Make Love

Making love is not abusive or thoughtless.  Everybody wants love and lots of us eat to get it.

The truth is, no amount of food will satisfy emotional needs.

Be bold and imagine eating is making love to your body. In fact, when taste is the focus at mealtime, emotions that sabotage eating choices go away Try it. Nobody has to know about it. But, you will feel thrilled because you will be honestly relating to yourself when you eat.

Tuning-in to the taste and flavor of what you're eating, relaxes your whole body. It's a secret of good health and weight control. You digest food more efficiently and get a new perspective about why you're eating.  This keeps you in control.

• F stands for fulfill. Fulfill your physical needs by tasting what you put into your body. This will spare you the pain of overeating.
• O stands for occupy. Let eating occupy a place of pleasure in your life. Don't rush or force it. Pleasure is another word for relaxing. Tense eating makes you gain weight.
• O stands for overcoming old habits that disconnect you from your body. Habits are a sign of aging. Let go of what hasn't worked and taste your food instead.
• D stands for discovering your determination.  Do it. Make the taste connection with your body and respond to it.

Savor flavor.  Emotional eating is the result of losing this important connection with your body.
It's old news that food is Love. But it's still the truth. Share what you taste with others; savor the pleasure together. Stay young in your mind by connecting with your body.  Tune-in to the pleasure of being in sync with yourself.

The next time you eat, make the love connection with your body. Take control of how much you eat by tasting your food and be sure to have some fun.

Breaking up is hard to do.

When Good Diets Don't Work Long-Term...

Leaving a diet program can feel like defeat or even like a broken heart. But instead, it's the way of being true to your body.

My neighbor was ecstatic for 2 months. She was losing weight, feeling great, and 'knew' she had finally found "the one". No - not found the man of her dreams, but she believed it was the diet that worked for her. It was exciting, something like love.

And then stuff happened. First it was the backlash from a really horrible day, which resulted in a box of donuts with a coke. That was followed by a great party where she thought she was having fun- until the next morning. Feeling let down, nothing made sense for her. Emotion driven hunger had put her out of touch with her body, and out of touch with her common sense. 

There are many good diets. The reason they work in the beginning is the diet is new, full of potential and promise. In the beginning instead of feeling restricted, you feel like you're part of the program. 
Problem is, the program is consistent and does not vary, but Life is not consistent and your body's needs vary. 

So after the flush of new wears off, you start to become physically weary of this wonderful diet, and start rebelling, by breaking the rules of the program. It's intuitive to be true to your self. But when you're emotionally invested in a diet program, it's hard to do it without feeling guilty and emotionally let-down. This is when self abuse starts.

When you reach the point where your diet is becoming frustrating, or inconvenient, or just isn't working, it is time to use common sense. Common sense tells you to listen to your body, not to abuse it. My neighbor didn't realize that she could have outgrown the great diet. Her body was telling her that she needed to change.

A good diet is not the same as a romantic commitment. A good diet is only good while it works for you. When a good diet gets stale, it's time to fine tune your senses and tune into intuition and your body to see what's missing. 

Sure, breaking up is hard to do, but changing what you eat, and how you do it, is natural, healthy and keeps you slim. Visualize your ideal body, and see it when you see yourself. That's where your heart is. 

A diet is an agenda. If the agenda works for you, do it. When it gets stale, find a new agenda.

Body Language

Your body is talking to you. Are you listening?

Your body clearly tells when you are hungry. It has a language all its own that is a kind of a nudge or at times a push, or even a kick in the gut. At other times, when you are around food, your body will communicate by feeling shut down. Learning to recognize your body’s language will help you to stay tuned in to when to eat and to what's good to eat.

Listening to your body will have it, and you, feeling satisfied and energized.

Tune in to your body language by respecting and feeling it.
Here are ways to stay connected with your body when you eat:

First: Be Tolerant of your whole self- body and mind, by acknowledging that you are trying hard to eat smart for your body. Part of being tolerant is forgiving the past and staying in the present.

Hey- the present is the only thing that exists right now!

Second: Stay Alert by using your 6 senses (see, smell, taste, touch, hear, intuition) when you are around food. A lot of over eating happens because we don’t even notice we are putting food into our body. Being alert you will notice how your body feels when you eat. 

Let your intuition work for you.

Trust your intuition the way you trust your ears and eyes. Using your 5 physical senses when you eat takes you away from what you’re thinking and connects you with your body.

Your intuition stays in touch with your mind, body, and your heart to keep your priorities clear.

Third: Stay Determined to follow through with being Tolerant and Alert. 

Determination is your commitment to connect with your whole being for eating smart. 

Determination is will-power.  You have it!

You can rely on following your intuitive truth to create the changes you want.

Don’t wait until your body is screaming at you with gas or bloat pain. 
Don’t wait until your body is embarrassing you when you put on your bathing suit or when you’re ready to make love. 

Listen to your body.

Then: Be proud of your body. Respect your whole self- body, mind, and heart and you will be proud of your self. Eat smart by respecting your self. Your body will be purring, and you will be happy.