Timeline

One thing that drove me crazy when I started trying to eat normally was that I couldn't get a straight answer for how long it took someone to start losing.  It might not be what you want to hear and obviously this is just my experience but here it is in a hopefully easy to read format:

Date	Note
July 2007	I got to my wit's end with dieting.  It wasn't working for me and I went looking for answers.  I came across a website that talked about normal eating and intuitive eating and found a woman named Linda Moran.
July 2007-December 2008	I did a LOT of reading.  You can see some of my favorite books on the Books To Read page.  This worked for me although might not for others so do what works for you.  I did a lot of learning and experimenting during this time but I still wasn't losing.
December 2008	I went seeking professional therapy from Karen Koenig who wrote "The Rules of "Normal" Eating".  She does teletherapy and it was a great option for me.  I think it actually worked better than face-to-face for me.
December 2008-May 2011	I did teletherapy about once every three weeks and did even more reading.  This is a great tool for me to learn and experiment.  During this time I learned to change my thinking, accept my body, handle my emotions self-sooth, etc.  I also did some group work with Al-Anon outside of therapy which was a huge help to me.
October 2010	A little overlap here.  I got pregnant with my first child and this did a lot to change my attitude toward food.  It forced me to practice all the things I had been learning in books and in therapy and I started to feel in control of my eating and empowered to change my life.
April 2011	Took a diabetes test and passed but only by one point so the doc told me I needed to watch the carbs and eat mostly meat and veggies.  This triggered some feelings which I wrote about here and I had to overcome them. In addition, although I felt like I had been doing well listening to my body, I had major new changes to make to the type of foods I was eating.  It was confusing and I did a lot of research.  Read here about what I learned and here about what my diet looks like today.
May 2011	I have been paying VERY good attention to my body and feeding it fantastic food.  I have not been overeating and I eat when I am hungry and stop when satisfied.  I have gained no weight during this pregnancy which leads me to believe I have lost fat and gained baby and fluid at equal amounts (sorry to any men reading!). I won't know what kind of changes will happen to my body after the baby is born, more to come on that!
October 2012	I lost some weight after the baby was born.  I am down about 15lbs.  I have been struggling a bit and am working on getting some momentum going with my normal eating again.  It's a lifelong process and I still would never go back to the way I felt before, even though this process is taking so long.  I am trying to refocus on the fact that this isn't about weigh and food, it's about taking care of the root problem.

That's it in a nutshell.  It takes a long time to change habits and attitudes but I will say that I would NEVER go back to dieting despite the length of this journey.  I don't know how long it takes others.  I saw someone on Dr. Oz who started losing weight within the first year.  I suppose it depends on who you are, what issues you have to overcome, etc.  The changes in my beliefs and attitudes are worth far more than any change in my weight.  I know it may be hard to understand that if you are just beginning this process, I was like you and I wanted the change NOW.  But I regret nothing and I am happy with where I am.  I am so much happier and relaxed about the whole thing.  I hope you take the leap, too, you won't be disappointed.