Tag Archive for: diet free weight loss

Intuitive Eating…No Willpower Required

This week’s Intuitive Eating Wednesday’s Question is:

“I’ve been trying intuitive eating, but I just don’t have the willpower to stick with it. How can I strengthen my willpower backbone?”

 

I just LOVE this question. But before I get to the answer, let’s get clear on your dieting history. It probably goes something like this:

 

You’ve tried them all. Weight Watchers, Atkins, Weight Watchers, the Blood Type Diet, Weight Watchers. the Scarsdale Diet, Weight Watchers, the HCG Diet, Weight Watchers. Oh, did I mention Weight Watchers?!

 

It is SO easy to get sucked into sensational claims that come with each of these diets. But what you are finding is that they don’t work. Well, they do “work” if by working you mean losing weight, only to gain it back.

 

Yes, I won’t disagree. All diets can work in helping you lose weight. But can we agree that they ultimately don’t work, seeing you are here looking for another way?

 

Throughout all the diets you’ve been on, you’ve tried SO hard to have SO much willpower so you can resist your favorite food that the diets deem bad for you. And, the reason you’ve been sucked into many fad diets is because you only have to endure them for a short period of time and therefore only need to have a little willpower until the diet is over.  

 

Many diets proudly state “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days”, or “6 weeks to flat abs”. I know this is very tempting. And you think to yourself “ok, I need to have willpower for 30 days (or 6 weeks) and that’s it…I’ll reach my goal and the diet and misery will be over.”

 

But we know that you can only resist your favorite food for so long. Maybe you can last the 30 days or 6 weeks. Or maybe you can’t. Either way, what happens? When your willpower weakens and you have an emotional trigger, you cave and have the very food you’ve been longing yet been restricting. And now you don’t just have a serving, you have several servings, and it eventually turns into a binge.

 

Next thing that happens >>> feelings of guilt, shame, hopelessness, failure and the negative self-talk and body bashing.

 

Well, the good news is this.

 

In the practice of intuitive eating, there is no willpower required. Yay! You learn to take all the conditions off your food and when you do, the power those foods hold over you are no more. Even better, once you learn to trust in your inner signals as your guide to eating, you will no longer need to rebel against the diets that are telling you what to eat and not to eat.

 

Because YOU are in charge!

So, back to the original question that came in from one of my readers:

 

“I’ve been trying intuitive eating, but I just don’t have the willpower to stick with it. How can I strengthen my willpower backbone?”

 

There is no willpower in intuitive eating. What I want you to recognize is if you are still relying on willpower, then you are still harboring a diet mentality. And this will cause you to continue to stumble on your intuitive eating journey.

 

Give thought to how many times a day or week you think to yourself that you need to have willpower to resist a food.

 

How many times do you call up your willpower before heading out to a party or dinner with friends?

 

Call yourself out on it. Recognize it. The more you do and the more you remind yourself that you don’t need willpower in intuitive eating, the more you will see the diet mentality dissipate.

 

Grab this freebie that I have for you and you’ll be well on your way to never falling into the willpower trap again: Your 3 Step Plan to Shift Out of Diet Mentality and the Willpower Trap.

 

Come join me on Facebook Live today, Wednesday at 1:30 pm EST for a free training on this very topic! We will be LIVE on my business page right at this link >

https://www.facebook.com/BRGDieteticsandNutritionPC/

 

Healthy Weight for a Happy You!

We live in a society that places such a strong focus on weight and looks, often giving the impression that there is no such thing as too pretty or too thin.  This false belief has caused millions of women and men to obsess over their body weight and fall into the debilitating cycle of chronic dieting.  The week of January 19-25 is the 21st annual Healthy Weight Week, a very special 7 days set aside to allow us to take a step back and accept and be happy with our natural weight and the bodies we were born with.  It is a time that we can celebrate achieving and maintaining a diet-free positive body image and put an end to eating and weight problems.

 

It is important that it is understood that we are not all shaped the same and “healthy” and “skinny” are not one in the same.  One of the best and most effective ways to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight is to simply be aware of the food decisions you make on a daily basis – it is more about choices, not calorie counting.  Make sure your meals and snacks are well balanced and include a fruit, vegetable, whole grain and lean protein.

 

Another important aspect in diet-free weight control is to lose the guilt and let yourself enjoy a treat when you want it.  Food is something everyone enjoys, so why deny yourself of something you love?  Start to practice mindful eating by simply eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full.  Being able to listen to your body signals is the key to ridding yourself of the diet mentality.

 

One last insight to take away with you for Healthy Weight Week is to compare yourself to you and you only.  All you can be is better than you were yesterday and keep on making healthy food choices and staying as active as you can!

 

 

Your turn to take action: How will you celebrate Healthy Weight Week?