mindful eating Archives - Page 12 of 15 - Diet Free Radiant Me | Intuitive Eating | Emotional Eating

5 Ways to Handle Food Pushers

You’ve probably experienced what I am about to talk about.

There you are at a friend’s home for dinner. It’s dessert time and she brings out a homemade apple pie. You left room for dessert, but you truly don’t feel like having apple pie. You much prefer to have the fresh berries with a dollop of whipped topping.

Your friend says “here, have a piece of apple pie”. And, you say, “no, thank you”. And she says “oh come on. I baked it just for you. One bite won’t kill you”. You say, “okay, I’ll have a small slice”.

Later that night, you are upset with yourself. Why did you give in and have that apple pie. You didn’t even enjoy it. You really wanted the fresh berries.

We call these people food pushers or pressure feeders. Why do they do what they do? And, what is the best way to deal with them?

I answer these questions in this week’s episode of The Diet Free Zone Show™.

Just click the image below to watch now.

After watching the video, please share your food pusher experiences with me in the comment below.

Will I Lose Weight with Intuitive Eating?

I get this question a lot. People are interested in a way to break free from dieting. They no longer want the food restrictions and the feelings of deprivation. The calorie counting and calorie tracking with the many apps out on the market that are not always accurate.

Intuitive eating is a new concept for most dieters. When I explain the process towards becoming an intuitive eater, the chronic dieter LOVES it.

But there is one question that stays in their mind. Will I lose weight?

That’s a great question. Watch today’s episode of The Diet Free Zone Show™ for the answer to this question.

Click the image below to watch.

After watching this week’s show, please leave your comments or questions below.

“Good” Foods and “Bad” Foods

Do you have a list of foods that you consider as “good” or “bad” to eat? How do you feel if you eat a food on your “good” list? What about on your “bad” list?

One of the first things I help my clients do is to get rid of the food lists. Foods should not be categorized into good and bad.

Why not?

Watch this week’s episode of The Diet Free Zone Show™ to learn more.

Then come back and comment: How you will discard your list of “good” and “bad” foods?

Click the image below to watch now.

Remember, come back here to comment!

Introducing The Diet-Free Zone Show™

I’ve been writing about intuitive eating for some time now. So I thought I’d try something new to help get my message out to more people.

I’ve decided to create my very own show on YouTube.

Yep, I did.

So, yesterday my assistant and I buckled down and taped 6 episodes of my new show called…DRUM ROLL PLEASE….

The show will air every Wednesday on what I have dubbed “Intuitive Eating Wednesdays”.

What will I talk about on the show?

Everything related to intuitive eating and mindful eating.

Click on the intro video above to learn more!

Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there. Just click the RED Subscribe button on my channel and you will be notified when a new show airs.

If you have questions you’d like me to answer on a future show, just comment below and I’ll be sure to answer in an upcoming episode.

Does Your Home Environment Trigger Mindless Eating?

Mindful eating is a crucial step on your path to becoming an intuitive eater. Mindful eating involves developing a special kind of awareness that you bring to the table when you eat. Mindful eating is less about what you eat and more about the way you eat.

When you eat mindfully, you become aware of your eating habits, especially the ones that sabotage eating well. You ask yourself “Do I really want a snack?” “Am I just reacting to food with automatic habits?” “Am I mindlessly wandering to the kitchen cabinets and getting my favorite treat without a second thought?”

When you eat mindfully, you are aware of the sensations you experience when you eat…the taste, texture, aroma of the food, and the thoughts that you have about the food.

Easier said than done?

Maybe so. Especially in this society when you are constantly on the run, putting out fires at work and home and probably grabbing food when you can. There just never seems to be enough time in the day. This leads to mindless eating, not mindful eating.

You have the best of intentions to listen to your internal cues of hunger and satiety and to stay fully present at each meal. But it doesn’t always work out that way. So, what are you to do?

It’s important to set up your environment for success. Meaning, take the cookie jar off the kitchen counter, the bowl of nuts off the living room cocktail table, and keep food in the kitchen, and only in the kitchen. You will be less apt to grab a “couple” or a “few” on your way through the kitchen to the den.

But it doesn’t just stop there. One of my favorite recommendations to setting up your environment for success has to do with your dinner leftovers (or any meal for that matter). Consider the following scenario:

You cooked a delicious dinner of lasagna and enjoyed it with your family. There is leftover, so you put it in a container and placed it in the refrigerator. Later that evening, you feel some hunger and decide to have an apple. You open the fridge and see your dinner leftovers. “Yum, that was delicious tonight. Let me take one forkful”. You stand at the fridge and dig the fork in, only problem is before you know it, the leftovers are gone and in your belly.

Has this ever happened to you? Oh, come on, be real, it probably has.

To set your environment up for success and prevent this mindless eating, store those leftovers in opaque containers (you know, the ones you can’t see through), and put it towards the back of the refrigerator. Out of sight, out of mind. And easy enough to do!

Your turn to take action: How do you store your leftovers? What changes will you make in your environment to decrease mindless eating?

What Does it Feel Like to Eat Without “Food Worry”?

Fantastic, terrific, freeing, amazing….I could go on and on.

If you recently attended my free webinar, or watched the replay, you heard my story, the highlight of which (in my opinion) is that for many years I was “on” a “healthy meal plan” (notice the quotation marks) that I created for myself and “followed” diligently day in and day out. I never looked at this as a diet, until I discovered intuitive eating.

If you haven’t listened to my webinar, you can still catch it here for a few more days.

What I realized through my research and training in intuitive eating is that the “healthy meal plan” I was “following” was just another diet. There were definitely foods that I didn’t give myself permission to eat, and when I did eat them, even if it was a small piece, there was a tinge of food worry that came over me. That food worry led to body worry….would that bite of cake cause me to gain weight?

When I implemented the steps toward learning to be an intuitive eater into my life, I achieved a feeling of freedom. These are the steps I spoke of in my recent webinar.

Let me give you an example of how I no longer have this “food worry”.

The only beverages I drink throughout the day are water and a morning cup of coffee. I don’t drink any other beverages because I happen to love water and how it makes my body feel. Last night I sat down to eat dinner and I had my tall glass of water on the table. I saw the orange juice container (my son was having a glass of orange juice) and at that moment, my body said to me “Bonnie, have some orange juice”. I can’t remember the last time I had orange juice, or any juice for that matter. But yet there was a feeling that is hard to describe that my body just knew that a small glass of orange juice would be right for me at that moment.

I honored my body’s inner wisdom and had a glass of orange juice. It was delicious. I enjoyed every sip.

What’s the big deal about this story? Well, four years ago while I was still on my “healthy meal plan”, I would not have allowed myself to have that small glass of OJ. I would hear my inner voice saying “don’t drink your calories”, “juice will make you gain weight”, etc….

But not last night! The only inner voice that I heard was the voice of nurturer, saying “yes, Bonnie, honor what your body is telling you”. And, that small glass filled my needs.

And, it’s not just with juice. It’s with pizza, ice cream and all foods.

This was a wonderful feeling. No more food worry, no more body worry.

Would you like to feel this feeling too? You CAN! I promise!

Take this moment and listen to the webinar replay “How to Break Free from the Pain of Dieting and Get the Body You Love Without Feeling Deprived”.

And if you’d like, consider taking it further and join me and those who already said YES to the Freedom to Eat Forever™ Program where you will get the training, action and support you need to eat without food worry.

Hope to see you there!

If you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at bonnie@brghealth.com . I am here to support you all the way!

The Answer to End Your Weight Struggles is Here

Last night was really a landmark night for me and I want to share it with you.

I knew how excited I was to share with the world How to Break Free from the Pain of Dieting and Get the Body You Love Without Feeling Deprived. But I had no idea how many of you shared that same excitement. There is one thing that is undeniable. And you know it deep down. Discovering how to give up dieting and eat without guilt can be one of the most crucial factors in finally achieving what you have dreamed of for so long.

Just in case you missed it last night, or want to listen again, here is the link to the replay. You’ll want to listen now because it’s only available for a short time.

On the webinar, I taught the 3 steps that you need to become an intuitive eater. These are the same steps that I have incorporated into my own life. On the webinar, I tell you a bit about my own story and how intuitive eating has changed my life. And, you know what? It can change yours too.

Intuitive eating can help you:

be freed of dieting forever
lose weight and keep it off without feelings of deprivation
eat without guilt or food worry

I also announced on the webinar the premier of Freedom to Eat Forever. This is a revolutionary program that not only helps you shift your mindset and reject dieting.

But more importantly, it helps you experience:

Unconditional permission to eat when you are hungry what foods you desire.
Eating for physical and not emotional reasons.
Reliance on your internal hunger and satiety signals to determine when and how much to eat.

And most crucially of all…reveals how to enjoy a diet-free life and a body you love.

It’s this combination of shifting your mindset and honoring your body that makes Freedom to Eat Forever such an amazing experience. Powerful, even life-changing, to help you not only leap frog your biggest challenges, but to set you up for a lifetime that exceeds your wildest dreams.

Learn the 3 steps to breaking free from dieting by listening to the webinar here.

Or, if you’ve already decided that you are ready to move forward, go ahead and check out the details and register for Freedom to Eat Forever here.

The program begins October 1, 2014. It’s a 90 day (3 month program- October, November and December).

Oh, and by the way, I have a fast action bonus for you if you take action fast. An “Ask Me Anything Coaching Call” available to the first 20 people who register. And, that’s on top of the big dollar savings for those who register through the webinar promotion (and lots of other bonuses and surprises I am throwing in).

Freedom to Eat Forever

Do You Possess The Dieter’s Dilemma?

I know how much you want to lose weight. You have tried for many years. You’ve been successful in that you lost weight on whatever diet you were on at that moment, assuming you were “good”. But then, the inevitable happens. You crave foods that you love that you have restricted for so long. You now enter into the vicious cycle of dieting and the “Dieter’s Dilemma”.

There is a way out. I’ve recorded a video for you this week to further discuss The Dieter’s Dilemma. Just click below and watch.

Learn the 3 steps you need to break free of the vicious cycle of dieting. Click here to register for my Free Webinar on Tuesday September 16 at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. The webinar will be recorded, so register even if you cannot make it live. I will send you the recording.

How to Break Free from the Pain of Dieting and Get the Body You Love Without Deprivation.

Don’t miss out on this informative free training. It’s your path to freedom to eat.

Abolishing the “Eat This, Don’t Eat That” Rule

Portion control is something that is always stressed when discussing weight loss and healthy eating. It is undeniable that the portions of food people eat are much larger than they were years ago, which is a direct contributor to the obesity epidemic this country is facing.

Several experiments have recently been conducted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. It was discovered that people have a “taste-health balance point” – a proportion of unhealthy and healthy foods in each meal – which they find satisfactory. Thus, eating a smaller portion of a food you love (that might not be deemed the healthiest), rather than eliminating it completely, and pairing it with a healthy food choice allows the person to be satisfied with a smaller amount without feeling deprived.

Yet, in most commercial diet plans, along with portion control, there are “eat this, don’t eat that” rules. Inevitably, the dieter can only stand not eating a favorite food on the “don’t eat” list for so long. Cravings then lead to overeating and the diet is foregone.

Is this sounding familiar to you?

This is one of the reasons that I stress to my clients the importance of really understanding the concept of providing yourself with the unconditional permission to eat when hungry what food you desire. It takes the “taboo” label off foods that you would otherwise deem as “bad”. It eliminates the desire to overeat on these foods and creates room for healthier food options.

So, if you are stuck in the diet mindset, try balancing your next meal with healthy wholesome foods plus those that you might deem “not as healthy” but are your favorite. See if you are satisfied with less and let me know in the comment section below.

To learn more about becoming an intuitive eater and How to Break Free from the Pain of Dieting and Get the Body You Love Without Feeling Deprived, join me for a Free Webinar on Tuesday September 16,2014 at 8 pm EST. Click here to register for FREE.

Do You Pay Your Dues in the Clean the Plate Club?

When you are eating, do you pay attention to how satisfied you are getting? Or, do you eat until all the food on the plate is gone?

I ask you these questions because as a chronic dieter, you more than likely have become a member (or hopefully an ex-member) of the “clean the plate” club. There are many reasons why you might be in this club. But right now, the reason I will highlight is the entitlement you feel.

What do I mean by entitlement? Well, simply said, when you are on a diet you are entitled to a certain amount of food, right? And, when you portion that food out onto your plate, you are going to eat what you are entitled to no matter what.

As an intuitive eater, there is no more food worry, no more entitlement, and no more restrictions. Let me share another story with you (last week I shared my Godiva chocolate story, I hope you liked it!)

My husband and I recently went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant while we were on vacation. We don’t usually eat out due to our hectic schedules, but this was during our vacation so we had the time. I ordered two appetizers instead of an appetizer and an entrée which I knew would be too much food for me. One of those appetizers was something I typically would not have ordered; it was a crostini with veggies and cheese. Seeing that I am an intuitive eater and I don’t deprive myself of food that I desire when I am biologically hungry, I decided to order the crostini.

As I was eating, I was staying focused and paused a few times to check in with my inner signals. At some point, I recognized that I was just about nearing comfortable satiety and although the crostini was delicious, I knew that if I finished it (there was one left on the plate), I would have become overfull.

What do you think I did? I stopped eating, put my fork and knife down and told my husband I’m done. I asked the waitress to pack up the last crostini so I can take it back to the hotel, where I had a refrigerator in my room. Yes, it was only one small crostini (remember this was an appetizer, so they weren’t big), and I still stopped eating and took it back with me. I certainly could have shoved it in, but I knew I would have been too full and would regret it.

Two days later (still on vacation), when it was time for a snack, I saw the bag in the frig and remembered I brought it back from the restaurant. I decided to have it as my snack and I enjoyed it as much as when I had it the very first time.

I don’t share this story to brag. I want you to know that you can have these experiences too. You don’t have to finish the food on your plate, even if there are just one or two bites left. Learning to become an intuitive eater opens up a whole new way of living.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Are you a member of the “clean the plate” club? Do you have a story to share where you took home or put away that last bite?

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