Whew! Things have been super busy the past few days. I have been meaning to get this post going to continue the Intuitive Eating series for a few days. If you missed the introductory post, you can click here to get caught up. Even without reading it, I am sure you know that I am all for the intuitive eating style of doing things. I think it is the best way to honor the bodies God blessed us with and treat ourselves with respect. But it does take serious practice. I will now start going through the 10 principles the Intuitive Eating authors, Tribole & Resch, claim will help you become an intuitive eater yourself and how I have experienced them myself. I will only be able to get to 1 or 2 per post, so as not to weigh things down. Let's begin with #1 shall we? 🙂

Principle #1 - Reject the Diet Mentality

I guess the carrots fit my diet better...

Stop worrying about weight. Stop trying to find the next best diet, fastest weight loss routine, most powerful pill, amazing trick to shed those pounds, etc. The diet mentality is often to do something drastic for a short period of time to reach a goal....and then slowly watch it backfire as you go back to your normal lifestyle. It is not healthy to diet that way, yet that is the prevalent message in our culture today.

Supplements

Diet Books

The weight loss and supplement industry is a BILLION dollar industry. Because we just soak it in and believe all the lies. Has it ever crossed your mind that these people don't want you to succeed by following their methods? After all, how many people after not having the success they hoped for from a "diet" or "weight loss plan", will be looking at the next tool from that industry to do it all over again? A lot.

As passionate healthy living bloggers, a lot of us will stand up and claim that a diet is not the way to go, but a lifestyle change. That is great! And I agree wholeheartedly that you have to incorporate healthy living and eating into what works for the long haul, not viewing things as a 12 week program to do and then forget about. However, how many of us started that path towards a healthy lifestyle still as a means to a dieting end? How many of us shout the praises of roasted brussels sprouts, greek yogurt, oats, berries, and avocados but deep within view those foods as the "right" thing to eat to get (or stay) at our perception of our own perfect weight, size, etc?

I Heart Veggies!

I do believe many of us enjoy these foods for how they make us feel and the health benefits they bring, but there is still a bit of a dieter's mentality attached to them. For example, could you turn around and enjoy eating a decadent dessert that doesn't offer all the health benefits of broccoli and quinoa and still feel guilt free? Or not worry about it affecting your reflection in the mirror? Truthfully?

The first step to breaking away from the rules and embracing intuition in the kitchen is to not worry about how something fits into a diet. Not focusing on hitting X amount of calories or X amount of carbohydrate grams. Not worrying about having 5 mini meals a day because it fits the "plan". And you won't blow up from doing so. I blew off the diet mentality when I was working on losing the baby weight from Makenzie. I just ate healthy items, enjoyed treats when I really wanted something, and did exercise I enjoyed. I was able to be consistent with it because it was just a part of my life and I didn't stress over it. I kept eating how worked for me with no particular plan or calculations and let my body do its thing. And I ended up in the best shape of my LIFE! Even before the competition prep, when intuitive eating went out the window. (Once again, my feelings on comp prep are a post for another day and another time.) That proved to me that a "diet" was not necessary. Simply living and being mindful of my body was enough. And it can be enough for you too. Your body will do amazing things if you just listen to it. Screw dieting.

Hola amigas! 🙂 Como estan? I guess I am in Spanish mode after my Monday night tutoring sessions. 😉 Moving on now. Man, a lot of you enjoy Popchips or really want to try them! Let me work on that okay? 😉 And also hello to some new readers that have popped up the past couple of days. I love seeing new faces around here. Makes me smile big like this - :D. And of course love to all of my regular pals. 🙂

Onto today's topic. Intuitive eating. Something that should be so so simple, but is in fact very difficult for many. Especially those of us who have spent time in the crazy world called "Dietland". I know that this style of eating was foreign to me for a long time. Even now it takes practice on top of more practice. Pretty much learning how to eat all over again.

Source - us.123rf.com

But it is becoming more and more natural for me. For example, yesterday when my stomach felt a little "off" and I didn't feel like eating much. In previous situations, I would have eaten by the clock (check out the post from Jen about that) and I would have force-fed myself despite not feeling well. Or, on the other hand, I would have reveled in a loss of appetite with the mindset of it helping me to lose whatever weight I was working on losing at the time. Silly, huh? I sure think so! Which is why I listened to my body yesterday and did what it was asking.

Today my appetite has been more normal with some differences. Such as not being hungry first thing in the morning. So I guzzled some water and drank some tea instead, before heading to the gym for 15 min on the elliptical and a power class. I did enjoy a full breakfast when I got back and had lunch only a couple of hours later because I was hungry again. What 3 hour rule? Forget that nonsense that I used to follow! I was hungry and was going to eat.

I began making my typical lunch of a wrap with some fruit and perhaps some raw veggies on the side. Amidst spreading laughing cow on my wrap, I thought SALT. I was hankering for something more salty. Instead of saying, "no that's bad" or pushing that desire aside, I put away the grapes and grabbed a bag of this to accompany my wrap and apple instead.

SmartPop mini popcorn bag

Perfection. It satisfied me and my hunger just as I hoped it would. A big step in intuitive eating. Or as I think of it, having a normal relationship with food. No guilt, no worries, no stress. And I completely give credit to being more aware of listening to my body and its food requests for fueling my lifestyle. Intuitive eating is something I believe we all should strive for if we don't already have that balance. Which leads me to doing more in depth posts about this topic in the upcoming weeks. Ya dig? 🙂

Awhile ago, I read the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.

These posts won't necessarily be a book review since it has been awhile since reading the book, but simply sharing their ideals, which you can find at the website. What is intuitive eating? It is having control over food. It is understanding your own body and its particular needs. It is eating the way that suits YOU. Not your family, not your friends, not popular bloggers, not what the diet books you read tell you. Simply what works for YOU. It is understanding true  hunger versus emotional hunger. It is letting go of food rules and labels of "good", "bad", "clean", "superfood", etc. It is health.

Why are people wary of this style of eating? What concerns are there? Why do people give up on it? It can be hard starting out and for a good long while. We don't understand our bodies as well as we think we do. We have deep rooted notions and behaviors of how we are "supposed to" eat and don't want to let them go. We fear losing control instead of gaining it. Or think by limiting calories/fat/carbs/eating hours/etc we in fact are in control of our bodies, when in reality that is not the case.  Basically, we don't trust ourselves.

In upcoming posts, I hope to share some of the principles so that together we can learn some ways to trust our bodies. To honor our natural hunger. To declare freedom from the dieting mentality that we think we have shaken but still controls us in sneaky ways.  To get back what is rightfully ours. Our happiness and our true health - physically, mentally, and emotionally. Will you join me?

What are your thoughts on intuitive eating? Do you believe you practice it, even when you take a really close look at your eating habits? Check out the QUIZ on intuitive eating - find it on the sidebar of the site since there is no direct link. *For some reason the results don't calculate, but it still gives an idea of some actions that relate to levels of intuitive eating.*