Shhhh!

Let's keep that little nugget to ourselves, write a book, infomercial and create a multi-level maketing plan and make a few million! :D

Hi Canary, I'm with you on the right track... real high-quality food, reasonable amounts, eat on time, eat enough, no obsessing, never crave the Halloween candy, never binge anymore. It's great and I know it works because I've been doing tihs for over two decades and I'm "naturally thin" and eating more. Good for you, this is what really works long-term. It's not fast but it works, guaranteed! And with exercise in the mix, it's even better.

Noel

I'm with mecompco: let's market this revolutionary "new" plan!!! And make zillions!!! And maybe we'll be Time magazine's people of the year!!! Move over Mark Zuckerberg!!!!

Noel, I am trying to do this, not quite where you are. Kudos to you!!! I admire it!!! But yesterday as a right step, knowing I would eat dinner out, I just ate sensibly without starving myself earlier in the day, had my Thai food (quite a nice portion thank you very much) had some candy (not silly amounts just enough to be happy:)) and got on the scale this morning and saw I had actually lost weight. Huh? How'd that happen?

Canary, you are listening to your body, allowing your eating to become "body centered," and honoring your hunger. Eat when you get hungry, high quality food, enough (not too little, not too much), variety of foods, and pay attention to your appetite. That's all there is to it. Cravings for pleasure foods diminish over time... I still have a little dark chocolate every day because I love it! Good for you, you are becomming "naturally thin" all by yourself. Best of all, your body controls the weight loss and you feel good every day. It's a little miracle! Noel

Thanks for the kind words and support, Noel. I'm trying. I like a little dark chocolate too; it's a good thing. And good not to be so out of control (not that I don't have my moments.)

Now if only I can get my 16 year old to do this. She is overweight and recently getting heavier. She, like many kids, gorges on junk food. And is an emotional eater on top of this. I worry about her but when I try to bring up her health, she gets very defensive. She is militantly anti diet, possibly because of all she's seen me go through, which is good but going the other way into overindulgence is not. How to find balance for a person in an age group not always known for balance? That is my question. She wants a nose ring. I am almost considering making a deal that if she starts to get in shape I will let her get the nose ring. But I'm not sure bribing is the way. Once she gets it, she could always go back to the bad habits, if she even agrees in the first place. Ideas? How do I get her not on a diet, which I know is a trap but to take better care? I try to offer good foods but she's often out, at school activities or with friends. Sorry I know this is off topic a bit and there's a post on kids but I still wonder if we all struggle so much, what's the answer for the kids? When my DD listens to her body, it apparently says eat all the Halloween chocolate (a lot) in two days.

BYW Noel I'm not totally where you are yet. I still use my Fitday log to plan out my next day roughly so I'll have some guidelines so I'm not totally listening just to my body but I am trying. I used to plan on WW too but just can't live on a points (or Core or whatever) system anymore.

Keep working on it, Canary, it's a process. For your daughter, just by modeling good eating you will influence her, even if you don't think it's working. You might want to read about "the anti-diet," which is what I do, in "How to Become Naturally Thin by Eating More," Jean Antonello (circa 1989), you can get it used on amazon for a few dollars. There is a sequel book, "Naturally Thin Kids" that might be of interest as well. Good luck, it sounds like you are on the right track. If logging your food BEFORE gives you confidence, you can work from there in babysteps toward logging your food AFTER and listening to your body's needs. It's good that you are getting away from restrictive dieting and thinking about being healthier. Being older and healthy is a great blessing and saves lots of money! Noel (still "cute as a bug's ear" even though I'm approaching "older than dirt!")

Bless you, Noel! I actually just went to Amazon and ordered a copy of "How to Become NaturallY Thin" for four bucks. I have been on some diet or other for 38 years. 38 years. Seriously. And if it worked for me, I wouldn't need to keep doing it over and over. I want to eat naturally, to stop being obsessed by food and diet, so I think this is a step in the right direction. And you're right, maybe if I go there, my DD will follow. I would love if she could be free from both extremes: the heartbreak of being overweight and the tyranny of constant dieting.

BTW I had a feeling I wasn't the only one "cuter than a bug's ear" out there!!! LOL!!! As far as being "older than dirt" my Dad used to say that youth was wasted on the young. And as the blues singers often say, there may be snow on the roof but there's still fire burning in the stove.

One last thing: have you heard of Geneen Roth? She's another proponent of the anti-diet movement.

What do you think of me just giving my DD a pillowcase full of chocolate (her obsession) and saying have it? Crazy or could it work?

WW made me have headaches.
 

Yes, I lost 5% of my weight in the beginning and then gained it back. Then I lost it and then got headaches. I was so hungry as well...I'm on the Low Glycemic Index Diet which is working out fantastically for me! I lost 30 pounds and no more cravings! With the diet and some moderate exercise, losing weight was easy! No more headaches!:D

Canary, did your dd want that chocolate? If you give chocolate, teach her to want the very BEST and to be a chocolate "gourmet." I appreciate your comments and wish you the same success I've had. By the way, I did read everything by Geneen Roth before I found "Naturally Thin." Wait until you read what Jean Antonello has to say about emotional eating, then we'll start our own thread and talk more about it.

I never raised a daughter (one son) so I don't know about that but with our son we never lectured or bribed, we just set the example and he followed. During his teen years was the time I was food obsessed but I was able to keep it to myself, except I do remember one time searching his room for the stash of Chips Ahoy cookies! You set the example in love and hope for the best!

The anti-diet was for me the minute I read about it. Not easy to unlearn all my dieting strategies but well-worth the effort and the wait. By the way, a diet is just "what you eat" but when I say I don't diet, you know what I mean is I don't restrict. I lost weight without counting calories or thinking about any formulas about calories in/calories out = go figure. Yes, the laws of thermodynamics still apply but this is something the body can do all by itself. We weren't born to be fat. From Jean Antonello, I learned about "adaptation theory," which is that an animal in nature, given a healthy diet, will reach a lean adaptive weight. It's brilliant and it worked for me, over time. No, I didn't lose weight in time for the Christmas party, or whatever, but today I eat plenty of good food and I don't obsess and people at my gym tell me I'm a role model. To think that for years I starved myself for the same results and those results never lasted because you can't starve yourself forever, the body won't let you, thank goodness. By the way, to me REAL RESULTS are those that last... not just "since October" or for 32 weeks but for decades. The best way is the way I can do for the rest of my life and I intend to be even "older than dirt" because I'm taking good care of myself!

Sorry this is so long, guess I was in a reflective mood tonight. Merry Christmas! Noel

Noel, thank you for your thoughtful and thought provoking response. I offered my daughter that pillowcase of chocolate quite a while ago and she said no I couldn't trust myself with it. And that's the whole thing too: not trusting ourselves to nourish oursleves properly.

So I take it you do not track your food? Do you ever binge? I am so curious about how this very healthy approach you take actually works.