How To Listen To Your Body When Eating

 Guest post by: Catherine Carrigan

One of the most important things you can ever do to stay slim and healthy is to learn how to listen to your body when eating.

Why is this so important? Because your body always knows best.

If you listen carefully, your body will tell you:

1. What food is right for you at this time.

2. How much to eat to maintain your energy, a healthy weight and to avoid digestive distress.

As a medical intuitive, I can’t help but use my intuitive gifts all the time, everywhere, including when I am eating. 

Here is how you can listen to your body when you are eating:

1. If you are at home preparing your own food, open your refrigerator or pantry and ask yourself, “What foods will make me feel best at this time?” You can simply look at the food, visualize yourself eating it and get an immediate hit. If you don’t believe that you can get immediate sensuous information anytime anywhere, imagine yourself biting into a lemon! Notice how just thinking of this act your mouth turns sour. Then – as if this wasn’t enough information already – project about four hours ahead and notice how your mood, your energy and your digestion would feel if you ate what you are considering or not it is good for you.

2. If you are at a restaurant, simply ask inside yourself which option would make you feel the best. I did this Saturday night when I went out for a meal with my friends to a restaurant I had never visited before. I looked over the various options and ranked the top choices on a scale of 0 to 10. It was a very healthy restaurant to begin with – all organic – but I still took the time to tune in to see which entree would make me feel great during and after my meal.

3. When you sit down to eat, rank your hunger level on a scale of 0 to 5. If your hunger is at a 0, your stomach would probably be growling. If you are at 5, you would feel stuffed. Notice where you are when you begin to eat. About midway through your meal, pause from eating and tune in again. What number are you at? Please stop eating when you are at a 4. 

4. You can easily break the habit of overeating by tuning in throughout the day to notice how hungry you actually are. There is a difference between mouth hunger and stomach hunger. This is one of the most mind-body connections you can ever make! When you are eating your meals and stop at 3 or 4, you can tell yourself that you give yourself permission to eat again in 2 or 3 hours if and when you get hungry again. Stop eating before you are completely full and notice how your body weight normalizes and your digestion improves.

Catherine Carrigan is the author of What Is Healing?Awaken Your Intuitive Power for Health and Happiness. You can find out more about her work on her blog and website.

posted by Jane Bernard