The Stock Market & Intuitive Eating

It's still party season and will be until January. Think of eating as making an investment in yourself, and position yourself for success. Use intuitive tools to guide your choices so that you stay grounded and in control.

When diet restrictions cause frustration, often the result is emotional eating. When you use your intuition there are no restrictions. Instead, you focus on your immediate quality of life.

Intuitive eating is like smart financial investing.

An article about financial investing said:
"Emotional decisions tend to be impulsive and irrational decisions that compromise the realization of your stated goals."  That's exactly what happens when you make emotional eating decisions.

The stock market has been completely unpredictable for some time. It goes up and down, creating frustration and disappointment for many. For some, this yo-yoing is part of investing. For others, it creates a spiral of despair.

Here are intuitive rules to remember when you eat and are ways to make a solid investment in yourself and your future.

• Don't panic and let your emotions drive your investment (eating) decisions. Instead, take a long-term approach, confirm your previously set goals and assess your risk tolerance in view of your eating choices. Protect yourself by using your intuitive tools to stay clear about your priorities.

• Have a taste of what tempts you to make yourself comfortable. Really make sure you taste it for pleasure. Chew well and slowly. Take a second taste and you'll notice it's not as good.  When we're not really hungry, just a taste is the rational investment.  Consider how you would feel if you ate more than your body wanted, and ended up binging. You always have the option to eat less. You are in control.

• Keep an open mind and be skeptical when someone tells you the latest fad for maintaining your perfect weight.  You can try anything, but trust only your own body when it comes to eating. No one except you knows how you feel physically. It's good to learn about your body and it's best to stay connected to your physical and emotional priorities to make grounded decisions.  An open mind shows you your options.

• If you overeat, don't fixate on food you've eaten. "Once you make  a purchase, focus on whether the stock still represents one of your best ideas." Beating yourself up is destructive emotionally, and useless. Instead, learn from your mistakes. Everyone slips up; the intuitive way to handle it is to give yourself grace and commit to being wiser next time.

• If your first choice isn't available or you find you're at an unexpected party where food is abundant, stay balanced by using common sense to stop and assess your options. It's intuitive to be flexible and go with the flow. Enjoy yourself by tasting your options with dignity. Stay clear about your long-term goals.

• Anticipate the foods that will tempt you at a party, and plan to ride out the evening without panicking by remaining committed to your long-term investment/eating plan. This way you will position yourself for success.

Intuitive eating is the healthy solution to 21st century stress-driven living and eating challenges. It's having an open mind, a flexible attitude towards yourself and eating - you know yourself. Stay clear and you'll like the way your investments turn out. 

"All investors have a unique situation regarding their finances." Your eating choices are uniquely related to your lifestyle and body type. "Solutions to your financial concerns vary dramatically depending on your particular set of circumstances."

Intuitive eating is personal. Download your kindle copy of Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet : Intuitive Eating,  and have the answers in your pocket 24/7.  It's an investment in your future you can count on!

*Investment article written by Joseph M. Lanza, Branch Manager of SagePoint Financial, Inc., Ridgewood, New Jersey

Speed-Eating helps you gain weight.

I was sitting next to an overweight man in his 20's who believed it was macho to eat really fast. It isn't. It's self-defeating.  Speed eaters don't taste their food, appreciate their meals or get good nourishment from their food. Speed eaters eat more. This man was convinced it's 'military style' to inhale your food. It's not.

People in the armed forces trust their intuition to stay safe. There's nothing safe or smart about speed-eating.

Intuitive eating means keeping clear about priorities like safety and strength.  When you eat at a moderate rate, you get more nourishment from food and can go longer between meals.

Eating slower lets you connect with your own sensuality which impacts other areas of your life.

It gives your body time to really digest food so that you get energy instead of stuffed. 

Eating slower is an intuitive way of controlling your weight because when you eat slower you eat less.

I just got back from a family vacation and meal-time was a big deal. Every meal is a big deal to your body. Your body only relates to food as a means to produce energy and ensure good health. That's why it's right to stop eating before you feel 'filled up'. 

Just like you don't fill a coffee cup or bowl of soup to the very top because it will spill or overflow, don't "top off" your stomach when you eat. When you're on vacation and eating with gusto, think of your stomach and slow down. Chew more. Notice how your body feels.

There is a very thin line between healthy eating and over eating. People who eat really fast cross that line every meal. You know you cross the line when you feel bloated, tired, stuffed or general indigestion. Your stomach is designed to be active digesting food you eat. When you stuff it, there's no room for it to work efficiently. You feel bogged down instead of invigorated by your food.

It takes courage to do the right thing. To respect your body instead of stuffing it, is being tuned into your priorities in a safe, smart way. Chew more and you'll eat less.

The Blame Game

Do you play the 'Blame game'?  

Jessi is a dieter who is becoming an intuitive eater. She decided to have a healthy snack and opened a bag of carrots. She took a bite and the carrot tasted strange. The inside of her mouth felt tingly, even fuzzy. Jessi ignored her senses and decided it was her fault for buying the carrots in a bag instead of fresh. Because she 'knew' that carrots were 'good', Jessi assumed she was 'bad' and the source of the problem.

Her mouth was practically screaming that the carrots were unhealthy. But the diet mentality is to blame yourself and ignore your body, and so she did.  She ate 5 carrots and then grabbed a cupcake to get the taste out of her mouth. No one wins the blame game.

When you play the blame game you stop noticing what you notice with your senses. Ignoring your senses betrays your inner dignity. This feels really awful. 

  

Forcing your body to eat what it rejects is not intuitive.  

Eating intuitively is to respond to your body. 

As soon as you respond to your body, you are in control. 

That's all it takes!

Jessi is learning to notice messages from her senses. Her tastebuds told her the carrots were bad. But the habit of diet programs told her she was bad. This blame game had become her habit. Once Jessi realized it was a habit and that she could take control, she felt like a different person. 

Notice what you notice. Habits are hard to break. But self-defeating habits are worth breaking. It is never intuitive to 'blame' yourself. The intuitive choice is to look for options when your senses give you a heads up.