Goodbye Hunger! I eat what I want & lose!

I've been overweight all my life. Have, of course, tried every diet under the sun. When I was younger I really went through them - diet after diet after diet. Eventually realized that NO "diet" was going to fix my problem. I've read more books on dieting, exercise, motivation, goal setting, etc than you can imagine. Still wasn't fixing the problem. Have been in therapy for years for my clinical depression (which I hate to mention 'cause I'm actually a very happy person) but even that wasn't addressing the issue. I read a book a few years back (whose title I can't remember) that had a novel concept: to be healthy you can eat ANYTHING you want. Period. There are NO bad foods. You want ice cream? Eat it. You want a Snickers? Eat it. There are only 2 rules. 1) Eat only when truly hungry, and 2) Stop when full. Now this is, of course, harder than it sounds. It requires listening to your body and I've never done that. I've always been an emotional eater and so waiting for my body to say it was HUNGRY wasn't an option - I had to eat because I was sad, or angry, or bored, or whatever. And stopping when full? Define full. I stopped when the food was gone. My incredibly LARGE portion. And maybe found dessert too. Full = pain. So I tossed that book aside as useless.

Until... Just recently I started thinking about that book again for some reason. And wondered if maybe I was mature enough to start listening to my body. Having given everything else a try, I thought Why Not? So now before I put anything in my mouth I think "Am I hungry?" I have realized that I've probably only been TRULY hungry a handful of times in my life. I never allowed myself to get to the physical hunger point. O I've been "hungry" constantly! Emotionally hungry. Trying to fill some internal void with food - but not physically hunger. The kind of hunger where you feel a bit hollow and maybe even hear your stomach rumble. Don't get me wrong - I don't wait til I'm "starving". I'm diabetic and have to eat at least every 4 hours or I get all kinds of physical "wake-up calls" like a headache, nausea, and severe irritability. But still, I have to have at least some level of hunger before I allow myself to eat. This is EYE OPENING!! The number of times a day I reach for food out of habit, emotion, or just because the clock says it's time to eat is SHOCKING! I had no idea.

Then there's that other catch - stopping when full. I don't trust my body yet to tell me when I'm full. And there's some science there too. I've read a few articles that say when a person has stretched their stomach to the point of obesity, their internal "fullness" alarm is stretched as well. To the point that we can't necessarily feel "full" until in pain. There's also the fact that I'm an INSANELY FAST eater. That's another problem on feeling full because it takes about 15-20 mins for that fullness "alarm" to send a signal to your brain that you're full. If you eat as fast as I do, you've consumed a LOT of food in that 15 mins.

So how to tell that I'm full? I decided to try something radical. I use the portion size that's listed on the container. The few times I've ever looked at what a "portion" was I scoffed "Pfft! What adult human being could live on THAT??" Turns out I can. Because here's the other radical notion that has hit me. I am not living in a concentration camp! I know that's a big "DUH!" but let me explain. All my adult life I've approached each meal as though it was the ONLY meal I would have that day. I consumed enough calories at each setting to "last me" - as though I was in a concentration camp and had to hoard food. So when I look at those "tiny" portions that are listed on the food containers I keep in mind that... (drum roll please)... I get to eat again in a few hours! TA-DA!! O sure I'm being factious but just to show the ridiculous way I've thought about food all my life. After 42 years I HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM!!! It wasn't food - it was my attitude about food!

Hopefully some of this has been helpful for you as well. If you are on FaceBook, please look up my group called Healthy Living for more support!

Melinda