Week 4, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

I would say this has been a good week.  I'm feeling much more in touch with myself, in terms of my hunger and emotions.  I've been trying really hard to focus on my hunger and satiety this week, and it's worked!  I've definitely eaten less this week, and when I've had the feelings of 'I just want to eat' I have managed to put them aside and distract myself with other things until I am actually hungry, which for me, is a pretty big deal!

I've had all the so called 'bad foods' that I tried to avoid before, but just in smaller quantities than I may have indulged in previously, and for instance last night got thai takeaways for dinner only to find I didn't need much of it to feel satisfied, so put the rest in the fridge and finished it for lunch today, when before I would have eaten it all, just because it was there. 

I'm feeling a lot more positive about the process, just hoping I can really stay on track and watch the weight fall off!

This week, I have lost another 600g :-) I'm now 76.9kg

Lilly

I am really beginning to feel free. I am not perfect in following the 3 principles, but I no longer beat myself up; my success each day does not rely on an accounting of how ‘good’ I was and how hard I worked out. It’s actually been 3 weeks since I participated in structured exercise, 3 weeks since I monitored my every choice regarding food. It is lovely to simply realise you are hungry and simply eat something delicious.

Regarding my emotional eating, I am beginning a new process this week. I have heard some wonderful things said about how new lives, new opportunities and great joy involve a great deal of risk and faith. Right now, I can only see one step in front of me. It’s a challenge for such a control freak, and I sometimes turn to food to feel that sense of control. It’s like having a best friend. She says she knows what I need. She’s been so embracing, warm and comfortable, but now she holds me back. She’s fearful and doesn’t want me to change. 

 

This week, I am saying goodbye to my destructive best friend: my ‘fat chick’ alter ego. She needs to move out.

I've just moved, and haven't had access to any scales this week... So it will be interesting to see what my results are next week. 

Week 3, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle:

This week I was sent a copy of 'Shift Your Mindset' by Lysa and Gina, and I do think it has helped to get me back on track.  Although I definitely cannot honestly say I have trusted my instincts all the time in terms of eating my this week, it has been a definite improvement from last week.

I find that I am catching myself out sometimes - like I will be walking to the cupboard for a second or third biscuit and suddenly hear in my head 'Hey, I'm not hungry anymore - I should just have it later when I am hungry'.  Although this hasn't worked to deter me from the fridge every time, it has worked more of the time than it usually does!  So this is progress! I think I have become much better at only eating when I am hungry, it's the stopping when I'm satisfied that has become more of an issue!  I'm still struggling to see that whatever food is in front of me is not going anywhere, and I could have it later, but I am definitely acknowledging the fact now, and saying this to myself so that I can at least resist for awhile longer than usual!  

The next few weeks will be interesting - university has finished for the semester and I won't be in the usual routine while studying for exams, so I'm hoping I don't fall into old habits and don't think of food as a distraction / procrastination technique!  I'm going to work really hard to focus on stopping when I am full, and maintaining the smaller portion sizes because I do think that this really helps me psychologically.  I've never really been one for seconds but finishing what is on my plate (when my eyes were always too big for my stomach) left me stuffing myself to the brim.  

This week, I am pleased to announce that I have lost another 300g - so I am down to 77.5.  Not a big loss, but a loss all the same!

Lilly:

The 3 principles are simple and straightforward but they require a massive shift in thinking. I realised this during the week that I’d left dieting behind when 2 friends wanted to tell me how many calories they had consumed that day and my reaction was to stare at them as if they were crazy.

However, it became evident to me there are two mental aspects still holding me back. What’s with my emotional attachment to the scale? And why do I still willingly choose to overeat or justify food, especially junk food, when I’m not feeling like it? 

Deep down, I’ve forgotten reality. I’ve adopted a ‘greediness’ approach to life without a job, but it doesn’t make sense. How does eating more now help me for later, when I’m hungry and have no food? It means I spend more money purchasing food. I’m no Einstein but that seems illogical. 

However, on a pleasing note, this week as ‘weigh day’ approached I noticed that the numbers didn’t matter to me anymore. That felt very liberating.

One down, one to go. 

103

Week 2, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

This week has been a trying week - for some reason I still can't get my head around only eating when I'm hungry!  I have a  terrible fear of missing out when it comes to food, no matter whether I am hungry, or have already eaten enough in that particular sitting, I find it extremely difficult to say 'no'. 

This week I have been trying to go a little smaller in my portion sizes, because I know I often struggle to finish my meals - my eyes are constantly bigger than my stomach but just can't seem to leave anything on my plate!  I figure at least this way, if I have less on my plate and can't leave anything, it's better than having a larger meal to try to complete!  I have discovered that I don't tend to be hungry in the mornings - so don't really have breakfast unless it's a small snack. I can wait until mid-morning quite easily so am really trying to focus on obeying my body.

Unfortunately, this week my weight has stayed the same (but at least it didn't go up!) but at least I know where I have gone wrong.  STOP emotional eating!  My new mantra has to be - (insert food item I am craving here) is not going anywhere if you don't eat it right now!  I am not hungry that often, so I need to pay attention and listen to my body in all it's glory.

Looking forward to re-focussing this week and paying attention to my body!

Weight: 77.8kg

  

Lilly

This week was quite difficult and I felt as if I completely lost my connection to myself and food. Suddenly hunger and satiety were foreign to me. I was placed in unfamiliar situations and I found myself giving in to old habits. Sometimes I am amazed at how I can just mindlessly give up responsibility for my choices. My first excuse for overeating was that the blog was making my journey public and thus putting pressure on me. Second excuse? I’m sick. I need to eat all these things to help fight off the cold. I feel so bad, I can’t even tell if I’m hungry. 

Why do I lie to myself? Basically, my issue was, and always is that I don’t trust myself and I don’t trust the world or God to help me in difficult situations. Yet, the truth is, and I have seen it happen before, we are all given to know exactly what to do and when to do it. As it is always repeated to me: you need to let go. This week will be about trusting myself and God (the universe, if you prefer) completely.

Weight: 103.5

Intuitive Eating Challenge for Guest Bloggers Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

My first big realisation of this week is that I am a chronic emotional eater.  I always have to eat everything on my plate, always have eyes bigger than my stomach and eat at times I’m just not hungry, but ‘want’ food.  I push myself to the feeling of uncomfortably full, instead of stopping when I’ve had enough – it’s like I feel as though I will be missing out if I don’t eat it now.

This week I have been focussing on only eating when I am hungry, however this hasn’t always worked to plan.  The most difficult times I found were family meal times - it's hard when you're sitting around the table for dinner to say, 'No thanks, I'm not hungry!'

I’m often thinking that I ‘might get hungry later’, however I need to learn that being hungry for a couple of hours isn’t the worst thing in the world.  On the upside, this week I have been eating what I like, instead of trying to be good, which has been nice! Although the Burger King I had for dinner on Saturday night made me feel pretty vile, so I won’t be having that again in a hurry!  It’s nice to begin to understand what makes me feel good and what makes me feel rubbish, so I need to make note of these things and not put myself through it again!  Onwards and upwards, looking forward to next week!

My start weight at the beginning of this week was 78.2kg and today is 77.8kg - 400g loss.

Lilly in London

Since moving to the UK, I haven’t been surrounded by food in the same way I was in Sydney. I live with other young people instead of family now so the fridge usually borders on empty. I don’t know where all the great places are to eat and there’s a definite lack of variety here and I’m not working, so there’s no scheduled food breaks where I feel obliged to eat.

Hunger seems to be this annoying little knock to my brain. I tend to be a very cerebral person, judging hunger from the time, the distance since my last meal and the deliciousness potential of the food. But here, I’m getting the ravenous feeling. Last night was wonderful. I ate a creamy pasta, garlic bread, a chocolate sundae and a hot chocolate. And yet this morning, I’m ravenous again! Eating when I’m hungry has been interesting; I’ve found my body to be very demanding. All this because I am letting it call the shots and not me!

It’s been a perfect time to experiment with what my body is telling me. And I’ve been noticing that I am hungry, it seems, ALL THE TIME. I wake up hungry. I eat breakfast. I start to job hunt and before I know it, the distracting emptiness is in my stomach again. I have lunch and then suddenly it seems I need something again. And sometimes I even feel hungry going to bed. I haven’t always been able to obey my hunger- in that I’ve gone home first to eat due to cost, but I don’t remember being this hungry in Sydney. I guess food was in my face there, and I was not listening to my body.

My start weight at the beginning of this week was 104kg and today is 103.5kg - 500g loss.