Tag Archive for: savor food

Food Overwhelm (and 3 Strategies to Deal with It)

It’s holiday week. Whether you celebrated Easter this past weekend, or you are still celebrating Passover this week, holiday eating can sometimes pose a problem for those working on giving up dieting to embrace intuitive eating.

 

The goal is to have a more peaceful relationship with food, and to learn to trust that your body knows just what it needs and wants.

 

Yet, with the abundance of foods over the holidays, peace with food might be far from what you are experiencing.

 

Let’s look at 3 obstacles that might come up for you. And, of course, strategies to overcome!

 

1) Food Overwhelm: There is no lack for food, no matter the holiday. But with Passover celebrated for 8 days, I hear from many of my clients that they don’t leave the kitchen. They are forever cooking and serving, and it seems like the family is more hungry than usual during this holiday. The meals have 5 courses to them, and there is no “white space” on the table.

 

Strategy: Review your menus and decide if you really need 5 courses. Most likely you don’t. Most people are satisfied after the second course but continue to eat because more food is served.

 

I did just this this last holiday weekend, and by the end of the meal, my family felt comfortable, satiated and happy. They were able to experience pleasure in the meal because they didn’t walk away from the table overfull.

 

2) Once a Year Favorites: When a certain holiday only comes around once per year, it can pose an inner conflict for you when it comes to foods. With the annual holiday, comes special foods that you usually only eat during this time. The thought of “I can only eat this now, and then I have to wait a full year to eat it again” can instill a mindset of “I better get it all in now.” The future deprivation causes overeating.

 

Strategy: Consider whether these special holiday foods that only come around once per year really have to only be eaten once per year, on this holiday. For example, one of my kids favorite foods during Passover is Cottage Cheese Pancakes. They look forward to it every year and they make sure that it’ll be on my Passover menu at some point throughout the 8 days. I realized one day, “why do I only make these cottage cheese pancakes on Passover? I can surely make them all year round.” And that’s what I did. Don’t get me wrong, they are still something my kids look forward to on Passover, but they don’t have to go overboard on them since they know they can eat them any time of the year.

 

However, I do realize that there are traditional holiday foods that only show up once a year. In this case, the best thing to do is to acknowledge the fact that you will only get to eat this now, but also realize that if you eat slowly and savor every bite, you will no doubt have more pleasure in this special food than if you eat it quickly without really tasting it (which is what happens when you try to get it all in now!)

 

3) Pushy Family Members: We all have them! Those family members that push you to eat more food even after you’ve said you’re full. Or, family members who give you looks when you take more food on your plate (you know, those judge-y people) . This can be very challenging, especially if mixed messages are flying around such as “eat more”, and “the diet starts tomorrow”.

 

Strategy: Do not feel obligated to eat after you’ve decided you are comfortably full. Tell your host that you enjoyed the meal but just cannot eat another bite. For those that appear to judge you when you take food, stand up for yourself and ask them to keep their eyes in their own plate (you can say this more diplomatically if you’d like, but I’ve said it just like this and man, did it shut them up!).

 

As for the endless diet talk, excuse yourself to go to the restroom and remind yourself that you have given up dieting. Have compassion for those folks who are still swimming in diet culture and give yourself a hug that you are staying true to yourself. Then go back to the table and change the topic (“what movie have you seen lately”, works great!).

 

As you continue on your intuitive eating journey, you will see that these obstacles aren’t obstacles any longer. These are opportunities for learning and growth. You’ve got this!

 

Need help on your intuitive eating journey? Just head on over to www.TalkWithBonnie.com and schedule a chat with me.

 

6 Tips to a Mindful Holiday Season

The holiday season is a joyous time, but it can also be a very stressful time. Your celebrations likely include hosting friends and family, which means lots of planning, cooking, cleaning and entertaining. This stress can start to affect how well you listen to your body – which is why it’s extra important this time of the year to take care of yourself.

 

Taking Care of YOU

 

When it comes to taking care of yourself, start with what your body needs.

 

Is it an extra 20 minutes of sleep? Or, making time for yourself to exercise, read a book, or take a bath?

 

Whatever it is that helps you to remain relaxed and calm, make the time each day to do it!  Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks or ask family and friends to help. Your physical and mental health is just as important as everyone else’s!

 

The Day of the Dinner Party

 

You got this! You’ve worked hard to take care of your own needs in the early weeks of December. But now that the big day is here, and your company will be ringing your bell, (or you’re ringing their bell), do you push your needs to the side?

 

Along with taking care of yourself leading up to the holidays, it’s also important to take the steps you need to on the day of the dinner party to ensure you are honoring and respecting your body’s needs.

 

6 Tips to Help You Stay Mindful During the Party

  1. Plan ahead. It’s important to plan ahead so you can enjoy your favorite foods without guilt. The day before the big dinner party, plan out what you will eat for breakfast and lunch that day. It’s important to stay nourished so you don’t arrive at the dinner party too hungry!
  2. Focus on friends and family. The holidays are all about spending time with your family and friends (I know you know this, but it can be challenging to remember this when you are not at peace with food). Give thought to something special that you love about each guest, and be sure to tell them how you feel. Put the focus on them, not the food.
  3. Savor your food. Focus on each bite of food that you put into your mouth. Experience the taste, texture, flavors and aroma of the food. Do you like it, dislike it, or it’s just okay?  If you aren’t fully satisfied with it, don’t finish it.
  4. Sit down at the table. Eating while standing around the buffet table or while walking around will decrease your attention and satisfaction with your meal. Instead, plan to sit while eating. Fill your plate with food and find a table to sit.  Friends and family will likely join you and you can enjoy nice conversation while being more mindful of your eating.
  5. Listen to your body. It’s important for you to take the time to listen to your body’s inner signals as you are getting satiated.  Stop eating when you feel comfortable, you can always wrap up the rest for another time.  This will help you enjoy the homemade pie without guilt.
  6. Indulge in your favorites. Don’t avoid your favorites that come around once a year. Avoidance can lead to caving in and then to overeating.  It’s much better to eat a small portion of something you really want than to give it up entirely. Choose those foods that you don’t typically have year-round. Take a portion and enjoy without guilt.

If you’re looking for more help to ensure you have a stress-free holiday season, look no further than right here!

December 1st marked the month-long Holiday Special of my Stress Less, Eat Less – Holiday Edition Program. This program is designed to help you develop personalized strategies specific to your situation to help you beat holiday stress eating.

 

In this program, you can go at your own pace. I will walk you through the 3 simple steps to developing a calm mindset and learning the strategies you need that will help you stop stress eating in its tracks.

 

Click the link here to read more about the program and sign up today! You can also reach out to me here if you have any questions.

 

Here’s to a stress-free holiday season!

 

You Are Worthy of a Sit-Down Meal

I have a question for you…  When it’s time to eat, do you put your food on your plate and sit down to eat, or do you stand at the counter and pick at the food until you’ve had enough?

 

I’ve had a number of clients tell me they are not worthy of a sit down meal.  They do not think they deserve to enjoy their meal in a pleasant environment, free of distractions.

 

Let’s take a look back to your past and figure out where this belief might have originated.

  • Is it something you saw mom or grandmother doing?

 

  • Is it something you were lead to believe by someone you trusted?

 

  • Were you ever told that you “shouldn’t” be eating because you are “fat”?

 

While it’s important to understand the origin of this belief, please know this…

  

You deserve to eat, every meal of the day, every day. And, you deserve to sit down and enjoy your meal and savor each bite.

 

Plating Your Meals Throughout the Day

You may say that you have no time to plate your meals, that you are busy, constantly on-the-go and it’s just easier to grab when you can, or just graze throughout the day. I get being busy, but it’s all about priorities. You CAN restructure your day to include meal time. This means you sit at the table with a plate of food and enjoy it in good company.

 

Let’s start with Breakfast:

Instead of eating breakfast in the car, wake up a few minutes earlier and plan to sit at the kitchen table to enjoy your breakfast. To make this even easier, prepare what you can the night before so you have less steps to do in the morning.

 

Then there’s Lunch:

Instead of eating lunch at your desk, schedule 30 minutes into your schedule to leave your office to eat lunch. Maybe there’s a break room at work, a local park with picnic tables, or on the occasion, a nearby restaurant you can eat at. Your meal times can be a good time to reflect and really tune into what your body is telling you.

 

No More Dinner Grazing:

  • Believe that you are worthy of eating a well-balanced dinner, sitting at your table. Make it a point to finish cooking, plate your food and sit down.

 

  • Put a nice tablecloth on your dining table and use a nice china plate instead of a paper plate.

 

  • Savor every bite. Really tune into the taste, texture and flavor of the food you are eating. Be fully present.By actively savoring each bite, you will find yourself more satisfied with your meal rather than when you pick at food mindlessly.

 

Plating and sitting down to your meals throughout the day will help you feel more satisfied and you won’t find yourself searching for food during the day and night.

 

If you truly have trouble with this, dive deeper to uncover your limiting beliefs around your worthiness to eat. If you need help, just reach out to me at Bonnie@DietFreeRadiantMe.com

 

 

Relax…and Enjoy Your Food

iStock_000019977922XSmallGiven my profession, I spend a lot of time speaking and thinking about food and how it relates to the lives of my clients.  However, what I have noticed when meeting with new clients who are coming to me from a place of chronic dieting, they too speak and think about food all the time, but they do it from a place of worry.  “What did I eat yesterday, what am I eating today, what will I eat tomorrow”.

This is exhausting, don’t you think?  Balancing life and responsibilities such as family, friends and work is often difficult and stressful in and of itself.  Food should not add to that stress.   Eating should be pleasurable.

As a reader of my iEat Mindfully™ blog, you are likely coming from a history of dieting.  A past littered with carefully laid out menu plans with just the “right” amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat.  A history that includes feelings of panic when you are in a restaurant or at a family gathering where the food served is not on your “plan”.  The amount of grief you give yourself in these situations takes away from all the pleasure you could be getting from your food.

By employing all the techniques I have been writing about such as slowing down, listening to your hunger and fullness cues, and using all your senses to enjoy your food, you are hopefully seeing that there is a place for enjoyment in food, even foods that were previously deemed “bad” in your mind.  And you know what?  It is okay to get excited about a specific dish at your favorite restaurant that you will be having tonight for dinner because you now know how to go about enjoying it.  You will enjoy to the max and achieve full satisfaction without feelings of guilt.

When it comes to repairing your relationship with food, this is such an important step to learn.  Ask yourself what you really want to eat, use all your senses to enjoy and really taste it, and savor the moment.  You don’t have time to waste on food worry.  Focus on the positive aspects of the food, how it nourishes you and makes you feel, the memories from your childhood and recapture the pleasure of eating once again.

Your turn to take action: Did you enjoy your meals this week?  What senses did you use to improve your satisfaction?  Please let me know in the comments section below.