I kind of do, I mean I try to watch what I eat as much as possible and then if my body responds as "yep, eat more of this" or "Omg you're killing me!"

 

As far as the scale goes, mine broke and I've been too poor to buy a new one so if the pants fit, I've been loosing weight, if they dont, I need to fix some things :) 

I know I am an emotional eater, and I struggle with this. I am doing Sparkpeople.com to help me to alter my relationship with food, but I find it is a constant battle between what I want (to overeat) and what I need (to feel).

Food has become my enemy.  I love good food and am not overweight, except my whole day is spent thinking about what I can and cannot eat.

I know that food is supposed to be enjoyable and something that fuels your body, except trying to be thin seems to take over my enjoyment of eating.  Any suggestions for learning how to like what our body looks like?

I can empathize with dancingqueen.  Have you seen the new dove ads for proage.  It depicts women over 40 and celebrates how they look.  I too know that we should accept our body type and embrace life.  It is very hard though to not get  sucked into the hype in the media about adhering to a particuliar image.  I am contemplating having a celebration and throwing out my scale. As in age, it is only a number!!

When you think about it literally, a diet is not temporary.  Your diet is what you eat, plain and simple.  Instead of "dieting," revamp your life and take on and maintain a healthy diet.  I wouldn't be ashamed of looking forward to healthy whole grains, organic fruits and veggies, and (if it's your thing) organic lean meats.  As long as you control your food and your food doesn't control you, I'd say food love can be a pretty healthy (and satisfying) way to live.

As for weight.....women (myself included) always tend to get stuck on what that scale says.  Then they start exercising and eating right and the scale doesn't drop...oh noes!  We don't always think about our squish being replaced with heavier, lean muscle mass. 

Just recently, I've freed myself from scalebondage.  I use the mirror and the tightness/looseness of my clothes to determine if I need to change the way I'm going about things.  But, if you want some numbers to obsess about...try your cholesterol levels or body fat percentage instead.  Both will help nudge your life-diet in the right direction, and let you know if you need to be doing more moving and shaking!

I agree with many of your thoughts.  I do lead quite a healthy lifestyle both with eating and exercise.  It's mostly in my head where I have the problem.  My body responds well  and I am fortunate to be able to do basically whatever I choose with regards to agility etc.

I just need to learn to accept certain things about myself and feel good in feeling my body become stronger. 

As your body gets stronger from exercise and healthy eating, you start to feel more empowered and not so concerned with what the scale says.  You tend to walk straighter and have more confindence.

Whe I exercise and feel my muscles performing, it feels great!! I know that I can seize the day. 

I know I shouldn't be so concerned what the scale has to show, but I just can't help it at times. At least I got rid of allthe scales I had in my house to get out of the habit of weighing myself every week. :) thats a start.

It is a mental thing.  I too have banned scales in my home.  I do not want to be controlled by a number.  I have enough things in my life that control my thoughts.  Don't you think you know if  you've gained or lost weight without getting on the scale.  I think we all do.

I'm on a diet right now as I work to lose pregnancy weight that wasn't losing itself very well on its own.

The only time I weigh myself is at a once-a-week Bikram yoga class.

I know if I had a scale at home I would be on it all the time checking for any weight changes. Who wants to go nuts over that?

Plus, scales are just something I'd trip on or stub my toe on in the bathroom.

After my first pregnacy it took me about a year to get back to my myself and a little less the second time around.  Yoga is probably a great way to loose the weight and meditate at the same time.  G-d knows you will need it.  One day you will just notice that the old body is back-if that is what you want.

So now that the summer is here and it's bathing suit season, how is everyone doing?  Are we comfortable with our bodies and are we out in full force in our bikinis?  I have tried to resolve myself to the fact that I will never look like Pamela Anderson in a bathing suit and my husband and I even made a Satruday night out of bathing suit shopping.  It was kinda sweet, he was cheering me on!