When chronic dieters first hear about the idea of food freedom, intuitive eating and allowing ourselves to eat ‘whatever we want’ we panic.
We think that there is absolutely no way on earth this could ever turn out ok. We think that we will start eating and literally NEVER STOP. As though we will go into our local supermarket shovel the whole sweets and cake aisle into our trolley and then consume the whole lot without taking a breath. We believe that with no rules in place we will do that day after day for the rest of our lives.
We believe food freedom means being on a never-ending junk food feeding fest.
This is categorically not true.
I can tell you now for 100% of people I have been in contact with where they have successfully shifted from dieting/bingeing/emotional eating to true intuitive eating this has not happened.
Why is this? Because your body would hate it. And the key rule of intuitive eating is listen to your body.
If you are TRULY eating intuitively your body will simply not allow you to fall down that trap. After a few more biscuits or extra slices of cake than normal you will start to feel sick, your stomach will be full and uncomfortable, you will feel tired and lethargic. These are all signs that you will listen to in your body as see them as the signals they are to stop eating. As an intuitive eater, that’s what you will do.
Intuitive eating means saying to ourselves in those situations ‘oh maybe I’ve had too much chocolate tonight I feel a bit sick, never mind, I won’t eat anymore now and just pay attention to how I feel tomorrow’. Simple. No judgement, no wild emotional reaction. We just respond to the situation as it is.
As we are able to stay more present with our bodies and feel how food is affecting us we will naturally make better choices. Those that feel good to our bodies and nourish us healthfully.
Perhaps you are stuck in this trap right now and you are finding it hard to believe me. Its difficult to say “trust me, I have been there”…the number of times we read that, of how others have moved through the struggle we find ourselves stuck in. It can actually feel disheartening. Like there is something wrong with us that we haven’t figured it out yet. But there is no trick here. Listening to your body and learning to eat what your body wants and not from any other crazy rules you have made up is a practice. It is something we develop over time.
Making the decision to start can sometimes be the hardest thing. But at least now you are safe in the knowledge that if you commit and follow through with intuitive eating you won’t end up in a never-ending food fest.
If you are looking for someone to talk to about how you’re feeling around food just drop me an email and book in for a free clarity call where we can discuss where you are at now and some strategies to get you where you would like to be.
Lots of love xxx