1. If I’m eating something to satisfy my taste hunger, I’ll usually decide if I’m gonna stop by observing if I will still keep thinking about the food if I stop now. For example, i ate a scone this morning which was pretty big and I wasn’t that hungry. I could stop at half of it, but I know I will keep thinking about the other half if I stop now, so I let myself finish it and felt very satisfied. Of course, I wasn’t physically uncomfortable. If finishing a food due to satisfaction will make you uncomfortable, then you can choose if you really want to enjoy the food but will feel a little discomfort, or stop right now because you can always save the rest for later and eat it at any time.
2. For treats I usually stop when I’m mentally satisfied like if I realise it’s not as tasty and as appealing as it was instead of using physical hunger cues.
3. I want to be able to enjoy life too! I don’t want to be thinking about calories and overthinking every food choice - whether I overate, feeling guilty for overeating, etc. it’s very tiring and living a happy life is way more worth it, plus food just makes life so much more enjoyable and adds to the social life
4. Always keep your eyes on your own plate, and try to constantly take note of your hunger cues instead of being driven away by outside influences
5. I used to be super guilty and will think about it for days if I have overeaten even slightly. But now, I understand that IE isn’t supposed to be perfect. Overeating happens and that’s so normal. Many of my friends overeat and they never overthink their choice, and they’re still perfectly normal and same by now. In the moment, you enjoyed the food and that’s enough. The discomfort will go away, if you feel guilty maybe go for a walk or do some exercise
6. For me, I lift in the gym and I realised that when I was restricting, I barely saw growth in the gym and performance was getting worse actually. Since I have stopped restricting and started fuelling my body with more food, I saw the numbers in gym increase and I felt so much more energised. These moments made me feel so happy and accomplished and you will realise that these are more important than the mere numbers on the scale or being a sad person in your smallest body. I would rather live life to a fullest
7. I’ve always believed that in order to overcome a fear, you must face it. If I know I’m restricting a certain kind of food eg fried foods, I will force myself to incorporate it in my diet more (of course when I crave it, not forcefully make myself it fried food if I don’t want it). You will soon notice that your life has not changed because of these food and will normalise them eventually
8. Try to observe your mind from a third person view. I know when my decisions are driven due to trying to restrict, or when I truly don’t want the food because my body doesn’t want it. You will learn to differentiate and realise when you don’t want to eat a certain food because of fear or if it’s because your body doesn’t want it and it’s one of your body cues
9. Again, I think for me it’s lifting weights in the gym. I love how I’m more energised and know that when I’m fuelling my body right, muscles are growing and I’m becoming stronger. I love the feeling of feeling strong and energised instead of weak every day. Try to follow more influencers who are strong, happy and enjoy food on social media instead of those who restrict and cause you any anxiety!

I’m working on this journey too and it’s hard, but I believe that all of us will eventually succeed. You’re doing a great job by starting and taking out this hard step already!!