Eat Cake

Yep, you read that right.  Hey, say there is something to celebrate and you want to eat cake.  Well, as an intuitive eater, that works.  Intuitive eating is not about denying yourself. It's about enjoying what you eat for the best quality of life. Oh, I can see you rolling your eyes in dis-belief, and I get it.  How can you eat cake and lose weight.  The answer is: with dignity.  

What does dignity have to do with eating cake? Well, everything. Dignity is a kind of self-respect and that is connected with your 6^th sense.  All of your senses give your pleasure and protection. Your 6^th sense, which is your intuition, has the job of balancing messages from your 5 senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and seeing with what you have learned from experience. But that is not all intuition does. Your intuition also responds to your emotions. When it comes to celebrating and eating cake, emotions are big.

Ah, cake- that is a pleasure.  I love to eat cupcakes, partially because they are already cut to size and this saves me from being tempted to ignore my common sense and over eat. Over eating is not a pleasure.  It not only makes my body feel bad, but ultimately I don't feel good about my self when I overeat. Intuition is connected with common sense.

Common sense is part of your intuition because it keeps you in touch with what is real.  If you think you don’t have the common sense that other people have, think again.  When it comes to eating, common sense is connected with your other 5 senses and your body. When you eat, connecting with your senses and your body keeps you clear  about what you are doing (eating) and how you feel about it (stuffed).  Try fine tuning your senses when you eat to help connect you with your common sense.

This is my story. My friend, Emma had a birthday party complete with a cake. After we sang “Happy Birthday”, delicious over-sized pieces of red-velvet cake with vanilla butter cream icing  were served all around the table. An unnaturally large piece was placed in front of me. As soon as I looked at it my mouth was watering. Red velvet is a kind of chocolate with a reddish hue, red is the color of excitement, and I was very excited to get this treat. Connecting with my eyes, I could see it was moist and then the smell of it hit me like a sweet kiss.  I really wanted this cake.

I know my intuition connects my body with my senses and my mind, so briefly I checked in with my stomach. And then I realized, I had just eaten a big dinner, and worse, that I wasn’t really very hungry.  I still wanted the cake.

I looked around the table and all of my friends were deep in to their cake. Plus, the person next to me, who btw was a slim lady, said that it tasted really good. Of course, I thought, just my luck, I’m watching my weight and get this. I needed to connect with my common sense.  I continued fine tuning my senses. I looked at my piece again and it was seductive.

Well I already knew how this cake looked and smelled.  So for taste, I discretely stuck my finger in the soft icing and then I licked my finger. Rolling it around on my tongue, I recognized sweet, delicious, and full of butter. Suddenly the man sitting opposite me burped, not loud, but I heard him and our eyes met.  Sheepishly, he said to me.  “I guess I ate it a little fast.” And yes, his whole slice of decadent red velvet cake was gone. This surprised me because I was still checking out my piece of cake. I realized that by checking out the cake I was doing "the intuitive pause".  It was giving me time to connect with my common sense. Meanwhile, my 5 senses were telling me that this cake is yes, a definite treat. 

My stomach was quiet. Obviously, my dinner had satisfied my hunger, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to eat the cake. I love cake and I wanted to celebrate.

As an intuitive eater, I’m committed to being true to myself.  That means that I have to respect my emotions as well as my body and my experience.  Sounds easy but because it’s not automatic, I work at it. My intuition was saying that my stomach would rebel if I ate the whole thing, but that my heart would resent it if I didn’t eat cake. My 5 senses were in complete agreement with eating the cake.

I looked at the cake again and took my knife and cut the piece in half.  I reached across the table and picked up my burping friend's empty plate and put half of my piece on it. He said, thinking I was doing him a favor, “Are you sure?”  And I said, knowing I was protecting my self from over indulging, “Yes, absolutely.” And we exchanged smiles.

           

I felt better immediately. I knew that I would be having this cake and that I would love the taste and texture and that it would make me happy. Following my commitment to using my senses, I ate the cake slowly, smelling the sweet kiss and really tasting, and enjoying it completely. 

I visualized my ideal body as I ate. That, is the body I protected, and that is the body I fed the delicious cake to.  I was happy afterward because I realized I had not over-eaten, but I had had my red velvet cake. My body was not uncomfortable and I was proud of my self.  I had eaten with dignity.

The next time you’re celebrating, eat cake.  Eat with common sense.  Let your 5 senses guide you and remember to pay attention to your body.  Protecting your self is done by respecting your self.  Eat cake and do it with dignity.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Ghandi