The Inner Game of Eating

Imagine eating what you want, knowing when you're hungry and feeling happy with your body and yourself. It's all part of the inner game of eating self-control. The inner game keeps your head in tune with your gut feelings and your body with simple intuitive tools.

• Our head is the hard drive where we store experience and where our values connect. 
• Our gut feeling is the connection that protects us by staying clear about what we sense and long term priorities. 
• Our body is the source of energy, health and pleasure. Naturally, we want to tune in to that! 

Intuition is having an open mind and a flexible attitude. Sitting down to eat without a plan is having an open mind. This arms you with an awareness that you drives you to feel curious about choices. Part of the inner game of eating is realizing that there is always an option.

Having a flexible attitude gives perspective. For example, If I eat this whole pizza, will I like what it does to my body?, If I slam this sandwich down my throat without even tasting it, will I feel satisfied?  The inner game of eating keeps us in charge of what we do.

• Perspective is how you know yourself. 
• It allows you to get out of your own way to see where you're going. 
  
  
  The inner game of eating includes checking in with your body with all 5 senses before you put food in your mouth. Doing that is your intuitive way of showing self-respect. Our senses give us an intimate reality check. What's real is not a plan or a number on a scale.  What's real when it comes to the inner game is how you feel, what you sense and personal priorities. 

Listening to your 6th sense teaches you about yourself. The better you know yourself, the easier it is to be good to yourself by maintaining eating self-control. It's surprisingly natural to get through the maze of eating challenges and diet stress to discover satisfaction with yourself by knowing the inner game of eating self-control.  Intuitive tools include:

• curiosity: is noticing what you notice with your senses and your mind
• prudence: reminds that we always have options and the ability to choose what feels best
• foresight: is thinking about the results of our choices, first, so there are no regrets.

The inner game of eating connects with what we value long-term in our life. You can stay clear about what gives you satisfaction and away from what fills you with regret. It feels like common sense.

Self-control begins by recognizing what pushes our buttons. When we master this, self-control becomes a natural focus that empowers all of our choices. Download Am I Really Hungry? 6th sense diet: Intuitive Eating, and learn how to recognize what you really want. It's the natural way play the inner game.

On Thursday, March1st at 1PM EST, I will be doing a teleseminar about how to re-invent personal dieting by connecting with your inner game of eating self-control with Holistic Nutrition Coach, Nancy Desjardins. Registration is free. Sign up and get some answers! See you there.

#janebernard

Intuitive Magic

A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. ~George Bernard Shaw

Curiosity is intuitive. It's something you feel, not something you think. The more curious you are, the more satisfaction you will discover with yourself and in your world.

Working to live intuitively is going to change the way you eat and feel. Trusting your intuition is being true to yourself. It's respecting your body, listening to your heart and not letting your head be bulldozed into someone else's thinking pattern.

Eating is about pleasuring your body - not in a lewd or sexual way, but in a way that fills you with the excitement of living. A satisfied body feels vibrant and alive. Real satisfaction around eating is nearly sacred. That's why there are so many rituals around food and eating.

When you diet, you develop damaging rituals around eating. These lead to binging and purging. They  create a mind-set of defeat. It's subtle until you realize you've gained 20 pounds or worse. Stop eating to fit in a mindset and start eating to fit in your own mind and body!

There is a simple ritual around eating that's intuitive magic. It opens your eyes and your heart. Doing it feels like common sense. The intuitive ritual around eating that I urge you to use is the ritual of Gratitude - before, during and after you eat. It will change everything.

Right now, stop looking at your watch and start looking at what you're doing. If you're offered a serving that's huge, there's no pleasure in packing food in as if you're a box to fill.

• Instead, savor the flavors. 
• Take a deep breath between bites and allow your body the space it naturally needs to relax and let the digestive juices flow.
• Pamper your inner health so that you can depend on it later.

Don't think of calories; think of the pleasures of great health. Don't look at the clock; be in the moment. Tune in to the magic. Bon Appetite!

Intuitive magic is easy to tune into with a little bit of help!  Download Am I Really Hungry? 6th sense diet: Intuitive Eating for helpful insights and practical tips that connect with feeling good about yourself and how you eat. When we connect with intuitive magic, every decision becomes easier.


#janebernard

Overeating hurts! Eating is supposed to feel good.

You go out with friends to feel good. If you focus on food at a party, instead of feeding your present physical, social or emotional hungers, it doesn't feel good. Overeating is a trap because it never feels good physically or emotionally. 
 
To stay your healthy weight, remember that eating is supposed to feel good.  It's personal,  a direct response to your physical needs. It's intuitive to stay aware of how your body feels when you eat.

Is this you? :

• I eat fast and I eat a lot so I don't miss anything. This results from a habit of starving yourself as a form of control instead of realizing your body always tells you when you're hungry and when you're full.

• I stay by the buffet at a party because eating feels comforting. Overeating is never comforting to your body. Focusing mainly on food at a party is being dishonest with yourself because it leaves you feeling emotionally and socially starved.

• I go for 2nds and 3rds because I have high metabolism and everyone watches how much I can eat or
• I always talk about my diet at parties.  It's emotionally twisted to use eating to get attention, and it backfires. No one admires a pig. Also, no one really enjoys being with someone who complains about their diet or their body, instead of joining the fun.  

Intuition is action. Use intuition when you celebrate. If it feels good, do it!

• Listen to your heart and tune in to your libido. Use all of your senses at a party to feel good while you're there and feel satisfied with yourself later.

1. Eye contact with people opens doors that are gently exciting.
2. Listening to conversation and adding your thoughts feels good because communication nourishes your heart.
3. Really tasting your food slows down eating and is a way of experiencing pleasures that you notice with your mind.
4. It's mutually satisfying to talk about pleasure. Be sensual. If the chocolate mousse is like a dream on your tongue, talk about it. 

•  Pause, look at who you're talking to and notice yourself. It's intuitive to be clear about where you are and what you're doing. You'll discover some amazing and amusing things, and you'll change your habits because you won't like everything you see. You know yourself best. Notice what you notice.

If eating doesn't feel good to your heart or body - don't do it. Tune-in to your body and trust it by not abusing yourself. Download Am I Really Hungry? and get common sense advice that makes it easy.