What I've Been Learning Lately About My Eating Patterns

Hey friends! I thought I'd share a little bit about what I've been learning, myself, lately for a kind of different post than I typically write. You see, I'm still learning every single day what it looks like to abandon diet-mentality and just listen to my body. It still gets scary sometimes. But that's the beauty of being a life-long learner of yourself; there's room for scary times and what matters is how you respond to those times. So here it is, I'm sharing with you what I'm learning lately about my own eating patterns...

1. Sometimes you eat too much.

It's the real truth, girl. It happens. You eat too much, wake up the next morning, and definitely feel it! Deciding to be an intuitive eater doesn't mean that you're never going to over eat again. It doesn't mean you're finally going to be "perfect". What it does mean is that you over-eat less frequently. And also, you don't feel the same guilt that you used to when you weren't at peace with food or your body that causes you to go in to restrictive mode with your next meal.

2. Just because you have freedom around food doesn't mean you have to eat unhealthy food all the time.

This is a misconception I've talked about before, but worth repeating. Intuitive eating doesn't mean unhealthy eating. Actually it's quite the opposite. I've been learning more of what it looks like to have a healthy balance of eating mostly body-nourishing foods but also allowing myself soul/spirit-nourishing foods.

3. Your body really does balance itself out.

There's a huge misconception that if you allow yourself to eat freely that you'll just eat "junk food" continuously. But I've been noticing with myself that the weeks when I'm not eating the greatest I actually crave healthy, nourishing foods! I crave the salad, or the fish, or the oatmeal and don't really want to eat the greasy burger and fries, or the pizza, or the waffles. That's just to say that your body WILL balance itself out. You don't have to worry about only eating unhealthy foods for the rest of your life without control. Your natural instinct will be to eat foods that will help your body feel and work in it's very best!

4. Dessert every night ain't gonna kill ya! 

I used to try deliberately to cut down the amount of sugar and desserts I was eating. That meant, my natural time of craving something sweet at night had to be ignored. Now, I accept that after dinner I need something sweet...actually, after lunch too. Lunch I usually crave something like fruit, though, and dinner it's definitely gotta be chocolate! Most of the time that means just a couple squares of my favorite dark chocolate bar and other times it's something like cookies or ice cream. The point is, having something sweet every night isn't going to kill you! And actually, I notice that when I include something "dessert-ish" every day, I'm less likely to want to over-indulge on dessert at other times. 

5. Too much of anything isn't good.

Too much kale salad isn't good, same as too many Big Macs isn't good. You've heard it before, but too much of any one thing isn't good...and that applies to what you eat to be healthy also! You CAN over do it on the healthy food...I did for so long and was left feeling very unfulfilled and unsatisfied with life. When you eat too much salad, you crave something carb-loaded. When you eat a bunch of pasta in a row, you naturally crave some green-age. Our bodies crave balance. So naturally, too much of any one thing isn't going to last. So instead, choosing to eat a balanced diet is what's going to be sustainable. Choosing to let yourself live a little and eat what you're craving isn't a bad thing, even if what you crave is a donut or a slice of chocolate cake, or whatever. It's about balance.So, hopefully you can see that I'm still learning too! This is a life-long journey, a wonderful journey, towards understanding your individual body as it was made. If you want to let me help you on your own journey, I'd love to go ahead and set up a free discovery call with you and get to know you better! I'm currently taking calls to work with people starting in May, and there's only 3 more spots available, so now's your time! You can schedule your discovery call with me here... :)