My father’s illness and death gave me the push I needed to make a serious change in my life including how I approached eating. I talk about this experience in the article “Death Gave Me a Push“. It’s a little less upbeat than my other topics, but this one means a lot to me.
If you watch a typical infant eat, you will see an intuitive eater. The child will cry when hungry and turn its head from the breast or bottle when full. As we grow up in western society, we learn food rules. Whether imposed by our family members or suggested by the dieting industry, these rules change our relationship with food. …
Because I restricted food, one of the first intuitive eating principles I decided to tackle was honoring my hunger. Although apprehensive, I told myself that I would eat when I was hungry. It seemed easy enough. I’m hungry; therefore, I eat. It wasn’t that simple though. Because I denied myself food for so long and was used to being famished, the subtle feelings of hunger were completely foreign to me. Although I was born with the ability to identify hunger, I had to put some genuine effort into hearing those signals again. …
Diets are rigid. Each come with a set of rules to follow that include anything from a maximum number of calories per day to what/when to eat. Sure, it provides structure which can be a comfort to some, but life happens sometimes and structure goes by the wayside. For me, this is when the guilt and self-loathing would set in because I had failed my diet.1 The beauty of intuitive eating is that there are no rules. IE is a set of guidelines that allow for the flexibility and practicality around food that is required for the bumps in everyday life. …
When I read Intuitive Eating, I got really excited about enjoying food again. I was told that eating mindfully would allow me to have a richer and more satisfying eating experience. After years of depriving myself and the subsequent shoveling of food into my mouth, I was looking forward to eating in a peaceful and pleasurable way. Did that happen? Absolutely and it was downright amazing! But, oddly enough, mindful eating also caused the opposite to occur. …