The website represents my Life Coaching business; this blog is an offshoot, really--meant to be an ongoing conversation about the Intuitive Eating journey.
Enjoy both!
~CCW
Monday, June 1, 2009
Embody!
Just an FYI that I've linked this blog to my website, www.embodylifecoaching.com.
The website represents my Life Coaching business; this blog is an offshoot, really--meant to be an ongoing conversation about the Intuitive Eating journey.
Enjoy both!
~CCW
The website represents my Life Coaching business; this blog is an offshoot, really--meant to be an ongoing conversation about the Intuitive Eating journey.
Enjoy both!
~CCW
Monday, May 18, 2009
We eat because.....
....it's noon and you "always" eat at noon. Or it's "dinner time" (and what actual time might that be, anyway? 5 PM? 6 PM? 7, 8, 9 PM??) and you haven't gotten hungry yet but you "should" before it gets any later.
Intuitive Eating is about experimenting. What would happen if--when we're not really hungry, or we're not sure we're hungry--we just didn't eat? No matter that the clock indicates it may be mealtime? What would happen if we let our stomachs (and other unmistakable physical sensations) indicate for us when it's time to eat? Something to consider.
....it's there in front of you. Like at a party. (Suggestion: Just let it be there in front of you, without attachment. It's kinda....Zen: "There is food, on the table." It just is. Be okay noticing it, without judgment or attachment.)
....someone offers you something; this includes physically bringing it to you, which is generally a gesture of kindness. You can thank them for their thoughtfulness, but you don't have to eat it if you're not hungry or it's not appealing to you. They will like you/love you anyway if you want to hold off until later. And if they don't....you might remember that it's their issue, not yours. This can be a hard one. Pressure to eat--subtle and overt--comes in numerous ways and in numerous circumstances, and in many cultures, is synonymous with participation. Company functions are a good example.
I work for a company that likes to acknowledge birthdays, and sometimes it seems that we're having treats every single week. Sometimes, the treats aren't interesting, and if they're politely declined, much chatter ensues, much speculation, as to why it's being turned down. There may be gasps. There may be shocked verbal protests. There may even be alarm, by almost everyone, and then ensuing commentary about how that one declining individual must be very strong and have a lot of willpower to turn down such a delicious offering and, my goodness, I should have such willpower but alas, just look at me. I'm weak. I'm indulging. I have no self-control, etc.....
When it comes to matters of food and eating, gently remind yourself that you have choices--always--AND, you do not have to please anyone else or their perception of how you should act or what you should be doing. The only person you need to please is yourself. And the only voice you need to pay attention to is that of your body's always-wise hunger cues.
Let everything else dissipate into extraneous, irrelevant chatter. It doesn't need to concern you.
...you can't stand to waste food, and there's a lot left on your plate and you paid for it, or you were served a giant portion and don't want to offend the host. Ask the host if you can take it home. Ask the waitress for a to-go container. Solutions!
.....you're not done enjoying the very flavor of it in on your tastebuds and you don't really want to stop the enjoyment, even though you're absolutely, positively full. Sure, it tastes good now--but it will taste good later, too. So ask for a take-out container and continue the enjoyment some other time.
....it's on sale or was a good deal. Good deals don't mean great food. Ask yourself: "Is this food a "hummer" for me? Do I really, really like the taste, texture, smell, nutritional value, how it makes my body feel when I eat it? Does it unequivocally rock my world?" Or was it 10 for a dollar and too good a deal to pass up? (Hint: Go for the "hummer" quality. You're worth it and your satisfaction/enjoyment quotient will go through the roof.)
...someone else is paying (or it's a "freebie," such as a supermarket sample) so why not? In these circumstances, a taste is always fine. Go ahead! You get to decide what works for you. But if your thinking goes something like, "Well, I may not come around this way again and it's free so I should try some--though I'm really not hungry...." you're not obligated to taste. You can. Or you don't have to. Again, options! and while you're at it, don't "should" on yourself. There are no "should's" in Intuitive Eating. Suggestions, yes. Remember, this is not a diet. And diets have "should's."
...you're procrastinating. You know you need to get X, Y & Z done, but gosh....it's more fun to
poke around in the fridge...or the back of the cabinet.....or whomp up a brownie mix and lick the batter...(eating only delays the inevitable, if indeed X, Y & Z really DO need to get done. These tasks/chores/obligations, etc. will still be there, waiting patiently for completion, when you're finished procrastinating. Just sayin'.)
All of the above scenarious--and even more I haven't thought of or listed here--can challenge our Intuitive Eating (IE) practices. We always get to decide what works best for us when it comes to eating--there are no hard & fast "rules," because it's not a diet. But if you stay present and stay in touch with what feels right, what feels authentic, what feels appropriate for you and your hunger, when you let your body speak to you and you honor it in return with careful, mindful listening--then you will know when the right time is to eat, and you will also know when the right time is to stop eating.
It's pretty simple, really.
The bonus? You will enjoy your food much, much more.
Intuitive Eating is about experimenting. What would happen if--when we're not really hungry, or we're not sure we're hungry--we just didn't eat? No matter that the clock indicates it may be mealtime? What would happen if we let our stomachs (and other unmistakable physical sensations) indicate for us when it's time to eat? Something to consider.
....it's there in front of you. Like at a party. (Suggestion: Just let it be there in front of you, without attachment. It's kinda....Zen: "There is food, on the table." It just is. Be okay noticing it, without judgment or attachment.)
....someone offers you something; this includes physically bringing it to you, which is generally a gesture of kindness. You can thank them for their thoughtfulness, but you don't have to eat it if you're not hungry or it's not appealing to you. They will like you/love you anyway if you want to hold off until later. And if they don't....you might remember that it's their issue, not yours. This can be a hard one. Pressure to eat--subtle and overt--comes in numerous ways and in numerous circumstances, and in many cultures, is synonymous with participation. Company functions are a good example.
I work for a company that likes to acknowledge birthdays, and sometimes it seems that we're having treats every single week. Sometimes, the treats aren't interesting, and if they're politely declined, much chatter ensues, much speculation, as to why it's being turned down. There may be gasps. There may be shocked verbal protests. There may even be alarm, by almost everyone, and then ensuing commentary about how that one declining individual must be very strong and have a lot of willpower to turn down such a delicious offering and, my goodness, I should have such willpower but alas, just look at me. I'm weak. I'm indulging. I have no self-control, etc.....When it comes to matters of food and eating, gently remind yourself that you have choices--always--AND, you do not have to please anyone else or their perception of how you should act or what you should be doing. The only person you need to please is yourself. And the only voice you need to pay attention to is that of your body's always-wise hunger cues.
Let everything else dissipate into extraneous, irrelevant chatter. It doesn't need to concern you.
...you can't stand to waste food, and there's a lot left on your plate and you paid for it, or you were served a giant portion and don't want to offend the host. Ask the host if you can take it home. Ask the waitress for a to-go container. Solutions!
.....you're not done enjoying the very flavor of it in on your tastebuds and you don't really want to stop the enjoyment, even though you're absolutely, positively full. Sure, it tastes good now--but it will taste good later, too. So ask for a take-out container and continue the enjoyment some other time.
....it's on sale or was a good deal. Good deals don't mean great food. Ask yourself: "Is this food a "hummer" for me? Do I really, really like the taste, texture, smell, nutritional value, how it makes my body feel when I eat it? Does it unequivocally rock my world?" Or was it 10 for a dollar and too good a deal to pass up? (Hint: Go for the "hummer" quality. You're worth it and your satisfaction/enjoyment quotient will go through the roof.)
...someone else is paying (or it's a "freebie," such as a supermarket sample) so why not? In these circumstances, a taste is always fine. Go ahead! You get to decide what works for you. But if your thinking goes something like, "Well, I may not come around this way again and it's free so I should try some--though I'm really not hungry...." you're not obligated to taste. You can. Or you don't have to. Again, options! and while you're at it, don't "should" on yourself. There are no "should's" in Intuitive Eating. Suggestions, yes. Remember, this is not a diet. And diets have "should's."
...you're procrastinating. You know you need to get X, Y & Z done, but gosh....it's more fun to
poke around in the fridge...or the back of the cabinet.....or whomp up a brownie mix and lick the batter...(eating only delays the inevitable, if indeed X, Y & Z really DO need to get done. These tasks/chores/obligations, etc. will still be there, waiting patiently for completion, when you're finished procrastinating. Just sayin'.)All of the above scenarious--and even more I haven't thought of or listed here--can challenge our Intuitive Eating (IE) practices. We always get to decide what works best for us when it comes to eating--there are no hard & fast "rules," because it's not a diet. But if you stay present and stay in touch with what feels right, what feels authentic, what feels appropriate for you and your hunger, when you let your body speak to you and you honor it in return with careful, mindful listening--then you will know when the right time is to eat, and you will also know when the right time is to stop eating.
It's pretty simple, really.
The bonus? You will enjoy your food much, much more.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
This Blog
I've had the idea for an Intuitive Eating blog for some time now, and I'm finally getting it launched. This is the maiden post.
A little personal background: I'm a Diet Survivor. When I hit adolescence and my body began changing, I went on my first (screwy) diet. I think it was something like eggs and grapefruit, I can't quite remember. I DO remember picking up a little diet booklet at the supermarket that showed a very leggy, slender woman in short-shorts standing on a scale and staring down, happily (I guess she liked what she saw).
Never mind that I was about 11 and she was probably in her early twenties. THAT was how I thought I needed to look (and also like Brooke Shields in her Calvins--
she was, after all, the hot commodity teen at the time). It was enough to influence me to buy the booklet, and I believed--instantly--the visual message: if I follow this diet, if I do what it says, I will look exactly like that. Slender, leggy, happy. I will be happy. If I am hard on myself, if I withhold, if I struggle, if I have discipline, I will be happy.
Well, it didn't quite work out that way. More than 30 years later, I remember my growing adolescent body craving food, more food, more sustenance. I was hungry, I was, effectively, starving myself, and all I could think about was more food. Dieting had the exact opposite affect: I became even more obsessive about food. I was growing, and my body needed it, but I didn't know that. I just thought I needed better self-control, which in turn established a damaging belief system that I was weak, I succumbed too easily, I had no discipline, I was a failure.
At something as supposedly simple as sticking to a grapefruit-and-egg diet.
Loser.
But not in the way I wanted to be.
So that's my early, early dieting background. There were many, many more attempts, which I'll subsequently post. It's been a long, strange journey but I am happy to say I have emerged wiser and more empathetic as a result of my former life as a Chronic Dieter.
Diets do not work. That is the bottom line. They are not about nourishment, they are about getting thin (being in a perpetual state of semi-starvation will do that, after all) and a response to unrealistic cultural dictates that do enormous damage by establishing a vicious cycle of restrictive eating that in turn leads to struggle, compulsiveness (dieting makes us fixate even more on food) and self-loathing, and more negative self-talk and renewed promises--for more of the same: "I'm eating this today, because tomorrow, I'm really going to be good."
Intuitive eating is win-win. It's all about letting go of tyranny and moving into a place of abundance, nourishment, self-awareness, and what is really important to each of us. It is about honoring ourselves and our passions. It is about letting go of fear and embracing trust. And this is what it means to live our lives. And that's powerful.
We are not meant to spend our lives dieting; we are meant to spend our lives living.
But it is a true joy. And if you're reading these words, I hope it means you've been looking for a better way. A non-diet way. A loving way.
By all means. Join me on this good journey.
And welcome.
A little personal background: I'm a Diet Survivor. When I hit adolescence and my body began changing, I went on my first (screwy) diet. I think it was something like eggs and grapefruit, I can't quite remember. I DO remember picking up a little diet booklet at the supermarket that showed a very leggy, slender woman in short-shorts standing on a scale and staring down, happily (I guess she liked what she saw).
Never mind that I was about 11 and she was probably in her early twenties. THAT was how I thought I needed to look (and also like Brooke Shields in her Calvins--
she was, after all, the hot commodity teen at the time). It was enough to influence me to buy the booklet, and I believed--instantly--the visual message: if I follow this diet, if I do what it says, I will look exactly like that. Slender, leggy, happy. I will be happy. If I am hard on myself, if I withhold, if I struggle, if I have discipline, I will be happy.Well, it didn't quite work out that way. More than 30 years later, I remember my growing adolescent body craving food, more food, more sustenance. I was hungry, I was, effectively, starving myself, and all I could think about was more food. Dieting had the exact opposite affect: I became even more obsessive about food. I was growing, and my body needed it, but I didn't know that. I just thought I needed better self-control, which in turn established a damaging belief system that I was weak, I succumbed too easily, I had no discipline, I was a failure.
At something as supposedly simple as sticking to a grapefruit-and-egg diet.
Loser.
But not in the way I wanted to be.
So that's my early, early dieting background. There were many, many more attempts, which I'll subsequently post. It's been a long, strange journey but I am happy to say I have emerged wiser and more empathetic as a result of my former life as a Chronic Dieter.
Diets do not work. That is the bottom line. They are not about nourishment, they are about getting thin (being in a perpetual state of semi-starvation will do that, after all) and a response to unrealistic cultural dictates that do enormous damage by establishing a vicious cycle of restrictive eating that in turn leads to struggle, compulsiveness (dieting makes us fixate even more on food) and self-loathing, and more negative self-talk and renewed promises--for more of the same: "I'm eating this today, because tomorrow, I'm really going to be good."
Intuitive eating is win-win. It's all about letting go of tyranny and moving into a place of abundance, nourishment, self-awareness, and what is really important to each of us. It is about honoring ourselves and our passions. It is about letting go of fear and embracing trust. And this is what it means to live our lives. And that's powerful.
We are not meant to spend our lives dieting; we are meant to spend our lives living.
But it is a true joy. And if you're reading these words, I hope it means you've been looking for a better way. A non-diet way. A loving way.
By all means. Join me on this good journey.
And welcome.
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