Intuitive Eating

Over the years I have experimented with many styles of eating and "dieting".

---

For me, the more rules there are about what I can't eat, when I have to eat or how much I have to eat - the less likely I am to stay committed and consistent. I am my best when I'm not over-thinking the entire process and I'm LISTENING to my body. I am my best when I eat intuitively and mindfully.

Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to health and wellness that helps you tune into your body signals, breaks the cycle of chronic dieting and heals your relationship with food. It's an approach to nutrition that literally begs you to pay attention to what you need and how you feel rather than FOLLOWING a plan.

Here's a few guiding principals:

1. Honor your hunger.

---

Keep yourself properly fed and energized. Once we hit that place of excessive hunger, all moderation gets thrown out the window. Do not make the mistake of starving yourself as a means of losing weight. This method is not only unhealthy and unproductive in the long-term... but it is also unsustainable.

2. Make peace with food.

---

Villainizing food is one of the worst things we do. Food is not "good" or "bad". Intense deprivation can lead to uncontrollable cravings and binging. Think of food as a positive. This food is energy for my body to do great things today. When you think of food as the substance that makes your cellular process happen. You realize that your truly are what you eat. Having this kind of connection with the food helps us to have an awareness of how the food makes us feel. Is this how you want to feel. Do you want to feel like a doughnut, or a banana?

3. Respect your fullness.

---

Listen to your body for signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. We live in a culture of excessive consumption. This carries over to many of our processes including eating. When you are no longer full it is time to stop eating. You may eat again when you are hungry. You also may want to allow your body to feel empty for a time to understand the way that it feels. But understanding fullness, satiation is a huge part of the process of intuitive eating. It is a process that can change your body and even change the world in small ways.

I completely understand that for many this can feel like an unattainable mindset. Mindfulness and self-control can be extremely difficult. It takes slowing down and becoming present so that our intuition can guide us. This is how I approach my nutrition and I am the leanest, most balanced and happiest I have ever been in my life.

TRUST YOURSELF!