Tag Archive for: conscious eating

Celebrating Memorial Day as an Intuitive Eater

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend which for many signals the start of summer! Sunshine, beach days, swimming, biking, relaxing, vacations…this is what I think of when May 31 rolls around.

 

But for you, the chronic dieter, thoughts of overeating at the BBQ, the dread of putting on a bathing suit, and the anticipation of wearing shorts are flooding your mind. You are probably thinking right now that right after this weekend you will start a diet so you are feeling better about your body by July 4th.

 

Sound about right?

 

You are tired of having food fear and body fear. You are tired of saying no to social invitations because there “won’t be any food there that I can eat on my diet”. You are tired of throwing in the towel time and time again saying “I’ll just enjoy myself today and start again tomorrow”.

 

How can you start living life as an intuitive eater as we approach the holiday weekend?

 

Here are 3 tips to get you started:

 

1) Recognize that no one food has the power over you to make you thin or fat. That’s right. Go into your Memorial Day BBQ this weekend without a list of good and bad foods, foods you can and can’t eat. Ask yourself what you really want to eat. Then go get it, put it on a plate and sit down and eat slowly and mindfully, savoring every bite. No guilty feelings, no worry, just enjoy every bite.

 

2) Stay fully present and aware. It’s very easy to get distracted when in a social situation and not pay attention to what or how much you are eating. Remind yourself that you will make conscious decisions around your food choices and will remain tuned in while you eat. Check in periodically as you are eating and remember, if you are satisfied, stop eating. You can always eat that burger another time.

3) Don’t eat to please others. Your host worked hard to put together a wonderful time full of food, drinks and desserts. Great. You ate, and you enjoyed. And now you are satisfied. If your host starts to pressure you to eat more (“Look how much I have left over!!”), just politely tell her how delicious everything was but you just cannot fit another bite in your belly. Stay true to yourself!

 

Have a wonderful celebration this weekend. Let me know how these 3 tips have helped you on your journey back to being an intuitive eater.

 

 

 

 

Is Intuitive Eating a Weight Loss Program or Not?

Woman with question marksMore often than not, people struggling to lose weight will say yes to a new diet that hits the market. Whether the catch phrase is diet, program, system or technique, if it is something they haven’t tried, you can bet they are going to get suckered into the claims that THIS is the diet, program, system or technique that will finally help you achieve the weight loss you pray for.

 

So when I was having a conversation the other day with a woman who was asking me about the intuitive eating work I do with my clients, I wasn’t surprised when she asked me about the “weight loss program” that she was interested in learning more about.

 

I quickly stated, “Intuitive eating is not a weight loss program”.

 

Whoa! Wait a minute! That stopped her dead in her tracks. Her mouth dropped open. “If it is not a weight loss program, then what is it”, she asked.

 

I proceeded to explain to her that the intuitive eating work I do with my clients is a step-by-step process to help them transform their relationship with food, where they end the battle with food and their body and achieve great pleasure in eating once again.

 

You see, all the years of dieting has caused food to be your enemy, and has led you to feel guilty after eating foods that you deemed “bad” by the diet industry. On top of that, each time you eat one of these bad foods, or you overeat and feel shame and guilt, you also feel miserable about yourself and your body.

 

Intuitive eating puts all things back into perspective. Intuitive eating reminds you that you are in charge of your food choices and your body. You have the inner wisdom to know when you are hungry and when you are full, when you should start eating and when you should stop.

 

The process of learning to become an intuitive eater puts you back into the driver’s seat of deciding what foods you want to eat, how you want to dress, and helps you to love and respect yourself, and your body again.

 

In turn, as you learn to live life as an intuitive eater with an inner love that shows kindness to yourself, gentleness with yourself and ultimately acceptance of yourself, something wonderful happens. You start to release weight! You start to feel your pants become loser, your stride become longer, your walking pace become quicker and your breathing become easier.

 

Yes, you will naturally lose weight, returning to what is a “natural, healthy weight” for your body, not an ideal weight based on a calculation and a chart.

 

So, is intuitive eating a weight loss program?

 

No, it is not.

 

Can you release weight when living life as an intuitive eater making conscious food choices?

 

Yes you can!

 

Sounds pretty darn good to me!

 

Your turn to take action: Contact me if you would like to get started on your intuitive eating journey. Just click here to learn more.