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!