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.

Celebrate Your Self!

It’s time to celebrate, celebrate ourselves!

Yes, we are on the cusp of Spring and every fantasy and reality it brings! Trust that feeling of excitement, and let your senses guide you to eat to celebrate your Life.

Eating Cake with dignity:

Betty Jo wrote: Tomorrow is my birthday, and I promise to eat my cake with dignity.

This is an example of how natural and easy it is to eat intuitively. Betty Jo has made a promise to herself to connect with what feels dignified to her when she celebrates her birthday! Wow, it is an amazing feeling that happens when we make that kind of commitment.  Try it. That feeling is a direct connection with your intuition. As soon as you decide to eat cake in a way that honors your body and your emotions at the same time, you are activating your intuitive connection. Congratulations, Betty Jo!

Betty Jo Tucker is a highly respected film critic and self-confessed movie addict.  Her weekly radio show is full of zero calorie tasty insights and tidbits, and her love affair with the big screen is contagious. www.BettyJoTucker.com  Happy Birthday, Betty Jo! 

We all have a coordinating and guidance system inside us. We call it gut instinct, or 6^th sense, or our intuition. The coordinating job of intuition is to connect messages you get from your 5 senses with your emotions and thoughts, and to prioritize them so that your best interests are served. Some people seem to have a more pronounced 6^th sense than others because these people trust their 6^th sense. A commitment to feed your self cake with dignity is the beginning to connecting with this empowering natural gift.

This is a fact that you can absolutely depend on:
Your intuition is never destructive.

Linda wrote: I don’t know if I will be as strong as you when faced with a similar temptation.

20^th century diets are full of reward and punishment. Most of the punishment is self inflicted either as demeaning conversation with yourself or by physically abusing your body with binging or purging. 20^th century diets are based on you not liking your body! OUCH!  These diets create a mentality where you are constantly passing judgment on your self, judging if you are being ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  This is not intuitive. Suspicions and doubts are attitudes that interfere with the ability to listen to your 6^th sense.

Self-judging short circuits your intuition because is it shows a distrust of yourself. Ask yourself this question:  If you cannot trust your self, who can you trust?

The first step to being an intuitive eater is making a decision to be deeply honest with yourself about your thoughts, your feelings and what you want for your body. Linda suspects that she is weak around cake, and she doubts that she will be “strong”.  The fact that she wrote this shows that she is open to seeing herself trying to eat cake with dignity. That takes strength to say! Linda, when you long for a solution, it’s natural to feel restless. Don’t interpret that as fear, instead see it as an opportunity to honor who you are. Part of eating with dignity is to trust your self.  When you trust your intuition to focus you in the protective direction of your eating goals, you will find it easier to make decisions that feel good to your body. 

To connect with her intuitive truth, there are 3 steps for Linda: (1) recognize her emotional urge to eat a lot of cake, (2) connect with what she really believes about this and how her body feels, and (3) commit to herself, to use dignity and enjoy eating the cake.

Once you realize that you are in control, there is no need to allow self-defeating judgments to drive your eating.  Instead you will recognize that by listening to your 6^th sense, you feel a calm inner balance. Balance is what keeps us in the comfort zone of being self-protective. 

Every step, whether it’s a baby step or a leap, is huge as we connect with our intuition. Congratulations, Linda!  Your honest comment tells me that you are on your way.

Access your intuition by being honest with yourself. You can’t lie to your self and connect with your 6^th sense at the same time. But have no fear, just like your eyes see, even when you are not ‘looking’ and your ears respond to sound, even when you are not ‘listening’, your intuition never abandons you.

Celebrate your choices by using your 5 senses to connect with your intuition. Spring is a time of new beginnings. Every meal is an opportunity to begin eating with dignity. We know from experience that everything worth achieving takes effort.  Being and intuitive eater is a new experience. Honor your efforts by not judging your self.   

Visualize your ideal body when you eat and as you eat, Celebrate your Self.