Intuitive Eating

I'm reading this book I love & wanna share some of the principles that I'm learning from it.

First, I must give credit to my dear friend Traci Garff for exposing me to intuitive eating. She saw my ups and downs with my attempts at dieting and obsessive workout sessions and she kept insisting that I read this book she had on intuitive eating. She said that eating and working out had to be simpler than I was making it out to be. So I borrowed her copy and began reading. It sounded too good to be true, but I simultaneously hoped that maybe there was some truth to it.

Little by little, I began incorporating some of the principles into my life. I can now say I'm an intuitive eater. I'm not perfect, but I feel like this has made a world of difference for me.

For those in the blogging world who may not know, I struggled with an eating disorder for years. I've been at each end of the spectrum- binge eating to bulimia. It's been a rocky road to travel down...but I'm grateful for it. It's drawn me closer to the Lord. It's taught me to turn to Him for answers...for comfort. It's sealed my heart to Him. And little by little and from time to time he's sent me answers to my prayers, friends, comfort and he's delivered me.

That's where I've been. Now where I'm at now. I'm just gonna kinda go through this book & the notes I've taken("Intuitive Eating", also I love the book that Traci initially exposed me to called "Am I Hungry?").

This may be a multi-post topic. :)

Principle #1- Reject the Diet Mentality
The dieting mentality is any type of eating that is governed by self imposed limits rather than listening to inner cues.

This reminds me of Paul in the New Testament trying to teach Jewish converts that had a hard time letting go of certain outward signs of religiosity, such as circumcision and eating unclean foods. In several sermons he tried to teach the people that it wasn't so much these "physical" things that God was concerned with, but rather the inward man. Now don't get me wrong. The outward things we do are important. I'm not saying intuitive eating means you can eat Twinkies for the rest of your life, just like I'm not advocating a life contrary to the Lord's will. You won't feel good inside doing either. 

Rejecting the diet mentality is simply getting rid of those voices in your head or the guilt which keeps you "outwardly" obedient but is keeping you from learning to listen to your body. Some of the diet mentalities that I was still clinging to or I have been guilty of were-
-eating "safe" foods when I was hungry rather than what I really wanted to eat
-letting the clock dictate when it was time to eat
-paying penance for eating "bad" foods
-pacifying hunger by getting busy
-judging what you deserve to eat based on what was eaten earlier in the day
-cutting back on food despite hunger

Principle #2- Honor Your Hunger
Learn to "hear" or "feel" when you're hungry. Hunger can feel different for everyone. Learn how your body talks to you.

This reminds me of the Holy Ghost. Boyd K. Packer said- "The Spirit is a voice that one feels more than hears."

Principle #3- Make peace with food
Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't have some particular food, you tend to crave it more.

One example they gave of someone that hasn't made peace with food is someone engaged in "depression era eating". I found myself doing this one vacation that I took with my cousins at their condo. I'd thrown all caution to the wind and indulged in all sorts of yummy foods. At vacations end, we were cleaning out the fridge and all the leftovers were being thrown out. I specifically remember this pork roast that I was in love with! My aunt Barb said to toss it and in a silent panic I said, "I'll eat that!". And I started picking away at it. My aunt stopped what she was doing and with a quizzical look on her face said, "I'll make that again." It was like a light bulb went off in my head and I was jolted back to reality. Why did I feel such a necessity to single handedly finish off all the leftovers? I wasn't even hungry. I had not made peace with food yet. I knew at vacations end, my "vacation" with food would end too.

Okay, that's all the principles I'm going to go through right now.  More to come...7 more in fact-

(4-Challenge the food police...5-Feel your fullness...6-Discover the satisfaction factor...7-Cope with your emotions without using food...8-Respect your body...9-Exercise-feel the difference...10-Honor your health-gentle nutrition)

In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of my perfect little "intuitive eater" who definitely knows when he's hungry and when he just wants to be loved on!

Wholesome Recreation

"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World

The Ozark Fair

Stockton Lake

Stewardships

My kids are both asleep!  Hallelujah!  I almost don't know what to do with myself.  I could clean.  Nah,  I revert to one of my favorite pass times- blogging.  I've actually had something I wanted to share for awhile, just haven't gotten the chance to type out my thoughts.

A few months ago, I found myself in wish land.  I don't wanna sound like I'm complaining.  I love my house and  I feel very blessed to have it.  But I'll also be the first to admit that it's not perfect.  I hate the work triangle in the kitchen.  I'd love it if my living room were a tad larger.  I'd also love a more open floor plan.  A jetted tub would be fabulous in my master bath.  Yada yada yada. You know how it goes.

So there I was dreaming up all the fabulous things that my "dream home" would have.  I admit, the dreaming made me more discontented with my own house.  Well, one day amist all the daydreaming, I decided to get busy and to do some house cleaning.  You know, the kind of cleaning which usually gets neglected around here- dusting, mopping, wiping down fingerprints, etc.  When I got done, I felt such satisfaction, contentment and gratitude for my house.  'I love my house', I thought to myself.  And it was then that I stumbled onto this principle.  When we take good care of our stewardships, we feel more gratitude for them.

Two other examples.

When Chad & me were dating we talked about having a 'car cleaning date'.  It never happened.  And you wanna know something else, something sort of disgusting- Chad's jeep didn't get cleaned til about...oh, I'd say THIS YEAR!  Yep, that's 3 years.  Prior to its' cleaning, I'd always had a sort of dislike for that jeep & hated driving it.  I thought it'd be the first to go when we sell one of our cars.  But now, with the interior all cleaned, I've begun to grow fond of that jeep.  And now, I'm fine with hanging onto it for however long.  When we take good care of our stewardships, we feel more gratitude for them.

Example three.  My body.  Sometimes getting ready for the day is a pain, especially when I know that I probably won't see anyone other than my family and both boys throw crying fits when I'm hopping in the shower or trying to get my make-up on.  But I usually do it anyway.  I feel so much better about myself if I do.  And with regards to physical health- I can't speak from personal experience right now because, truth be told, there's a lot of room for improvement, but I can speak from past experience.  :)  It's no secret that I've struggled with body image.  But when I'm treating my body good & that includes getting sleep, exercising moderately & eating a healthy, balanced diet, I feel an inward contentment.  I might be a smaller size right now than times past, but I admit that I really miss that inner satisfaction of treating my body good.  It was a feeling of well being.  I'm getting back there.  We've been eating a lot more veggies & fruits around here.  Cutting back some on dessert.  And guess what, I'm going to start working out at the Y with my sister & some friends.  When we take good care of our stewardships, we feel more gratitude for them.

There's so many other examples I can think of- kids, callings, money, time...and now my chubbiest "stewardship" is crying for me.  (And since photos make every post funner- enjoy some pictures of him).
*editor's note- Chad disputes my claim that we didn't clean out his jeep for 3 years. And I dispute his dispute. Maybe, and that's maybe, we cleaned it out once before moving to Utah. But we both know I have the better memory of the two of us.