Comments for Eat Without Guilt

Comment on How Your Food Legacy Can Be Affecting Your Weight by Dinneen

Dinneen — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:14:15 +0000

Hi Tanja,
So many of us have a history of food messages, and not all of them good messages. The fact that you’re aware of the messages you got is the first step. Now that you’ve realized your history is full of messages, you can take steps to overcome them.

When you ‘hear’ those messages coming up, ask yourself “is it really true?” Is it really true that big is bad, or that children will starve in Africa if I don’t finish my plate? Most often the answer is no.

Know that starting today, you can change those messages. Make a conscious effort to acknowledge those messages, and when you hear them, say “thank you, but that’s not true.” Find what’s true for you — not what you’ve been told.

Comment on How Your Food Legacy Can Be Affecting Your Weight by Cerise

Cerise — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:08:12 +0000

In thinking about my long standing relationships with many foods, I have thought about many instances when I felt bad as a child. The first one that comes to mind is when my father would leave for long periods of time and he would pat my mother on the butt and tell her that ‘maybe you could lose a few pounds before I get home’. I always thought my mother was a beautiful woman. She was not thin nor fat. She was a Jane Russell type woman. Her hair was always in place, she always had her face made up, and she always, always wore a dress. I never her saw her cry about it or anything like that. She would just say, “Yes Richard”. He would leave for weeks at a time and my mother seemed like a different person then.

When he came home from his long trips he would sit down in the basement and eat tons and tons of ice cream, hot dogs, and smoke his pipe while watching baseball on television. He would always say “Get these damn kids out of here”.

We were given Freezer Pops and told to go outside and play and don’t come home until dark. I don’t have any clear memories of lunchtime except to say we would be handed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of kool-aid and we sat on the porch to eat that, then off to play again.

As children we never ate with our parents except for Holidays – they were few and far between – Birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. That was it. We were served dinner and ate in the kitchen while my parent dined in the dining room. The help had already gone home for the day.

When both of my parents were gone and we were just with “Annie” she fed us treats all the time. We all enjoyed that. She always was sweaty and she gave us big sweaty kisses all the time. There was freedom with her and not being watched and yelled at all the time. And we definitely were not being locked in our rooms.

Somehow I believe these events connect to food and the relationship I have with it now. Seems like a powerful drug instead of something to sustain life. I have only listened to my head or emotions. Now I am trying to listen to my stomach.

Comment on How Your Food Legacy Can Be Affecting Your Weight by Tanja

Tanja — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:17:41 +0000

Food has always been an issue in my youth. I could say yes to almost all the questions you put in this article. My mother now says (I am 51!) that the family were only ever on a diet because I was too big. However I can see that food and weight and appearance is still the most important thing there is in life. She has been very sick, lost a lot of weight and finally is as thin as she would like to be. It amazes me.
But yes, my entire life is about being too big and feeling not good enough because of that fact. A lot of emotional and physical work has been done already (including losing 50 kilos and gaining it all back gently over 10 years helped by menopause) and still ongoing (counselling, EMDR) and I feel a bit better around it all but am still fat.
So… what can I do after realising that my history is full of ‘big is bad, food is great’ messages?

Comment on Are You Ready for a Renewal? by Foodie Walks

Foodie Walks — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:36:14 +0000

Thank for moral support given by your post for the readers here like me. I should really appreciate your work so I thought of left this comment here.

Comment on Are You Ready for a Renewal? by Cerise

Cerise — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:10:40 +0000

Leaving the past behind….That is something I have thought a lot about. There are so many long standing mantras, stigmas, behaviors, thoughts, beliefs, and so forth. What holds us to the past that we can not see today or tomorrow? Believe me…I’m trying. It’s luggage and it’s heavy

Comment on Are You Ready for a Renewal? by MoSoLoCo

MoSoLoCo — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:22:48 +0000

I don’t know how to thank you Dinneen. I was really upset with my appearance. Actually I’m not that much odd in my shape. But comments I get are really stressful.

Comment on How to Stop Mindless Snacking by Ted

Ted — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:17:14 +0000

Keeping busy seems to be the best thing for me.

Comment on My Elimination Diet: Update & surprising “diet” results by Toni

Toni — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:32:33 +0000

I am embarking on my own elimination diet, but for me the culprit of my issues seems to be white potatoes. After researching potato allergy, I find that its not a common sensitivity, but definitely can cause GI, respiratory, and mental symptoms. The timing I find interesting I’d that most elimination diets do not eliminate white potatoes, do many people never find the source of their issues. I encourage all of you who “sleep with your potato chips” (as I do) to try eliminating potatoes and potato products (watch for yeasts, thickening agents, vitamins such as riboflavin, etc) for a few weeks and see how if your symptoms improve.

Comment on The First Step to Ending the Diet Cycle by Allison@thecrazyfat

Allison@thecrazyfat — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:27:59 +0000

This is me in a nutshell alright! Especially the starting on a Monday bit, I cannot fathom starting a diet on any other day of the week.

I’d love to share this post with my readers, if you don’t mind! Let me know, thanks!

Comment on The First Step to Ending the Diet Cycle by Dinneen

Dinneen — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:32:34 +0000

Hi Brenda — it’s quite common for those in the dieting/weight loss cycle to be afraid to give up counting. But it is necessary if you truly want to have a healthy relationship with food. Diets teach us not to trust ourselves, and so does counting. It tells you, you are not smart enough and is one of many reasons why people ‘overdo it’ (bingeing, overeating, or stuffing oneself). I’d love to talk to you to see how I can possibly help.

Thanks again for stopping by and your comment! SO many other women share the same struggle, which is exactly why I created this site and blog.