Little Lies

Do you tell little lies to yourself about how much you eat?

The most important person in your world is you. That's who is going to protect and feed you and give emotional support when things don't go well. While nobody likes feeling they are 'overweight', returning to a healthier number only happens when we are honest with ourselves. Lies are abusive. If we cannot trust ourselves, who can we trust? 

Last night I had dinner with a friend who's trying to lose weight.  He told me that he hadn't eaten all day. When I reminded him that wasn't wise, he sheepishly listed what he actually had eaten during the day. While it wasn't much, it was nourishing foods.  People ignore what they see and hear and lie to themselves about how much they eat.  Don't ignore what you know!

• When we don't eat all day as a weight loss technique, it backfires.
• When we ignore food all day, our body thinks we're starving. It automatically goes into survival mode. This lowers our metabolism rate so that we don't 'die' from hunger. 
• What happens when we do eat is that since our metabolism is slower, we don't burn our calories as fast and as a result, can gain weight.
• To protect us from starving to death, the body instinctively 'helps' us store fat.

I explained to my friend that to lose weight, all he needs to do is eat smaller portions three times a day. This way, his stomach will naturally shrink while he maintains optimum energy and health. Importantly, he won't feel like he's starving.  So when the waitress came to our table, he ordered a cocktail and an appetizer. I made a mental note to mention the very high sugar content of alcohol the next time he mentioned trying to lose weight.

• Ordering an appetizer for dinner when trying to lose weight - especially if we've had breakfast and lunch -- is a reliable choice to make.

His appetizer was a ragout leg of duck with two pureed servings, one white, one green and some pea sprouts on the side. It was pretty. It was also pretty fattening. Because he did not know what the green and white dollops were, I tasted them. They were very rich, full of butter and cream. At that point, I felt sorry for my friend. He, of course, ate his entire meal quickly.

• If you are trying to lose weight and decide to eat less, don't eat a smaller plate that has more calories than a full portion.
• Avoid sauces, candied vegetables, deep fried or rich choices.
• Allow as many 'empty' nourishing calories as you want.
• carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, etc - salad ingredients without the dressing
• If you have salad, ask for dressing on the side. Be stingy with it. An alternative is lemon juice or a simple vinaigrette.
• When we eat less, it's more socially satisfying  if we eat slower. Plus eating slower burns more calories and we are generally more satisfied. 

Just like unwanted pounds, little lies add up. When you lie to yourself about what or how much you eat, you are the victim of fraud.

• Pay attention to what you sense. Enjoying what you eat means more efficient digestion and more fun!
• Honor your truth. You will feel lighter and eat less.
• Allow yourself physical and psychological satisfaction. Don't be a victim of self-abuse.

Learn to trust yourself by using intuitive tools that will never let you down. You deserve the best quality of life. Eat less, sense more.

#janebernard

The Lucky Ones

We're the lucky ones. While in every country there are people who do not have enough to eat, we have such abundance that we choose what we want, and focus on what not to eat! If you're worried about having self-control so you look good in your bathing suit this summer, think about others before you overeat.

With every blessing comes responsibility. Our food abundance gives us the responsibility of choosing what to eat wisely. It also gives us the responsibility to help feed those who are hungry. One way to turn obsessing about food and eating into positive and productive choices, is to think about food needs of others.

It's as simple as pushing a button - or as involved as you want to be. We can volunteer in a soup kitchen or share on Facebook. Helping others feeds our own social and emotional hungers. Being aware of everyday hunger around the world beyond our own, leads us to recognize and celebrate how lucky we are.

Amazingly, there is always enough time to draw into our lives exactly what is right. When we value curiosity and dignity, there is always enough time to help others. Doing good widens perspective so that we know ourselves better. Perspective bringd feelings of balance and self-control. When we help others who are hungry, we reinforce and compliment the good within ourselves.

Where people are starving there cannot peace. Here are some ways to help by pushing a button:

• The Hunger Site
• Feed the Children
• The Mercy Corps
• Feeding America
• My Charity Water

"The day hunger disappears, the world will see the greatest spiritual explosion humanity has ever seen. " Federico Garcia Lorca 

For more ways to help the hungry, read: The Lucky Ones, in Am I Really Hungry?

Caveman Diet or Intuitive Eating?

A friend of mine, who is uncomfortable with the words self-discipline and food in the same sentence, has been tricked into being an intuitive eater!  This happened because he tried a modified caveman diet option. He ate whatever he wanted five days a week. Then, on two random days, he fasted all day - only drank water - and then ate whatever he wanted for dinner. This worked for him because knowing he could eat whatever he wanted made him happy. The surprise is that he has stopped enjoying his favorite fast food items and his 'habits' are changing. The reason why is that he started tuning-in to his body differently.

He noticed that when he did eat fast foods - especially after a day of fasting - he felt lethargic. Also, his stomach started shrinking from the small amount of fasting. He's eating less and has been steadily losing weight. I googled Caveman Power Diet and the website is easy to read, understand and follow. What they say makes sense to me. Cavemen certainly trusted their intuition. The reason why intuitive eating works for us today is, it lets us take control of our own choices and eating habits. We each are on intimate terms with our bodies. This means we can recognize what we want and need and when we feel full.

The way, we eat is often a mirror of the way we approach living. When we are barreling through life, it's common go off in the wrong direction. It's helpful to pause and get our bearing. Living well and eating well i a balancing act. Connecting with what we want and getting what we need always makes sense. 

That's why, using our senses to notice what we notice and intuitive tools to connect with what feels good, is so easy. Life is complex; hunger is simple. We need to eat for energy and good health, but we don't need diet restrictions or eating habits. Our physical needs vary every day. We don't need to be cavemen to choose what we want to eat.

      

#JaneBernard

Doing Dessert

Do eat dessert! Dessert is a celebration of good food & a good life.   

My grandmother always said, "Be sure to leave room for dessert." Because of this, I learned not to eat until I was stuffed. Saving room for dessert is a lifelong habit, with surprise benefits! Having an eye on dessert makes portion control of the entree sensible. Do eat dessert with a spirit of appreciation. Enjoying dessert sets a tone of appreciation that echoes in every relationship.
   
I never realized 'desserts' is 'stressed' spelled backwards. 
 Here's how to enjoy dessert without stress.

• D --  Do the right thing. Eat with self-respect.
• E --  Enjoy every mouthful. Use your tongue to satisfy the drive for flavor.
• S --  Smile more when you are having dessert. Celebrate! Feel the goodness. 
• S --  Stop between each mouthful. Put down your fork or spoon and savor the sweetness.
• E --  Engage in eye contact while you're enjoying the sweet. Enjoy sensual syncing.
• R --  Remember, it's fortunate to have dessert when there is so much hunger in the world. 
• T -- Take your time. You may discover that you don't need to finish dessert. Dessert is a treat!

#janebernard

Power Eating

Intuitive Eating is Power Eating

Hunger is a physical reality. Binging is an emotional trap. Fighting emotional traps is intuitive. It's liberating. When we make an intuitive choice, it feels 'right' and that is reassuring. Powerful intuitive tools free us from emotional eating.

Emotional eating or binging happens when we feel bad or sorry for ourselves. Even though the media would have us think differently, food is not a band-aid. It cannot mend a broken heart or make a mean person nice. Reality is that Life can be painful, unfair and hard. Responding to pain by eating more changes nothing; instead, we feel worse.

Anyone who has eaten food for emotional support knows the result is disappointment. Emotional eating is a trap. The only way out is to fight it.

When emotions guide food choices, we're going to gain weight. Intuition bypasses emotions. That's why we can feel deeply emotional around food and 'know' we're wrong to eat it. Using intuitive tools like determination, courage and dignity is surprisingly reassuring. It's power eating.

Here are 3 questions to ask yourself to know if a choice is 'right'.

• Does eating this leave me feeling physically comfortable, satisfied and healthy?
• If the answer is yes, then focus on comfort, satisfaction and health while you eat. 
• You will feel when you're had enough. This is feeling your mind working with your body. 
• Intuition balances what we want with what we know and what we feel. Power eating is listening to our intuition.
• Why am I eating this? 
• Being honest with yourself is the beginning of trusting your intuition. 
• The fact is, intuition is always protective. Trust it.
• Feel dignity in your heart and listen to that feeling.
•  If you're eating to satisfy emotions, stop. Decide to take control by being courageous. 
• You are stronger than anger or disappointment. You are stronger than sadness. 
• It's powerful to take control of self-defeating emotions, but it's not hard. Things that are wrong, crumble easily.
• Give yourself a smile of determination. Go for a short walk to cool off. Re-set your perspective. The only reason to eat is because you're hungry.
• What do I really want? 
• You want to fight it. No one wants to be a slave to emotions. Eating, weight maintenance, diet, work, family, responsibilities - all of these weigh on us 24/7. We need help to be strong. We don't have a lot of time to cook. Write down what you really want and put the piece of paper where you can look at it any time.
  • Adopt an attitude of determination and stick with it. Get what you want. Comfort, satisfaction and health create quality of life. Eat less, chew more. Attitude is powerful.
• FitsMe is a Web app that helps you find meals and create plans that fit your diet. Tell the site your food restrictions, likes, and dislikes and it serves up recipes to satiate even your pickiest preferences. It can save time and help you plan. 

Use attitude. Remember to focus on comfort, satisfaction, and health when you eat. Use the power of natural courage to zap fear and over come doubts. Use determination and self-respect to follow through with what feels 'right' and use attitude. Be dignified when you eat. It's intuitive power.

"Anything is possible if you've got enough nerve." JK Rowlings

#janebernard

4 Steps to Ideal Weight

If you were your "ideal" weight today, how would your life be different?

This is a trick question. "Ideal" is a direct connection with our state of mind!   

Do heavy thoughts make us physically heavy? Heavy thoughts distort priorities so that we don't make good decisions. When our emotions control thinking, the result is self-sabotage. Next comes exhausting cycles of gaining  and losing weight. Can we think ourselves slim? It helps to imagine ourselves an ideal weight- but only if we stay real. 

1. Be flexible about food choices.

•  Healthy eating is a physical response to hunger. Habits are NOT the secret of healthy eating. Variety is. If you are in the habit of eating cut-up fruit with cottage cheese for lunch every day, this may not be healthy. Our bodies are always tearing down and rebuilding. Skin is often a mirror of what's happening inside.The way to know if an eating habit is a rut and not ideal, is to notice how you look and feel an hour after the meal. If you start to get hungry and look stressed - your habit is a rut. When a meal is 'healthy', our body is satisfied for hours! Healthy eating happens when we stay in tune with our body.

2. Don't force yourself to identify with an image that is not you.

• Being Physically Active is a signal of physical health. When we are stationary for long periods of time, our internal signals get confused. The body is an amazing machine that works best when it's recharged by simple physical activity, like walking. You may discover, if you want a snack between meals, that a walk around the block 'kills' your craving. Instead of grabbing something to eat to calm an odd feeling in your stomach, take a walk to help your system make connections you need internally for more efficient calorie burning and digestion. 

3. Respect your courage to trust your body.

• A Good Appetite is a sign of good health. Often, a good appetite is satisfied by less than we consume. The trick is to eat what we need, not what is easy or looks prettiest. Think about it. Protein is the most satisfying food we can eat. Many dieters are protein deficient, making them crave sugar for instant energy - that then, brings them down hard. For ideal weight, eat protein first at mealtime. Then enjoy greens and carbs. If you want to lose weight, skip carbs or just eat a half portion.  
• Chew more, eat less. Close your mouth when you chew. People who talk with food in their mouths are rarely an ideal weight. Put down the food, spoon or fork, when you talk. This way, talking more at mealtime means eating less.

4. Be Thankful for every meal. A lot of people we see, go through their days hungry. Appreciation of what we have balances our perspective. Gratitude builds self-confidence.

• State of Mind is the lens we live through. Ideal weight is personal. Be kind to yourself. Choose to be healthy, active and smart about eating choices, and you will have a positive state of mind. Don't buy-in to dogma or media hype. Beauty begins in the heart and comes through our eyes. Love yourself with kindness. This makes you receptive to your ideal weight,  patience, self-control and variety. Life is beautiful.

Give yourself every chance to be your ideal weight. Every body is a unique shape. Ideal means: Healthy, Physically Active, Good Appetite and Positive State of Mind. If you believe Life will be better if your weight is 'ideal', tune-in to determination and it will happen. For extra help, download: Am I Really Hungry? to intuitively understand how to take control of eating challenges.


An easy way to fine-tune your senses is: Fine Tuning Connecting with Your Inner Power. 




#janebernard

Falling Off The Wagon

Falling off the wagon hurts. Any kind of fall hurts. The first response we need is comfort, not anger. Start with kindness.

"People don't come pre-assembled, but are glued together by life." ~ Joseph Le Doux

Life is full of surprises and curve balls. Everyone falls off the wagon. It's not about losing control; falling off the wagon is hitting a bump in the road. There are no smooth rides in anyone's life. A helpful way to handle bumps in the road is to have a plan.

 Here are some options:

• If you have a friend who also is working on her weight management, arrange a code word like: "PANIC" and the next time you hit a bump, call her. Together, the two of you practice breathing to connect with personal dignity and physical purpose, for 5 slow breaths in and 5 slow breaths out. Then, tell each other how you're feeling. Talking with a caring friend is more satisfying than the loneliness of binging. 

• If you're alone, leave the room and leave the issue inside. If possible, go outside and notice the amazing signs of life around you - plants, animals, people, sunlight, the wind.  Breathe slowly in and out 5 times to connect with your inner dignity and courage. Yes, it takes courage to fight against what hurts. Decide a way you feel comfortable dealing with the problem, and then respect your choice. The main point is not to hurt yourself.

• If someone close to you is creating stress that pushes you to hide by eating, you need to find a new hiding place. There are always options. Eating a gallon of ice cream while hiding in your room or your car may seem like a solution, but you already know it's self defeating, and the only person being punished is you. Life is not fair but you can still be fair with yourself. Stay real. One day at a time is all you can ask of yourself.

It doesn't matter why or how we fall off the wagon. It matters that we face the truth, forgive ourselves with kindness, reflect on why this happened, and hop back on with renewed dignity and fresh determination to reach our destination physique. The only time we fail is when we give up. Starting fresh is personal power. 

Stay in touch with momentum in your life.Take a tip from nature. No matter how dark the night is, day arrives. After winter, comes spring. The weather will be horrible one day and nice 24 hours later. Allow yourself to experience your truth and then remember that you have dignity, courage and determination. Ultimately, if you don't know what to do when you hit a bump in the road, start with being kind to yourself. The rest is easy.

Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet : Intuitive Eating can help you recognize underlying emotional bumps in the road and steer around them. Life is created by our choices and our habits. Our responsibility is to ourselves. No one makes us do anything. Take control of challenges by knowing yourself better. Be honest with yourself and the road will get smoother. Guaranteed! 

#janebernardFalling off the wagon hurts. Any kind of fall hurts. The first response we need is comfort, not anger. Start with kindness.

"People don't come pre-assembled, but are glued together by life." ~ Joseph Le Doux

Life is full of surprises and curve balls. Everyone falls off the wagon. It's not about losing control; falling off the wagon is hitting a bump in the road. There are no smooth rides in anyone's life. A helpful way to handle bumps in the road is to have a plan.

 Here are some options:

• If you have a friend who also is working on her weight management, arrange a code word like: "PANIC" and the next time you hit a bump, call her. Together, the two of you practice breathing to connect with personal dignity and physical purpose, for 5 slow breaths in and 5 slow breaths out. Then, tell each other how you're feeling. Talking with a caring friend is more satisfying than the loneliness of binging. 

• If you're alone, leave the room and leave the issue inside. If possible, go outside and notice the amazing signs of life around you - plants, animals, people, sunlight, the wind.  Breathe slowly in and out 5 times to connect with your inner dignity and courage. Yes, it takes courage to fight against what hurts. Decide a way you feel comfortable dealing with the problem, and then respect your choice. The main point is not to hurt yourself.

• If someone close to you is creating stress that pushes you to hide by eating, you need to find a new hiding place. There are always options. Eating a gallon of ice cream while hiding in your room or your car may seem like a solution, but you already know it's self defeating, and the only person being punished is you. Life is not fair but you can still be fair with yourself. Stay real. One day at a time is all you can ask of yourself.

It doesn't matter why or how we fall off the wagon. It matters that we face the truth, forgive ourselves with kindness, reflect on why this happened, and hop back on with renewed dignity and fresh determination to reach our destination physique. The only time we fail is when we give up. Starting fresh is personal power. 

Stay in touch with momentum in your life.Take a tip from nature. No matter how dark the night is, day arrives. After winter, comes spring. The weather will be horrible one day and nice 24 hours later. Allow yourself to experience your truth and then remember that you have dignity, courage and determination. Ultimately, if you don't know what to do when you hit a bump in the road, start with being kind to yourself. The rest is easy.

Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet : Intuitive Eating can help you recognize underlying emotional bumps in the road and steer around them. Life is created by our choices and our habits. Our responsibility is to ourselves. No one makes us do anything. Take control of challenges by knowing yourself better. Be honest with yourself and the road will get smoother. Guaranteed! 

#janebernard