Stop thinking about food.

Get rid of fat from the inside out. Stop thinking about food. Instead of focusing on what you're putting into your body, think about how your body feels when you eat.

Learning to respect your body is part of the rite of passage from dieting to intuitive eating. Rites of passage are life changing. Change your life by changing your eating habits.

Getting rid of old habits gets rid of old fat.
Your body is more important than what you eat.
Start connecting with your body when you eat - instead of thinking about food. 

When you tune-in to how your body feels, it's automatic to make food choices that keep you feeling comfortable. As a result you will:

• Stay clear about your priorities. 
• Respect and protect your body by acknowledging it when you eat.  
• Develop healthy eating habits.

Lose fat from the inside out with these simple intuitive tricks:

•  Eat less by chewing more. Chewing burns calories. It helps you get more benefit from what you eat because digestive enzymes in your mouth prepare food for your stomach. The result is you feel full sooner.
• Make it a point to put down your fork or spoon between bites. This gives you time to chew. It also makes it natural to talk to the person you're eating with. Talk about how good the food tastes. It's a sexy topic for everyone. You will eat less.
• After you tune-in to your body, only eat what you really want. Check in with how you feel between bites. Notice if your food tastes good because this helps you stay in tune with your body. You will discover you are not always that hungry. Stop when you feel full. Soon, you will notice old eating habits that ignore your body, and now you can stop them.

When you do these simple tricks, your clothes won't feel as tight.
You'll have less indigestion and less insomnia.

Being overweight is often the result of stress and the self-defeating habits it creates. Intuitive eating  guides you beyond the diet mentality to experience a common sense way of eating and body awareness. It's common sense that if eating habits are making you fat, it's time to get rid of them.

Feel Good Food Connection

You want to have a certain look. You need to eat, too! 

What's the connection?  It's you!

When you feel good about yourself, it's easier to have patience with your eating choice. Feeling good tunes you into being kind to yourself.
 
Intuitive eating is all about you. Being unhappy with the way you look means it's time to change the way you treat yourself.

• Binging is a way of beating yourself up.  It's like banging your head against the wall.
• Rushing through a meal is like inhaling calories. When you rush, your body doesn't have time to feel full.
• Sneaking a bag of cookies is like poisoning yourself. It's doing to yourself the opposite of what will make you feel good.

You deserve respect. The first person you need to get it from is you!

• Eat for energy or do not eat.  This is different from eating just because you're hungry. Try it!
• Share the pleasure of eating. When you really like what you're eating, pause to taste it better. Then, talk about the satisfaction you feel.
• At parties, put something you don't like on your plate. Instead of eating, carry it around and talk to people. BUT don't talk about food or eating. Parties are for feeding social hunger. Don't let food get in the way of finding social satisfaction.

Still not happy with what you see in the mirror? 

• Wear a different color.
• Smile at yourself.
• Vow to respect your body and your heart at the same time. Since your body is the home of your heart, this makes a lot of sense.

If you feel like you've gained weight, you can be sure you're gained some bad habits. Bad habits are often created by stress.  Take the pressure off by giving yourself a chance to eat intuitively. Time is your tool. Take time to notice what makes you feel good about yourself.

• Eat less, chew more.
• Take control by being kind to yourself.
• Recognize self-defeating eating habits and decide you've had enough!

Dealing with Frustration Around Food, Try Ice Cream!

Feeling deprived is not the same as feeling hungry. Give yourself a chance to notice if you're hungry before  you eat.

Intuitive eating means paying attention to your senses and ignoring emotions when you eat. If you're not hungry, you don't need to eat. But don't wait until you  feel starved, because that makes your body think you need to gorge or binge to survive.

Relate to genuine physical hunger when you do eat by noticing taste and smell. This is the only way to tune-in to healthy physical comfort.

Because you have been training to diet for years, it will take time to undo all of that 'training'. It takes calorie-burning effort to stop rebuking yourself for what you eat. Remember, you owe yourself some kindness because you are working hard to reconnect with your natural appetites.

Natural hunger is a gentle feeling. Trust that you can learn to recognize it.

Try this: Pretend you're very young and give yourself the pleasure of tasting flavor. Notice texture and smell what you eat. If you feel like having ice-cream, act like a kid who never tasted ice cream and lick it. Intuitive eating is fun. When possible eat with a friend or relative. Share enjoyment. The result of focusing on what you're enjoying is:

• You will eat less. 
• You will eat slower.
• You will recognize when you're full.

It's important to give yourself permission to smell and taste your food before you decide if you're hungry. 

• Smell food at mealtime and if you feel turned off, don't eat.
•  If it smells good, take a bite. 
• When you taste it, make it a rule to chew and savor the flavor. This will connect what you're tasting with your mind, and your stomach will respond. If you still do not feel hungry, you are not. But if you are hungry, it's important to enjoy food by really tasting it while you're eating.
•  When you enjoy your food, you burn more calories. 
• When you really taste your food you feel full sooner. So only eat what you feel like having, and stop eating when you feel comfortable, but not stuffed. 
• Feeling "filled up" is usually a signal of overeating. Feeling comfortable is the signal from your body that you're full.

Read a chapter called Create Your Plan in Am I Really Hungry, which is available on amazon or kindle. This chapter will help you catch yourself when you're slipping and protect you from destructive choices like binging. The book is full of tips and tricks to help you understand yourself and also free yourself from dieting, binging and over exercising.

You are already building a caring foundation for the rest of your life. This is the key to long-term success. Be kind to yourself. The only thing that matters around eating is what you're doing now. Yesterday is history.

Food Fight!

Is every meal you eat a food fight?

You can throw food into your mouth, but not be fighting. You can throw your hopes away, but not be eating. The point is, you are in control of what you fight with, what you eat and how you socialize.

Ever been so frustrated at meal time that you would rather throw food than eat it? Food fights are usually emotional, but eating is always physical. Some people don't know how to connect with what they really want.  The next time someone throws food at you, give them a gentle kind hug.

Stop throwing food. Make love, not war the next time you eat. When you reject your body, you're fighting with yourself.  It's the kind of food fight you can't win.

If you're in the habit of food fighting, here's how to get juiced instead of junked around food.

• Before you start a meal or snack, be honest with yourself, Do you really physically feel like eating? If not, then leave the food fight and do whatever you want - as long as it's not eating.
• If you are genuinely ready to eat, look at what's on your plate and decide you will taste every bite. 

Leave emotional fights out of eating. Learn to connect with your body by eating intuitively.  Your common sense solution is sensual.

• Be determined and tenacious. Do not let yourself down.
• Don't take food for granted. Be grateful that you are able to eat.
• Really taste your food. Make tasting a priority.

To really taste your food there are rules:

•  Eat only for physical pleasure and the opportunity to socialize.
• Let people you eat with know that you will probably be eating slower and as a result, eating less, because you are going to really taste every bite that goes into your mouth.
• Chew with your mouth closed. This way, your taste buds can give you real physical taste satisfaction. 
• Swallow before you add food to your mouth.
• Do not talk with food in your mouth. Even if someone asks you a question, keep your mouth closed and taste your food. They can wait for you to speak.

When you're fighting with yourself,  zig-zag thinking makes you look at your body when you eat as if it's alien. Eating intuitively keeps you in touch with your body, because it's a response to physical cues like hunger. You'll feel satisfaction.

Take your time. When you respect your choices, you will notice that others do, too. Don't let a food fight block common sense.

 

Parting quote: When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Tecumseh

Self-Empowerment for Losing Weight

How can I help myself lose weight?

The easy way is: be true to yourself. That means be honest with yourself. Only by being honest can you have the kind of self-discipline that is empowering. It's intuitive to take control of what matters to you.

When you honestly want to lose weight,  use the drive of determination and be patient with yourself.  Self-discipline's a natural way to connect with yourself and have the pleasure of feeling good. It's worth the effort if you honestly want to like your body.

Patience is the secret of real satisfaction. I don't get satisfied when I give up. The truth is, I want my body to be healthy. I don't feel good when I ignore my truth.

When I hold my stomach in and stand up straight, I already look like I lost weight. Try it and look in the mirror.

Do you have the courage to live your truth? If you truly want to be your healthy weight, follow these tips:

• Eat Less; chew more.
• Put your sandwich down between bites and don't pick it up before you swallow.
• Put your fork down between bites and don't pick it up before you swallow.
• Notice how your food tastes. Learn what tastes too sweet or too salty.
• Notice how your body feels. Learn what fills you up and what causes bloat.
• Wait at least 15 minutes before you have dessert to make sure you really want it. Then, if you do, eat only half - and enjoy every bite.
• Drink water while you watch TV.
• Eat a hard-boiled egg or a handful of walnuts or almonds before parties to take the edge off your hunger. Then, socialize more while you hold your stomach in.
• Talk More; eat less.  Feed yourself emotionally by socializing at mealtime.

Self-empowerment begins with being true to yourself. 

• Don't abuse yourself by binging.
• Don't punish yourself emotionally. It's a vicious cycle you can end.

Self-empowerment happens when you trust your truth. Being patient means you respect yourself and what matters to you. You have the power. Use it!

For more answers, tips and tools for self-empowerment, get a copy of: Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet, Intuitive Eating.

Lose Weight - The 2 Minute Solution

This is not a dream.

The one way to lose weight consistently is to be in tune with your body. You can connect with your body by daydreaming for 2 minutes before you eat. Take that time to tune-in to your dreams and rediscover with the big picture of who you are.

Daydreaming helps you stay in touch with how you want to see yourself.

• It's body image power. 
• Allow yourself to visualize how you want to appear and how you want to feel.

Reconnect with simple daydreams and your self-esteem will change. You will  respect yourself differently.

• You'll discover a new found patience with who you are. 
• The result will be a new relaxed way of eating

Remember the art of leisurely dreaming when you were young, a time of innocence, of privately listening with your senses to the rush of your life. Noticing what you're looking at and smelling is normal. It’s still important to do this. Appetites are personal.

• Do this for 2 minutes before every meal and watch emotional habits and your body change.

Binging as a physical "solution" to emotional stress is like putting a band-aid on a  broken heart or rubbing butter on a burn.  It's a mountain of tension with nowhere to go.

• Allowing yourself to daydream relaxes tension. 
• Get ready to be surprised.

According to diet and nutrition experts, an apple a day can help fight being overweight.  Other experts publish lists of healthy snacks. Experts everywhere are telling you how to stop binging or start dropping pounds. Obviously, there are so many experts because there is no one answer.

• Daydream to relax and regain your perspective. 
• Then tune-in to your body.  
• You'll recognize what's right for you.

Your senses have always been the way of being in direct touch with your world. Listening to intuition is not daydreaming. It’s staying in touch with the present. That's where your appetite is.

Binging- Getting Intimate

Let's get personal and talk about intimate relationships. The most intimate relationship you have is with your own body. 

• You sleep with it every night, dress and feed it. 
• Your body gives you pleasure and physical power. 
• You wash it, touch yourself, use your body to get places and use it to be noticed.

Maybe you work out or maybe you hide your body with certain clothes. Everyone has an intimate relationship with their body. It's an emotional connection. 

Classic diets insist you focus on a plan and ignore physical messages from your body. 

• That's why people binge. 
• When you ignore what you feel physically, you stress out your body. 
• The result is an unhealthy emotional relationship with food. 

Binging happens because you lose your natural connection with physical satisfaction. It's the result of an emotional sense of confusion and isolation.

• When you binge, taste is not on your mind because you are thinking with your emotions, not responding to physical hunger.
• Binging is a desperate, very personal plea for comfort.

Your body is the power source of your mind, your heart and your soul. Pay attention to it. 

• Eating intuitively is a natural connection with satisfaction.
• Use dignity and courage to respect yourself.
• A healthy emotional connection is protective, not abusive.

Eating intuitively is relaxing when you eat, so you taste your food and notice how your body feels. Stay intimate with yourself. Stay connected with your body.

Get off of the diet dogma treadmill of emotional isolation and notice your intimate needs. You can use your senses to connect with your body.

• Stress around eating impacts every physical pleasure you might enjoy. 
• It's not good for intimacy in any part of your life.

Being intimate starts with respecting yourself. Honor yourself by forgiving binging and then, give yourself a chance to listen to your body.

• It's a skill you can re-learn.
• Enjoy your body; don't abuse it.