Daily Eats + Does Intuitive Eating Mean Eating What You Want All The Time?

Hey there! It's been long overdue to write another "daily eats" post. Eek, looking back it's been since November! Ok, majorly overdue here. Anyways, I like to start off these posts by just saying why I even share these. My goal with these posts is to give you a sneak peak into what it looks like to eat intuitively and, specifically, what it looks like for me. I believe living out what I coach women in is one of the best ways to help you in your journey. So follow along with me through a day of intuitive eating!If you've been following along with me over on Instagram, you know that I've loved starting my days with a walk first thing. I wake up when Graham does which is around 6 AM these days...side note, he just started sleeping through the night and we're ecstatic! I feed him, get dressed and then head out with coffee in hand. I thoroughly enjoy these walks. It's my special time with Graham and also with myself. I listen to a podcast, either Amy Porterfield's Online Marketing Made Easy podcast which is one of my favorite business podcasts or, a new favorite, the Fierce Marriage Podcast. I also recently found a "mom" podcast that I've been enjoying called "Don't Mom Alone" which I highly recommend!After our walk I have breakfast which, today, was avocado toast on sourdough bread with two fried eggs and everything but the bagel seasoning. After breakfast I did a 30 minute Barre3 workout which felt so good! I'm really enjoying strengthening workouts to help build up my strength again after having Graham.My days, lately, center around feeding Graham every 2.5-3 hours and then playing with him and then putting him down to nap and when he naps I either take a shower and get ready or do work or just read and have some "me" time. I'll be honest, that time is pretty sparse right now. But that's the season I'm in right now and I still wouldn't trade it for anything.Around 11 or so I made a smoothie. I've been majorly hungry lately with breastfeeding so with everything I eat I try and be conscious of eating high energy foods. Also, food has to be pretty easy to make and eat with the limited time I have right now. Smoothies have been one of my go-to snacks for either mid-morning or mid-afternoon. And I also just have to share, something I've been loving lately is using recipes for smoothies. Usually I just make them up, myself, but I ended up making the exact same one. I've loved branching out and trying new ones like the one I made today which had zucchini, spinach, dates, cocoa, almond milk, vanilla, collagen powder, and ice. Guys, this was soo good (the picture doesn't do it justice)!!Lunch was a salad I'd made yesterday with kale, apple, blueberries, and a vegan pecan "parmesan", recipe from one of my Oh She Glows cookbooks. I'm having to not eat dairy right now because Graham gets really cranky and an upset stomach from it. But this vegan parmesan was actually really good! Wanting some carbs, I added some more toast on the side. Still not feeling satisfied, I had an oatmilk yogurt...surprisingly good for being dairy free! About mid-afternoon, Paul and I had lattes. I've been really loving a brand of oatmilk creamer made by Silk that's oatmeal cookie flavored. Most of the time I enjoy my coffee with just plain milk, but this has been a special treat!I got really hungry around 4, so I had a banana and peanut butter. This has been another favorite snack lately.Dinner was some sauteed ground turkey with garlic, ginger, zucchini, and spinach served over brown rice.And to end the evening, I always like something sweet so tonight I cut up some strawberries and had a couple of squares of dark chocolate. Oh, and watched some Outlander. Literally, the most perfect combo!So I wanted to talk about a common response I get when I talk about intuitive eating with people who've never heard about it. Just the other day I was sharing a little about what it is, that it's all about learning to trust your body and listen to it's signals around hunger, fullness, and satisfaction. And a response I got was this... "I listen to my body, that's the problem!"There's a belief that diet culture instills in us that we can't trust our bodies, that by listening to your body you won't be able to have any control around food.But this is what this belief gets wrong. The concept of PERMISSION with eating.What diet culture doesn't understand is that your body is a DIET REBEL. Your body does not do well with rules and actually rebels against rules. This is why, if you've ever set out on a diet, you either can't finish it or you feel out of control the minute you stop your diet.You see, when you have rules around eating, rules saying when and how and what you should eat, your body senses restriction. And restriction and starvation are one in the same. So your body goes into "protect-mode" and turns on certain signals in your body to get you to rebel against the rules. Things like making food sound so much more appealing, making you think about food and eating more, making you eat more than you usually would like it's the last time you're going to eat...have you ever experienced that?So with the question, "Does intuitive eating mean eating what you want all the time?", the answer is yes. But not in the way you may originally think. It's "yes" because you give yourself full permission to eat and honor your hunger and your body with food. But it doesn't mean eating uncontrollably. In fact, as much of an oxymoron as it seems, letting go of control and letting go of rules with eating actually will lead to more control and more peace with food.Crazy, huh!? But that's one thing I love about intuitive eating. It's so freeing! It's like a breath of fresh air in a world of diet-culture smog.Ok, your turn...because I'm partly nosey and partly love more ideas for yummy foods, what's something you've loved eating lately? Let me know in the comments below!