Don’t Let Bad News Derail Your Efforts

Unfortunately we all are aware that bad news and difficult times are part of life.  It is likely that during these periods there are few things that can make us feel better.  It is at these points where you can make the mistake of using food to ease the pain.  But even if this does the trick in the moment, in the long run your overindulgence or eating a food you didn’t really want will likely make you feel worse.

As you have been learning throughout this journey, food can be used to nourish you and make you feel healthy, but food cannot serve as a medicine to fix what is going on in your mind.  If you get bad news, eating an ice cream sundae will not make whatever bad is going on go away.  You might turn to it for the short-term increase in “feel-good” hormones that leave you a little more cheery post-indulging, but whatever caused the bad news or difficult circumstances will still be there once you come off that wave of “feel good” hormones.  Not to mention you might feel even worse if you are too full from overindulging, or are lagging from too much sugar or fat which is usually found in the foods you turn to in order to make you feel better.

Instead of abandoning your healthy principles during a time of difficulty, it is better to adjust your mindset and use your healthy lifestyle to make you feel better.  One of the more difficult aspects of bad news or difficult times is the feeling you do not have control.  By succumbing to cravings, you are feeding into that out of control bad news spiral.  By taking control of your healthy lifestyle and continuing to honor your hunger, respect your fullness and make healthy decisions, you stay in control of your health which will likely help you regain control of the situation that has you down.

Life can be difficult, but having to face life’s challenges in a body that is unhealthy is even more difficult.  By staying true to the principles that you have been forming throughout this journey, you make yourself stronger and more likely to overcome the difficulties you are facing in your life.

Your turn to take action: Tell me some healthy ways you handle the trials in your life without using food.

Is the Scale Weighing You Down?

Sometimes when you are embarking on a journey to a body you love, you use certain “benchmarks” that you use to track your progress.  In the past you probably were a slave to the scale, tracking your weight loss progress as often as you can at different points throughout the day.  The scale would often serve as your permission or denial of certain foods or skipping certain meals and snacks.

If you have been on this intuitive eating journey with me for some time, I hope you have begun to realize the scale is not a progress tracker.  When the scale indicates weight loss or weight gain, this is not indicative of success or failure.  If you have been torturing yourself on a fad diet that offers little variety and is not meeting proper health requirements, but you lose weight on it, are you really succeeding?  Maybe you have been honoring your hunger and eating well, but your weight is taken a doctor’s appointment and the number is not indicative of how healthy you feel– does that make you a failure?

The answer to both of these questions is no.  If you have lost weight through extreme, unhealthy measures, you put yourself at risk for gaining it back once you resume regular eating habits.  If you are happy with how your body has been feeling then by no means does that make you a failure, even if the “great” and “powerful” scale is reporting no weight loss.

The scale is just a material object.  YOU dictate how successful you feel.  YOU are the one learning how to live a healthy lifestyle.  So let the scale collect some dust for a bit and focus on the progress you are making in other ways.  Without this “weight” on your shoulders, you are sure to feel lighter and freer right away!

Your turn to take action: What are some new ways you will measure your success?

Meals vs. Snacks: Which Team are You On?

SnacksThroughout most of the past decade, the idea of “3 meals a day” was widely accepted and practiced by a majority of American households.  You ate a breakfast of maybe toast and eggs, a sandwich packed for lunch and you would sit down to a dinner that focused on protein as the star, with a vegetable and a starch in the supporting role.  Perhaps a dessert would accompany that dinner, but for the most part, it was those three meals that shaped the day.

Now much of what we see supports the idea of several smaller “meals” a day or 3 small meals and 2 snacks throughout the day as opposed to the traditional 3 large meals.  The reason behind this recommendation stems from the idea that eating more often is necessary to keep your metabolism working all day long.  If you wait too long in between meals you will likely get too hungry and then eat too much.  When one gets too hungry, they also are likely to make the wrong food choices and it takes a greater amount of food to rev up the metabolism.

When it comes to meals versus snacks, like most things in nutrition, balance is the key.  Creating balanced, smaller meals interspersed with healthy filling snacks is the key to staying comfortably full and satiated throughout the day.  By planning your meals and snacks in advance, you will find yourself having an easier time saying no to unplanned foods that pop up throughout the day because your hunger is tamed.

For a guide to planning meals and snacks, take a look at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics new graphic called MyPlate which can be found at: www.choosemyplate.gov.  The site explains how to fashion each meal so it has all the necessary nutrition components for optimal health.

For creating healthy snacks, remember to have them include carbohydrates, fat, and protein in a balanced ratio and plenty of filling fiber to keep you satiated until meal time.  For example, hummus and vegetables, or fruit and Greek yogurt are excellent, nutritious snacks.

For help with meal planning for weight loss or to manage a medical condition, click here.

Time to take action: Please comment below and let me know which team are you on: meals or snacks?

Sabotage Comes in Many Forms

Have you found on your journey to a life of no more dieting that you have combated some saboteurs along the way?  The answer is probably yes.  I want to address some of the less obvious saboteurs that can derail your efforts, and offer suggestions for how to stay on course despite distractions that try and take you off.

Here are some common saboteurs and tips on how to deal with them:

Family: Whether it is your spouse, your child or a parent, while they certainly love you, they may be the most difficult challenge that gets in your way of being healthy.  Loved ones might say hurtful things like, “You’re on another diet?  Why will this work when the other’s haven’t?”  It is easy to doubt yourself when you hear criticism like this coming from one you love, but it is important to remember this is your journey and you must protect your personal space by not letting them make these comments.  In a polite manner, let them know that they are not allowed to make comments about your body or food.  Stay true to yourself.

Friends: They make us laugh and smile, but friends can be foes when it comes to health.  Whether you’re still in high school or are far removed from it, peer pressure can still kick in when hanging out with friends who want you to eat differently than the way you want to.  Or perhaps they are jealous of your success and say nasty things because it is hard for them to see you succeed when they feel they aren’t.  So they offer you a food you’ve already turned down.  How do you handle it?  Thank them and redirect the offer to a food you prefer and stay consistent in saying no each time they offer.

Time: It is not a person or even something you can hold in your hand, but time can be one of the hardest parts of a healthy lifestyle.  Behavior modification may involve restructuring your schedule so you can make more time for meal preparation and exercise.  The time you make to be healthy may extend your lifetime.  So while you may feel like time is never on your side, sitting down and reevaluating your schedule may give you more time than you think.  Find out where time is being wasted and replace it with healthy behaviors.

Media: Whether it’s social media, commercials, television or movies, we are constantly looking at fictional images that do not do justice to what it really means to look and live healthy.  Being a fan of media outlets like television shows, movies and magazines can be a source of relaxation and help you de-stress, but separate them from influencing the way you view your body and your lifestyle.  Remember the way you look and the life you lead is yours to be happy with, and it’s best not to compare yourself to your favorite celebrity.

While these saboteurs are all very real aspects of your daily life, they can be tackled in a constructive way that keeps you on the path to a body you love without dieting!

Your turn to take action:  What or who are some other saboteurs that have made you feel bad about your journey or knocked you off course?

Are You Ready for Bathing Suit Season?

Swimsuit pictureWhen you think of summer, the beach and the pool, what comes to mind?  Perhaps getting into a bathing suit?  How does this make you feel?  Many of my clients shy away from these summer fun activities because they don’t like the way they look in a bathing suit.  Do you compare yourself to others and criticize your body?

Summer is a time for vacationing, relaxing in the sun (of course with sunblock) and chilling out.  Don’t let your negative thoughts about your body prevent you from enjoying this wonderful time of year.

Let this summer be different!  Look back at the progress you have been making in the last few months learning to love your body.  One of the things I recommended in a previous blog was to look at yourself in the mirror and find at least one thing that you like about your body.  It could be your eyes, ears or wrists.  If it’s hard for you to find a body part you like, think about what your body does for you.  Your legs help you walk and your eyes help you see.    Think about how this journey to becoming an intuitive eater is helping you to love and respect your body.

When you put on a bathing suit this summer, be proud of the accomplishments you have made so far.  Stand proud, hold your head up high and dive into the ocean.

Your turn to take action:  Take a picture of yourself wearing your bathing suit and write five things on the back of the photo that you love about your body!  Please share your photos and/or comments below.

“Comfort Foods” Making your Clothes Uncomfortable?

There is nothing wrong with foods being a source of pleasure.  In fact, the more your relationship with food can be a positive one, the better you will feel about your eating habits.  However, confusing a positive relationship with eating your favorite foods with the notion of seeking “comfort” from certain foods can lead to problems with your relationship with food.

If you are eating something to gain a sense of comfort, this begins to connect your eating to emotions instead of satiety.  There is a difference between eating a food you love because you are enjoying the taste of it or the ceremony for which the food represents and eating to soothe emotions.

If you are eating for comfort, you are expecting that food to solve a problem for you.  It’s important to figure out if you are turning to food when you are frustrated, sad or bored.  If you are, then more than likely you need something else, other than food.  For example, if you are up late working on a project for work and you wander into the kitchen, stop and ask yourself if you are truly hungry.  Most likely you are tired, not hungry.

Let me encourage you to move away from using the term “comfort foods.”  Use food as fuel rather than therapy.  It is not to say you can’t consume foods you previously considered to be “comfort foods”; simply redefine their place in your eating plan, and make them a part of your healthy lifestyle, not a part of your mental well-being.

Your turn to take action: How will you work on banishing the phrase “comfort food” from your vocabulary?

Mindful Exercise—Feel the Difference

Family bikingExercise is an important part of living a healthy lifestyle.  Unfortunately, dieters look at it as a way to negate calories and as a way to legitimize eating larger amounts of food.  Or they “punish” themselves with a difficult workout because their eating was “bad” the night before and they need to “undo it.”  Exercise bulimia is also a problem in our society, where people “purge” their calories by over-exercising to burn calories.

It is unfortunate that something as beneficial and positive as exercise can have negative connotations as well.  The problem is how you choose to look at exercise.  Many people see it as something they have to do as opposed to something they want to do.  When fitting in exercise becomes synonymous to fitting in housework, it turns into something stressful, instead of an activity that can take away stress.

Instead of adopting a diet mentality when it comes to exercise, remember all of the benefits it can bring to your health.  Physical activity fights against disease.  Whether it is to better cardiac health, protect against cancers, boost your immunity or maintain bone and joint health, the physiological effects of getting up and getting moving make a trip to the doctor much less likely.

Besides the physiological effects seen, exercise boosts your mood as well.  Feel-good hormones are secreted during exercise which can lift you up and make you feel better.  The results you achieve from consistent exercise also raise your self-esteem and make you more confident to achieve your goals.  Not to be minimized, exercise is also a lot of fun!

While I encourage my clients to fit exercise into their daily routine, it is not for the reason of weight loss.  If you continue to think of exercise as a way to burn calories, then you will dread it and have trouble motivating yourself to go out for that walk or hop on the treadmill.  Instead focus on the positive benefits noted above and you will find that you are exercising not because you have to but because it makes you feel great.

Your turn to take action: How do you view exercise?  As a part of your “diet” or part of your healthy lifestyle?

International No Diet Day

No DietingToday is International No Diet Day.  This holiday was initiated in 1992 by Mary Evans Young, director of British anti-dieting campaign “Diet Breakers.”  This day was created to encourage international awareness of healthy eating as opposed to dieting.  It is an annual celebration of all body types, shapes and sizes.  It’s a day where we challenge cultural perceptions and opinions that could result in chronic dieting and discontent with body image.

If you have been reading my blog posts, you probably notice that I never use the word diet when talking about healthy eating.  I use phrases such as, “eating plan,” and “healthy lifestyle,” and I try to eliminate the word “diet” from the vocabulary of the clients I work with.  The word “diet” has come to imply something that you are “on” or “off.”  It leads to cyclically gaining and losing weight, and hardly brings the success and health promised by diets.

There has never been a better day than today to celebrate a life free of dieting that I assure you is out there.  By becoming an intuitive eater, you are no longer a prisoner to the restrictions of a specific diet, counting calories or measuring portions like you’re in a science lab.  Start by tuning into your body by embracing a healthy non-diet mindset and creating healthy habits that will stay with you forever.  By doing this, you have chosen to make lifelong changes, not temporary fixes as diets propose.

I encourage you to celebrate this holiday every day remembering to love yourself and the body that you have, and make healthy choices based on your intuition and the healthy lifestyle you have chosen.

Your turn to take action: Commit today to take time off from the crazy diet plan you are following and listen to your body’s hunger and satiety signals to guide your eating!  If you need help, download my FREE guide here.

Going for Your Goals

Go for itI have written previous blogs on “me time”, about not buying into the idea of pop culture determining the ultimate body type, and on not overextending yourself.  Now I am challenging you to take it one step further.

Was there ever a time, or perhaps more than one, where you did something not because you wanted to do it but because somebody else thought it was best for you?  I would not be surprised if the answer was yes.  Sometimes it’s easy to be scared about going after the things you want.  Whether it’s because you don’t trust your own intuition or you don’t want to fall short of someone else’s expectations, you let someone else map out your journey.

It happens with food too.  You find yourself at a restaurant with friends.  They are all ordering salads and even though you really wanted a steak that day, you jump on the bandwagon and order a salad as well.  Or perhaps you do order the steak, and one of your friends chimes in, “Steak?!  I thought you were on a diet!”  At which point you immediately change to the salad saying it was a momentary lapse in judgment.  If you want steak, have steak.  That is what intuitive eating is all about.  Honor your hunger and the desire for the food you want, and it will be easier to respect your fullness when you have had enough.

It is true for anything in life.  Focus on the things you want and make them happen. It is your journey to navigate, not someone else’s.  While you can let others weigh in on situations, know in the end that the only person’s whose opinion matters is yours.

Your turn to take action: How have other’s opinions affected you in life?

Know When to Stop and Say “No”

Knowing When to Stop PictureI have spent a lot of time discussing the freedom from dieting that intuitive eating can provide.  That certainly is the beauty of being mindful.  But one principle that people sometimes struggle with is “Respecting Your Fullness.”  This principle involves really tuning in while you’re eating, and being able to recognize when you have had enough and no longer need to keep eating.

As you may have found out in your own eating, consuming food past the point of fullness can make you uncomfortable, sick or lead to feelings of guilt.  These feelings can lead you to skipping your next meal or snack, thus beginning an overeating/starving cycle that messes with your metabolism.  By paying attention while you’re eating, you can break free of this cycle and feel good about what you are eating.

The idea behind this principle can also be applied to things in life other than eating mindfully.  I’m sure many of you feel overextended due to juggling family, a job, a household and anything else that may come up in a day.  Think of overextending yourself as something similar to overeating.  Just like I want you to respect your fullness, I want you to respect your fullness of schedule as well.  Sometimes taking on too much can take you away from the really important aspects of your life and self-care.  Knowing when to say no to certain things is analogous to knowing when you are full from a meal.

Though our country is all about excess, scaling back and respecting your limitations is just as important as trying to achieve the impossible ideal of “doing it all.”  Respect your fullness, respect your time, and respect that you are only capable of so much.  Do what you can handle well and you will feel much better during your day to day life.

The next time someone asks you to do something and you really can’t fit it in, say the following, “I wish I could, but I can’t.”  No need for reasons or excuses.

Your turn to take action:  Do you have a hard time saying “no” to people?