Diet or Eat Intuitively?

Are you ready to let go of the stress of having to think about every thing you eat in terms of calories, portion control or programs?

Are you ready to eat for energy and good health?

If you answered 'yes' to the above questions, you're ready to eat intuitively.

Classic dieting doesn't work. It's a fact that 95% of dieters re-gain their weight.  Diets create stress that rolls into all aspects of your life. Diets:

-cause emotional dependency on program structure.

-create dependency on calorie counting.

-make you doubt yourself which sabotages self-esteem.

-claim to know more about your body than you do.

-sabotage your relationships by creating stress at mealtime.

Intuitive eaters maintain their healthy weight. Eating intuitively is liberating. Intuitive eating:

-is a focus on your how your body feels, what you value, and your personal goals.

-means you're the expert.

-brings an open relationship with food and eating that is flexible.

-has no emotional component so you enjoy eating.

-can bring new life to your relationships.  

When you make the choice to be an intuitive eater, you begin. Yep, it's that easy. Doing what you really believe takes courage. Making the choice is like turning a corner. The fact is: eating intuitively is a choice.

Intuition puts you in control of your eating because it keeps you clear about your priorities and your boundaries. That protects you.
Using your intuition means, your emotions don't rule, you do! When clarity is the foundation of your efforts to be your healthy weight, it happens. 

Everything you do takes effort, and every effort you make creates results. Be clear about your eating goals, and you will achieve them.  Make the choice.

  

“Life is the sum of all your choices.” Albert Camus

How to be an intuitive eater is made clear when you read Am I Really Hungry? The website for the book is being built right now and that will bring you forums and answers that you're looking for. Coming soon.

What are you craving?

July 4th is Independence Day. 

It's intuitive to crave freedom.

For intuitive eaters, freedom's not just another word. Freedom is self-control.  It's eating what you want, when you're hungry. No rules, no pressure to eat what you don't like. It's positively relaxing.

It's human to have cravings.

We crave love, sex, chocolate, money, happiness, understanding, affection, good health, companionship or a new pair of shoes. The list is personal. When you have a craving and your eyes look at food, ask your self, Am I really hungry? Most cravings are not for food, they're social.

Eating intuitively puts you in control of your choices. It's trusting and listening to your body. Instead of planning what to eat in advance, intuitive eater's look at food options and ask, Am I really hungry?

If you believe you're craving food, eat protein. People who diet are usually hungry for protein. Fruit and salad won't satisfy you if you need protein. Eat a handful of almonds or walnuts if you're on the run, and your body will relax and the craving will be satisfied. Nuts are a dense protein that take time for your body to metabolize.  When you eat what you need, suddenly there's time and freedom for other cravings to be satisfied- even if it's as simple as craving a good nights sleep.

 The 15 Minute Solution is about candy and craving.  It's a method you can trust to know if you're craving is social. Do you want affection or another piece of pie? Take control of your craving and feel some relief from the pressure. Connect with a freedom from cravings.

When you're alone and craving a container of chocolate ice cream, use The 3 Minute Rule, and you'll realize that you know what you want.

When you feel trapped by cravings, it's an uncomfortable gnawing inside. As you practice eating intuitively you'll know yourself better, and free yourself from cravings. When you recognize what's pushing your buttons and use your intuitive tools to keep an open mind, you make choices that bring long-term satisfaction.

When you are in sync with yourself, you always find choices. Ask yourself, Am I really hungry for food? and if you're not sure, give yourself the freedom to say, no. 

Take the plunge. Keep an open mind. Tune into yourself and eat intuitively. Nobody craves a ball and chain and restrictive dieting is a ball and chain. Nobody wants to feel trapped and when you don't feel in control of yourself, you feel trapped. Give yourself a chance.

Happy Independence Day from New York City!

Let the golden lights of the fireworks shine a path of eating freedom for you.

3 CHOICES

Eating habits are not healthy.

Each time you eat a meal, you have one choice which is to satisfy your hunger. That is the purpose of eating. The way to do this is not so simple because of habits that tell you there are three choices when you see a large plate of food in front of you. These are:

#1: Allow things to work out is your intuitive choice.

This means you tune in to your body, and listen to your senses, and remember what you know from past eating experiences. If you tune in to your body and there is no hunger response, the choice is to not eat. You are not always hungry. This is listening to your inner truth. It is you, connecting with your intuition.

Allowing things to work out takes courage and determination. Courage is energy you are born with and can always tap into. Like your intuition, it is always present. ( March 2010 blogs speak about courage in depth.)

Allowing things to work out means trusting your inner truth, and
connects with your self-esteem.
Ultimately it feels great and you look great!

#2: Forcing your self is a habit.

When you force your self to eat certain foods, or within certain calorie constraints, you are fighting your self. The result is often dissatisfaction with your meal, and even rebelling by over-eating Even if you succeed in restricting your intake based on external rules, the victory is both hollow and temporary. 95% of people who lose weight by dieting gain it back.

Eating is natural. Instead of forcing your self, tune in to your body, and your heart, and reflect on what makes you feel good, when you eat. Connect with your whole self. When you trust your self, you will not be destructive.

Yes, it’s good to learn about diets and food. Curiosity is a powerful intuitive tool. Use it as a guide, and trust where you’re going. Reading this means you’re going toward your goal of being your healthy weight.

People who are starving are restricted by circumstances. Celebrate your good fortune by respecting your self and allowing things to work out. Keeping clear about your priorities connects with your inner courage and you feel liberated.

#3: Ignoring the problem is a habit.

Ignoring something doesn't make it go away. Because every meal brings a new set of circumstances, it is not always wrong to relax your sense of balance, and eat an extra donut to celebrate or have desert, because you are with good friends. However, ultimately you must respect your body and your senses, and not eat destructively.

It feels wrong to abandon your self-respect.
Remember, if it feels wrong, it is wrong.

Relaxing "self-control" does not mean abandoning self-respect. It means allowing your self to listen to your whole being- heart, mind, soul and body and to stay in the moment. Trust your intuition, don't ignore it.  Your intuition keeps your perspective clear so you can allow things to work out in your best interests.

You have one choice and you have habits. Habits around eating are not helpful. Lose those habits and enjoy the difference in your quality of Life!

Lose weight without thinking!

Intuition is not a way of thinking. It is a way of being tuned in to your self. You are born much more capable and complete then the most advanced computer. It's mind blowing to even begin to think about what goes on 24/7 with your body. Every cell is reproducing itself, your heart beats, your eyes see, your mind thinks, your lungs are always in motion- and that’s all stuff you don’t have to think about!

Intuition is your sixth sense and it filters and clarifies everything that you are, in a way that is protective, and also gives you pleasure. This is why intuitive eating works to lose weight and to maintain your healthy weight.

When you eat, you are laying the foundation for your future. Eating connects with much more than losing or gaining weight. Eating connects with your sense of personal satisfaction, your physical comfort, and the energy you have- to deal with stress and to create pleasure in your life. Eating impacts your sex drive, the color of your skin, and the way you perspire. Intuitive eating is totally natural and easy- just like breathing. That’s why letting intuition to guide your eating choices makes sense.

You can recognize your intuition by noticing what you notice. Being determined helps. Be determined and you will begin to remember to recognize what you are seeing when you sit down to eat. Stay determined to use your intuition to lose weight, and notice how your food tastes and smells. Notice how your body feels when you eat. Be determined to connect with your self to be the best that you can be. That is all you need to do to connect with your sixth sense. You don’t need to think about it.

Be determined. Don't think. Just make the choice.

Don't be afraid.

Changing habits is not easy because habits feel ‘normal’. Fear around eating and weight gain is a habit. Fear is a habit that feels like doubt. Doubt is a roadblock to getting what you want. Ouch!

A feeling of fear, when it comes to eating and losing weight, is the result of confusion. Confusion makes us think that by ignoring our feelings or our desires, we will lose weight. When we buy into this kind of confusion, we are fighting with our self, our body, and our emotions. Sound familiar? Yep, and it feels really bad.

Give your self space to be wrong about past eating choices. Choose to tune in to your sixth sense. Today is the beginning of the rest of your Life. The way to start over is to realize that everybody goes through this. Then take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, and decide to forgive your self. Until you forgive yourself, you will be plagued by another nasty habit- punishing your self. Let go of it, because punishing your self won’t help you lose weight. Remember, the past is history.

Right now, you can use your intuition to stay in the present.
Connecting with your intuition keeps you clear about the present which means you can tune in, to your self, your body, and your emotions, by using your senses to recognize what you really want and what you are really eating.

Your intuition connects the input from your 5 senses with your brain and your body, and balances them with your emotions. It’s always there for you to depend on. In the beginning, you can open the door to your sixth sense by being aware of how it works.

Here are some tips to flatten the habit of fear around eating:

Recognize that you feel worry or fear around your eating

Look at what you are eating with your eyes.

-Notice if your food looks good, if it looks healthy, and if the portion is about the size of your fist or the size of your head?

-Use your intuition to take that information to your brain and you will know how much of it to eat.

Smell and taste a bite.

-Notice if it tastes good, salty, sweet, fresh?

-Use your intuition to relay that info to your brain and you body, and you will know if it makes sense to eat.

Swallow.

Does it go down well, does it sit comfortably in your stomach?

Relay that to your brain and you will know how much you want to eat.

Recognize that you are respecting your self by connecting with your intuition. 

Notice that you are in control, and notice that
you feel good.

Making a choice.

Classic dieting doesn't work. It's a fact that 95% of dieters re-gain their weight. Intuitive eaters maintain their weight.  They use inner courage to connect with their intuition

As I was talking about courage, a woman asked me, what about risks?
Risks are part of living. We take a risk when we cross the street, or go out on a blind date. Really living puts us in touch with risks every day. Risks are about danger. Being courageous is a form of inner resolve.

Eating with courage is not dangerous, so it’s not taking a risk. It is choice based on trusting your intuitive wisdom to guide your eating. When you make the choice to be an intuitive eater, you begin. Yep, it's that easy. Doing what you really believe takes courage. Making the choice is like turning a corner. The fact is: eating intuitively is a choice.

Intuition puts you in control of your eating because it gives you clarity.  When you make eating choices based on using your 6 senses, your emotions don't rule, you do! When clarity is the foundation for your efforts to be your healthy weight, it happens. 

Everything you do takes effort, and every effort you make creates results. Be clear about your eating goals, and you will achieve them.  Make the choice.

“Life is the sum of all your choices.” Albert Camus

www.transitionspress.com
www.finetuningbook.com

Guts, Balls, Nerve.. The Intuitive Diet

Guts, balls, nerve, boldness, confidence, all signal courage. These are inside you, and connect with your 6th sense and your intuitive diet.

Until you fine tune  and respect your senses, 

the simplest things like eating for health and energy seem like the hardest.  

Until you smell your food, you will not taste it. 

Until you see what’s on your plate, you will eat anything. 

Until you can feel your stomach, you won’t know if you are hungry or not. 

All of this is simple. But to change bad habits is not easy. 

Being true to your self- while obviously a most valuable and awesome habit, takes courage.

Courage is a big word that we throw around. We are not in the habit of thinking about courage when we think about our self, so I will talk about it a lot, because it’s a lot to swallow. Courage is an energy you are born with. But when you focus on negative thoughts around eating, you are in the habit of ignoring your courage. This is self-sabotage.

What is courage?
Courage is the choice to eat what you intuitively feel is right, despite what others say. It’s something that you use to be true to your whole self as an intuitive eater.  It takes courage to trust your self.

Why?
Because it's a kind of boldness. When you trust your self, you have the courage to think about how your body feels, what you are sensing, and what you know in your heart - before you make an eating decision.  

It takes courage to think about eating intuitively. So please realize- you are being bold as you read this. You are already connecting with your intuition, and it feels good to connect.

The magic thing about courage is that it opens doors. It opens doors to your dreams. Turn the knob, and trust your courage. Walk through the door and you will wonder why it was so hard. That’s life, isn’t it – full of surprise and wonder.

The first step of using courage, with your self as an intuitive eater, is to be willing to receive the messages from your 6 senses, and to be alert to what you feel in your body. Try it.

Eat with courage.

Mind Trash

Pay attention, your 6^th sense is guiding to you.

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.  (Carl Jung )

Have you ever imagined that you have an amazing amount of innate power?  You do. As you fine tune your senses you will discover an energy force inside that is constantly directing your attention at sights and sounds and smells. Take your desire to have a slimmer, healthy, body seriously, connect with your innate power, your 6^th sense, and watch what happens.

It won’t happen over night, but it will become obvious within a few weeks that by eating intuitively your habits have changed and so has your body. There is no magic trick, but there is the danger of mind trash that will sabotage you if you are not aware of it. 

Mind trash is an enormous mental burden that we all carry. It’s a pre-occupation with negative thoughts, belief systems, concerns or fantasies about our body or our self that stir up “justifiable” anger or impatience or feelings of being helpless. You don’t need any of it. Mind trash blocks your natural protective intuitive response to what you are about to eat.

What happens when you allow mind trash to trash your eating is you binge or purge or resent your meal. Mind trash clutters your way to the body you want with layers of fat. It creates feelings of dependency when you really are free and you really are in control.  In fact, you are free and in control every time you eat. No one is standing over you with a whip saying, you’re bad, instead, the pre-occupation with negative thoughts is making you insecure. When you eat start with your eyes.  Your intuition will connect what you see, with what you know in your mind from experience, and you can chose what and how much to eat, based on what feels right. 

Mind trash is like a road block to your intuition.  Your senses of hearing, seeing, taste, touch, and smell are the way to connect with your intuition. Use your senses to free your self.  When your senses are not fine tuned, it can be hard to know what you really need to eat to feel your best and have the best quality of life. Fine tune your senses and you will tune in to your innate power, your intuition. 

It’s time to throw out the trash, and start fresh. Every one of us makes mistakes, and every one of us can change the way we see things. When things aren’t real, they are a waste of time. Use your senses to connect with your 6^th sense, and tune in to what is real for your needs. By really smelling and tasting your food and listening to your body, you let your intuition guide you.

Often we justify what we eat or don’t eat because we dislike the truth.  You know that expression, The Truth Shall Set You Free?  Of course, you’ve heard it with your ears. Try listening to it with your heart. Try to imagine what you are really looking at when you sit down to eat. The truth is that portions in this country are often impossibly over-sized. The truth is your stomach is talking to you, telling you it hurts when you stuff it.  Hey, that’s the truth, but are you listening?  Or instead are you listening to mind trash?

The next time you sit down to eat. Before you begin, visualize your ideal body.  Now, if you’re alone, play with your food a little bit, and smell it before you taste it.  Look at the size and quality of your food. Feel your appetite and relate to your physical hunger. As you think about what you really want to eat, your focus will create an emotional emphasis that will propel you, and your intuition will guide you to protect and respect your body.

What do you see? Do you see calories, do you see rules, do you see something delicious, do you see something that will give you gas, do you see a plate full of food that will keep you up all night? Okay- if you do, you have a choice. Don’t eat it. 

Your mind is trashed when you believe you are bad because of a number on a scale, or if you believe you are unable to know what is best for your body, because a book says, “this is the answer, do this and lose weight”. While there are many excellent diet books and methods to wade through on the way to weight loss, there is only one expert when it comes to your body and that is you.  It is natural, when you’ve lost touch with your senses that you may feel out of control with eating. But that is easy to fix.

Remember this, if you cannot see that you have a choice then there is apparently no choice.  You cannot see if your eyes are covered with doubts about your self or your body because these doubts are negative filters that fuel mind trash. Open your eyes.  Every person sees exactly what they want to see. It’s only when you balance what you see, with what you hear, and what you know from experience, with what you feel in your heart, that you connect with your 6^th sense and see your truth. Then, feed your truth.

Keep your mind open as you fine tune your senses. Doubt is a form of self sabotage. Why not trust that you know more then you realize about your self and your needs. All of us are conditioned to ignore our intuition. This is especially true when it comes to eating which is amazing since our intuition, our appetites, and our hunger are all connected.