Time Crunch

Time crunch is what we're all experiencing - lots to do and time seems scant. The idea of healthy eating can feel like an added time-consuming burden. In fact - it's the opposite.

It's intuitive to seek the best quality of life. This means it's intuitive to make things easy when it comes to eating and maintaining a desirable weight. Breakfast is the time to get a solid foundation of energy to seize the day. Eating a fortifying breakfast means you won't want or need a mid-morning snack and you won't gorge at lunchtime. When we eat a solid breakfast, it creates more time in our day because there is no urgency to 'grab a quick bite' or to make lunch a big deal. Importantly, when we eat a solid breakfast, we discover that lunch and dinner are not as important, so eating less is easier.

Here's some help to beat the time crunch and be kind to your body for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Breakfast:  
• No-cook overnight oatmeal is easy to make in advance and is ready to eat in the morning. It is fortifying and having this for breakfast will mean that a salad for lunch is all you want. If you have the time, enjoy some orange juice with this to make it into even more of a power breakfast. 
• Lunch:
• If you skimp on breakfast and are 'starved' for lunch, then take a few deep breaths to remember that hunger comes from your body, not your mind. Next, have a protein packed sandwich. It can be cheese, steak, fish, tofu or any kind of burger. Now, take just one bite and put it down on the plate. Chew, swallow and take a drink of water. Often, when we're 'starving', our body is really thirsty. Water has zero calories and it's what your body wants. Do this with every bite and you will have eaten a quick and satisfying, hearty lunch.
• If you had that yummy oatmeal and are having a salad for lunch, remember to take the dressing on the side. Dressing often makes salads high calorie, so be stingy with it. Once you add any dressing, toss your salad before you eat it. You will be amazed at how little is required to get the 'taste.' Even with a salad, your body needs water. Water helps us burn calories by lubricating our metabolism.
• Dinner
• Don't let a time crunch cause you to down your dinner without tasting it. What you choose to eat should be balanced and visually appealing.The point of eating is to enjoy the taste and give your body fuel. If you have no time, then cut your portions in half.  Then, follow the same process as outlined for lunch- take a bite, put your fork down and take a swallow of water. Eating less means less calories and drinking some water between bites means you are less likely to have indigestion. 

Intuitive eating is a way of being kind to yourself. We do this by giving ourselves a chance to succeed. To succeed at being your healthy weight, take a healthy approach. Learn to enjoy having water when you eat because it has no calories, helps us feel full, and our body genuinely needs it.  Nourish your heart and your body by taking your time when you eat.

"Getting my lifelong weight struggle under control has come from a process of treating myself as well as I treat others in every way."   Oprah Winfry

Party Protection

Spring is suddenly here with all of its cravings!  Appetites are for more than just chocolate eggs or ice cream. Emotionally, Spring can wreck havoc with eating.  An eating plan is a strategy for success. 
Here's the plan:

Remember these 2 facts:

Your Body is your source for pleasure, stamina and Health. 

Social gatherings and parties are for celebrating Life.  

 Tips:

·       Take control of your physical appetite.

o   Before you go out, eat a handful of almonds or walnuts or have a hard-boiled egg. This takes the edge off your hunger. It  frees you from the stress of ‘needing’ to eat the first thing you see at the party. Instead, you will be able to satisfy social hunger, which means having a good time. 

o    Drink a glass of water before you go out. To enhance flavor,  squeeze a slice of lemon  into a glass of water or add a short splash of your favorite fruit drink to flavor it, or enjoy fruity herbal tea – unsweetened.  If you don’t like the way water tastes, ask yourself if you like the way your body looks. Lots of food you eat bulks up when saturated with water.  If you drink a glass of water before or during a meal, you will enhance the digestive process and you will eat less. 

·       Satisfy your social appetite.

o   Only talk about what pleases you. The fact that winter is past is a good place to start a conversation - everyone is happy to welcome Spring.  Talk about what turns you on. Talking more means you will eat less. 

o   Say something nice every time you start a conversation. For example, be thankful for the warm weather, the party or to share a joke. Being kind to others is a way to reinforce being kind to yourself. Emotional eating comes from a place of frustration or anger. Kindness is the opposite of that.

o   Don't talk about eating, diets or your body. It’s not fun for anyone. Spring isn't the season for a pity party. Talking about what makes you feel badly about yourself leads to binging. It’s a kind of self-betrayal. Remember, what you focus on is what you attract, so focus on what feels dignified and liberating.

·       Feed your intuitive appetite. 

o   Check in with your whole self - heart and belly. Before you eat anything, ask yourself, “Am I really hungry for this?” This question is a way of focusing you to be aware of your best interests. Focus is the magnifying glass in the intuitive tool chest that keeps personal priorities and boundaries clear.

o   Be sensual. Eating isn't about what you think; it's about connecting with your body. The more you connect with what you see, taste, touch and smell, the more control you will feel over your choices. Spring is a time for enhanced sensuality, so talk about what tastes fantastic and share the pleasure with someone else. This is especially cool if you share the taste experience with a child. Sensual eating means you eat slower, eat less and enjoy it more. 

o   If your Spring craving is romantic, share a taste with your intended and then:

§  Say, "Mmmmnnnnnn." This is the sensual language for pleasure. 

§  When you put food in your mouth, look right into your partner's eyes. This is so sexy, you may lose your appetite for food. LOL

§  Stop eating before you feel full. This gives you the 'space' you need to feel sensual all over.

For 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

The 3 Minute Rule

Sometime an unhealthy food craving can be nearly overpowering. Overcoming it happens when you use the 3 minute rule. You will discover that ignoring the feeling by really focusing on being patient and kind with yourself for 3 full minutes totally puts you in power.

Take control of what's eating you by using the 3 minutes rule to get through difficult emotional moments and challenging personal situations. It's called "Doing the Intuitive Pause".
         
            1. Stop yourself from being mentally manipulated.
            Ignore the craving by focusing on being kind and patient with yourself for 3 minutes. Tune in to your body's needs and your state of mind. It's intuitive to respect your body by remembering your physical priorities.

            2. Notice your attitude towards yourself.
            Don't compromise who you are because you're angry, frustrated, lonely, stressed or bored. Instead, find something besides food to make you feel better.

            3. Use all of your senses to notice what's triggering your appetite.
            This includes using common sense to notice what's impacting you outside of your body. Common sense is the intuitive way of being alert.

            4. Decide how you will feel about yourself if you eat what you're craving. If you won't be happy with yourself an hour later, it's not physical hunger.
         
            5. If you recognize the food craving is from your body, then enjoy eating it by noticing how satisfied your body feels while you're eating. It's intuitive to enjoy eating. In fact, you get 70% more nutrition from food when you enjoy it!

Being patient: gives you the opportunity to be clear about your values. 

Being kind: means you're allowed to do what feels healthiest long term for you.

Intuitive eating puts you in control because you make the rules. 

Your really do know what's right for you.

Since your survival instinct won't let you starve and your metabolism rate works with your body and genetics are real, dieting can only be a temporary fix. The way to achieve long term body health success is to take control of your eating by trusting your intuition.  

3 minutes can change everything

Give yourself 3 minutes and take control of your eating.

Then move on with healthy eating and trash the craving.

Your intuition connects the dots in your Life so you stay connected to what matters in the big picture.

As you take action by eating intuitively, there is no more overeating and you lose weight for good. 

Your relationship food and with your body will never be the same. 

Tips for Intuitive eating:

Start today by eating only when you are physically hungry.
Use your senses to notice what's triggering your appetite.
Decide if you will feel good about yourself afterward - before you eat.
If you feel yourself craving what you will later regret- use the 3 minute rule.

The purpose of eating is to create the foundation for the rest of your Life.
Don't deprive yourself.
Eat for long term strength, health, and contentment.
And be sure to taste and enjoy what you eat.

:)

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.