Posts Tagged ‘intuitive eating’

knight in shining armor

Dang hump day! Get out of the way please so we can be closer to Friday. I’m ready for the weekend and a semblance of a break around here. How about you?

You know what? You all bring lots of insight to calorie counting and why or why not it works for you. I agree with the many of you who decided to forego counting and focus on other things in your eating habits. But on the other hand I completely understand the need some of you have to count, such as needing to be more diligent for health purposes, to break past a plateau and using it as a temporary tool, or to be certain of eating enough food. I certainly agree with what a few of you mentioned about being aware of calories in the sense of watching portions or choosing how to ‘spend’ your food wisely, but without needing to count every single one. When I thought about it, I discovered that I eat similarly to that approach.

After years of counting and measuring things to the gram, my brain is a wellspring of useless calorie knowledge. So even though I don’t tally up what I’ve eaten through the day I am still aware of what a proper portion is and how to be sure I have a balanced meal that leaves me satisfied for an appropriate length of time and isn’t more than my body needs. For example, if I serve up a small breakfast and recognize it probably isn’t more than the 300 cal range, I will know I need to add more or be prepared for an extra snack. Or another example would be how during that rough 6-8 weeks of early pregnancy (when I only wanted to eat bland, carby, heavy, greasy foods) didn’t end with me gaining an exorbitant amount of weight because I was still aware of portions and keeping things reasonable. I don’t count, but it’s still there to help me gauge how I set up my meals if that makes sense. Obviously this can be a hot topic for me which I can discuss without end. So I will end with saying if you haven’t weighed in on the topic yet and have something to add, please do so.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. Sweet little M turned into a terrorizing M for the majority of the day. My buttons were in a tailspin from all the pushing she did to them. I like to consider myself a fairly calm and patient mother…not person because I can easily get wound up on other things…but being loving and doting to Ms. Sweetcheeks I can do. Not yesterday! By 1 pm I was calling my sister in tears begging her to come over asap for our weekly get together. Yes, I cried. No, M does not comprehend sympathy yet. So, yes, I cried some more. Hormones, fatigue, and no naps are a recipe for disaster. I’m telling you so you don’t have to learn the hard way.

My sisterly knight in shining armor arrived armed with laughter and great ideas to calm me down. One would be a couple rounds of Friends Scene It! play and the other would be an hour of hilarity watching people join a competition that can only end in needing your jaw reset. <— ABC’s Wipeout

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Another knight in shining armor, by the name of Frontier Soups, saved the day. More precisely, dinner. I did NOT want to take the time to cook. Luckily I had on hand an easy to prep soup mix courtesy of the kind people at Frontier Soups. I pulled out the Tortilla Soup Mix for a healthy dinner in 30 minutes.

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Very few ingredients, very little prep work, and fast cooking sound perfect to me. Here’s just how easy it was.

Ingredients

  • 1 package Frontier Soups Tortilla soup mix
  • 2 cups shredded COOKED chicken
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup salsa

How-To

1. Pour chicken broth and water into a 4-6 quart pot and boil.

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2. Once boiling, add the shredded chicken and the soup mix to the pot. Stir well. Lower temperature and simmer for 20 minutes.

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3.  Add the salsa and stir until evenly combined. Simmer another 10 minutes. Then, you’re done!

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Perfect for this Mexican food/taste craving preggo! Filling and healthy. The soup mix even contains all natural ingredients! Who can argue with that?

  • What convenience food do you find yourself choosing when necessary? I love having options like these on hand or will do a quick cook all veggie meal if we have good options available, but frozen items will make their appearance as well. Check out my post for quickie meal ideas.
  • I’ve been offered a $60 credit to review a CSN Stores product as a thank you for the giveaway I did awhile ago. I have no clue what I want to use it for. What are your favorite kitchen gadgets or other useful household item that you think would be great for me to have? What would you choose? I need ideas!

Posted by on July 14th, 2010 32 Comments

Intuitive Eating – Part 8

I hope everyone has been having an enjoyable weekend. I am still in the North Georgia Mountains with some friends. I’ll be back with an update on the trip tomorrow night. For all you US readers, have a great Memorial Day tomorrow and enjoy the 3 day weekend. I know I plan to. We may even be telling Peter’s family I am pregnant tomorrow. Exciting stuff! Now onto the next installment of the Intuitive Eating series.

Find the links to all the previous Intuitive Eating post on my “Click Me” Page at the top of the site.

This post will be all about Principle 7 of the 10 Intuitive Eating principles Tribole & Resch discuss in their fabulous book. It is the one I feel most strongly about as well – Respecting Your Body. Yesterday I had a post about why I love my body and mentioned the importance of each of us loving our own. We need to understand that our bodies are amazing things and do so much for us. They deserve to be treated with respect. It took many daily prayers asking God to show me how to respect my body and treat it as He wills for me to even begin realizing how worthy my body is of love. Once I loved myself, it was much easier to take action to respect my body as well. Here are some ways you can begin to respect your body or continue a path of honoring it.

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1. Don’t be unrealistic about your body. It is okay to have goals and strive for improved fitness or to eat a healthier diet, but the stress we can put on ourselves to be a certain size or weight can be hurtful. Why? Many of us will choose a goal weight or size that is simple unachievable, or if it is achieved is unrealistic and difficult to maintain. We should love our body’s for their natural size over the ideal one we create in our skewed minds. That isn’t to say stay obese if that is your current situation. That is not natural. The natural size I speak of for you to embrace is one that is achieved through a healthy and balanced lifestyle, easy to maintain once reached, and leaves your body functioning optimally.

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2. Focus on meeting your body’s needs. Eat fruits, veggies, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats that you enjoy and be moderately active because it is what your body needs. Not because you want to burn X amount of calories that day. Do things for your body and you will witness a change. You will feel stronger, more energetic, and balanced through eating enough quality foods and getting physical on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean you can’t have treats when you want them or be lazy when you feel like it. It is simply to be sure you are taking care of your health and being able to enjoy life.

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3. Change your body assessment tools. Instead of focusing on how you look, try to think about how you feel. Pay attention to your energy levels, your happiness, how powerful you feel, and other positive effects of being healthy. Try to stop comparing yourself to others, or when you do, be realistic about your own strengths, which is something I have shared that helps me. If possible, don’t use a scale or tape measure to tell you how you look. Don’t let a calorie tally tell you how good you are with food. Choose healthier habits to meet your body’s needs and be confident in the fact you are caring for yourself. Healthy living is not a Pass/Fail test. It is just constantly striving to enjoy life in a balanced manner.

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4. Don’t put off things in life until you reach a certain “body goal”. Live life today, right now. Don’t allow your body to dictate your happiness. You have to be happy first before you will be able to respect yourself and therefore your body. Live the life you want and do the things you love. Be happy. Don’t wait for life to pass you by.

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5. Treat yourself. Have clothes you feel good in; get a pedicure; schedule a massage; take a lunch date with a close friend. Do things that leave you feeling more confident. Confidence looks good on everyone. Build up confidence in those subtle ways, so you will be more likely to take actions to respect yourself in other ways.

  • How do you respect yourself?
  • Have you ever put off something because of a “body goal”? I can’t think if I’ve ever put off doing something, but I know I have had thoughts before that I would be so much happier if I was X weight. Ridiculous!
  • Do you think it is better to strive for our natural weight instead of an ideal weight? I do think you have to work at losing weight, but that you should still be eating enough for your body's needs and not overtraining while losing weight. I also think that once you reach the goal, your body shouldn't need to do anything drastic to maintain it.

Posted by on May 30th, 2010 20 Comments

 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

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Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

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Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

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Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

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Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

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From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

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