Intuitive Eating

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode 25

2011-12-30T06:43:00.001-08:00

Cooking For One with Katy - Episode 22

2010-10-24T23:06:00.001-07:00

Learn how to make this awesome dish and it is easy too!
Watch HERE

Cooking For One with Katy - Episode 21

2010-10-17T20:20:00.001-07:00

BLTs & Omeletts

Watch this episode with Holly (mediocremama) HERE

Cooking For One with Katy - Episode 20

2010-10-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

I make spring rolls with Kim HERE!

Cooking For One with Katy - Episode 19

2010-10-03T22:07:00.001-07:00

Chicken Picatta Pizza

Watch HERE

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode 18

2010-08-15T09:57:00.001-07:00

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode 17

2010-08-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

Cooking For One - Episode #16

2010-03-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

Cooking For One with Katy - Episode 15

2010-01-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode #13

2010-01-01T10:56:00.001-08:00

Finally folks ... I've got two more coming very soon! I will also be filming many more episodes in 2010!

Cooking For One with Katy - Episode 14

2009-09-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

CJane endorses Intuitive Eating during the final credits.

Training for my SECOND triathlon

2009-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the trisuit and 1/2 of the wetsuit I bought for my next triathlon. Come back next weekend to see some pictures of me actually wearing these articles of clothing.

OK - it is true. I am becoming addicted to triathlons. This coming Saturday (9/12) I am doing another at Bear Lake in the open water. This is a bit more intense than the first triathlon I completed last time. The swim is a half mile and the bike ride is 12 miles and then the dreaded 5K run. I think I'll be ready.

Ever since the last triathlon it was obvious that I need to spend more time working on my run. So I changed my training so I was running 4X a week and swimming and biking only 2X a week. Don't you think that makes sense? To work more on the weakness?

I am a bit scared about the open water so I decided I should do a little practicing. Last Saturday Holly and I went to Utah Lake and we swam around the boat harbor. I have no idea how far we swam but we did it and it is kinda strange at first because you cannot see in the water at all. Utah Lake was gross by the way but you already knew that. This past Saturday Stacy, Ann Dee, Cameron, Van, and Asher joined me up at Deer Creek to watch me practice again. At this point I had my new tri suit and half of my new wet suit (the top half should come in at SBR Sports tomorrow). I swam with just the bottoms of the wetsuit and it wasn't that cold at all. I'm glad I decided to go with the sleeveless top.

My friend Julia has decided to do the Turkey Tr i with us on November 7th. She introduced me to Coach Keena - check her out here. I went last Wednesday to her triahtlon class and let me tell you - it is hard core. We rode from the AF Fitness Center to Traverse Mountain (I didn't ride to the top but I went pretty far). Then we got back to the AFFC to swim. So I signed up for this Wednesday night class for two months until the Turkey Tri. I think it will help a lot. Coach Keena also has online training with details of what I should be doing for every workout. The program automatically emails me every day to remind me. It's pretty cool.

By the way, this sport is probably the most expensive sport I could have picked. Since I started training for a triathlon, I have purchased the following:

running shoes
bike (with water bottles, headlight, taillight, pump)
biking gloves
biking shorts
biking top
swim suit
swim cap
goggles
ear plugs
swimp3 player
swim gear bag
swim hand paddles
sports bras
spandex
5 lb bucket
race number belt
trisuit
wetsuit
bike trainer (but I need a new one - the used one I bought is crap)
heart rate monitor watch

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode #12

2009-08-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

By the way if you are interested in a report from my first triathlon, go here.

The week of ...

2009-08-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday (7 to go)

ran 2.5 miles in the morning
massage
swim lesson
biked the bike route and the run (with Casey) - it wasn't so bad, only one small hill

Sunday (6 to go)

day of rest ... duh

Monday (5 to go)

swam 0.5 miles at lunch
ran 3 miles at night

Tuesday (4 to go)

core work and stretching with Eric
planned a bike ride but it didn't happen

Wednesday (3 to go)

swim at lunch

Thursday (2 to go)

hike to Timpanogos cave with the Bean Museum field trip

Friday (1 to go)

no exercise
pasta dinner

Swim Lesson and Triathlon advice

2009-07-22T22:06:00.001-07:00

Tonight Stacy and I met with Ryan and had a private swimming lesson. It was very helpful.

After the lesson Ryan and I ate dinner at Whole Foods on 400 South and talked triathlons. I'm going to write down as much as I remember from our discussion. Sure do wish there were one of those places in Utah County.

Even though Eric (my PT) made me run a 5K on Monday (without stopping - which I have never done in my entire life), Ryan told me it was OK to walk a bit if necessary so I don't use too much energy during the race especially since the run is first.

BTW - my 5K at the gym was not pretty. I was dying - almost puked and I was begging him like a baby to let me rest.

Ryan and I talked about breathing - it is important during all three events that I remember to breathe deep and slowly and stay relaxed. Ryan even suggested setting my watch to beep every four minutes or so as a reminder.

I asked Ryan about learning how to do a flip turn. He told me not to worry about it at this point and just try to turn around without touching the wall with my hands. The flip turn is for another time.

We talked about what to wear. He suggested I wear my swim suit with my biker shorts on top and if I want a t-shirt or tank top. He also told me I should try running and biking in this outfit before the race in case it is uncomfortable and doesn't work - I thought this was very good advice. So I run in my biker shorts and swim suit and then bike in them both and then when I get to the pool, I strip down and finish the race.

We talked about transitions - this triathlon is the easiest transition. So I don't have to worry about laying out all my clothes but I will need to worry about having my helmet easily accessible with the straps un-clipped.

I asked Ryan about what to eat the night before and the morning of... he suggested the pasta/spaghetti dinner the night before and some oatmeal or a bagel the morning of. He also suggested finding out how long I need to let my food digest before running because it is different for everyone. Ryan eats a steak about four days before the race to make sure he gets some protein in his system. He also has some kind of protein shake to be sure he gets the vitamins he needs as well. Here is a quote from Ryan in regard to eating ... "EAT TO TRAIN. DON'T TRAIN TO EAT."

The week of the race it is important to still work out but not as intense. You need to remind your body of the movements. Monday I can run but the other days I should take it easy - walk, bike easily with not a lot of tension, and swim ... hmm I can't remember exactly what he said about swimming that week. Good thing Stacy and I are going to have another session with him before the race.

Ann Dee and Stacy are doing the race with me. Stacy cause she is nice and knows that I want to do this for my birthday and she is supporting me. Ann Dee is doing it because I agreed to do a 28 day cleanse with her if she'd agree to do the triathlon. The thing is ... even though neither of these girls are training, they will both beat me. Ryan told me that this could be true but they'd be sore the next day and I wouldn't be.

So the cleanse is not very intuitive at all but I give credit to intuitive eating for getting me to the point in my life where I would even consider a cleanse - to try and eat more healthy. Once these 28 days are over, I'll go back to trying to eat intuitively and I seriously think I will be much better at it because now I know a lot more healthy foods to incorporate into my diet. I'm also learning where my hunger and fullness levels are. It is interesting to realize that I can be satisfied without meat or processed sugars. Don't get me wrong - I want a burger like nothing else. Although the cleanse is over three days before the race, I will wait until after to have my burger. I don't want to make myself sick.

He sang while I ran

2009-07-02T17:42:00.001-07:00

In the past I have found comfort in making fun of or even disparaging remarks about my personal trainer. Well today he did something that really endeared him to me.

Lets set this up ...
For some reason when the company that runs the personal trainers at the Golds gym went digital they lost track of exactly how many sessions I had credit for. Anyway - it was a big mess and I'm pretty sure I'm getting screwed. The bottom line is, I have a bunch of sessions that I need to use by the end of July or they go away and I don't get credit for them. So in order to use them, I've been doing hour long sessions with Eric. We lift for the first half hour (like normal) and then we do some cardio interval training. This is killer. I hate it. Last time was biking. Today was jogging on the treadmill. I'm not a good runner. I thought I was going to die. Plus the treadmill scares me. Well during the last minute of my last interval I really thought this was it. I was done. He started singing to me - "she's a maniac" and then humming the theme from Rocky (I don't event think he's seen my training video). It made me laugh and I was able to finish. This guy is kinda shy and quiet so for him to do this was a bit unusual.

OK folks - I've committed. August 8th (the day before I turn 33) I am going to complete this triathlon in Bountiful.

To get ready for this event, I've signed up to run in the 5K Freedom Run on Saturday and participate in the Moonlight Bike Ride on Antelope Island next Friday.

I also discovered that there is a special faculty and staff swim time at BYU from noon-1 PM. Way less crowded than in the morning plus I don't have to wake up at 5 freaking thirty anymore!

This is my new bike. And this is my new car that can actually fit my new bike. I think they are both cute and cool.

Last Meeting with J and my own triathlon

2009-05-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

This post is two part - I will separate with a horizontal rule.

Friday night I did my very own triathlon. I started right after work and I didn't finish until 9 PM. Here is how it went down. The triathlon I'm planning to do in November is a 5K (3.2 miles), 10 mile bike ride, and a 400 meter swim (8 down and backs). So I decided I would do the same.

RUNNING: Lately I've been driving to Timpview Drive and parking so I can just run on the long and relatively flat stretch. So that is what I did. I drove to Timpview Drive. Once I got to Rock Canyon Elementary I cleared my odometer on my car and drove 1.6 miles up the street. Parked. Stretched. and ran down and back. I did my intervals - 2 minutes walking and 5 minutes jogging. It took me 50 minutes. I know, not very fast. Running is the hardest part. I did it however. I hope that I can run the whole thing for the real triathlon.

BIKING: I drove home, grabbed my camel back and threw in some clean clothes. I hopped on my bike and headed toward the Provo River Trail on 800 North or so. I usually drive my bike up to the Riverwoods area, park and then ride to Vivian Park. Not this time. I decided to head towards the lake. I really enjoyed the ride. I got to see a little league baseball game in progress, the KOA campground, and lots of cool birds by the lake. By the way, it has been probably two years since I've done this stretch of the trail and they have made some improvements. For example, you no longer have to cross Geneva road. Anyway, at 5 miles I turned around and rode directly to the Richards building.

SWIM: It felt good to get my body into the pool. Swimming is my favorite. It works my muscles yet doesn't hurt them. I was able to stretch really well in the pool after my 8 down and backs. This part took me only like 10 minutes or so. I hopped out of the pool, showered and rode home.

I did it! And I was so tired and proud of myself. I ate Cafe Rio after that and wasn't very intuitive about it either.

Second, J was just about to have a baby at our last meeting and wouldn't return to work until August. I thought it was a good time to take a break from seeing a dietitian and see how I would do trying to live the IE principles all by myself without anyone to check up on me. She told me that she thought I was an intuitive eater. I still don't feel like I am but I can't deny that I've made significant progress over the last two years.

Katy, say this out loud: "I am an intuitive eater."

Here are some things we talked about (including some goals):

Keeping an emotions journal, asking why am I overeating? what feelings are going?
Loneliness is no reason to over eat. Stop when satisfied and leave food. Don't worry about wasting money or OCD issues.
Continue to work on thinking about my hunger and fullness levels
Body image - be accepting and cautious
Stay on top of training schedule
Read the nutrition chapter again
Make a meal from the Eating Well magazine (or even just a side dish)
Try new recipes
Make a grocery list template that includes all the important food groups
Be prepared to make some quick and easy meals

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode #11

2009-05-23T09:25:00.001-07:00

Never nude

2009-05-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the gym you could have heard me say to my personal trainer:

"You really want to see what I had for lunch, doncha?"

Needless to say, he really worked me hard.

People - I'm still at it. Week number 6 (8 according the training schedule). This week I saw 18 laps (2 sets of 8 and 1 set of 2). Next week it'll be two sets of 9. I'm getting out on my bike more and more rather than biking at the gym.

Since I have been swimming at the BYU pool in the mornings, I've decided to just shower and wash my hair there rather than going home to do it. I've finally figured out how to do this and all the while never show my naked body to others. I'm a never nude, you know.

The triathlon I'm training for in November is a 400 meter swim (which I did two of this morning) so I'm feeling good about that. I'm pretty sure I can handle the 15 mile bike ride. It's that $%&^* 5K that I'm struggling with. I just gotta keep at it. Right now I walk/jog for 35 minutes (walk 2, jog 5). This is actually further along on my schedule than I should be at week 8 but I've been doing this for a long time and I wish it would get easier.

PS - I fit into some pants the other day that I haven't been able to for awhile. Probably shouldn't use that as a way to measure my progress but it still feels good. At least I didn't weigh myself, right?

A week of rest and a week of travel

2009-05-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I got sick for three days so I did not exercise. Then I went to DC to be with some friends. I did go swimming the night we stayed in a hotel but the pool was so small I almost got dizzy swimming back and forth. I went on a nice long walk with Kenon on Sunday night. So really for about a week I didn't do any of my training. I was worried this would happen so I had consulted my personal trainer about this and he told me that it is OK to let my body rest a bit after I have been so diligent with my workouts. I hoped this was true and I also hoped that when I got back to it I wouldn't have to back track.

WELL ...

Now I am in Philadelphia on another trip - a five day long trip. And luckily our hotel is big enough and fancy enough that they have this:

and this:

So guess what? I'm back on track and I was able to do my workouts just like I had before I got sick. I am repeating week 3 (week 6 on this schedule) and starting Monday I'll be onto week 4 (week 7). Actually I do more than what it says on the website. I do three sets of 6 laps (down and back). I also walk 2 mins and jog for 5 mins. I feel pretty proud of myself.

I haven't been lifting obviously cause I can't do that without Eric. I know he is missing me too.

I'm missing Ann Dee's fake triathlon tomorrow. I wish I could do it here in the work out facility but I'll only have time for a jog cause I have to go to more museum meetings. Yes I do.

Endorphins make you happy

2009-04-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

When I lived at the Enclave #105 in 1996 I would sometimes ride my bike while my roommate Amy Jo would run. It was kinda hard to keep up with her. Well five kids later Amy is still an exercise nut. I asked her awhile ago about this. She told me that exercise keeps her sane and it is almost like a drug. I just don't get that. Or at least I didn't think I did.

I'm starting to understand a bit more. Last Thursday I was had a bad day and I was really irritable. Everyone, I mean everyone was bugging me. I called Ann Dee after work on my way to the gym and started to vent. She said, "well at least you get to go to the gym now." I thought to myself - yeah right, like that is going to help.

Anyway, while I was biking I watched this movie and Elle Woods had this to say ...

I was surprised but I actually felt better after my workout - not just physically but emotionally too and luckily I didn't kill anyone that day.

Big Fat Lies

2009-04-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today I weighed myself at the gym. Not a good idea. I had been feeling good since all my two-a-days so I guess I wanted some kind of confirmation about all this. I was disappointed and then frustrated. I started telling my personal trainer about the scale and how I need to remember that it is about how I feel and not any kind of measurement. We got into a discussion about health. Can an obese/overweight person be healthy? I was arguing yes and I recommended this book. I haven't read it all so I didn't really know how to argue my point well.

The conversation shifted and then he confessed to me that he had checked out my blog. My first thought was oh crap. I never in a million years thought he would read my posts so I always thought it was OK to make him look like the bad guy when talking about my body and weight issues. I felt really bad cause the truth is if I didn't get along so well with this guy he would not still be my personal trainer after almost 2 years. He pushes me just enough and he is incredibly good at figuring out new exercises. In fact he is really creative cause he has me working on my core almost the whole time even if I'm working on other things - like bicep curls or whatever.

Side note: By the way today I beat (or at least matched) some weight records for his female clients on at least two exercises.

OK - back to the story. The first thing E (that is how I will refer to him) said was, "After all we've been through ... ?" That made me feel worse. After discussing some of the comments I had made about him in various posts, he said he understood that every good story needs a villain and he was OK with that. I could tell that he wasn't exactly OK with being the bad guy in my Intuitive Eating Journey so I told him about this post and this post.

Bottom line, if you are looking for a personal trainer, I have a great recommendation.

E - if you are reading this ... please realize that I don't try to set up my nieces with just anybody. Take that as compliment buddy. And although we may not see eye to eye on all things intuitive, I do appreciate you helping me lift weights.

Make an appointment with yourself

2009-04-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

THOUGHT ONE:
Tonight I skimmed through Chapter 13 - the exercise chapter. I'm sure I reviewed it before in another post but right now I'm just going to write about whatever I want.

Focus on how it feels
Focus on exercise as a way of taking care of myself ... because you love yourself
Make exercise a nonnegotiable priority

"Make an appointment with yourself to work out, and honor it as you would any other meeting or appointment." So ... treat yourself like you would other people.

Ever since I made the goal to train for this triathlon, I have scheduled time to work out and I actually have honored these appointments. Before it was so easy to find any excuse not to work out. Now I find myself telling people that I can meet you after such and such a time (considering the workout and a quick shower).

Well all this exercising has made me really tired and really hungry. Last night after work I met my personal trainer for our regularly scheduled work out and then we had our basketball banquet. I didn't leave the high school until 10:00 PM and I still needed to do my biking for the day. I broke the appointment with myself because I decided sleep could be just as important.

THOUGHT TWO:
Why my legs hurt when I run. Now three people have told me its all about the shoes. I thought it was cause I wasn't stretching enough or correctly. Well my personal trainer entertained all my ideas and then said, "or it is cause you need to lose weight."

Anyway, I bought these today after my run. The sales guy could tell from the bottom of my old shoes how I run. I run neutral apparently which he said was good. I tried on a bunch of shoes and finally decided on a pair that felt the best. I was not concerned one bit about how they looked only how they felt. Well now isn't this a nice analogy for intuitive eating - how you feel not how you look.

THOUGHT THREE:
Last night at the banquet one of the basketball girl's moms said she thought I had lost weight. I told her I didn't know cause I don't weigh myself. I didn't really get into intuitive eating, I just told her that I try to focus on how I feel.

I'm pretty sure I haven't lost any weight. I just think she had never seen me in jeans.

THOUGHT FOUR:
Swimming etiquette. Larry and I share a lane. He walks on the east side and I swim on the west. It wouldn't really work for us to go around in a circle and we definitely cannot have a third person. Well this morning some girl jumped in our lane. How in the world was this going to work? Luckily I only had one more down and back so Larry just got out and I swam on his side. I was bugged. I understand that when it is crowded you gotta share but I just don't want to go more than two per lane. Is that unreasonable?

THOUGHT FIVE:
Cafe Rio tostada. I discovered a way to get a cheaper, smaller salad. Just order a tostada with a flour tortilla. They put sour cream on it instead of guacamole. Anyway it was good to eat after a week and a half of two-a-days.

As she passed me on the street

2009-04-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

this girl (some BYU co-ed I'm sure) said,

"Good job."

I replied after gasping, "Thanks."

Well now that was nice. Or was it? I was jogging up a hill and obviously not going all that fast. I'm not sure what was going on there. Oh well.

Today when I left work it was so nice outside that I decided to do my walk/job outside. Man it is a good thing that I am so used to the honks, whistles and cat calls. In fact I don't even hear them anymore. It felt good to run outside and in fact, I was able to run the last 10 minutes straight (I usually have to break it up into a walk/jog).

Oh and I told my personal trainer about my goal to do a triathlon and of course he was excited. Then I told him about how much swimming I was doing that week. The truth is the Saturday before I decided to do this, I swam 18 down and backs (resting every two). But now that my training program told my I only need to do 3 down and backs (consecutively, mind you) I decided to just follow the program. Well Eric did not like that - "what you are going to do? De-condition?" Gosh, if you put it like that...

I thought about that a lot and so this morning I swam 3 sets of FOUR down and backs. I liked it - I might even do four sets on Wednesday. Larry came too in his new swim suit and goggles (an early father's day gift from yours truly).

I think I like swimming better than jogging cause it doesn't hurt. When I run my knees and calves hurt. I guess there might be something to that stretching theory. I should try it. Do you think that will help? Please don't tell me to do yoga ... not ready for that for sure. Maybe some day.

I found these pictures the other day...

2009-04-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

SIGH

The best part

2009-04-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

of making a goal like training for a triathlon is the excuses to buy new toys.
Like today I bought this:

I almost bought this:

and this:

but decided to wait.

On my birthday in August, I'm going to buy myself a new road bike.

This morning Larry and I went swimming at BYU. I think he's going to get some goggles and a new swimsuit for father's day.

After work today I decided to try out BYU's work out facilities. I'll be going back to Gold's gym unless I am swimming or playing racquetball.

I committed to a triathlon

2009-04-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

read all about it here on my other blog.

It's been 7 weeks since my last meeting with J

2009-03-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today we talked about the progress I have made with exercise. I have been eating emotional at night lately. We talked about the idea I have that since I have just worked out, I deserve to overeat or have something my body doesn't want. We decided that actually this is just a rationalization for using food to comfort, relieve anxiety, or cure boredom. I am going to try and separate my hunger and fullness from my emotions and then I will wait an hour or two after dinner to decide if I am really hungry for more.

Before my next meeting:

Read the Emotional Eating chapter again
Pay attention to hunger and fullness (separate emotions)
I'm going to look up sprint triathlon training programs
I'm going to swim 2X, jog 2X, and bike 2X a week
Cook 1/week
Cooking show podcast

Before next time with J

2009-02-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

I will ...

Increase the amount of water I drink a day to 64 oz.
Try some deep breathing exercises before going to bed - to help relax
Drink less caffeine (could be why I'm not sleeping as well)
Get up and walk with Dad (even if I didn't sleep well that night - I most likely will the next night)
Schedule two more podcasts and get them online
Try one new recipe/week
Days I don't exercise, find ways to incorporate it (park far away, take the stairs etc.)

New Podcast - Thai Food

2009-02-01T18:52:00.001-08:00

Some more ...

2009-01-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Make a list of 10 people to call when I feel like overeating
Identify feelings in the moment when I feel like overeating because of emotions and take a 10-15 minute break
Try to eat balanced meals (carbs, protein, fat)
Go to pump class once a week
Fun exercise once a week (swim, bike, racquetball, basketball, snow shoeing)
Walk with Dad in the morning
Do two more cooking podcasts before next appointment with J
Cook a meal from the "Eating Well" magazine
Look for different ways to include fruits and vegetables in meals

New Podcast - Episode #9

2008-12-28T10:11:00.001-08:00

LETTUCE WRAPS

Try these - they are delish!

Cooking for One with Katy - Episode #8

2008-12-26T10:20:00.001-08:00

Some new goals ...

2008-12-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

I met with J today and we made some new goals. I reported that my Thanksgiving holiday went well - I did not overeat plus I jogged/walked the traditional 5K with the family so it felt great.

Here are some goals for the next month or so ...

have one serving of vegetables for both lunch and dinner (try different kinds so I can figure out which ones I like)
for the holidays ... take little bites of all the treats and eat ONLY what really tastes good and be mindful of my hunger and fullness level
Read Chapter 10 of the book
Cut recipes into smaller portions (do some math for crying out loud)
Buy a copy of the magazine, "Eating Well" to get ideas for cooking yummy and healthy and for including vegetables in meals I already eat
Try some different kinds of stir fry over rice or noodles
Go to the power pump class 2X before my next appointment
Do 1/2 hour of cardio before my appointment with my personal trainer
SLEEP
Go jogging/walking, swimming, spinning, basketball, racquetball ... some at least some of these
Stop and WAIT - check in with myself about how I am feeling physically and emotionally

New Podcast

2008-11-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

I missed posting a few epiosdes of Cooking for One with Katy so go here to catch up. Here are two of the latest (one is just outtakes).

Episode #7

Episode #7 Outtakes

Check this out...

2008-10-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Cooking for One with Katy

2008-10-08T21:09:00.001-07:00

My first Video Podcast! Check it out here.

If you subscribe to this podcast and use iTunes to watch the episodes you'll be able to see them in a larger screen.

If you want to be a guest cook on my show... leave a comment and tell me what you want to cook.

Katy the cook...

2008-09-29T20:49:00.001-07:00

My most recent session with J was spent talking mostly about cooking. Eating out is a habit... a bad habit.

My goals for the next few weeks include:

buy a cookbook with meals for one or two people
go grocery shopping AT LEAST once a week - maybe more stops for certain ingredients (I need to remember that a quick trip to the grocery store will take as much time as going through the drive-thru)
eat in for dinner at least 3X a week
take a lunch to work unless I have a lunch date

Ideas/suggestions from people about cooking for one:

hot ham and cheese (grilled)
chicken salad sandwiches/wraps
left-0vers for lunch the next day
sides
yummy breads
add veges to things you know you like already
allrecipes.com and change the serving size to one
buy a rotisserie chicken and use bits and pieces of it throughout the week
My friend Megan has sent me multiple emails with loads of ideas and she is willing to help me at each step - I'm not going to post all of her ideas here but I might post about what I cook as I try new things - no promises (the whole reason I have a hard time with cooking is that it takes too much time so if I promise to blog about everything I cook, it'll become an excuse not to)
Cooking group - get 3 other people in my same situation (cooking for one) and we each cook something that can be refrigerated or freezed and we swap once a week - gotta find three people that are single, good cooks and willing ---- anyone?

Eating out vs. Eating in

2008-09-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Eating Out:

Takes less time - busy lifestyle (PRO)
More likely to stop if I'm with someone (PRO)
More likely to stop if I order less/lighter things (PRO)
Costs more money (CON)
Probably eat more processed foods (CON)

Eating In:

Takes more time (CON)
Easier to binge if I'm alone (CON)
Easier to be mindful when I'm cooking for myself (PRO)
Costs less money (PRO)

Both are easier if I'm in a good place emotionally when I eat. But I think eating in more often would help me in my journey of becoming an intuitive eater.

Goals

2008-09-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

I had a good session with J on Friday.

We talked about the progress I have made in the last year + and while I am probably still the same size (I'm not sure cause I haven't weighed myself for a long time), I have started to catch on to this Intuitive Eating thing.

I still have lots to learn. Here are some of the things I've noticed in myself:

I enjoy exercise and I have been more willing lately to try new types of exercise
More and more often I crave lighter foods with fruits and vegetables, rather than heavier type foods
I think more and more about how what I eat will make me feel emotionally and physically
I use food less and less to take care of my emotions especially for comfort

It could be years before I get down to my "natural body size" as the book talks about but I'm am still convinced that this is the ONLY way to get there.

OK - so here are my goals for this week:

Plan my meals using the peace sign
Eat in more (only eat out 3X a week - by the way that is cutting back a ton!)
Be mindful when I eat Sunday dinner at Sam's house
Swim 3X a week
Bike 1X a week
Look at my goals every day (post them on my blog - check)

Do I still believe?

2008-09-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Oh yes I do.

I thought maybe my trip across the country would be really hard to eat intuitively.

Because I was driving so much, I was very conscious about what I was eating because I didn't want to feel sick or have my legs cramp up while I was driving.

I didn't over eat while I was driving and for the most part I could stop at a 7 or 7.5 when I ate dinner with my friends.

The only time I over ate on my trip was when I was waiting for my car a the dealership in Gainesville, FL. You can read about it here. After I finally got my car back in the afternoon, I stopped at McDonalds and I ate until the biggie sized meal was gone.

New kinds of goals

2008-07-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

So my meetings with J have changed a bit and although it is clear that I still have some body image issues, we have started to talk more about nutrition and health.

I'm going to:

cook once a week
read the exercise chapter again
Watch one episode of the food network - either Rachel Ray or Robin Miller
Try more whole grain foods - try to find some that I actually like

WARNING - do not read this post if...

2008-06-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

you do not have a healthy relationship with food. After more than a year of meeting with J at least every other week, she finally said I was ready to read chapter 14, "Honor Your Health - Gentle Nutrition." While I feel I still have a long way to go to really make peace with food, I have come a long way. This chapter was important for me to read now because I can experiment with different kinds of food to find healthy foods that are still easy to swallow.

Before I get into the things I learned in chapter 14 - I want summarize some of points that came from my discussion with J about making goals. Goals should be "SMART."

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely

We also talked about the four "p"s which are:

purpose
personality
principles
passions

For my next meeting with J, I am going to make a "bucket list" for my life and reasonable goals for this summer and read chapter 14. I'll post my bucket list in another post. Here are some of the important points from chapter 14:

Honor your health and taste buds at the same time, always remembering to focus on how it makes you FEEL
Consistency over time - progress not perfection is what matters
BE CAREFUL - nutrition guidelines could be embraced as a diet
Healthy eating = eating primarily healthy foods and having a healthy relationship with food
Remember:

variety - try new a new kind of bread or cereal or whatever
balance = to be achieved over time, not every day or every meal
moderation = does not mean elimination, not too much or too little of anything

Build muscles - raise your metabolic rate
FOOD PYRAMID

Grains

best kind of food to fuel your body
carbohydrates are your friends
whole grains provide vitamins and minerals
Fiber is really good for your GI tract

Fruits and vegetables

5 servings a day (think volume - this is easier to get than you think)
loaded with antioxidants and fiber
fruit tastes better when they are eaten in a non-diet manner (I'm starting to believe this one)

Protein

Beans are a good source of protein
high protein diets are not good - if you aren't eating other kinds of foods, it doesn't matter how much protein you eat, your body will take energy from your muscles
It's easy to get the protein needed - men need 63 grams a day and women need 50

Dairy

we need calcium even if we've stopped growing because if you don't consume the calcium our body needs, it will be leached from our bones

Water - duh
Fat

fat is a nutrient. Come on you "fatty acids."

be careful of the "fat-trap" - if you eat non-fat foods, you think you can eat all you want and you might not listen to your satiety clues plus non-fat foods are usually filled with sugar. If you eat the regular foods you are more likely to be satisfied earlier (without eating as much)
Learn to balance fat in your diet by

cutting the fat without losing taste or feeling deprived (applesauce instead of oil in cooking)
choose healthy fats (low in saturated fats - those from animals)

canola, corn, safflower, sunflower, salmon, avocado, nuts and seeds

when you eat fat, make sure its worth it - ask yourself how it tastes - savor it@

Ask yourselves these four questions

Do I really like the taste of these foods?
How does this food or type of food make my body feel?
How do I feel when eating consistently in this manner?
Am I experiencing differences in my energy level?

REMEMBER DEPRIVATION DOES NOT WORK!!!
REMEMBER WE ARE ALL HUMAN AND WE ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE PERFECT!

New goals

2008-05-20T20:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday J and I talked about some different things than we usually do. She wants me to think about my definition of healthy living (like they teach in health class in junior high). She wants me to think about my passions and goals in life that are not related to school or work and make a list. Her point is that while it is important to focus on Intuitive Eating it is also important to keep on living and incorporate other things into my life that I enjoy. I'm not sure I get it actually. We'll see. I thought about maybe learning to play the guitar but then I think wait, I don't have time for that. We did talk about Intuitive Eating as a process. You never stop this process, you become better at it and just like life you have to work at it every day. I think J wants me to be able to focus on other passions and goals so that IE will be come natural and easily incorporated.

The other thing we discussed was some questions I could ask myself as I near the end of a meal:

If I stop, will I feel deprived?
What are the benefits if I keep eating?
What are the benefits if I stop now?

OK so here is my bulleted list of things I'm going to work on for the next two weeks:

Make a list of my goals and passions (not related to school or work)
Write my definition of healthy living (relaxation, sleep, physically, stress)
Ride my bike to work at least once a week
Try yoga at least once a week
Read chapter 5 (Reject the Diet Mentality) - I'll blog about this after I read it
Keep trying to take 20 minutes to eat

Chapter 13 - Exercise - Feel the Difference

2008-05-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some thoughts from this chapter:

Focus on how it makes you feel...
Start slow or you might not enjoy it
Don't look in the big mirrors at the gym
Compare how it feels to exercise to how it feels to not exercise
Exercise helps prevent health problems
Incorporate physical activity into your everyday life

stairs
ride bike to work
walk to class
walk around the airport while waiting for flight

Exercise is a NON-NEGOTIABLE PRIORITY
Exercise to take care of yourself - reevaluate your priorities - make time to take care of yourself

make an appointment with yourself and keep it just like you would keep an appointment with a friend

Make exercise fun

walk with a friend = uninterrupted talk time (Larry and me every morning at 5:30 AM)
basketball
racquetball
biking

Exercise can be a good way to channel anxiety while learning to eat intuitively
Remember to REST - be smart

Sometimes taking care of yourself means choosing not to exercise.

Goals for the next 3 weeks

2008-04-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

My next appointment with J isn't for three weeks because I'm going out town all next week for work and it kinda threw the schedule off a bit. Here are my goals for this period of time:

Blog about chapter 8 (check - see previous post)
8 glasses of water a day
Try to add veges to foods I'm already eating (sandwiches, salads, pastas)
Bike once a week
Swim once a week
Read chapter 13
Sign off card for stopping at 6.5 and taking 20 minutes to eat
Do my best while out of town this next week

access the Food Anthropologist voice and make observations and NO judgments
Try to exercise but do not feel guilty if I can't find time

A word about my lack of soda. It has been getting easier and I feel better. I'm not sure why - maybe its all out of my system or maybe I'm finally getting enough water. I still have lots and lots of soda stocked in my fridge and pantry and I refuse to get rid of it. I have not sworn off soda forever. If I really want a soda I will have one and I will not feel bad about it. Deprivation is NOT intuitive. I'm actually and truly choosing to not have soda right now. Who knows - I might have one while I'm out of town, I might not.

Chapter 8 - Challenge the Food Police

2008-04-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I reread one of the longest chapters in the Intuitive Eating Book. I was long overdue to read this chapter. This chapter outlines the various voices that tell us about how we should eat and feel about food. Some of these voices come from people in our lives and some come from the world around us. The most important voices are the ones in our heads. These voices include:

Food Police - dieting and food rules
Nutrition Informant - provides nutrition evidence to keep you in line with dieting
Diet Rebel - screw you, I'll eat what I want
Food Anthropologist - neutral observer w/no judgment
Nutrition Ally - helps you make healthy choices without an agenda (no deprivation or dieting)
Rebel Ally - help protect your boundaries in a direct and polite manner - "use your mouth for words instead of food"
Nurturer - soft, gentle, soothing, friend, not critical or judgmental
Intuitive Eater - speaks your gut reactions, combines Food Anthropologist, Nurturer, Nutrition Ally, and Rebel Ally

knows how to argue the negative voices out of your head

I think for me the diet rebel has been a big voice in my head since I was young. I'm just now learning how to access the rebel ally voice instead. Its amazing how much better I feel when I can do that. The food police is a hard one to get rid of - that is why it is important to constantly challenge this voice and replace it with another more helpful voice.

One of my favorite sections of this chapter is on page 119 about linear thinking.
"The cure for linear thinking is process thinking, which focuses on continual change and learning rather than just the end result. If you start thinking in terms of what you can learn along the way, and accept that there will be many ups and downs, you will go forward."

I like that section because although I know this, I seem to forget it all too often.

Goals

2008-04-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

My goals for the next two weeks:

1 - Another week without soda
2 - Drink 56 oz. (7 glasses) of water
3- Stop eating at a 6.5
4 - Extend meals (especially lunches) to go longer than 15 minutes
5 - Make a punch chart to keep track of when I stop eating at a 6.5 and when I take longer than 15 minutes to eat a meal
6 - In addition to my usual exercise (walking with Larry and lifting with my PT), I will play either racquetball, basketball, or go on a bike ride 2 times.

7 - Read Chapter 8

Soda update

2008-04-13T09:44:00.001-07:00

So since Monday I have not had any soda and I will admit that I feel better and that is most likely due to the fact that I've been drinking much more water. I have been extremely tired in the afternoons. So do I need to wait a bit longer before my energy comes back? Or will I always be tired in the afternoons? I'm not sure I can keep this up if I do not have my diet soda.

I told my personal trainer about this on Thursday and he told that he bet I had already dropped a few pounds. I replied, "wouldn't know and wouldn't care." How intuitive of me ...

One week

2008-04-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go without soda for one week. It's only an experiment. Today I met with J and she told me that diet sodas (like I drink every day) can mess with my ability to feel my hunger and fullness levels. So I 'm just going to try it out.

I'm slowly learning how to do this intuitive eating thing.

These are the other things I have committed to this week:

Buy new clothes for spring on Saturday
Drink 48 oz of water a day - I bought a bunch of flavored add-ins
Drink NO soda
Read Chapter 9 of the IE book by Thursday
Extend my lunches to 20 minutes - actually take 20 minutes to eat and stop at 6.5
Go on ONE bike ride

It's time for another intuitive eating meeting - who is in? Email or comment. I need one!

I don't believe in ...

2008-03-06T08:22:00.001-08:00

The other day one when I told one of my friends I had to pee she replied:

I hope you don't believe in "Intuitive Peeing."

I thought that was funny and no I can hold it until the proper time.

NO NO NO NO NO

2008-01-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's when I see pictures of myself like this that I want to go on a diet.

Then I have to remind myself to "just say no"!

Finals are over

2007-12-19T04:49:00.000-08:00

So I know that I'm not supposed to step on the scale but I did. I can tell that I am still gaining weight which is frustrating. I try to tell myself that it is ok but I don't really believe it. So last week at the gym I wanted to know how much I've gained so my curiosity got the best of me and I weighed myself. I've gained 10 pounds since I started doing intuitive eating and that sucks. So for the last week, my weight has been at the back of my mind and I've felt really crappy and so for whatever reason, I've been eating a lot - more than my body wants or needs. Maybe I'm punishing myself, maybe I'm letting myself get too hungry or eating before I'm hungry so I can't tell when I'm full. Basically I have not been focusing on me or my body for the last few weeks and now that finals are over and I have a second to think about these things, I don't feel so good - physically or emotionally.

BUT - I'm not done. Believe me, I've thought about it. Do you know how easy it would be for me to go on diet right now and lose those 10 pounds in no time? Wow - even saying that makes me cringe because I really do believe in these Intuitive Eating principles. I'm writing this blog post to remind myself that this is a process and I can learn from my experiences.

Happy Holidays and eat whatever you want!

I overate in Baton Rouge, LA

2007-11-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

I was out of town last week. I overate. I figured out why. I ate at chains - because I was alone and didn't know where the good places were to eat were. I thought if I ate at Chilis, Taco Bell and Quiznos I'd be safe because at least I know what I was getting into. Well they were all gross. Why would it be so much worse than the chains in Utah? I don't know. But because I didn't love the food, I felt deprived so I went to Walmart and bought peanut M&Ms, Oreos and Hot Tamales. It is important to eat something that makes you not only full but satisfied because it tastes good.

Discovery

2007-11-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

OK so this may seem like a big DUH to everyone out there. It was a real enlightening discovery for me. So obviously I have some body image issues. I know that in order to make peace with food and truly be happy I need to be able to accept myself as is and not ever focus on losing weight. So I was thinking about this and trying to come up with ways I can accept myself and this thought came to me:

"Take care of yourself (eat well and exercise) because you love your body."

I know, not anything new but it sure was to me. I realized that sometimes I overeat because I don't think I deserve to feel good (physically or emotionally). It is like I am punishing myself or something. I've been thinking about this for the last few weeks and it has helped. I still have to remind myself of this everyday but I think it is working. IE - we are on our way.

Blindfold Eating

2007-11-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

In my last session with J we did a little experiment called "Blind fold eating". It is a bit embarrassing because you have to eat without looking at the food and you are likely to make a mess. I brought a bacon burger and cheese fries from here:

Then she put one of these on me:

I took a few deep breaths, checked in with my hunger and fullness level and started eating. During each bite, J asked me questions about what the temperature, smell, taste was like. Was it as good as I expected? What foods stand out in each bite? I loved really thinking about what I ate. I thought it was a cool experience. I thought I was eating pretty slowly but at one point J told me to stop and wait. We talked about the experience for a bit and then asked me to check in with my hunger and fullness. Wow - I was satisfied and if I hadn't stopped, I would have eaten the whole thing. I took the blindfold off and realized that I ate about 2/3 of the hamburger and not much at all of the fries. It was amazing. My assignment this week was to do something similar twice a week with my own meals - not necessarily blindfold myself but to really try and be mindful while I eat. It works when I actually take the time to do it. I learned that I eat at a 3 and I thought it was a 2. I eat too fast. I don't focus on the tastes, smells, temperature and textures enough.

Intuitive Eating #3

2007-11-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

I would like to have another IE meeting next Thursday, November 29th at 8:00 PM. I know this is a busy time of year but it will be good to discuss holiday strategies for eating intuitively as well as Chapter 7 - Making Peace With Food. Who is in?

Intuitive Eating Meeting 2

2007-10-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

This was the group that met tonight and discussed chapter 9.

This meeting went well - it started out on completely different topics and I wondered if we'd ever get around to discussing the chapter - Feel Your Fullness. We did and it seemed that everyone had a lot of good things to say. I know it helped me to refocus and try hard to listen to my body and stop when I should. M even suggested, getting up and going to the bathroom to be sure that you take that "time out" or break from eating - to check in away from the food and away from the conversation. There was a discussion about wasting food and how we have been taught to clean our plates etc. The principle of permission came up. When we give ourselves permission to eat anything or to allow ourselves to come back to the food later if we want, we really can stop eating. I have read this chapter probably three times and I still have a really hard time with it. I started taking this IE thing seriously back in May and I'm sure I have only gained weight and not lost any. I know I have made progress in other ways - like making peace with different kinds of food and learning from my experiences. These meetings really help me. Meeting with J also really helps me - I haven't seen her for three weeks and I can feel it. I'm seeing her tomorrow - thank goodness. It is always nice to have someone to talk to about these things - someone who knows, who gets it.

Positive Eating Experience #4 - or was it?

2007-10-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

Monday night I was at dinner with S and we both ordered the salad and one slice of pizza deal. I ate both and still felt hungry - now because I am an intuitie eater, I thought I should order another slice of pizza so I did. It was soooooo good. I ate the whole thing and surpassed my fullness level and felt sick after. Should I have waited a bit before ordering the second piece of pizza or should I have simply stopped midway throgh the second piece? This IE thing is really hard.

Positive Eating Experience #3

2007-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

I got home from work and wasn’t too hungry. I waited for an half an hour and then realized that I was hungry so I opened my pantry and realized that I did not want anything in there – candybars, chips, chocolate, cheezits etc. so I opened the fridge and looked at the fruit I had – I actually wanted to eat an apple so I ate an apple with caramel dip.

Intuitive Eating Club

2007-10-17T07:57:00.001-07:00

We will have meeting #2 on Thursday, October 25th - same time same place. Email me at katy_knight@mac.com if you want to know what the time and place were for meeting #1. Anyone is invited - you just have to be open to IE ideas - no dieters please. We will be discussing chapter 9 - Feel Your Fulness.

Positive Eating Experience #2

2007-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday for lunch I had a tuna fish sandwich, doritos and raspberries. I can actually say that I wanted to eat those things - normally I'd just go get a J dawg. Maybe I'll get a J dawg for lunch today - that sounds good.

Positive eating experience #1

2007-10-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

J wants me to stop focusing on the negative eating experiences and write down all my positive eating experiences. I told her that I feel like I'm at a stand still but then I guess I feel that way cause I'm not losing weight. This activity might help me realize that I'm making progress just not in the way I expect or hope to. So I will share all these positive experiences with anyone who reads my blog.

I went to dinner with Ann Dee and K. We decided that each of us would pick a yummy appetizer and we'd all share and then we'd get dessert as well. It was so darn fun to taste everyone else's food and not be so obsessed with whichever one I chose. I stopped when I was full and didn't overeat. I know if we hadn't shared, I would have eaten much more. I was satisfied and happy. Chalk that one up for sure.

Recipes Please

2007-10-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to try something new ... once a week I will cook. For real - I want to try new things. I need recipes though. Please be so kind and email me: katy_knight@mac.com with yummy, relatively easy recipes. I'm not so concerned about healthy recipes, just delicious ones. If you don't mind sharing them with lots of people, just post them in a comment.

Thanks - seriously. I know some people like to keep their very best recipes secret but come on, this is for a good cause.

IE Meeting #1 - Respect Your Body

2007-09-30T20:54:00.001-07:00

The meeting went well. I brought cheese fries and onion rings from the Training Table. M brought chicken tacos from Del Taco, M brought vanilla oreos, and Ann Dee brought chocolate milk and spinach dip. The four of us sat around and talked about body image - chapter 12. It was emotional for some (ok just me) but nonetheless it was therapeutic. Next month we'll discuss the "feel your fullness" chapter.

Yahoo Group posting

2007-09-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

I am a member of an Intuitive Eating yahoo group. They are very active and I seldom post anything but enjoy reading everyone else's posts. Today someone posted something that I could totally relate to so I responded. Here is the original post and my response

ORIGINAL POST:
Well, I've been embracing Intuitive Eating for about two months, and have been making my peace with cookie dough, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, potato chips, salty nuts, bleu cheese dressing, Chinese spareribs, Fritos, and Nutella. I've been trying to stay positive about the process I am in, and mostly it's been working. But today when I went to buy new fall clothes myweight gain was undeniable. I have gone up TWO pants sizes. It's hard not to be depressed over this, and hard to go shopping when my selection of clothing is that much more limited. I'm trying not to let it get me down, but I could use some encouragement.

thanks,
Lena

MY RESPONSE:
I have had almost the exact same experience. After about four months of making peace with food, I planned a shopping trip with my friends for my birthday. I was so upset to find that I had also gone up in size. My whole life I have told myself that I would never let myself gain enough weight that I had to shop at the "plus size" stores. I have gotten close before and that is when I would start a new diet and lose some weight. This time I bit my lip and walked in those stores and I was so pleased to find many clothes that FIT and LOOKED GOOD. Now when I get ready in the morning, I am actually excited to get dressed. I am still discouraged that I am gaining weight but I know that making peace with food is a necessary process. I remind myself often that I have dieted and over eaten my whole life - I can't expect to learn this new way to eat in just a few months. Because it might take years, I have to accept myself and RESPECT my body. This is easier to say than to do. Good luck and thanks for your post - I can totally relate.

Katy

Hunger/Fullness Chart

2007-09-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

I am now going to promise that I will post on this blog at LEAST once a week. Please keep reading. Now I'm doing this for me and not for you but knowing someone is counting on my posts will give me motivation.

So awhile back I posted about eating every time you are hungry - honor your hunger. This is all true and good but I forgot that I should wait until I actually was hungry. I'll explain later ...

In the book on page 72 and page 127 is a chart for tracking your hunger and fullness. J gave me a more descriptive chart and then told me to create my own with my own descriptions of each level. Here they are:

J's chart:

My chart:

Ideally you should eat when you are at a 3 and finish when you are at a 7. I tend to stop at a 7.5 and sometimes an 8. Stopping at an 8 is ok - REMEMBER this is a learning experience!!!

A lot of times people skip breakfast and then don't eat a mid-morning snack so by the time they eat lunch they are at a 2 and they stop eating lunch when they are at an 8. Or they will eat a light lunch - still not getting to a healthy fullmess level and then are at a 2 again before they eat dinner. This is a hard habit to change. J had me chart my hunger and fullness for a week - I also wrote down what emotion I was experiencing as I ate. The pattern I found was that if I ate at a 2, I would stop when I was at an 8. But if I ate at 3, I could stop at a 7. This was very enlightening. So I figured out that I should not let myself get to a 2 - no problem. That led to my next problem ...

I've been eating before I get hungry - like I thought I could talk myself into it when I was at a four or a five. I was looking at the clock and deciding I should be hungry so I'd eat. Let me tell you that if you eat when you are not hungry it is really hard to stop when you are full because there is not really a contrasting feeling - do you know what I mean? I was eating at a 4 or even a 5 and then having a hard time knowing when to stop. Here is part of the problem for me: I'll be coming home from work and think - what am I going to have for dinner? Then I'd have to figure out some place to pick up some food on the way home cause I knew I didn't have much at home. Well I wasn't hungry but I didn't want to go home and then have to go out again. It finally occured to me that I should go to the grocery store and buy food to prepare for when I was hungry. It is so key to have good food on hand so you will have something you want to eat WHEN you are hungry. So I know now I should WAIT until I am at a 3 to eat.

You only learn these things by experience - I can't stress that enough. Keep at it - who's in for the meeting? We're going to read the chapter on respecting your body (chapter 12)

First Meeting

2007-09-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so we are going to plan the first meeting. So far it is just me and Ann Dee and C Jane - the three of us will have a great time. Dan you can come if you don't fart. If you don't want to comment that you are interested, email me at katy_knight@mac.com and we'll get you the details. I'm thinking Thursday, September 27th or Saturday September 29th. I'd like to talk about the chapter on respecting our bodies or the chapter on honoring hunger because those are the principles I'm working on right now. Any other suggestions? Let me what you think.

Intuitive Eating Club

2007-08-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking ...

I want to start an Intuitive Eating club. We'll meet once a month and have a great meal and then discuss one of the chapters in the book. Becoming an intutive eater is hard and I could use as much support as possible. Who's in? I could even record the discussions and start a podcast from our meetings so anyone who cannot attend can at least hear the discussion. I got the idea from ieating.net - the lady that started that site has a Intuitive Eating peer group in Los Angeles. I'll get it going iif enough people are seriously interested. Let me know.

Honor your hunger

2007-08-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for awhile - it might mean that I've been struggling with Intuitive Eating or maybe it doesn't mean that at all.

Lets just say I need to post more often!

Anyway, HONOR YOUR HUNGER (Chapter 6, principle 2) ---
Although you should eat only when you are hungry, you should "honor your hunger" and eat every time your body tells you to. It's all about how you feel - if your stomach is sending signals that it is hungry then your body must need energy so HONOR YOUR HUNGER and eat. If you let yourself get too hungry you are in danger of over eating. I'll talk about the hunger and fullness chart in another post. Don't you know people who eat all day long but they never eat too much? Aren't they also skinny? I think they are intutive eaters.

This concept takes planning cause you always have to have snacks available. I usually over eat at dinner because I haven't eaten anything since lunch and that was like 5 or 6 hours ago.

Now that I'm trying to become an intutive eater, I've made a conscious effort to have a snack around 3:00 or 4:00 so I'm not starving for dinner. It helps.

I also take snacks to church and will eat cheezits or fruit snacks during Sunday School. I feel a little bit like a baby - maybe I should pack baggies of cheerios. Doesn't this make sense because kids are intutive eaters and if they need a snack mid morning or mid afternoon, then wouldn't we as adults?

I've also started to eat breakfast first thing in the morning before I do anything else. This has helped because I'm not rushed and I'm honoring my hunger.

Charley Horse - what do I do?

2007-08-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up in the middle of the night with a Charley Horse. I get them every so often and it always wakes me up and I have to stretch and rub out my calf. I hate getting woken up from a great sleep with pain like that. Is this part of Intuitive Eating? Is my body telling me something? I've always heard I need more potassium - eat bananas. But ... I don't really like bananas and they go bad so quickly. Any ideas? I want to be intuitive and give my body what it needs.

Gyosa - my birthday eve dinner

2007-08-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

It was a struggle ... Here's how it went down:

We were planning to have gyosa (a family favorite food for years) the night before my birthday. I was worried. Kristi, who had been claiming that she has been eating intuitively said, "I'm not going to eat gyosa intuitively." This sacred me. I started to wonder if I could eat gyosa intuitively.

In the book, they classify this type of eating as "once in a lifetime" or "one last shot" (pg 80). Because this is such a traditional, family favorite meal and because we don't have it often, we all seem to have the need to finish every bite.

I had a plan - variety. Lets have 2 or 3 other things to eat at the same time so we don't all scarf the gyosa batch by batch. Once I got to Karen's house I thought of something else we could do to make the eating experience more enjoyable - and encourage intuitive eating. My idea: set the table, sit down and have all the food on the table. This doesn't happen much - especially when eating gyosa. There was some resistance but I used the excuse, "this is my birthday dinner". After all my demands, we finally all sat down at the table and ate intuitively. We had a great discussion during dinner about intuitive eating and I think it made more sense about why I insisted that we sit and eat together and have options available. I explained the hunger and fullnes scale and everyone seemed to get into it.

Mr. Baby always eats intuitively.

I felt good emotionally after the dinner as well - which J said I can use as a gauge as to whether or not I over ate.

Ah ... success. We'll see if I can do it again tomorrow on my 31st!

Why do I over eat?

2007-08-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

J is helping me realize that I overeat for many reasons. In the past I would just overeat and feel bad, sick and guilty and not care why I did it. I would just eat more- it was a destructive cycle. I honestly thought that I simply really like food and I have no self control or willpower. Since I've been trying to eat intuitively, my binging has gone from every night to once or twice a week. I admit, I feel a little bit guilty for that once or twice a week binge.

The book tells me to lose the guilt and to be nice to myself and learn from these experiences.

From page 31: "It's important to be kind to yourself and appreciate the learning that comes out of the experience. This process involves coming from a place of curiosity rather than a place of judgment, so whatever you do, don't beat yourself up mentally!"

From page 32: "As with any process, it's important to stay focused in the present, and grow from the many experiences you will encounter. If, however, you focus on the end result (which for most people is the amount of pounds lost), it can make you feel overwhelmed and discouraged and end up sabotaging the process. Instead, if you acknowledge small changes along the way and value the learning experiences (which can be frustrating), it will help you stay on the Intuitive Eating path and move forward."

Ok so now that I'm not going to beat myself up for overeating, lets look at why I do it.

1. EMOTIONS - way too big of a topic to discuss here (more will follow, I promise). I will say that this is the main reason I overeat and now I am conscious of it so I'm doing better.
2. "One Last Shot" (pg.80) - I eat out a lot but every Sunday I eat dinner at my brother's house and his wife is the best darn cook - I know I won't have food that good again until next Sunday so I keep eating.
3. People make fun of me and my new approach to eating. This one was hard to figure out - J helped me here. I felt dumb when I was around people that poked fun at Intuitive Eating so I started joking about it too and eating more and exclaiming, "I can eat this, I can eat whatever I want. I'm being intuitive." In reality I was already full and didn't actually want anything more to eat. PLEASE DON'T TEASE PEOPLE ABOUT EATING ISSUES. I mean even if they are still in the dieting mode, I can see the same thing happening. I could also try not telling people about my new approach to eating ... Lets face it, that is impossible for me - I started a blog about it. Come on.
4. Rebellion - I want to prove to myself that I am in control of my life not someone else telling me what to eat. This is actually part of #1 above (emotions).
4. Food lacked the satisfaction factor (Chapter 10, principle 6). This one happened to me awhile ago. I ate dinner - it was fine, not particularly good but I checked in with my fullness and I was done so I stopped. About an hour later, I was dying for something more tasty and when I finally decided what I wanted, I couldn't stop.
5. I let myself get too hungry (Chapter 6, principle 2).

I NEVER feel good (physically or emotionally) after I overeat, if I'm honest with myself. And because my new goal is NOT weight loss but feeling good, it makes no sense for me to overeat anymore.

From page 33: "You'll find that your body feels so much better when your stomach isn't overfilled, when your muscles are toned and your heart is fit. If you focus on how you feel as the goal, rather than on weight loss, you'll find, ironically, that you can't help but lose weight."

From page 30: "Intuitive Eating depends on ... how willing you are to make weight loss a secondary goal and learning to become an Intuitive Eater the primary goal"

Make peace with food

2007-07-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

Chapter 7, principle 3:
My first meeting with J, she had me read this chapter. Making peace with food was going to be easy, I thought. J had me make a list of my "challenge" foods or at least the snacks that I've been craving. I did this and when I showed J my list, she made me add to it. What about candybars? What about chocolate pudding? What about hostess cupcakes? Then she told me to go out and buy all this stuff - so I did. I have to admit I was a little embarassed as I was checking out at Smiths - but then I didn't really care what the check out lady thought anyway. J also told me to order multiple sides when going out to eat - variety is key. Order more than I know I can finish so I can get used to "not cleaning my plate". Don't worry about waste, don't worry about money. Focus on the taste - only eat what I really want to and don't eat anything I don't want to.

It works - I swear. I still have lots of frozen treats in my freezer and "junk" (J would be mad at me for calling it that) food in my pantry. I may be eating foods that aren't "good for me" but I'm eating a lot less. For example, today I've eaten one Ego waffle with butter and syrup, 2 pieces of pizza, a cupcake and left over Thai food. After the Thai food, I wasn't satisfied so I dished up a bowl of ice cream and ate only half of it. Never before have I ever stopped half way through a bowl of ice cream. Because I know I'm never going to diet again and ice cream is never going to be off limits, I could stop.

WARNING: You must experience these things. From page 87: "The only way you will come to believe that you will be able to stop eating is to go through the food experience, to actually eat. This is not about knowledge of food, but rather rebuilding experiences with eating. You cannot have an eating experience through knowledge; rather, you need to go through it, bite by bite,"

Making peace with food is not as easy as I thought but I am learning by doing - Hmmm that reminds me of John 7:17.

To weigh or not to weigh

2007-07-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

To weigh: Weight Watchers does - every week. If you are a lifetime member you have to stay within a small range of your goal weight to remain a lifetime member. I used to weight myself everyday... naked. I was obsessed. If I was dieting, I'd watch the scale go down if I was not dieting I'd watch the scale go up. I used to call Rachel every Wednesday night after my weigh in and report. We bonded over my weight watchers experience.

Not to weigh: Intuitive Eating says to lose the scale. I threw mine away. I'm committed to becoming an Intuitive Eater but I have a few relapses. Last week at the gym I weighed myself - the scale was right there in front of me and I let my curiosity get the best of me. I was exactly what I thought I was - what I was when I last weighed myself two months ago.

This morning I woke up feeling trim - well at least not fat. I've been trying to eat intuitively for awhile now and I'm starting to catch on. I wanted to weight myself to see if I really am losing weight. NO! Respect your body - reject the diet mentality. If I weighed and I had lost weight, I'd start to become obsessed with the scale again. If I weighed and I hadn't lost weight then I'd be sad and the happy good feeling I woke up with would be gone. It's all about how you feel.

Rejecting the diet mentality will take sometime - they say that breaking up is hard to do. Will I ever step on the scale again?
Probably

Here goes ...

2007-07-27T20:53:00.001-07:00

So maybe I'll start a blog about trying to eat intuitively. I'm supposed to trust myself, listen to my body and eat whatever and whenever I want to. Reject the diet mentality.

The book: Eat when you are hungry and stop when your full.
Me: No duh sherlock
Me after trying: Help

(I stole the above formatting style from my little sister's book, "This is What I Did:"- buy it and read it, you won't be sorry)

Here is what I've done so far ...

1. I've Read the Book - converted, didn't even have to pray about it
2. Live the book? - nope, but I hired someone to help me with this one ... more posts to follow on this