or ill. When we care for our bodies in this way, our weight will stabilize in a range that has been determined by our DNA - our heredity. This is what is known as "set-point" or "natural" weight." (p. 67)

They talk about how trying to force our bodies under their natural set-point weights is overly restrictive and destined to fail...

"When you develop an intuitive relationship with food and exercise, you may lose or gain weight to get back to your easily maintainable range. In the process, it is vital to shift your focus from the number on a scale to the task of caring for your body. With attuned listening to your physical needs for a variety of foods, movement, and rest, numerical measurements are no longer a concern. You maintain a steady size, which will shift slightly depending on factors such as the seasons, menstrual cycles, and travel, illness, or stressful events that may cause you to get away from your regular self-care routines. For the most part, however, you will remain within your individualized set-point range. (p. 68)


I don't have a problem accepting the idea of set-point range, but I have never heard that people can have a set-point that is obese. I will have to try to learn more about this. If anyone has a particular resource other than the Google search I am about to do, let me know.

The Intuitive Eating book (on page 178-79) talks about the concept of "healthy natural weight," which is "the weight your body will maintain with normal/intuitive eating and normal movement." They specify that your healthy natural weight may not be what you have in mind, because a weight you previously achieved by dieting only shows what weight you could reach "under duress," not while eating and moving normally. They also talk about things like age and years of dieting affecting your set-point range.

I guess I just need to further educate myself about this. I come from a family (and society, really!) that teaches that something like a "natural healthy weight" cannot be in an "overweight" body. But yeah, who exactly is defining "overweight?" That is the IE authors' exact point!

[Shmookitty]

I don't remember if I mentioned it here or not (I think so) but I recently came across a book by Caroline Dooner called The F*ck It Diet. I checked out the chapters on the Amazon preview, and saw that there is a chapter comparing diets to cults. I thought that was truly hilarious.

I originally ordered the book, but then cancelled it when I read enough negative reviews. I did do a Google search with the author's name and "diets as cults," and found a free podcast where she reads that chapter of the book. It's called the BodyLove Project podcast and the episode is here - http://www.jessihaggerty.com/blog/blp61

Basically, she did raw vegan and paleo in the past, which has its share of "gurus." She saw the principles of a cult as being just like following the diet teachers, having it take over her life and subscribing to their belief systems. Extreme diets make fantastical claims to heal *everything* and tell you that you can "transcend" all your problems.

The guru mentality that "once I do this thing, everything will be perfect" parallels how we follow diet "experts." She sees the same thing in cult documentaries with people blindly following those leaders, it's the same mentality with a *single* focus that takes over your life. You find you need validation from the outside that what you're doing is okay.

They talked about dieting as a coping strategy for emotions, as opposed to eating to appease your emotions. We look at a diet as something that can "save us" - and dieting is a major distraction to what is *really* going on in our bodies. That was a bit of an a-ha moment for me, actually. I used my bulimia as a different focus to what was really bothering me. I get that.

They talked about dieters having workaholic/perfectionist personalities, who try to control everything, including their food and exercise, and needing to have something defined to focus on. We apply this rigid and "never enough" mentality to our bodies. We need to look at the ways we "force ourselves to be miserable," and reevaluate those decisions.

How do we balance taking care of ourselves and letting ourselves say no, with just completely giving up? They talk about that permission not being permission to just give up and binge, because we don't trust ourselves with food or our appetites, being afraid that if we start eating, we won't stop. What people learn is that the body starts being calmer around food once they turn off their "crisis mode," and we're no longer mentally thinking we aren't going to get enough food. We need to just *trust* when it comes to eating and resting. Our bodies are screaming out for both, and we need to listen to what we truly need and not override or try to control those messages.

There was a bunch more Health At Every Size talk. I really seem to be finding that coming up a lot lately. I don't believe in coincidence, I believe there must be something for me to learn there.

Caroline was surprisingly down to earth and balanced. The first impression I got when seeing the title of her book was, okay, here's someone else who's just going for shock value, but I listened to the whole podcast (just under an hour) and I found she didn't seem that way at all. Maybe I'll try to get her book from the library. I think I'll be fine with just Embody and Nourish though.

I was really busy learning today! Two posts on Embody and now the podcast!

[Lyndzie]

Hi Renee! Jeff has some good articles about the “set-point theory” under his FAQ thread. Sounds like you’re really diving into some books! I’m rereading Dr. McDougall’s Digestive Tune Up. Not glamorous, but definitely educational.

[Shmookitty]

Thanks Lindsey! I was going to do some digging today here on this forum about set-point. Appreciate you steering me!

Just read this from Jeff on one of the set-point/metabolism threads - "When you gain the weight back, your RMR will also increase accordingly. You can not "ruin" your metabolism." ( https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17541 )

That makes sense. So if it's true you can't ruin your metabolism, it's also true that your set-point will not increase just because of diet and weight cycling. I thought this was the case, but wanted to find a specific reference here.

Then there was this from the same thread: "All of my comments above are in relation to healthy approaches to diet and dieting (healthy lifestyle and diet with nutritionally adequate food in the proper amounts to maintain a healthy weight) and are given in general terms and do not apply to anyone in general as all bets are off when people engage in unhealthy diets and dieting, or which I do not endorse or approve...Extremely low calorie diets are not recommended as they are unhealthy, nutritionally inadequate and could be signs of unhealthy dieting practices...I would never endorse or recommend anyone to follow a 500 cal/day (or less) diet let alone for an extended period. While they may not "ruin their metabolism", they can be risking many other health problems."

So we are still cautioned not to follow stupid diets, even though we won't do lasting damage to metabolism. Makes sense.

And later on the same thread, there was this - "Starvation mode, as thought of by dieters, does not happen...Now, RMR will and does decrease due to dieting but it decreases because of the concurrent decrease in body mass, food intake and decrease in energy output (as less mass puts out less energy in a given activity) etc. that accompanies dieting but they continue to lose weight."

And then YES! I read this - "I would argue that the set point theory may exist but not as commonly believed. That our weight is not the result of a certain predetermined number that our body fights to maintain but that our weight is the result of our maintaining an environment and a certain set of behaviors (diet, activity, etc) in a "zone" that we are most comfortable with. If we change these behaviors (the difficult part), we change the resulting weight and/or set point. Granted, this is not easy, but can be done. So, the question is, are we returning to a certain number/weight, or are we returning to a certain set of behaviors that result in that weight?" ( https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=9808 )

Jeff is so good to us to explain so much in such great detail!

There is also a good newsletter from Dr. McDougall here - https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2004nl/041200pulose.htm and another one related to MWL here - https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/050100pupushing.htm

I love this website.

[Shmookitty]

More from Embody by Connie Sobczak:

COMPETENCY 2 – PRACTICE INTUITIVE SELF-CARE

“Practicing intuitive self-care lets you respond to your body's physical needs and wants while also honoring your current life circumstances. (p. 81)

“One obstacle that prevents people from trusting their intuition is the thought of being responsible for figuring out what their bodies need. In many ways, this feels harder than having an external “expert” voice tell them what to eat and how to move. But playing with the word “responsibility” makes it much less intimidating: response ability simply becomes the ability to respond to the stimuli present. In this case it is the ability to respond to sensations of hunger or fullness and the need for movement or rest.

Adding “willingness” to the mix – ready, eager, or prepared to do something – positively transforms your relationships with food and exercise even more drastically. When you are willing to adopt this new, intuitive approach to taking care of yourself, then decisions about what, when, and how much to eat, how to move, and when to rest become much easier. You become willing to trust your ability to know what feels good for your unique body, and this infuses your journey with enthusiasm and joy. With more and more research showing a link between happiness and improved physical health, getting enjoyment from self-care creates a win-win situation.” (p. 81)

Intuitive Eating -

“Intuitive eating is different for every person. I know many intuitive eaters, and we all make different food choices. Some of us are omnivores and others are vegetarians or vegans. Many prefer to eat three meals a day, while a number feel better when they eat smaller meals throughout the day. Some avoid certain foods for various reasons (e.g., allergies, religious customs, athletic practices, illnesses, etc.); others eat all foods. Notably, we are all food experts, but for our own bodies only.” (p. 88)

“Intuitive eating is the practice of letting your body guide you in choosing what, when, and how much to eat. Eating intuitively means sensing internal signals to figure out what you need, and trusting yourself to make decisions that are both nourishing and satisfying. Rather than relying on external messages to tell you what foods are “good” or “bad,” you take time to ask yourself what your body wants in the moment, and do your best to give it what it asks for, no matter how your choices are labeled by others.” (p. 88)

“What will happen to my weight if I eat intuitively? Eating in accordance with your body's wisdom may cause you to lose, gain, or not change your weight at all. Regardless, eating intuitively over time will get you to a stable weight range (set-point), and will reduce your chances of the harmful yo-yo cycling that regularly happens to dieters. You'll know when you get to this stable range because your clothes will fit pretty much the same way each day, which is a great alternative to getting on a scale! You will probably experience small fluctuations in accordance with your menstrual cycle (if you're female). Illnesses, injuries, stressful life experiences, vacations, long work hours, changing seasons, and travel are other determining factors. It is also a natural and beneficial process to slowly gain weight as you age.

Try not to use intuitive eating as a “good” diet, even if altering your habits causes your body size to change. This will keep you locked into a diet mentality and take your focus away from positive self-care behaviors. Determine success by how your body functions and how it feels from the inside out – not by a number on a scale.” (p. 99)

“Granting myself permission to eat anything, at any time, in any amount, removed the power forbidden foods once held over me and ended by bingeing. I no longer experienced “guilty pleasures” because pleasure was positively associated with food. I learned to distrust all messages that use “guilt” in the same sentence as “pleasure!” (p. 101)

“Remember, learning to eat intuitively is a practice – it doesn't happen overnight. If you've had serious struggles with food, you will want to take this process slowly, honoring any needs to continue following a food plan or other structured approach until you're ready to fully trust yourself to decide what, when, and how much to eat.” (p. 117)

[Shmookitty]

Been focused on finishing the Embody book by Connie Sobczak.

Read the last three competencies - Cultivate Self-Love, Declare Your Own Authentic Beauty, and Build Community. I had been typing the parts that particularly resonated from the first two parts, but nothing really stood out for the last three. I had already been exposed to most of the ideas in my eating disorder recovery and therapy from child abuse issues. If you've never read things like that, they would probably be pretty exciting, but was not for me. I was a bit disappointed.

I got much more out of Intuitive Eating and will be re-reading that after I get my Nourish book (probably tomorrow). I ordered these three more books from Amazon, I realize now, because I didn't want the IE book to end and was looking to extend the breakthroughs I received from it. There is a workbook and a workbook for teens, but I am not the paper journaling type so will not order those. I will just have to look forward to the 4th edition of IE that comes out in June. I will definitely be ordering it.

So two of the three books I ordered are going to Goodwill. Body Kindness by Rebecca Scritchfield was basically fluff and old information and Embody was only good for two chapters. Sigh. I haven't even paid for them yet (my credit card statement closes on the 14th) and they are already in the Goodwill pile.

Have been on plan with my eating except we went out to lunch yesterday and I didn't bring my own dressing for my side salad, so I had "house" balsamic dressing that contained oil. It wasn't very much and it didn't make me sick. I am just not going to worry about it! I have been otherwise compliant.

Oh, and I decided to return the air fryer. I had ordered two inexpensive vegan air fryer cookbooks from Amazon but nothing stood out for me. Many of the recipes weren't even vegan, and all required oil. I was afraid of sticking if I omitted it and I didn't want to be worrying about parchment paper catching fire. The only recipes that appealed to me only had parts of them that required the air fryer, and it seemed it would be much easier to just use a regular oven! So I am sending both books back for a refund and will spend the money I get from returning the fryer to Target on something else. Probably just the next round of Larabars!

I looked when we first got the air fryer to make sure she didn't spend too much - it was only $29 since it was the smallest size - and we are not in the market for anything else kitchen-y. I had just replaced our peeling non-stick dutch oven and small saucepan, and we just got a new knife set, so there really isn't anything we need. My husband loves Larabars and I eat them occasionally. We also got two boxes of the fruit That's It bars with just apple and a fruit (they had blueberry, mango, and one other flavor I can't remember). Amazon also sells them in fig and cherry, which is what I really wanted to try. If the blueberry and mango are good, I may order those two.