Intuitive Eating and Self Control

I have begun reading Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I've read so many healthy, sugar free and diet books and never had so much apply to me. I definitely do the Last Supper thing where I eat a large quantity of something I'll "never eat again" and then give in later anyway. My weight is increasing with every diet and restriction regime and honestly I've reached "diet bottom."

Although my most worrying thing for me was my cravings. It seemed I just wanted to eat junk all the time without stopping and the more I restrict the worse it becomes. The nutritionist I visited Jenna Farmer of A Balanced Belly made me realise I eat erratically. She suggested eating more meals and like my PT said, "little and often." This terrified me because I'm used to following the rules of the  slimming club I attended where you eat a certain amount and if you go over that you get nothing. There were free foods but to be honest I was too busy going over that I didn't notice. The cravings were strong. My PT also suggested more water which has worked so well.

Back to Intuitive Eating, I haven't finished the book yet. Hopefully there's a happy ending (I'm kidding.) Seriously though I'm having a little trouble, mainly because...I just don't trust myself. Principle 3 is the one I'm having trouble with. "Make Peace With Food." They say the key is (and I haven't finished the book so don't know what else will come) "eating what you really want. Yes what you want." page 83.

"Making peace with food means allowing all foods into your eating world." page 84

I have a real problem because to me some foods are just bad and my testimony is how I look now. I feel if I'd stayed away from these foods none of this would have happened. I'm not giving myself time to adjust, I'm flustered and agitated and all because of a bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps. Besides I know the philosophy is that you need to stop caring so much about your weight and embrace your body but I'm finding that hard too. I'll finish the book and I'll have a better idea but I still want to persevere because I've had enough of being hungry all the time or craving food that seems so appealing but in reality doesn't even taste as great as I imagined. So that's one thing that the book said. I see that the food is mainly appealing because it's forbidden.

Another problem I have is that maybe the idea shouldn't be about self control. It's about getting back in tune with your body and listening for hunger cues. I'm so used to finishing what's in front of me that I find it hard to know when I'm satisfied. Maybe it's about having patience and trusting the book but it's difficult when it goes against everything I've ever been taught about food ever.

The good thing is that rediscovering foods has meant my cravings have gone down. I'm no longer forced into eating certain foods. I feel calmer and more centred. So I'm going to persevere, drink more water and eat more meals (snacks.) I'll let you know how it goes.