The Flavor of Patience

Eating is about more than food.

That's why losing weight is about more than eating.

Patience is the taste of connecting with what we really want. That's self-respect. When we ignore what we want physically, mentally or emotionally, we develop a habit of resentment. No one can move forward to achieve their goals with resentment.

Eating is about taking care of ourselves. To lose weight permanently, we have to acknowledge and feed what we care about within ourselves. Because love, conversation, sleep and relaxation nurture us, these are all ways we feed ourselves.

Approaching mealtime with an attitude of patience brings a gentle fresh perspective that we can taste with our spirit and inhale with our hearts.

• How does that happen? 
• When we're patient with ourselves, our spirit connects with hope; it's naturally soothing.
• Our heart feels efforts acknowledged, which is uplifting. 

• How does that help me lose weight?
• Self-respect reduces stress. This reduces emotional eating.

•  Seriously?! How can patience stop binging?
• We are born to enjoy our bodies. Our body is the home of our heart. When we ignore what feels right, we sabotage ourselves. Binging is a confused way we try to soothe ourselves. It's an effort to cover pain that instead, causes the pain to implode. That's why we feel badly about ourselves after a binge. 

Patience is a big part of self-respect and key to the natural power of self-control. The flavor of patience is satisfaction. Being patient by taking a deep breath before digging into our dinner is a stress buster in our busy lives. You may think, 'I don't have time for patience when I eat', but the opposite is true. Patience is an intuitive tool that prevents abusive eating.

To learn more ways of using patience and other intuitive tools, download a copy of Am I Really Hungry? 6th sense diet : Intuitive Eating.

#janebernard

Relax and lose weight.

Time flies and habits happen and next thing you know, your pants are too tight. What does it mean? It means you're probably tired and working hard. It means you deserve to take 5 minutes today to relax. Yep, that's the intuitive solution to keep from gaining weight due to stress and exhaustion: RELAX.

When you get stressed emotionally, it tenses your body making it think you're in danger. The physical response is to hold on to fat cells so you have extra fuel to 'fight the danger.' That's one reason stress makes you put on pounds. Here's how to relax to take them off.

• Before you eat or go out to eat, go to a quiet place and sit or lie down for 5 minutes with your eyes closed . This will calm your body.
• Put your fork or spoon down between bites This relaxes your urge to chew so fast.
• Before you get out of bed in the morning, vow - out loud - to notice what you're eating at every meal. Be sure you hear your voice. Be sure you mean it. This programs you to slow down. Do it every morning. In 2 weeks you'll discover changes.

Habits often come from frustration or exhaustion. Instead of grabbing a bag of cookies or chips when you're at that point, it will relax that urge to drink a glass of water and if possible, go for a simple walk around the block. A change of scenery  is surprisingly refreshing. Getting out of the house can reset your perspective.

Your body is a barometer for your spirit and your heart. You gain weight because these parts of you carry the burden when you are too tired, stressed or frustrated. Relaxing nourishes your heart and spirit and this relaxes your body. Then it has no reason to hold on to extra weight.

My book, Am I Really Hungry? is full of tips for knowing yourself better and for ways to relax and protect yourself in eating situations that push your buttons. It contains tips like creating an eating plan that responds to your lifestyle, and how to recognize different kinds of hunger and how to feed it.

When time flies and you lose track of taking care of your body, it feels yucky. Winter is flu season and avoiding that too, takes awareness. The more relaxed you are, the more aware you feel.

Remember, spring is around the corner and your body is going to feel the change of seasons. Be ready for spring by using winter to keep your body trim and relaxed. You'll be so glad you did.

Get practical intuitive solutions that are common sense for maintaining a your healthy weight, download: Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet : Intuitive Eating

and overcome eating challenges.

"If you can't solve a problem, it's because you're playing by the rules." P. Arden

Self-Empowerment for Losing Weight

How can I help myself lose weight?

The easy way is: be true to yourself. That means be honest with yourself. Only by being honest can you have the kind of self-discipline that is empowering. It's intuitive to take control of what matters to you.

When you honestly want to lose weight,  use the drive of determination and be patient with yourself.  Self-discipline's a natural way to connect with yourself and have the pleasure of feeling good. It's worth the effort if you honestly want to like your body.

Patience is the secret of real satisfaction. I don't get satisfied when I give up. The truth is, I want my body to be healthy. I don't feel good when I ignore my truth.

When I hold my stomach in and stand up straight, I already look like I lost weight. Try it and look in the mirror.

Do you have the courage to live your truth? If you truly want to be your healthy weight, follow these tips:

• Eat Less; chew more.
• Put your sandwich down between bites and don't pick it up before you swallow.
• Put your fork down between bites and don't pick it up before you swallow.
• Notice how your food tastes. Learn what tastes too sweet or too salty.
• Notice how your body feels. Learn what fills you up and what causes bloat.
• Wait at least 15 mins before you have dessert to make sure you really want it. Then, if you do, eat only half - and enjoy every bite.
• Drink water while you watch TV.
• Eat a hard-boiled egg or a handful of walnuts or almonds before parties to take the edge off your hunger. Then, socialize more while you hold your stomach in.
• Talk More; eat less.  Feed yourself emotionally by socializing at mealtime.

Self-empowerment begins with being true to yourself. 

• Don't abuse yourself by binging.
• Don't punish yourself emotionally. It's a vicious cycle you can end.

Self-empowerment happens when you trust your truth. Being patient means you respect yourself and what matters to you. You have the power. Use it!

Get practical intuitive solutions that are common sense for maintaining a your healthy weight, download: Am I Really Hungry? 6th Sense Diet : Intuitive Eating

and overcome eating challenges.

"If you can't solve a problem, it's because you're playing by the rules." P. Arden

Stop choking and lose weight!

"A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew." Herb Caen

We are supposed to learn from experience. Biting off more than you can chew means gaining weight, choking or feeling bloated after you eat.

Wisdom is slimming because it lightens life's burdens. This means when you take control of  eating by noticing how much food you're putting in your mouth, you will lose weight. It's easy to be wise.

Common sense is intuitive. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Use taste to enjoy what you put into your mouth. Talk about the pleasure of it. Pleasure of taste and texture is much sexier than calorie count for dinner conversation.

So what's stopping you? Old habits. Habits are like old age. They creep up and bend us out of shape and dull our minds. A habit that chokes is a monkey on your back. Shake it off.

The habit of focusing on negative thoughts about eating during mealtime will actually cause you to gain weight! Instead, eat sensually:

• Look at the colors on your plate. If they are not appetizing, don't eat it.
• Smell the food on your fork before it enters your mouth. Does the smell make your mouth water? Your mouth is the beginning of eating. 
• Talk more. Feed your emotions and your mind by being social at meal time. Time is all we have. Don't ignore opportunities to feed your soul as well as your body.

You will stop choking on your food and choking on your life by taking smaller bites and noticing what you're putting into your body. Losing weight is easy when you stop the diet habit and use common sense to be wise.

Bite off exactly what you can chew and focus on personal satisfaction. Don't let habits choke you! Be wise for yourself and lose weight.

You're too young to be a victim of habit. Plus, the victim mentality is so yesterday. 

You're never old enough to give up on yourself.

Use Spring Fever to Lose Weight

Spring is a time of enthusiasm and a time of new beginnings.
You feel Spring fever in your body. Use that feeling to change the way you eat.

Begin to taste every meal,  savor every bite in your mouth,  share the enjoyment of it with others and stay connected with your body. Get sensual and lose weight with enjoyment, instead of diet-stress. De-stress means:

Don't Eat Simply To React. Eat Sensually and Slower.

Do Eat to Satisfy, Taste, Relax, get Energy and Satisfy yourSelf.

Stress is in your head. Digestion is in your body. When you're stressed it inhibits your body's abilities to get the most nourishment from what you eat. Stress impacts your ability to think clearly and it can release a hormone into your body telling it to hold on to fat!

De-stress and eat less. Forget diet dogma and tune into your body and your personal priorities. You know what feels good.  If you want to lose weight, make a commitment to yourself to trust your body and be honest with yourself about what matters, before putting something into your mouth.

Feel Spring. Let the enthusiasm of new beginnings free you from old regrets and old self-defeating habits. Today is your day to begin the rest of your life. Do it with dignity and self-respect.

Use intuitive tools to get liberated from extra weight and old patterns that are so 'last year'. 

See yourself in summer clothes looking happy, healthy and feeling fit. Feed that person! She's as real as you allow her to be. Go for it, it's Spring!  

Nature is forgiving, it begins anew each year. Forgive yourself for bad decisions and shed them with your weight by eating intuitively. Spring fever is a time to feel light with joy!

Start now by smiling. There's a billboard in Texas that says: "If you see a man without a smile, give him yours."  Do it and spread the fever.

Pleasure makes losing weight possible.

Albert Einstein famously said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If you're trying to lose weight with a traditional diet, re-read that quote. 95% of people who diet gain back more weight than they lose! Try using your intuition to lose weight instead.

Eat for pleasure. That's the easy way to be an intuitive eater.

 Pleasure touches every part of your life.

P  stands for priorities. Make eating priorities personal and uniquely suited to your needs and physical goals.

L stands for lifestyle. Your lifestyle dictates your eating choices. You choose how much.

E stands for enjoy. Studies have shown when you really enjoy what you eat, your digestion is 70% more efficient. Enjoyment also reduces stress.

A is your attitude of awareness. Being tuned in with your 5 senses keeps you tuned in to your body. When it comes to eating, your body is the source of your pleasure.

S stands for sensual. When you satisfy yourself sensually at mealtime, you're comfortably full but not stuffed. You feel good.

U is an understanding. You allow yourself to enjoy what you want in a way that respects your priorities. There is nothing forbidden or restricted. There is only common sense.

R stands for realistic. What's realistic is what works for your body. You can feel it, and ultimately you can see it. What you eat is just about you.

E stands for enthusiasm.  It's a sparkle in your step and in your smile that makes you attractive.

 Eating Pleasures include:

• Taste
• Smell
• Texture
• Relaxation
• Comfort
• Satisfaction
• Peace of Mind

Tune-in to pleasure at mealtime.

Discover that you eat less because you're enjoying yourself more.

Your intuition is the support system you can count on.

Download a copy of Am I Really Hungry and to take control of your eating and connect with your natural pleasure centers any time!

When self-discipline fails.. PHAT

We all have those moments when the effort to put on the brakes is too much. Here's the intuitive way to fulfill your inner baby and protect your real-time body:

Start easy.

Bypass the emotional hot buttons to connect with your body when frustrated with temptation by relying on the intuitive basics - your physical senses. 

Pamper yourself by eating sensually. 

Just use one sense: Taste.

• Taste what tempts you and really savor it. 
• Make love to your food with your tongue.  Do it slowly.
• Taste what you eat as if it's your last meal.
• Search for pleasure and satisfaction. 

Intuitive eating is sensual and very seductive in a satisfying way. 

It's when you zone into your body and what feels good with every bite. 

There is nothing forbidden, but lots that's pretty, hot and tempting. 

Enjoy eating, and enjoy yourself by tuning-in to what you taste. 

 
Pamper yourself with pleasure and dignity. Be sensual and get satisfaction. As you use your intuition you gain a permanent weightless understanding of yourself and you lose weight.

For the past few weeks,  Am I Really Hungry? has been a best seller on amazon.com under health: mind and body and mind-body connection ! People are using the book to change their lives! Give yourself a gift!

Self-discipline is a handrail to grab to stay clear about where we want to get. But sometimes our goals are hard to reach. We're too tired, or our inner baby just wants to eat cake. That's when the only available transportation is a leap of faith.

• Have faith that you deserve a body that is healthy and feels good. 
• Trust that it's worth the short-term frustration of ignoring your inner baby to have the long-term result of liking yourself. 
• Take the leap when you can't deal with self-discipline and you'll discover yourself smiling.  

#janebernard

Plan to de-stress and eat less at holiday parties.

Here's the intuitive  plan to de-stress and eat less this holiday season.

 DE-STRESS :

D stands for Defend yourself. 

Don't let your emotions rule your body.  Remember, when your cousin is so annoying you want to eat the entire pie, that it's his problem, not yours. People who push your buttons usually don't know it. Defend yourself by realizing that you dance to your own music, and walk away from the annoyance.

E stands for Escape from your old emotional habits.  

Instead of expecting annoying comments from in-laws to 'make you' overeat, you can escape this by noticing you're not alone. Everyone deals with personal demons at holiday time.  It's not your fault that your brother-in-law is sour, so no need to punish yourself.  Defend yourself by realizing no one can 'make you' do anything that doesn't feel right. Check in with your body to escape from your emotions.

S stands for make it Simple.

Emotions make everything feel complicated. It's much easier to eat smart when you use your senses instead of your mind to to see and hear what's going on. Eating is physical, not emotional or intellectual. Keep it simple by trusting your body and your heart. You will feel protected.

T stands Think long-term.

Talk more, eat less. When tension makes you feel like shutting down and stuffing yourself, take a 10 minute stroll away from the food. Think about how you will feel about yourself in the morning if you stuff yourself tonight.  Intuition is always tuned into the big picture. Your life is Big; emotional eating is small.

R is a reminder to Relax and not react.

Stress makes us shut down and tighten up which interferes with efficient digestion. If you can't relax, slow down the eating by taking 3 deep breaths in and 3 deep breaths out between bites. This is the intuitive way to connect with and relax your body. Remember emotional reactions usually relate to the past. Stay in the present because, right now, you're creating your future.

E stands for Enjoy.

Eating for pleasure is intuitive. To get pleasure you must taste your food. When you enjoy what you eat your body digests it better and you get more nourishment from it. This means it will keep you full longer. Don't eat unless you're sure you're really enjoying every mouthful.

S stand for Share the pleasure.

Sit with someone you don't know  who you like. Talk about how delicious the food tastes. Share the pleasure of the holiday meal instead of focusing on the emotions. The point of  holidays is to celebrate life. Stay clear that you know you're lucky to have food when others are starving. Feeling grateful and sharing is intuitive.

S stands for Satisfy yourself.

This is your life. Today will never come again. Satisfy your need for self-respect by listening to your body to help stay away from emotional eating. Satisfy your need for comfort by enjoying and really tasting the holiday meal. Satisfy your need for love by treating yourself with dignity.


Print this out and keep it handy, or grab a copy of Am I Really Hungry on kindle and have the answers with you, 24/7.

If Your Body Could Talk - an exercise

Trash talking your body makes it shut down. 

Eating intuitively keeps an open honest connection with your body.

What would you do if your body could talk?

This 2 part exercise is powerful. It helps for losing weight , and importantly, this is good for putting your head back on track with your heart.   Doing the exercise opens up a different way of trusting your body/mind intuitive connection. Try it. Let us know what happens.

1. On a blank sheet of paper write a letter to your body: 

Start with Dear Body. Take a breath and tell your body whatever you want. Be patient, and let the words stream. No one will read this but you.

2. Give your body a chance to reply. On another sheet of paper, use pencil and write yourself a letter from your body to you:

Use your other (non-dominant) hand. Start with Dear and your name. Take a breath and start writing.  If your body could talk what would it tell you?

Using your non-dominant hand forces you to connect differently with your body. I ended up printing.  It will take effort to use your other hand and be hard to read but, do it and see what happens. 

In an eating situation where you feel emotional or pressured to act, you may find that you stop listening to the intuitive connection with your body. Stress can put you in a self-destructive place where you are mean to your body. When you're in an eating environment that pushes your buttons, take and breath and use your senses to connect with yourself. Give your body a voice.

It takes effort to remain open. This exercise is worth the effort. I saved it and found reading what I wrote the next day moving.

You will discover it's intuitive to be kind to yourself. Intuition is subtle in the beginning. Write yourself a letter from your body and feel the connection.

Breaking up is hard to do.

Why Good Diets Don't Work Long-Term...

Leaving a diet program can feel like defeat or even like a broken heart. But instead, it's the way of being true to your body.

My neighbor was ecstatic for 2 months. She was losing weight, feeling great, and 'knew' that she had finally found "the one". No, she had not found the man of her dreams, but she believed she had found the diet that worked for her. It was exciting, something like love.

And then stuff happened. First it was the backlash from a really horrible day, which resulted in a box of donuts with a coke, and that was followed by a great party where she thought she was having fun- until the next morning. Feeling let down, nothing was making sense for her. Emotion driven hunger had put her out of touch with her body, and out of touch with her common sense. 

There are many good diets. The reason they work in the beginning is the diet is new, full of potential and promise. In the beginning instead of feeling restricted, you feel like you're part of the program. 
Problem is, the program is consistent and does not vary, but Life is not consistent and your body's needs vary. 

So after the flush of new wears off, you start to become physically weary of this wonderful diet, and start rebelling, by breaking the rules of the program. It's intuitive to be true to your self. But when you're emotionally invested in a diet program, it's hard to do it without feeling guilty and emotionally let-down. This is when self abuse starts.

When you reach the point where your diet is becoming frustrating, or inconvenient, or just isn't working, it is time to use common sense. Common sense tells you to listen to your body, not to abuse it. My neighbor didn't realize that she could have outgrown the great diet. Her body was telling her that she needed to change.

A good diet is not the same as a romantic commitment. A good diet is only good while it works for you. When a good diet gets stale, it's time to fine tune your senses and tune into intuition and your body to see what's missing. 

Sure, breaking up is hard to do, but changing what you eat, and how you do it, is natural, healthy and keeps you slim. Visualize your ideal body, and see it when you see yourself. That's where your heart is. 

A diet is an agenda. If the agenda works for you, do it. When it gets stale, find a new agenda.

Every day is unpredictable.

     Every day is unpredictable. What happens decides what we much genuinely need to eat. For example- the weather, stress, happiness, and sleep all impact our organic self. We are intuitively responding with our senses to everything, all the time. 

Be gentle, you are organic.

Organic means: not artificial.

To be your ideal weight: work with your body, don’t fight it, or ignore it.

     Feed yourself what nourishes, not what ‘fills you up’. Nourishing ourselves is done with food, and with ideas. It is done by connecting with our 6 senses when you eat. Our senses work with our mind and body to keep us clear about what is nourishing. Let intuition be your guide and trust yourself.

     We each have a physical and a mental process of growing that cannot be rushed. We can’t be rushed to change our thinking, our weight, or our style. The first step is effort. Be proud that you are seeking answers and knowledge. That means you’re smart and you’re cool.

While you’re thinking, ask your self:

Do I have eating patterns?

What gets in my way of supporting my health and fitness when I eat?

How can I approach eating differently?

     Often, when thinking about losing and maintaining weight, we are easy prey to doubts or fear that we won’t be able to stick it out.  These self- defeating thinking habits interfere with responding to what our body needs. There is no such thing as a quick fix that endures. Every dieter knows this from experience.

Don't feed your self doubt or fear. 

When we listen to our senses, we are feeding ourselves compassion, and understanding. 

This is empowering!

Your body is not a machine and you are not generic. That’s why only you know your best eating choices. Use your eyes to see what you want. Connect with how your body feels. Think about what’s in your best interest. Respond to your life as it’s happening. Plan to feed your self in a healthy way to maintain your weight. That is a nourishing thought.  It is you respecting your self.

Your body cannot be rushed into change. To lose weight or maintain weight loss, be gentle with your self. Being gentle is the secret of self - control. 

Enjoy eating with all of your senses and you will eat less.  That's a promise.

Compromise = Heart Ache

Talking and Eating at the same time...

I got the following question about last weeks blog that I want to share with everyone.  I think the question about how to be social and pay attention to the smell and taste of food is one many people have.  Let me know if this helps!  ;)

Good blog. Especially relevant is being alert when eating. All too often, I find myself picking up the fork by rote without paying any attention to the smell and taste of the food. A huge challenge to this is while engaged in conversation with a table mate, how do you concentrate on the food when you're trying to pay attention and stay in the conversation? from Linda K.

Instead of focusing on concentrating on food only, be completely in the moment. Bring what matters to you in to the conversation. While engaging in the conversation, why not mention how good the food smells or tastes? Or why not mention the obscene size of the portion? Both of you are eating. I expect that the person you are socializing with also is wanting to be his or her healthy and attractive weight, and has concerns about food and eating.

You will discover that when you let the moments flow and keep alert about the big picture, then everything will happen as it should. When you relax while you eat, this is easier. When you relax, the person you are with will also! Try it and see!

It’s all connected- food, conversation, politics, your life.. Relaxing is to trust your self. Being true to your self means staying connected to the big picture of your Life. When you are eating and talking, the moment is not just about the conversation, or food, or why you two are together.

Being alert means seeing the big picture.

Following your intuition means:
Trust what matters in your heart- and what matters is that you are committed to being good to your body, and your Life, by using your senses when you eat. Being kind to your self is not an option, it’s a responsibility. Life is a gift that comes with strings attached.

Many people don’t realize how fabulous Life is until they are dieing, or badly injured. Don’t wait to be disappointed.  Instead, love your life. Be kind to your self.

Inner truth needs no defense. People find it charming because it feels “right" when they hear it.

Why limit what you feel in your heart?
Some limits make sense because they give us strength.
Limiting what matters to you in your heart, is self-defeating.

Don’t compromise your heart.

Compromise = Heartache

Lose weight without thinking!

Intuition is not a way of thinking. It is a way of being tuned in to your self. You are born much more capable and complete then the most advanced computer. It's mind blowing to even begin to think about what goes on 24/7 with your body. Every cell is reproducing itself, your heart beats, your eyes see, your mind thinks, your lungs are always in motion- and that’s all stuff you don’t have to think about!

Intuition is your sixth sense and it filters and clarifies everything that you are, in a way that is protective, and also gives you pleasure. This is why intuitive eating works to lose weight and to maintain your healthy weight.

When you eat, you are laying the foundation for your future. Eating connects with much more than losing or gaining weight. Eating connects with your sense of personal satisfaction, your physical comfort, and the energy you have- to deal with stress and to create pleasure in your life. Eating impacts your sex drive, the color of your skin, and the way you perspire. Intuitive eating is totally natural and easy- just like breathing. That’s why letting intuition to guide your eating choices makes sense.

You can recognize your intuition by noticing what you notice. Being determined helps. Be determined and you will begin to remember to recognize what you are seeing when you sit down to eat. Stay determined to use your intuition to lose weight, and notice how your food tastes and smells. Notice how your body feels when you eat. Be determined to connect with your self to be the best that you can be. That is all you need to do to connect with your sixth sense. You don’t need to think about it.

Be determined. Don't think. Just make the choice.

Allow your dreams.

Look at your self in the mirror and see inside your heart.
Allow your self to dream.
See your body the way you dream it.

As you fine tune your senses and listen to your intuition, you will realize that you know what you want. It sounds pretty amazing doesn’t it?  And yet, it works. It has been said that Truth makes all things possible. Connecting with your six senses connects with your truth and your dreams.

Tuning in to your intuition is tuning in to your natural power base. It is the power of clarity that connects with your five physical senses and guides you to make wise decisions about food choices. Because your intuition connects with your truth, listening to it works to improve your life.

You can loose weight without suffering. Don’t give up because this is not familiar. Instead, give your self a chance to have what you want. Dream that you are in control of what you eat and that your body looks and feels good. Then use your six senses and let it happen.

Don’t Give Up.

There is no reason not go around the corner.

There is no reason not to trust what you see, hear, taste, touch and feel.

There is really no reason not to reach for the moon.

Experience teaches that mistakes happen, that your heart hurts, that

Hunger is real and the mind darkens. Yes, Life is hard, and then things change.

If you believe you are not good enough to be your self, or

If you’re ashamed of who you are, or of who you are not-

Remember-

Experience shows that everything changes.

Give your self a chance to become your ideal weight.  Fine tune your senses at the beginning of every meal and you will notice that your body is responding. Allow your dreams.

Don't be afraid.

Changing habits is not easy because habits feel ‘normal’. Fear around eating and weight gain is a habit. Fear is a habit that feels like doubt. Doubt is a roadblock to getting what you want. Ouch!

A feeling of fear, when it comes to eating and losing weight, is the result of confusion. Confusion makes us think that by ignoring our feelings or our desires, we will lose weight. When we buy into this kind of confusion, we are fighting with our self, our body, and our emotions. Sound familiar? Yep, and it feels really bad.

Give your self space to be wrong about past eating choices. Choose to tune in to your sixth sense. Today is the beginning of the rest of your Life. The way to start over is to realize that everybody goes through this. Then take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, and decide to forgive your self. Until you forgive yourself, you will be plagued by another nasty habit- punishing your self. Let go of it, because punishing your self won’t help you lose weight. Remember, the past is history.

Right now, you can use your intuition to stay in the present.
Connecting with your intuition keeps you clear about the present which means you can tune in, to your self, your body, and your emotions, by using your senses to recognize what you really want and what you are really eating.

Your intuition connects the input from your 5 senses with your brain and your body, and balances them with your emotions. It’s always there for you to depend on. In the beginning, you can open the door to your sixth sense by being aware of how it works.

Here are some tips to flatten the habit of fear around eating:

Recognize that you feel worry or fear around your eating

Look at what you are eating with your eyes.

-Notice if your food looks good, if it looks healthy, and if the portion is about the size of your fist or the size of your head?

-Use your intuition to take that information to your brain and you will know how much of it to eat.

Smell and taste a bite.

-Notice if it tastes good, salty, sweet, fresh?

-Use your intuition to relay that info to your brain and you body, and you will know if it makes sense to eat.

Swallow.

Does it go down well, does it sit comfortably in your stomach?

Relay that to your brain and you will know how much you want to eat.

Recognize that you are respecting your self by connecting with your intuition. 

Notice that you are in control, and notice that
you feel good.

All About You

You are very special.

As you use your intuition, you will become aware of how special you are. The ten tools of intuitive eating are your private source of reinforcement to achieve your eating goals. Each intuitive tool is custom designed for you.

Face it, eating is an intimate act. You are putting stuff into your body. The food you eat impacts the way you look, duh!, and also the way you feel and the way you will feel when you wake up tomorrow. Eating and appetites are personal. Am I Really Hungry, 6th sense diet: Intuitive Eating shows you how know yourself better and to enjoy it all.

Your intuition is like your fingerprints and your DNA. No two people have the same fingerprints, or the same DNA. Every person’s intuition is completely unique. Your intuitive diet is a response to who you are, what you want, what you know, what you feel, and to your dreams.

That’s right, your 6th sense connects with your dreams as deeply as it connects with your senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smell. As you become an intuitive eater, many emotional buttons around eating fade away. You will begin to eat to enjoy food. When you eat to feel good, you do. Importantly, you feel good about your self.

Today, take time when you eat to look at what's on your plate. If you're feeling fat, remove 1/2 of it and then slowly eat what is left. Use your senses when you eat- taking time to see what you are eating, to taste, smell it and to feel what your are eating, will be surprisingly satisfying.

Using your intuition puts you in control of your body and your decisions. Intuitive eating is all about you.

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! 

Are you a yo-yo?

Does your weight go up and down seemingly at the bite of a donut?
If you think eating is all about gaining or losing weight, think again. Gaining and losing weight can be the result of illness, abuse, or just mis-information. Most likely it is about not really knowing why you’re eating.

Why eat?
Food builds the foundation for your health, physically, and mentally. That is the reason to eat. What you eat today will power you tomorrow. The food you eat is the source of all of your energy. Without feeding your body for energy, it can be hard to get out of bed in the morning.

When you eat for energy and health, your body feels good. Some people tell me that when they eat for energy and health, it makes them feel sexy. This makes sense because, being physically comfortable with your self is key to enjoying other pleasures in your life. By eating intuitively, you respect your self and focus on eating what your body really needs. Using all of your senses, you won’t gain weight, instead if you need to lose weight, you will.

The beginning or intuitive eating is to suspend dis-belief generated by the habits of dieting, and use your 6 senses when you relate to food. Why not give yourself a chance to lose weight without feeling physically and emotionally bad?!  Fine tune your senses, and you will recognize that little voice, common sense.

Okay, back to that really tasty donut- Eat it intuitively. Look at it, smell it, feel it with your fingers, tongue, mouth and inside you.Make sure when you eat that donut, you are glad you did.
Be brave and be honest in your heart.

Become a voyeur and lose weight!

Remember your ideal body? Can you see it?

Your ideal body feels good, moves the way you want, and radiates a quiet self respect. You automatically like the way you feel when you really look hard at it.

Visualize the way you like to see your body clearly in your mind. 

 Look at your ideal hips, or see your self in a pair of jeans.  

Get bold. 

Feel like a voyeur.  Enjoy looking at your ideal body.

That is the body you intuitively want to feed.

Your intuition connects your eyes with your mind. The next time you eat: Remember you are feeding your ideal self, and look at your food to be sure it's right. Think about how your ideal body looks and as you do, you will also connect with your stomach and become aware of what your body needs to eat. When your intuition is fine tuned, all of your senses work together, and that keeps your mind in sync with your body. If you need to lose weight, you will.

See your body at the weight you desire. Feed that body.

Use your 5 senses to see it better.

It so easy, a cave woman can do it.

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.