Intuitive Eating

How GREAT would it be to stop dieting?  We've already discussed the dangers of diets and we've talked about making choices to help reach your wellness goals.  Wouldn't it be great to just eat what you want, when you want?  To most people, this probably seems like a recipe for disaster but HONESTLY...you can do it.  By simply making the right choices and being aware of your hunger signals, you too can become an intuitive eater!  

Intuitive Eating Principles

1. Reject the Diet Mentality. Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently.

2. Honor Your Hunger. Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

3. Make Peace with Food. Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat.

4. Challenge the Food Police. Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake.

5. Respect Your Fullness. Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry.

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content.

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food. Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food.

8. Respect Your Body. Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference. Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise.

10. Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition. Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. 

This is just a brief summary of the principals.  Join us for a meeting or read this week's flyer to learn more.