Jean,

When you say ‘eating light (mostly carbs)...’ do you mean that eating mostly carbs in the morning is not a good thing?

I find that I crave carbs in the morning… sometimes I have 4 pieces of toast, lots of fruit and sandwiches. I try and ‘listen’ to my body and eat what I am hungry for.

I am very, very conscious of trying to follow the program correctly. I have your books… but its hard sometimes to know if I am doing the right thing! I am scared that if I don’t do the right thing I will never lose weight the right way.

Is there someway I could contact you with a few questions/concerns I have?

Thanks for this post, Jean.  Thanks for this web-site.  I started reading your books two months ago, and after reading both of them cover to cover, I started to apply some of the principles. 

  Naturally Thin IS certainly very difficult for ME to grasp and to apply.  It opposes all that I have learned about weight loss for decades.  I seem to be gaining weight. I had been slowly losing on another hunger/fullness plan where I was encouraged to question hunger signals and when in doubt not eat which I was able to do in the early part of the day, but then would sometimes make up for it in afternoon and/or evenings.  Then in your book, I read on page 206:  “When in doubt, try eating.”  So I have been doing that, and I have been eating a lot.  I have felt hungry often… every hour or two sometimes… and it is so hard to believe that it is actual hunger and that the right response is to eat.

  I keep reading that weight gain may happen in the NT process.  I keep reading all your “don’t worry” messages.  I am doing all I can at this time for encouragement because I want to see if I can apply the NT principles and be naturally thin and at peace with food/eating like the naturally thin people I know seem to be.

Thanks for sharing the observations and insights you have in coaching others using or trying to use this approach.  Thanks for the words of encouragement to keep reading the books with the answers that you wrote so that we might be able to find support in the writings.

  Many blessings to you this day!
  Ela

Ela,

Yes, weight gain may happen, and probably will.  I had to tell myself not to look at this negatively.  It is like anything else that is worth the wait:  isn’t it worth the wait when you have finally saved up enough money for something really important that you want; isn’t it worth the wait to put in all the time & work getting an education in order to get that diploma; it’s also worth the wait taking time to find the right spouse.  And I can personally attest that Naturally Thin is worth the “WEIGHT.”

You have hunger signals telling you when it’s time to eat.  That made me very happy to take the guesswork out of figuring it out for myself!  I had been denying my hunger for years.  There is something so pleasing about being in tune with your body, and working with it, that it seems so ridiculous now all those years of fighting against it, denying it food, trying to convince myself I wasn’t hungry when I really was, then feeling absolutely horrid for eating something I thought I shouldn’t! But hey, I was only doing what TV, magazines, books, and diet gurus were telling me to do, so don’t be mad at yourself for all those years of denying the principles of adaption, and how they factor into the dieting lifestyle.  I got really angry at the diet industry for feeding me a bunch of malarkey, and making me feel badly for having struggles with my body. Now I am delighted to give my body food whenever it asks.  I feel I HAVE to.  I feel this is the way to keep my body in peak form.  It is such a wonderful, natural feeling.

NT results are worth the wait, and the weight.  As hard as it may be, try to think positively during the process.  In recovering from famining, your body needs to do certain things without your interference.  Let them happen.  Begin to enjoy eating.  Think of it as taking really good care of your body.  Respect that it is asking for food to heal you; it is only trying to keep you alive and healthy. 

Swan

It’s not easy at first, but nothing worthwhile is, right?

Munch

I have been doing the Naturally Thin program for almost seven years. Or rather I thought I was. In the beginning, I gained weight, over 30 pounds, even though I was overweight to begin with. I was okay with this, bought new clothes, and waited for the weight loss to begin. But, I became impatient and combined NT with other things, due in part to the advice of a trusted Nter, the person who had introduced me to NT. I always ate when I was hungry, but most times I waited until I was very hungry to eat, especially in the morning. I tried to go for 16 hours of not eating after my dinner meal. So, if dinner was at 6, I would try to not eat again until 10 the next morning. That worked for awhile, I lost a few pounds, but then I started to crave pleasure foods all the time, which I fought. Slowly, but surely, I began to gain even more weight,just a few pounds, which freaked me out, and caused me to wait even longer to eat. Long story short, I now see the error of my ways, and am eating as soon as I feel hungry. So far, so good. My cravings for PL’s have disappeared,I am eating more earlier in the day, ( I have discovered I am actually quite hungry in the morning), and I am finished eating for the day a bit earlier then I had been. You can believe fully that you are following the NT principals and be fooling yourself as I did. NT stands alone, and it cannot be combined with anything else.

Kelcy,
I am so glad you made this discovery for yourself, and hopefully it will open the eyes of anyone else who perhaps thinks they are doing Naturally Thin, but are somehow adding their own little twist to it. It can surely keep you in a rut. From what Jean says, this is common, sadly. The “rules” of NT are pretty straightforward, and should be easy enough to follow, but we often can’t resist adding something to it, or subtracting something from it, because darn it, surely we’ve learned something we can apply to NT from all the diet know-how we’ve gathered over the decades, no matter if it is contrary to the NT principles.  BUT WE CAN’T.  Only when we realize this will we be able to make some progress.  We can’t avoid the NT rules we want to avoid, and we can’t add in our own. I hope Kelcy’s discovery will prompt others to do an analysis of their own eating habits and their compatibility with NT. Kelcy, I’m excited for you, and excited to think you may have caused some others to see where they’ve veered off the NT path.

Swan

Swan,
Thanks, I’m excited too. It was actually your recipes, and writing what you ate that got me considering that I wasn’t doing things correctly. I remember thinking I could never eat that much and still lose weight. Well, it turns out I was way wrong. At least now I know what was holding me up.

Kelcy

I agree with you Kelcy.  Swan’s email about what she ate and when really helped me to discover that what I was viewing as real meals earlier in the day perhaps were not substantial enough. 

...and by the way, Swan, I’ve already made your wild rice salad twice already and ready to make it again.  It is very yummy!  It’s a great ‘to go’ item for my 10:00-ish meal.  Thanks for sharing your recipes!

Munch

Munch & Kelcy,

There is a section in Jean’s first book (in chapt. 6) with the heading “Permission to Eat Plenty Every Day.”  Isn’t that title just music to your ears?  I don’t interpret that as meaning to skimp around and eat the lightest, most low calorie foods you can tolerate.  I do believe it means to eat plenty for your body, to meet its own particular needs.  I loved how in this chapter Jean talked about going out to eat, and ordering what you are hungry for—just because your girlfriend is ordering a salad with no dressing, doesn’t mean you have to also.  If you are craving steak, or lasagna, chicken crepes,or whatever it is you are craving, order that, because it will meet your needs better. Maybe you really are craving a salad with no dressing, then by all means get it.  What I try to do is really tune in to what would taste good to me, without any outside influences. 

I’m glad you like the wild rice salad, Munch.  We’ve had it several times this summer and my daughter usually requests that I have it ready for her when she comes home on breaks from college.

Swan

Swan - Jul 22, 2010 08:10am

Ela,

Yes, weight gain may happen, and probably will.  I had to tell myself not to look at this negatively.  It is like anything else that is worth the wait:  isn’t it worth the wait when you have finally saved up enough money for something really important that you want; isn’t it worth the wait to put in all the time & work getting an education in order to get that diploma; it’s also worth the wait taking time to find the right spouse.  And I can personally attest that Naturally Thin is worth the “WEIGHT.”

You have hunger signals telling you when it’s time to eat.  That made me very happy to take the guesswork out of figuring it out for myself!  I had been denying my hunger for years.  There is something so pleasing about being in tune with your body, and working with it, that it seems so ridiculous now all those years of fighting against it, denying it food, trying to convince myself I wasn’t hungry when I really was, then feeling absolutely horrid for eating something I thought I shouldn’t! But hey, I was only doing what TV, magazines, books, and diet gurus were telling me to do, so don’t be mad at yourself for all those years of denying the principles of adaption, and how they factor into the dieting lifestyle.  I got really angry at the diet industry for feeding me a bunch of malarkey, and making me feel badly for having struggles with my body. Now I am delighted to give my body food whenever it asks.  I feel I HAVE to.  I feel this is the way to keep my body in peak form.  It is such a wonderful, natural feeling.

NT results are worth the wait, and the weight.  As hard as it may be, try to think positively during the process.  In recovering from famining, your body needs to do certain things without your interference.  Let them happen.  Begin to enjoy eating.  Think of it as taking really good care of your body.  Respect that it is asking for food to heal you; it is only trying to keep you alive and healthy. 

Swan

Thank you, Swan, for replying to me directly.  Intense feelings of anxiety and confusion are surfacing right now and I needed the reminder to not look at the weight gain as negative.  I really appreciate the play on words about NT being worth the WEIGHT.  I intend to keep reading and applying the principles as well as I can.  I am feeling very much in need of support right now.  I am battling with the habit of waiting until hunger is moderate to severe before eating and then eating just enough to stop the hunger pangs.  When I was doing that, I was starting to feel thinner even though I was still overeating in the evenings sometimes and still wondering why I felt compelled to buy and eat sweets compulsively at times.
I have a friend coming over later who is willing to read the book with me.  She has some interest in doing something differently from what has had her lose and gain a lot of weight quickly 3 times in the past 12 years.  Perhaps we can support one another in this.  If not, I still have the books to read myself and prayer and this website.  I am thankful for the support that is at hand.  I know I need it.  The NT principles are simple and straightforward, but they are new for me and they don’t seem to be easy.  Some old habits of thinking and acting have to fall away.
Many blessings!
Ela

Ela,
I can relate to you concerns and attempts to “beat the system.”  If you are at all like me (and following the principles in the books), then your efforts to Medicate your hunger, or waiting until you are REALLY hungry to eat will only stifle your progress.  If you are going to do NT, then jump in with both feet.  Eat right away when you are hungry - eat as much as you need to be satisfied.  (To me satisfied means comfortable, not stuffed and miserable).  Focus ONLY on the real foods list as much as you can.  (Sometimes I needed a lifesaver wintergreen mint to satisfy my sweet cravings, but have really tried hard to stay away from sweets.)

You are VERY fortunate if you have a friend willing to read the book at attempt to apply the principles.  I have asked several people to do that.  So far I have not found anyone willing.  So this forum and my husband have been my only support.  That is hard at times.  But like Swan and others have said - what’s the alternative? Going back to dieting which I know does not work? 

My body just will NOT let me get hungry without sending strong signals, so I have to stick with NT and trust the process.  The weight gain stage is no fun, but you have to go through that to get to the other side.  And the quicker you give into the principles and eat high quality foods when you are hungry, the quicker your body will respond postivitely.

Best wishes on your journey!

Munch

Hi Munch,
Thank you so much for replying to my post.  It means a lot.  I was starting to feel discouraged and was running out of Real Foods and not wanting to buy more.  That is another of my old tricks:  don’t have much food around and I will wait longer to eat.  Your words of encouragement lifted me out of that funk.  I went out to the store and stocked up on Real Foods that I like.  I am feeling hunger pangs, so I will go eat some of it now… as much as I need to feel comfortably full.
Many blessings!
Ela

Hi Ela, Munch, Swan, Kelsey,

I am doing so well on NT, I just can’t believe it.  I’m so grate-full!  LOL Anyway, I’ve been doing NT for a few weeks and am eating when hungry and stopping when satisfied.  I’m not weighing so I don’t know for sure but I can still wear most of my clothes, so I haven’t gained very much.  It seems that my appetite is settling down already and I’m eating more often but am satisfied with a little less, like half a sandwich and a cup of milk for a 4:00 snack to hold me to dinner at 6 p.m. or thereabouts.  Also, splitting breakfast into two meals.  I feel satisfied fruit and yogurt when I wake up, then eat a little more around 10:00, then again around 1 or 1:30, again at 4:00 then dinner.  By that time I’m fullly satisfied, feel great, not bloated, etc.  I’m keeping to mostly good foods now and not craving the pleasure foods too much.  I sometimes eat nuts in between meals.  Seems as though my body needs 6 small meals per day to run efficiently and keep me from getting too hungry.  I’m so happy to be able to eat when I’m hungry instead of fighting it, as I did for so many years, only to end up rebound binging.  I believe this is an answer to my prayers for so many years to finally be experiencing freedom from the tyrany of F/F, or binging and fasting (restricting).  Thanks to everyone for your support and especially Jean for her work and wisdom over the years.

God bless,

Grate-full

Gratefull,

It is an answer to my prayers too.

Swan

Thanks for the update, GRATEFULL!  I just had a satisfying meal of real foods—my third today and it is not yet 1pm—been having hunger pangs every two to two and a half hours and eating within 15 minutes of the initial hunger signal.  I am thank-full…GG (gentle giggles).  My prayers have also been answered with the NT message.  I am finally learning how to eat.

Many blesssings!
Ela