Success With No Diet/Intuititive Eating Requires a Series of Decisions

Something struck me this morning as I was driving around doing some errands that needed to be done. That I was thinking about No Diet rather than where I was going might account for why I forgot to drop the dry cleaning at the dry cleaners -- but well--that's another story.

What struck me is that the process of eating when hungry and stopping when satisfied really breaks down into a series of decisions which either make it easier to wait for hunger and stop at satisfaction or make it more difficult.

For me, stopping at satisfaction is way easier if I order small portions in restaurants or put small portions on my plate. It isn't about the portion I eat...or limiting the quantity that I do eat. What it is about is making it easy to stop when I am satisfied.

I'm in a little bit of a unique situation in that I lost nearly a hundred pounds with my first attempt at ND. The weight loss took about 5 years and was maintained for awhile after the weight loss stopped. Then there were 3 years of absolute chaos with food (and everything else in life)...and I gained back about 85 of the hundred or so pounds I lost. So though I have just returned to ND I am returning with a bit of a headstart because I have the knowledge and insights that I gained while doing the 5 years that were successful.

Somewhere in the middle of the first appraoch...I became aware that though I believe in stopping when satisfied it was hard for me to do it under certain circumstances. For example, if I'd ordered a large sandwich. as opposed to the small one, at a restaurant it was hard for me to stop eating and leave a portion of it on my plate when I reached satisfaction.

My thinking at some point changed. I became less worried about not having enough to eat and more worried about having too much to eat.

At this point I am again in the place where I am more worried about enough than too much...but I also realize that I make it easier to stop eating at satisfaction if I pave the way for that decision by choosing smaller portions to begin with.

There are some things that one can do which make it easier to stop at satisfaction.

• Order small portions at restaurants. Order dessert if you need more food to reach satisfaction.
• Purchase smaller packages and quantities of things when grocery shopping. This will pave the way to preparing smaller portions which will pave the way to putting less on your plate.
• Serve yourself smaller portions. Put less on your plate than you think you will need. You can always get another portion if you are still hungry...but as you begin listening to hunger and satisfaction you will find that you require less food. Not facing the question of wasting food by throwing it away versus wasting it by consuming it will cease to even come up.
• At buffets, be selective. Choose small portions of the 3 or 4 things that look the best. Eat those. If you need more food choose small portions of some other items or more of your favorites.
• Pay attention to the emotions associated with food. If you are having problems stopping at satisfaction with certain foods ask yourself what those foods represent emotionally. Sometimes just understanding what emotions are tied to a particular food and why it is coonected will diminish the attraction of that particular food.
• Lay expectations with friends and family. Let friends and family know that you are working on your relationship with food and that the particular approach you have chosen to follow requires that you eat when hungry and stop when satisfied. Let them know that you are working on guaging your hunger and how much food you need at any given time. Let them know that there will be times when you will judge incorrectly and have either too much or not enough. If they know the issue may present itself it will be less of an issue when it does and you will feel much more empowered to stop when you are satisfied.

It's really all about paving the way to good decisions about food.