Kathryn Hansen – Weight Loss Diet Solutions

Good morning! Can you tell beets made a special appearance in my juice today? I love the bright red color! Last night I did something that I always intend to do, but never actually do. I prepped all the vegetables so they would be ready for easy eating or cooking. I even prepared several sandwiches and boiled some eggs. I’m also working on a whole chicken and a big batch of brown rice and quinoa to eat on during the week. Why have I not done this before?

I put everything for my juice in a plastic salad container last night so that this morning all I had to do was pull it out of the refrigerator, cut the apples, peel the lemon and start juice. I had juice and the juicer cleaned in less than five minutes. Why do these simple things in life make me feel so accomplished? I’ll never know.

I had this big(ish) post planned for today, that would go into the details of how things are going and what I’m doing and how I’m doing, but then I realized what better way to show than tell? I’m not the best at articulating things that seem abstract in my head.

But, to sum it up. After reading Brain Over Binge, I emailed the author, Kathryn Hansen. I’ve never emailed an author and wasn’t expecting a response, but sure enough, not long after my first email she replied. And then she replied again to another email filled with questions.

And while I was forming the questions and reading her response, I realized something totally and completely obvious: The process is personal.

Katheryn talks in-depth about her life post-binge. A life that is very similar to her normal eating patterns before she ever began dieting in her early teens which lead to anorexia and then bulimia (binge eating with extreme exercise). Kathryn knew about normal eating, she knew what it felt like and could call upon those feelings. Those feelings helped her to tell the difference between a binge urge and just a normal human urge to eat a little more, seconds or dessert. For her, snacking, eating without hunger and occasionally overeating are all normal. She’s also never been overweight or obese. Needing to lose weight complicates the process more for people like me.

And this is where my journey branches off.

I don’t know what it feels like to eat normally as a default. I know what it looks like and can identify what an acceptable portions is. I can recall hiding food at a very young age and because of this, I don’t have a lot of experience to draw upon to tell the difference between binge eating and “normal” eating. For me, eating without hunger, while normal on occasion for someone like Kathryn, signals to my brain that I’m in overeating mode. Eating seconds, eating between meals, and most importantly eating without hunger, all indicate that I’m off track. This thought process leads to overeating or binge eating.

For Kathryn, she has a hard time telling the difference between true hunger and urges. I don’t. I’m very aware of the difference between eating for true hunger and not. Eating without that true feeling of hunger, for me, is following my “lower voice”. That’s not to say this always isn’t the case or that there aren’t exceptions, but it’s just something I’m avoiding using Kathryn’s methods.

Occasionally people will say to me that I need to eat xyz or not eat xyz or that I need to eat several times throughout the day. And all I can say it, this is why it’s so important for me not to put what works for me onto other people. For me, eating a handful of cherries while making dinner is okay. Eating a handful of potato chips is not. Eating six meals a day because someone tells me a should, even though I’m not hungry, is not okay to me, only because it signals an urge to continue eating. Eating without hunger is like telling myself “you blew it! eat more!” And that’s my pattern.

Kathryn’s Response:

This is one of the reasons why I mentioned in my book that some people may want to use meal plans (and possibly consult a nutritionist) at first, if they truly feel like they don’t know how to eat normally without binge eating. I didn’t give much advice directly to the reader (I primarily explained my own story and ideas) in the book because I’m not in a position to give specific medical advice, but that’s one thing I felt was important to include. You have to do what you think will be best for you, and if that includes no unplanned eating and/or no extra servings and/or no small snacks of less-than-healthy food; I think that makes sense. I referred to something similar to this in the last chapter of the book under the subheading “Bridge to Addiction Therapy,” saying that someone could get rid of all problematic foods for a while, then gradually add them back if they want them in their diet. For you, you could avoid all non-hungry eating for a while, and then – when you feel more confident – gradually start giving yourself some more flexibility.

In my past, another slice of cake always signaled that I was out of control, or would soon be. Even if it was just another portion of something, I’ve always used that as an excuse to eat more. It seems that for me, when I eat when I’m not hungry, I’m giving myself a free pass to binge or to eat too much. This sort of black and white thinking is my pattern.

I’m in a place where I want to eat well because I’m trying to get a lot done. If food weighs me down or makes me feel bad, I become foggy and start putting things off.

Yesterday for example, was a good day of eating :

Woke up slight hungry so I ate a green apple and drank some coffee. I rarely drink coffee, but I followed the craving. A few hours later I ate a spinach salad with salsa, a couple of homemade corn chips crumbled on top, a little shredded turkey and a few cherry tomatoes.

I felt good, satisfied and full.

Around dinner time Josh took me out to Mexican where I had a few corn chips and we shared the chicken fajita dinner for one. I ate a small plate of the salad, guacamole, chicken and vegetables. I was full and satisfied.

And that’s one day, each day is different, but it was successful for me (emphasis one me) because 1) I didn’t overeat 2) I didn’t eat when I wasn’t truly hungry 3) I ate what my body wanted 4) I ate until satisfied and because of this I felt 1) clean 2) productive 3) healthy 4) satisfied.

Everyday is different. Some mornings I may wake up and just want a raw juice, while others nothing else will satisfy me like whole wheat toast, eggs and bacon. Other lunches may be a giant salad, or a burger or Indian food. Dinner may be sushi, or steamed vegetables, or a couple of slices of pizza. All of these decisions are okay with me. I feel good as long as I’m not eating too much.

For me, at this stage, eating without hunger, overeating and binge eating are all one in the same. They may look slightly different, but the root is very much the same. It’s how I can tell if the urge is a habit or a true need.

I want my food choices to be because they make me feel good. Raw juice and a turkey sandwich for breakfast this morning fuels me and makes me feel good. It’s not perfect. I’m not going to eat six meals a day just because it’s suggested or because it works for someone else.

The other balance is cooking and preparing food when I’m not actually hungry, in anticipation. I’m planning meals and having things ready to eat. I have a clear idea of what I want to eat and making it easily accessible is key.

So I’m curious, how is your journey different from mine? Does anything trigger old or bad habits for you?

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I never thought, in a million years, that words from any book would ever help me to stop overeating or binge eating for good. I wanted to believe they would and it never stopped me from buying them. I read many thousands of words telling me that I was an emotional eater, a stress eater, an addict, disordered and diseased. I read many more thousands of words telling me that I had deep seated issues and until I resolved them I would never stop eating too much. And I read even more thousands of words telling me to cut out flour, sugar, salt, potatoes, honey, red meat, beans, to count calories, to cut carbs, to calculate points, or to cut the fat. I was told moderation and lifestyle change more times than I care to say. Two words that I never truly got.

And then Beth came along and left this comment:

Hello! First time commenter!

I’m not sure if anyone has suggested this book, or if you have read it. Brain over Binge by Kathryn Hansen.

I’ve been a binge eater most of my adult life, and after reading this book, I stopped. I’m not sure how or why, but I did. Dieting and restricting causes bingeing, that I know.

Take care good luck to you in the new year!

I was intrigued and went over to Amazon to read the reviews. Within five minutes I was already into the first chapter on my Kindle. I couldn’t wait to buy the book, the reviews peeked my interest and I was ready to dive in. The words used to describe the book mention bulimia, which I do not relate to in any sort of way. So I want to say first, that if you have struggled with any form of eating to the excess, please consider reading this book. Whatever you call it, overeating, binge eating, bulimia, etc., if you suffer for the urge to eat beyond being full, if you’ve had moments of autopilot eating, if yeou’ve eaten on numerous occasions to the point of being uncomfortably or painfully full, if you have moments of being able to consume large amounts of food- this book is for you.

Every journey is personal and individual, binge eating is not black and white. As I read Kathryn’s words, a women who has never been obese or even overweight I can honestly say I’ve never eaten to the excess that she describes in Brain Over Binge. I’ve also never exercised for hours on end to burn the calories I’ve consumed. This is her form of purging and why she calls herself bulimic.

But I am obese, and it’s not because of moderate or “normal” eating. It never has been. I’ve been thinking about my weight since I was eight years old and dieting for so long that I’ve never really known what normal eating looks or feels like. I’ve never known what it wa

I’ve had glimmers of hope, mainly with intuitive eating, but my urges to eat more always took over. I’ve been saying tomorrow I’ll be better for so long, it’s become my default response when things became too much.

Since reading Brain Over Binge, I’ve debated how I’d approach presenting this information on my blog. And after much debate I decided that I could only best explain how I’ve changed as a result. The book is too in depth and I fear I would do Kathryn and her research much disservice to explain it in any other way. You can read more about her and purchase the book on her website here: Brain Over Binge.

I would love to discuss this book more in depth with those that have read the book or plan to read the book and would like to open my comments up for that.

I was in no way compensated for my opinion. I’ve linked directly to Kathryn’s site, not Amazon, for those interested in purchasing it.

Thursday morning after reading the first few pages of Brain Over Binge I decided that I wanted to eat a biscuit while reading the book. I rarely eat fast food biscuits, but this morning all I wanted to do was eat while reading a book about eating. I can’t make this stuff up.

Normally, a day that starts with a 900 calories biscuit meal doesn’t end well. Because I wasn’t “perfect” at breakfast I would normally use that as an excuse to eat what I wanted for the rest of the day and start over tomorrow.

But something changed in those next three hours. I learned that I am not all of the horrible things I always believed I was because of my binge eating. I learned that I am not an emotional eater or addicted to sugar like I always thought. I learned that when I changed my career, hair, or bought something new, I was trying to change my life. I was trying to fulfill and fill ever corner of my life with events and stuff in a desperate attempt to recover.

I believed that somehow, changing any part of my life would make me complete so that I could stop overeating once and for all. I’ve searched in vain for over ten years for ways to make me whole. To fix me. To dull the desire to keep eating. I believed that I just hadn’t found the right program to tell me how to be better. The right experience, job, relationship, or outfit. I believed that I had to turn my life upside down to make real changes. That I’d have to give up ever food that I ever binged to be better, to stop slowly killing myself and to gain control once and for all. On some level, I already knew all of this, I just couldn’t believe it was that easy.

After those three hours of reading I said to Josh “I finally get it”. And then I started to sob, mostly because I felt like three thousand pounds had been lifted from my shoulders. All I could say was “There’s nothing wrong with me! Why didn’t anyone ever tell me?! I’m not crazy, lazy, stupid, diseased or suffering.”.

And Thursday, for the first time in my life I learned how to almost effortlessly calm myself and take control. In just a few hours my day had turned around. It wasn’t perfect, I hadn’t solved my life’s problems- I just ate and moved on and I felt normal. Instead of stuffing or fighting my urges to eat, I just sat with them and reminded myself that those thoughts are not me. I am not every thought or urge that I have.

Friday I played with fire. I made cookies. I ate two and put the rest away. And these weren’t just any cookie, I declared them my favorite cookie. They were amazing. I made a lovely dinner or salad and lentil soup. Nourishing and healthful food that I truly craved and then had two cookies and moved on. Even as I type this, there are a bowl of cookies on the counter and that all too familiar voice to eat all of them and start over tomorrow, is dull. It’s almost nonexistent. And for that, I am grateful.

I realize that this post is full of hyperbole, as is my fashion when I get excited about something, but I can honestly say to you that I will never binge again. I will never hide or sneak food. Eat in the car or give myself the promises of tomorrow. And as they say, the proof is in the pudding, I so look forward to sharing this journey with you.

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