Tag Archive for: family meals

Is it Possible to Eat without Food Worry?

Woman eating fruit saladIf I told you, a chronic dieter, that you can recapture the pleasure in your eating and look forward to your meals with excitement and not fear, dread or worry, what would you say?

“No way, impossible.”

“I wish!”

“I doubt it!”

 

I know that this might seem unachievable to you, having battled with your weight for years, being on and off diets without long-term success. All these diets have caused food to be your enemy, which is quite unfortunate because food is meant to nourish your body.

 

How many times have you accepted a lunch date with your girlfriends, or dinner date with your partner only to worry for hours beforehand what you will order and if you are going to overeat? The worry about how many points the salad dressing is, how many calories are in the creamed spinach and concerned that you will leave the restaurant feeling bloated, heavy and miserable.

 

All this fear and worry leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. You DO overeat, you DO feel guilty and ashamed and you DO leave the date feeling bloated, heavy and miserable.

 

In my work with my clients, I help them to understand that through the process of learning to be an intuitive eater, you actually lose this food fear and food worry and instead leave the restaurant or dinner table feeling utmost pleasure in what you have just eaten (and you were able to focus on your wonderful dinnertime companion instead of thinking about eating too much food).

 

The secret is in SAVORING YOUR FOOD! This means slowing down and taking the time to enjoy all the qualities of the food you are eating including taste, texture, temperature, aroma and appearance. This sounds a lot like mindful eating, doesn’t it? Yes, it is and it is exactly what I teach my clients as they move along their intuitive eating journey.

 

This month is National Nutrition Month. The theme is “Savor the Flavor of Eating Right”. This theme meshes wonderfully with the message of mindful eating. Take the time to enjoy food traditions and appreciate the pleasure, great flavors and social experience that food can bring to your life.

 

Would you like to participate in a free 7 day challenge where you can learn how to “Savor the Flavor of Eating Right”?

 

This challenge is happening in my private Facebook group. It’s called:

 

Challenge - Savor Flavor-When-Where

Savor the Flavor of Eating

7 Day Free Challenge

 

Discover:

– What’s behind the “HOW”, “WHEN”, “WHY” and “WHERE” you eat.

– Begin your journey towards a more mindful and pleasurable eating style.

 

Join us for Free by clicking here. There is no opt-in required to join our group. This takes you to my private Facebook group. All you have to do is request access to join and Walla! I’ll accept you and welcome you in.

 

The challenge starts on March 7. You can only participate if you are part of the private Facebook group, so click here now and request access to join.

 

 

Mindfully Cooking and Eating on Thanksgiving

turkeyTomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays to cook for. All my children will be home, including my married son with his wife and my adorable grandson, Evan. I am so excited to spend quality stress-free time with them all.

 

What’s on the menu? I sat down with my recipes and started to make a menu and shopping list.

 

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Butternut Squash Soup

Persimmon and Spinach Salad

Roasted Turkey (of course)

Sweet Potato Apple Stacks

Garlic Roasted Vegetable Medley

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Hot Apple Pie

Citrus Fruit Bowl

 

My son also requested mashed potatoes for my grandson, so of course I’ll have some of that available.

 

By the way, if you took advantage of the holiday special, you received the holiday menu planner with 8 recipes for free, including the Persimmon and Spinach Salad, Sweet Potato Apple Stacks and Garlic Roasted Vegetable Medley noted above. If you didn’t grab yours yet, you can still do so now at 50% off by clicking here. You won’t be disappointed.

 

Now, looking at this menu, I am conscious and mindful of making sure to have food choices from the various food groups: lean protein (turkey), starch/grains (sweet potato apple stacks and butternut squash soup), vegetables (variety of roasted veggies), healthy fat (olive oil in cooking) and fruit (citrus fruit bowl). There is also a “fun food” which is the homemade hot apple pie.

 

Next step is mindfully eating. That means staying fully conscious during the meal, maintaining an awareness of your food choices and amount of food you are serving yourself and you are eating. While this can be challenging in a social situation, if you set your intention before the meal, you’ll do great.

 

Start by serving yourself small portions of your favorite “this only comes around once a year” foods. Balance your plate and stay tuned in to listen to your inner signals as you are getting satiated. Stop when you feel comfortable, even if others are still eating. If you do this, you will be able to enjoy the homemade apple pie (or whatever your dessert) without having that dessert tip you over into the “I’ve got to open my buckle” state.

 

Plan ahead for success, eat intelligently and stay mindful. Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Intuitive Eating: Make it a Family Affair

Family meals 2Many of the eating behaviors that you are trying to change have likely been behaviors and habits you learned while growing up through your childhood. Statements such as “you can’t leave the table until you clean your plate” or “clean your room and we will go for ice cream” puts food in the category of either punishment or reward.  It is so important to think about how these statements mold your children’s thoughts and beliefs about food.

It’s very important to me, as a mom of 4 children and 1 grandchild, to help my family respect their individual food preferences and inner signals of hunger and satiety. They need not eat what they don’t like, nor should they eat when they are not hungry or continue eating when they reach satiety. That doesn’t mean, by the way, that I don’t ask them to be open minded and taste a food that they “think” they won’t like, or that they didn’t like years ago. Tastes change, especially in growing children.

Let me share a story with you. Last week we were eating a family dinner. My youngest daughter (11 years old) stopped eating and put her fork down. There was a little food left on her plate (I think it was potatoes) and my husband asked her why she didn’t finish.  She said that she’s no longer hungry and that she had enough. She looked at me when she said it, as if to say “mom, aren’t you proud?!” Yes, indeed, I was beaming. I quickly said that I will put away what she left over and she can eat it tomorrow. This was important as my husband doesn’t like to waste food and as long as he realizes I wasn’t going to throw her food in the garbage, he didn’t say a word other than, “oh, okay”.

Practicing intuitive eating should be a family affair. In this way, your kids will grow up with a healthy attitude towards food, their mind and their body.

Your turn to take action: Please share in the comments below one of your dinner table stories depicting intuitive eating.