Change your body?

“We cannot change anything unless we accept it.” Carl Jung

Last night I had dinner with a woman who told me that she had tried to love her body, but she could not. She had been told to love her body to lose weight, and this put a lot of pressure on her. Ouch. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to love her body to lose weight, but she does have to stop fighting with it. The first step toward change is acceptance. Acceptance means you will work with your body to achieve your weight goals. When you accept your body, you trust your self. It is not automatically easy, and it takes courage.

The result of not trusting your self is, you lose self-respect. Then, you feel cowardly. Then, you get mad at your self, and act in a self-destructive way. You may eat mechanically, out of anger, frustration, or boredom. Then, eating is not about physical hunger or appetite, it’s not a response to your senses, it’s a self-destructive habit. Self destructive behavior is an example of fighting with your body.

Does this mean you have to love your body no matter what you see in the mirror? Absolutely not. When you use your eyes and look at your body in the mirror and it looks out of shape, it doesn’t feel good. When you accept your body, then you are free to choose to do what feels right to change it. Instead of fighting with your self by condemning your body, you can decide to work with your self, to pay attention to how your body feels, what messages you are getting from your six senses, and what you know, to achieve a healthier body.

When you don’t accept your self, you are creating stress inside. When you don’t like your body, you are condemning yourself. You are creating hostility inside that will bug you and press your buttons every time you look in the mirror. The result is- you will unintentionally, punish your self by self-destructive eating.

Change won't happen over night or even in a week.  What will change overnight is your attitude.  Once you stop fighting with your body, you won't look at food the same way. Instead of resenting your body, you will work with it, doing what you know and feel is good.  In fact you will be using your intuition, and your body will respond.  That's a guarantee.

When things are not ideal, it is not easy to face them. But it’s a fact that not dealing with reality will not change it! Instead it’s helpful to realize that the present is the foundation for the future, and that accepting what is real means you can change it.

Download: Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet : Intuitive Eating 

for practical advice, and you will change your body! 

Self Sabotage

Not using your 6 senses is a form of self sabotage. It's leaving yourself in the desert of Life without water. Notice what you sense to know what you need.

Intuitive thinking is a way of being tuned into yourself and the bigger picture. Your 6 senses keep you in touch with your body, heart, mind and soul. Don't sabotage a great meal or miss a Life opportunity by ignoring what you sense.

When you chose to live intuitively, you are making the choice to be clear about what you are eating.  Intuitive tools with your five senses give you skills to do this. Your sixth sense balances messages from your body about hunger with what your senses reveal about your eating choice at the instant you begin a meal.

The habit of not using your senses while judging what you eat, is a form of self- sabotage. This habit is like wearing blinders and earplugs when you go to an event - You really can’t know what’s happening. Passing judgment while you eat is listening to negative thoughts about the past or the future that have no connection with your meal at all. Certainly you are not connecting with your food or enjoying eating.

When we don’t use our senses, we perceive what we’re doing incorrectly. How can you know what you’re eating when you don’t look at your meal, taste it, smell it, or feel it enter your body? Eating is supposed to be sensual. It is intuitive to relax and enjoy your food with your senses. Try it and you will find a smile on your face.

Decide to let go of negative thoughts in your head when you eat. The past is history. Allow yourself to be present. The way to do this is to chose to respect and trust your self and commit to using your senses to enjoy your food. Remember: To respect your self is to protect your self.

Spring is in the air. True love is a combination of trust and honor. Spring is a perfect time to fall in love with your self. Really trust your heart, body, mind, and six senses to protect you and let that love honor who you are when you eat.

#JaneBernard

Recognize Your Signals.

Re-connect with your body and lose weight!

How? By fine tuning your senses, you automatically use your intuition to respond to physical hunger.  Start today. Tune in and learn to recognize the signals.

For the serial dieter, hunger comes from an emotional place. Our ‘hot buttons’ around food and eating are legendary!  In the future try to recognize that if you feel pressured around your eating choices it means you are emotionally entangled. This is the reason for binge eating.

No, I’m not saying hunger is in your head, I’m saying hunger is deeply connected with your stomach, and your emotions are driving you in your head. Your intuition connects with your body. Your senses: touch, smell, taste, see, hear, and taste, connect with your body.  When you start to pay attention to what your taste, you will relate differently to what and how you eat.

Taste your food! and your intuition will balance what’s driving you so that your eating is not just emotion driven. As you fine tune your senses of smelling, touching, seeing, tasting, and hearing, you will eat differently. Absolutely, your appetite and your hunger will come from a different place then it does right now.  That’s a guarantee.

Physical hunger comes from your stomach. It signals you through your 5 senses. To be your desired weight, you need to be clear that what you eat it is about the hunger in your stomach and realize it’s signaling you.  Every minute you eat, your senses are sending you signals. Choose to respect your body by responding to your senses.

As you recognize your body when you’re hungry, you connect with your mind. Then you know how you want to eat. Connecting with your senses, you will instinctively lose weight. By respecting your senses, you give your body good energy from your heart through the intuitive balancing connection. That gives you a good feeling about what you’re eating.

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

What are you thinking?

When you choose pay attention to your intuition, you are creating a loop that includes your mind, heart, and body. Intuition balances and connects the energies from these. Now that you are starting to fine tune your 5 senses, open your self up to enjoying the pleasures they bring. Start listening to your 6th sense and feel a broad smile across your face.
Visualize having your ideal body and feed that body the next time you eat.
Your body is the home of your heart and mind,
and your body is the source of great pleasure and satisfaction in your life. 

Look within. 

The secret is inside you. 

(Hui Neng)

Intent

Intent means taking time our to reflect on what you are doing several times during the day in order to focus on and remember what matters to you. Your intent will be different depending on what you are doing. When you are driving, what matters to you at that moment is your safety. If you are with someone that you love, what matters is that you are communicating. If you are doing your job, you want to do your best, or if you are brushing your teeth, you will want to reach those hidden spots where potential decay lurks. Now that you are an intuitive eater, what are you thinking when you grab a bite to eat? What is your intent?

If you’re thinking about what you just did or what you want to do you are eating in a way that is unconscious. This is bad for your body because it’s like putting fuel in the tank of your car without seeing if it the right kind and you know all about the burps, bumps and grinds, not to mention downright ruination that can occur if you put diesel fuel in your car. It’s like washing all of your clothes without looking to see what colors they are and what could shrink, shred, or bleed. Of course, your body is not a car but it does need fuel. Your body is not a washing machine but you do put all kinds of stuff in it that may or may not fit or blend well. What are you thinking about when you put food in your body?

Intent means being conscious of why do what you do. In fact, intent is a way of actually realizing what you want. When you use your senses as you eat you will realize what you’re eating, how you feel about it and if it’s what your body needs.

As an intuitive eater acting with intent means that you create within your self positive and productive energy that supports your eating goals. Your intention to lose weight, or to eat smart will pave the way to the body you want. When you use your 6 senses to connect with what matters to you, intent helps your support your desires.

Remember, your intuition balances messages from your senses, your brain and your heart. Every time you think about what is really important to you, energy is focused from your mind to your heart and back to your mind. That is your intuitive connection.

Think about your ideal body. Imagine that you are living with your ideal body. Feed your ideal body the next time you eat. What you chose to think about is what you will create with your intent.

The next time you eat, look at what is on your plate. Smell the aromas of what you eat. Put your fork down and in your mind, imagine that you will feed your ideal body. Thing about what you are putting into your body. Slowly begin, be sure to chew well so you really taste your food. Use your intuition to know how your stomach feels and use intent to listen to all of your senses.
Using intent is a way to protect your self by respecting your self. That’s intuitive.

Make it your intention to treat your body like it is the home of your heart and mind, and the source of pleasure and satisfaction in your life because it is.  Enjoy.