Sheryl, thank you for these helpful words. In hopes to overcome by bulimarexia, i turned to paleo because it makes the most sense in the world to me. i do need support though, or sometimes i lose my footing and question myself and decisions. thanks again. sheena Sheryl wrote: >>I don't know how well my experience translates to others, but I will share >>it >in case it's of use to somebody. I have struggled with my weight my whole >life. I'm not very overweight--just a moderate amount. My weight goes up >and down, but usually averages out to about 142. I'm 5'6" (actually, 5' >5-1/2"). At 142 I'm about 28-30% body fat and look a little chunky. The >lowest I've been is 128. That is a perfect weight for me--I looked great. >I >was probably 22% body fat at that weight. The last time I weighed myself I >was about 148-149 and 32% body fat. The most I've ever weighed is >157--that >was almost 20 years ago. The most I've weighed recently was 152, about 4 >years ago. Until about a year ago I'd stabilized at about 137. I gained >10-12 pounds after going on a restrictive diet to cure my >colitus--restrictive diets cause me to overeat in response to the >restriction. > >I've found I gain weight for two reasons (1) low blood sugar, or (2) eating >when I'm not hungry (defined as "compulsive eating"). Low blood sugar >causes >me to overeat because it makes me feel ravenous, and I will eat more than >my >body needs just to raise my blood sugar. The paleo diet has just about >eliminated this problem. My blood sugar is rock solid. I no longer have >to >eat every 2-3 hours. What freedom!! > >I'm currently working on the compulsive eating problem--eating because I'm >bored, nervous, lonely, scared, the food tastes good, the food is in front >of >me, I haven't cleaned my plate, I want to avoid work, etc. There is also >an >issue about ambivalence in being thin--you'd be surprised at how often this >is an issue for women in Western culture. There is a part of us that >rebels >at being put in the sex object box--that we're not okay unless we're thin. >Sometimes it feels safer to have some fat on you. If you think about it, >you >may find this is true for you, too. > >If we become used to eating for reasons other than physical hunger, we can >lose touch with our body's hunger signals. Eating in response to physical >hunger actually can become a little tricky. Also, we need to learn new >coping mechanisms for the emotions that we calmed in the past by eating. >And >we need to look at our ambivalence about being thin. Have you ever had the >experience of losing weight without really thinking about it, stepping on >the >scale and noticing the loss, and then instantly gaining it back? This has >happened to me many times, and it's due to ambivalence about being thin. >Maybe this is what happened to you when you regained the 6 pounds. > >I believe that we would be much better off if we focussed on learning to >respond to our body's needs for food in an appropriate way, versus trying >to >lose weight. There is nothing inherently wrong with carrying some extra >fat. > Big deal!! In some cultures and in some times, it was considered >beautiful. > Also, medical science is now realizing that the link between fat and poor >health is not causal--they are correlated only because fat people tend not >to >exercise. But you can be fat AND fit, and then (unless you are extremely >obese), there are no health implications to carrying the extra fat. This >is >Western prejudice! Forget about it!! > >In any case, for me, trying to lose weight never works. If I'm hating my >body and feeling ugly and fat, it just makes me want to eat more. If I >tell >myself I'm fine now and I'm just going to learn to respond to my body's >physical needs, my eating habits calm down. The nervous eating goes away, >and my body starts to return to its natural weight without any effort on my >part. > >Some people will tell you that you're gaining weight because you're >snacking >on nuts, fruit, and pork rinds. These are calorie dense foods, but I don't >think there is anything wrong with eating these foods or any foods. If you >are listening to your body and only eating in response to physical hunger, >eating these foods will not cause you to gain weight. Your body will tell >you what it needs, but sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the true >biological hunger signals, and the "emotional hunger" that has been driving >us for so many years. It CAN be done, however. I've been doing much >better >with it. I don't know whether I'm losing weight because stepping on the >scale is bad for me--it puts me right back in the "bad body" frame of mind, >focussing on weight loss rather than "good self-feeding"--but I imagine I >am. > I haven't been eating very much. > >I very much believe in body wisdom--our biology will lead us to want what >we >need. But to hear this inner voice, we have to quiet the other noise in >our >heads. External rules about what to eat and when can be very destructive >when they lead to feelings of deprivation. That's why I'm only 90% paleo. >I >cheat without guilt now and then, because otherwise I feel deprived. But >most days I'm 100% paleo because I choose to be--it makes me feel good. >The >wonderful affect on my blood sugar is not lost on me, so I'm motivated to >keep eating this way. Also, my bowels are in terrific shape--I have not >been >this healthy since I first was diagnosed with ulcerative colitus 20 years >ago. It's very easy to follow a diet out of choice--because it makes me >feel >good--versus because I think I'm fat and ugly and need to lose weight. > > - Sheryl _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp