Hi everyone - the first thing I do each day is look for your comments - they are as important to me as this blog (I hope) is to you. It is really heartwarming to know that y'all speak my language, that we understand each other and are there for accountability and support. Who else in my life would understand "I can't stop eating"? (their answer: "control yourself") Who else would understand "I eat until I'm stuffed"? (their answer: "push yourself away from the table") - and these answers are particularly annoying when they are preceded by the word "just" - as if it were the most natural and easy thing in the world. Sometimes I don't even want to talk to these folks. BUT - what I know is that these N.T.'s (natural thins) can teach us a thing or two. Their behaviors will never come naturally to us, but we can mimick their actions and "act as if"....such as:

EAT SLOWLY - those natural thins don't wolf down their food. Did you ever finish eating your meal and look around and everyone else has barely begun? Put down that fork between bites, chew your food - don't swallow whole. A meal should last 20 minutes so that your stomach can signal your brain that you have begun to eat, that you are eating,and that you are satisfied. At each level, the brain releases different enzymes (insulin, glucagons and finally seratonin). The time between the first release and the last is 20 minutes; therefore, you can conceivably have overeaten before your brain knows that you have started.No wonder we don't get filled up!!

SIT DOWN - an N.T. would never dream of eating a meal while standing. And, I believe, that if we sat down to everything we ate, we would eliminate 90 percent of the overeating.

THROW OUT THE OLD CLOTHES - don't give yourself a "safety valve". Make sure that your clothes fit NOW (not too big so that you feel it's OK to gain a few pounds and not too small to make you uncomfortable) .

LEAVE OFF THE SAUCES - those "thins" favor plain food - not messy, saucy, gooey, where the food is hidden under a mountain of sauce. Take yours plain too and if you want sauce, add a measured amount after you are served. Those sauces add loads of calories and fat.

GIVE FOOD YOUR FULL ATTENTION - don't read, talk on the phone, cook, do homework with the kids, laundry - concentrate on eating!!

SEND BACK THE BREAD BASKET - In a restaurant that's the first thing that is brought to the table. Either send it back OR put it at another end of the table OR make sure your salad is served with that basket so that you can be eating something while everyone else is eating the bread.

THINK QUALITY NOT QUANTITY - Whatever you eat, make sure it's worth it. An NT doesnt eat what she doesnt like just 'cause it's there.

DONT PUNISH YOURSELF FOR A BINGE - yes, those N.T.'s overeat too (or so they say),but they don't make it a moral issue - they simply go back to their regular way of eating. We continue eating because we started - the guilt is the most "fattening" ingredient in any food.

We will never be those Natural Thins - but no one has to know that!!