Gosh, thanks!  I think about the young gals, too.  You can spot it right off in their enthusiasm - they don’t realize this is a long-term gig.  As Jean says, a lot of people just aren’t mature enough for it.  It seems a lot of us read the book, agree with it, and don’t get fully on board for another decade or two, after realizing what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked.

Hard to give up on dieting until you’ve failed enough times because you’ll always believe you can do it better than everyone else and they must be doing something wrong. I gave this book to my sister nearly 20 years ago and her husband found it and asked where it came from because it was the right truth. My sister is 57 and she’s still fat and she says she’s not willing, yet, to do anything about being so overweight. Ahhh.

Please excuse me for going off topic for a minute but yesterday I learned that the 2012 HGTV Dream Home will be in my little hometown, Midway UT, just 2 miles down the road from my own backyard. I was so excited I forgot to eat dinner last night and pretty much have no appetite today. I’m so excited!!

That IS exciting!  I spent a week in Park City a few years ago - beautiful, beautiful country.  If I were a skier, I’d move there!

Okay, Annual, I’ll let you know when they start the contest and if we win, we can have retreats at the house and have Jean come to Utah!

That is so exciting!  I went to Utah for the first time just last summer - it is truly gorgeous!

I hope that people became NT, but I’m sure that many of them were discouraged by the weight gain.  I was truly free on only one diet - remember the CAD diet?  Eat low carb (but healthy low carb, not ultra low) all day, then have one “reward” meal where you eat anything you want, without regard to diet mentality.  All the discussions talked about how after a “feast period” they naturally settled down to choosing healthy foods, how their tastes had changed, etc etc.  They also talked about how after a while, the “reward meal” became either breakfast or lunch, because eating a heavy dinner no longer worked out well for them.  Sound familiar?  As Jean says, just taking away the famine was setting people on the right road.

I really felt wonderful on that diet, but I was not losing weight at all after *a whole month*, and eventually decided that anything making me feel so good couldn’t possibly be an effective diet. I distinctly remember the joy of buying a gorgeous piece of pecan pie I saw in the bakery, bringing it home, and actually eating it without a pang of remorse.  Talk about freedom!

Matty, I was once out with friends and I ordered a dessert instead of an entree. It wasn’t what I wanted when it came and I had them bring a box, then I ordered a different dessert that I DID like. Everyone just looked at me like “What?!”

Noel, you and I are practically neighbors:)  My lil fam and I are up by Layton, but we are moving down to St. George in about a month.  I have been reading through the posts on this forum and have been truly inspired all the stories and comments but especially by Swan and Noel!  I love this concept and wish it was more main stream. Reading the posts made me feel a lil better about my own diet history.  I was afraid it was so sordid and it would take me years to heal my body from it.  It sounds like it usually does take years, but if I feel as good as I have in the last month since I have been eating only when hungry and stopping when full than I welcome the coming years with patience and excitement.

I haven’t had the urge to overeat since the after the first week!  It is amazing how true and simple the NT principles are!  The freedom from sugar and junk food cravings and also from feeling terrible mentally and physically from overeating.  I don’t know if I have gained weight.  I imagine I probably have a little, but it is not terribly upsetting to me because of how good I feel. 

I first began the cycle of FF about 12 years ago after high school.  In that time I have gained and lost a significant amount of weight (30-50 lbs) 4 times.  I used Body for Life, a very expensive weight loss doctor, and Medifast twice (this is the last diet I was on for about two months and I stopped a month ago).  I have also exercised myself to exhaustion.  I’m sure from being on Medifast I have some catching up to do since that is definitely a famine.  The thought of never reading another diet book or buying a magazine to see how someone else lost a ton of weight is very freeing. 

My biggest problem is recognizing when I am full.  It is not an incredibly clear signal yet.  I am not eating till I am uncomfortable, but sometimes I am not quite full and sometimes probably a little more full than I needed to be.  Any advice?

Krissy, I had those same concerns about fullness when I started.  After eating a meal, more often than not, I would have the feeling that I probably ate a little more than I should have.  It seemed that way, since I ate way less amounts when dieting, and never reached complete fullness satisfaction, (unless I was binging, of course, then I OVERDID it.) If I had to assess my first year on NT, given the following three choices of: (a.) I ate not quite to satisfaction at most meals, (b.) I ate perfectly to satisfaction at most meal, or (c.) I felt I ate slightly more than I probably should have at most meals, I would have to pick “c.”  But I never felt stuffed, like I really overdid it, while eating NT.

Looking back now, I realize due to my severe undereating history, this was most likely my body inspiring me to do makeup eating, and although it seemed rather excessive amounts to me, I now believe the amounts were just right.  I like to think of it as my body inspiring me to eat the amount it should, at that given time, in order to recover.  I was feeling like I was “doing it wrong” a lot of the time, and while I had faith in the principles, I often wondered to myself, “how is this ever going to work, when I’m eating these great amounts of food???” I kept rereading the books, and just kept going.

So while I felt a little discouraged wondering how long it would take for my metabolism to kick into high gear while eating so much food, I now believe I was doing everything right!  I mean, if I wasn’t doing it right, how could I be thin and happy now? So give yourself some credit.  You are feeding your body well, and it is in the recovery process.  I don’t believe that anybody who is just starting to apply the principles would select choice “b” right off the bat.  And you know what, there are times I still feel amazed that I can feel this full and not be gaining weight.  I oftentimes read a newspaper or my mail during a meal.  And after a meal, if I’m still sitting at the table and have eaten everything on my plate, but not quite finished reading the paper, I’ll ask myself, now if I get up from the table and start doing a project, or work, or whatever, will my thoughts immediately turn to food, because I should have eaten a little more?  That is what quite often decides it for me.  If I leave the table too soon, I’ll need to return to the kitchen to get something, and perhaps it might be something poor in quality then, because I’ll want something quick and easy in order to get on with my tasks. So I try to make sure I’ve reached satisfaction before leaving the table and I feel I eat better quality food that way.

Just keep going, and keep eating, and never go hungry.

Swan, thank you for your response!  That really helps me.  I hate having to come back and eat more so I will ask myself those questions before I get up.  You are truly inspiring to me and I am soooo thankful you have stuck around the forums:)  I went back and read all of your posts and watched as you asked questions and got it and then lost the weight.  So many questions I have had were answered by you to people previously.

Swan, I felt that way, like you, thinking “how can this ever work when I’m eating this much?” but I kept going because I knew from experience with diets that I could never go back, nothing there for me. Now when I’m out at our daughter-in-law’s house taking care of the baby, I always have with me my pbj sandwich, fruit, a Pro Bar, and before I go, I have two breakfasts under my belt already! It’s insane but it works.

Krissy, I wish I could meet you! Good luck in ST. George. Maybe between the two of us we can eventually start Utah in the right direction. I’m sure there are more of us out here, “doing it.” My weight swings weren’t as much as yours but I still suffered and felt instantly better when I started eating. Stay here on the forum, no matter how you think you are doing, you will have ups and downs, let us help each other. That’s what it’s all about!

I like what Swan said about her body “inspiring” her to eat more. I read once that “inspiration” means “full of God.”

Shanshan57 and everybody else on the thread,

Keep eating when you get hungry.  Try not to intellectualize it.  Try not to pay any attention to the clock.  Shanshan57y ou are pg. Your body is absolutely designed to do this.  Your postpartum weight loss depends on your eating pattern now. 

Yes, you have to eat less to lose weight.  Your body leads in this IF you are eating enough great food on cue.  If you stay on the Feast or Famine Cycle, you will not go into the weight loss phase.  If you are unsure about how exactly you eat less the NT way and experience a boost in metabolic rate, etc, then go back to the books.  It’s all in there.

And don’t obsess about being in a famine.  This is just not that complicated.  BUT, the Naturally Thin recovery program is HARDER than dieting.  It takes thought and preparation and it takes TIME!  Give yourselves a big break and an applause for your determination, discipline and courage.

Jean

Good morning. Thanks Jean for your reply…..although I’m not pregnant!  haha, I’m 53 and my twin girls are going to be 21 in August! 

I actually think I’m getting this program “down”!  I’m so happy about that.  Now, when I take my two lunch bags to work, I am eating about 1/2 of everything instead of all of it.  I still bring two bags full of food just to make sure I have enough food if I need it.  I read the books and come on here every day for support.

I wish you came on here more to comment on the ongoing discussions.

Thank you Jean!