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.

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.

Your Body is Talking!

Your body is talking to you. Are you listening?

Your body tells you when you're hungry and lets you know when you're not. Body language is a kind of a nudge or an ache. When you're needing to eat it's a push and when you've overeaten it feels like a kick in the gut. When you're not really hungry and you're around food, your body will communicate by feeling shut down. Learning to recognize body language guides you to eat when you're hungry and stop when you're not. Listening to your body will have it and you feeling satisfied and energized!  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!

When you're down on yourself you stress your body which releases hormones that make it hold onto fat!  

Listening to your body and being kind to your body  lets it relax and let go of fat!

This is a guarantee- try it! Let me know how it goes- and I'll post your results. 

 Posts will get a FREE consult with me about how to intuitively connect with your body to lose weight.

Second: Use your senses: see, smell, taste, touch, hear around food. Over eating happens when you don’t notice you're putting food into your body. Body language is loud when you tune-in. 

Let your intuition work for you.

Intuition keeps your priorities clear. It frees your mind from trying to control your body so you enjoy eating! 

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

Listen to your body.

Be proud of your body by respecting yourself - body, mind and heart. This is how to be kind to yourself.  Eat smart by respecting your self.  Your body will be purring, and you will be happy.

Say a prayer.

Feed your soul  and say good-bye to unwanted weight.


I received an e-mail from a woman I'm coaching to be an intuitive eater. She's started to silently say a prayer of appreciation before every meal and believes it's why her body's feeling healthier and she's losing pounds. 

If you're ready to lose weight and stop yo-yo dieting, feed your soul. 
Appreciate your food, whether it's humble or fancy. This feeds your soul.

Because you can eat when you feel hungry while others can't,
say Thank You before you eat.  

The more you feed your soul, the less your body weighs. It's a fact.

Intuitive eating is feeding your whole self. This shows self-respect for your mind, body, soul and heart. You're an amazing, beautiful and complex person. Appreciating who you are, and what you have, puts you in touch with your intuition. Try it.

If you wonder what you have, start with your 5 senses and be thankful your eyes can read this. You can hear the voice of someone you love, touch the hand of a child, feel the sunlight on your face or groom a pet. Saying a prayer of appreciation is simple and powerful.

The real way to be your healthy weight is to feed yourself differently.

When your treat your body with kindness,  you are feeding your heart love

Appeciate your whole self in the morning when you wake up. 

When you eat, ask yourself: What am I hungry for? 

and then, Am I really hungry?

My new book, Am I Really Hungry? is being launched in September. The book teaches how to eat when you're hungry and stop when you're not. You re-discover how your intuition works and gain access to health and fitness, and end 'dieting' for good. This book is the foundation of my IntuEating for success programs which I will soon be talking about.

For my loyal blog readers I am making copies available at a discount for a limited time. Contact me  and mention this blog. I will send you a copy of Am I Really Hungry? for 50% off retail price. 

with appreciation...

Bad Habits and Intuitive Tools

Bad habits are self-defeating because they make us feel bad about ourselves. Using the intuitive tools to stay clear about what drives eating choices, blows bad habits away. The purpose of intuition  is to keep us clear about priorities and boundaries for the best quality of life. Using intuition to stay your healthy weight makes sense.

Intuitive tools are guides to natural health for you to trust and lean on, the way you use a handrail to help you up the stairs. When you hold onto the handrail, even if you slip -- you won't fall. Using  intuitive tools is the beginning of shedding bad habits. You won't fall back into the habit of yo-yo dieting.

If you want to lose weight by eating intuitively, but you're not committed to the experience, this means you don't trust yourself. This bad habit is awful. You experience it as a hopeless attitude about yourself and may feel isolated - which is not real. When we fall into the trap of bad habits, we're living in the past.

Dieting creates the bad habit of being tense at mealtime. Intuitive thinking connects you with natural inner strength. Inner strength feels like a calm awareness. Imagine being relaxed when you sit down to eat. That's intuitive eating.  

It's intuitive to eat for energy. That's being in sync with your body. Think of energy and strength like a river. When you are in sync with your body, the flow is natural and the current (your intuition) keeps you moving toward your destination. When you fight with or restrict your body, there are blockages or overflowed banks (weight gain).

Take the plunge, connect with your inner voice and trust yourself! Stop fighting with your body; learn to respond to it. Use intuitive tools to lose weight. You won't regret it -- guaranteed.

Start trusting yourself by using your senses to stay in touch with what's real, and you won't be eating because you're lonely. Kick bad habits out of your life by staying on track with intuitive thinking.

Instant Gratification

Change that lasts takes time. We're taught to expect instant gratification. Diets promise we'll lose 5-10 lbs a week and be an ideal body in a month. The truth is, it won't happen. Losing 5-10 lbs by starving yourself now will boomerang and end up around your middle in July.  Aren't you tired of losing and gaining weight?
 
Don't buy into media hype about instant gratification. Since your body is a natural system, it requires time to process change. Only slow progress endures because you're organic.  Trusting organic change means using determination and trusting your senses. 

Because we're conditioned to "trust" instant gratification, there's a disconnect from our truth. Instead of responding to conditioning use your 6 senses to stay in the present. The truth is there is no such thing as instant gratification when it comes to long-term physical changes.   

You can trust your body.

It's always focused on healing and creating energy.

Your body is more efficient than the most advanced super-computer. 

When you use all 6 senses at mealtime, physical needs and healthy food boundaries become obvious. Real nourishment is only achieved when you're in sync with yourself. Make a commitment to yourself and use determination to connect with messages from your body at mealtime. Go for real gratification.

Don't buy into diet hype about the need to eat what you don't want when you're not hungry because of a scale or a clock or a book. You have the answers and they are very personal, custom tailored what your body needs. Your body is amazing, alive and constantly evolving. 

Use your senses to know your body. Eat intuitively by using the 10 tools. You will learn to recognize when you're hungry and when you're not. That's instant gratification.

Your Inner Rebel

Louise was trying to lose weight, walking every day and being conscious of portion size. Louise was doing a great job of changing her body. She was converting fat to muscle and felt tighter, but since muscle weighs more than fat her weight was the same. Louise didn't trust herself or even deeply believe in her efforts. Instead she depended the scale for validation. But the scale didn't budge and she felt defeated.

Using a scale to validate your progress to lose weight sabotages by undermining your efforts.  The scale is an obstacle in the way to connecting with the needs of your body.  When we define ourselves by measuring 'progress' we're not allowing the space and time of organic change to unfold in a natural or enduring way. 

When you decide to lose weight, instead of supervising yourself with rules, listen to your body. Imposing control that feels stressful won't bring long-term weight loss. That type of control feels restrictive and encourages your inner rebel. The inner rebel is your survival instinct- it feels stress and holds on to those fat cells until it feels safe. 

Use your eyes to see portion size and use taste to judge quality. Get moderate exercise and eat slow enough to notice how you feel. Let experience remind you that respecting your body is respecting your self. Respecting yourself  makes your body feel safe and allows it to let go of fat.  

Use the intuitive tools of dignity and determination to allow your body to complete it's process so you look and feel good.  Dignity, determination and self respect is how to walk the walk of long-term body health.  

It's a bold step for a dieter to trust her body. Spring is a time of new beginnings. Take the first step to change by tuning in to your senses to notice what you notice. You don't need a scale to validate your efforts. Use dignity and determination to fortify the bold choice to trust yourself. You're worth it!