ThinWithin 4 Life

I joined and posted several topics and comments on a friend's facebook group "ThinWithin 4 Life". I also posted several comments and some new topics on the ThinWithin community forum board, after they approved my registration. Rereading the ThinWithin book (A Grace Oriented Approach to Lasting Weight Loss) and my old TW paper workbooks revealed how much I really have progressed since that time. I didn't realize how much I still use TW eating guidelines and rely on their explanation about God's grace ('observe and correct'). Although I resigned from leading a local TW support group and stopped participating in the online TW community forum, I seem to have continued to use what I learned through ThinWithin.

I currently don't want to jump into leading another group either locally or online. I need to focus on my own recovery from ongoing gastrointestinal problems, rather than getting too involved in a weight loss group, especially because I DON'T need to lose any weight. Nevertheless the TW 4 Life group community 'can help us live the abundant life here and now and for eternal life' (group moderator's words). If anyone would like to join TW 4 Life, here's a link to the group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php? gid=39844444479&ref=mf. You will notice that we're reading the ThinWithin book (which is a 30 day/chapter text) and posting our insights from each day's information.

The gist of the TW approach to eating (and permanent weight loss/maintenance) is described in the first 2 chapters and Day 10 (chapter 10) which describes how to determine which foods are best for our individual bodies. The first day lists the 'keys to conscious eating'. However the first, last and middle keys really tell us when, how much and what to eat (but not specific foods). The first key is eat only when you are physically hungry (detected by growling or 'empty' stomach sensations). The middle key is 'consume only foods and beverages your body enjoys' (whether or not they fit the latest health food fad or research recommendation). The last key is "STOP eating when you feel satisfied (before 'full' or painfully stuffed). The other keys are suggestions to facilitate using the first and last keys (start when hungry and stop when satisfied). Those other keys include: eat sitting down in a calm environment, eat without distractions, relax before you begin eating (saying a prayer of thanksgiving helps) and eat slowly. Since TW doesn't promote special diets or include diet lists of good/bad foods, Day 10 discusses how to decide which foods are 'pleasers', 'teasers', 'total rejects' or 'whole body pleasers', according to our own eating experiences with foods we commonly eat. Those designations may differ from person to person depending on their experiences, food availability and health conditions. For example, food allergens, no matter how tasty, are total rejects for me. My body will begin painfully rejecting them, before I even realize I've eaten a 'total reject' food. So the TW book tells us when, how and how much to eat, but encourages each person to determine the 'what' to eat.

However, most people have difficulty changing long established eating habits. Those eating habits (good or bad) make developing a new approach to eating very difficult. So chapter 4 of the book introduces an 'observe and correct' technique which is similar to religious 'confess and repent' practices. Observe and correct is so valuable for any longterm behavior change, as well as developing different eating habits, that I will devote a separate topic to that technique. Because I'm tired, I plan to post the observe and correct topic later.