Power Skills for Intuitive Eating

You feel in control when you balance what you eat, with what you need and how you feel. Balance is a power skill. Another name for intuitive eating is eating with an open mind. An open mind looks at the big picture, weighs the facts and sees what matters to achieve balance. The big picture is more important than calories. It's about you. Breathing drives power skills for intuitive self-control.

Here are 3 Breaths to Intuitive Eating:

1. Take a bite.

• Breathe slowly to recognize if you are very hungry or not. Listen to your body. Notice how you feel physically. Have you ever been too tired to eat?

• How it works: Breathing slower is the way to connect with your body to be clear about hunger.  Hunger is physical. Decide to listen to what you feel physically. Respond to your body.

•  Power skill: Tenacity. Tenacity is being true to yourself - mind, body and spirit.

2. Taste your food.

• Breathe naturally to connect with your normal rhythm. Notice how you feel in your head: Happy? Bored? Stressed?  Notice your food. If you're not tasting what you eat, stop.

• How it works: Natural breathing connects with your emotions and state of mind. Taste connects with what matters. When emotions drive eating, it offends you in your core by ignoring or abusing your body. Give yourself a break. Binging, no matter what the reason, hurts- because it's unbalanced.

• Power skill: Dignity. It's not what you do, but how you do it. Dignity is self-respect. You can feel it.

3. Put both of your hands in your lap.

• Take 1 quick deeper breath in and out to refresh the way you look at things, wipe your head clean and connect with the big picture. What is your overall state of mind? 

•  How it works: A quick breath is your reset button. Putting your hands in your lap gives your lungs more space to expand. A quick deep breath resets your rhythm. It thrusts you into the moment to uncover new options. When you take a full view of how you feel, what you feel & what you need, it creates a balance. The result is: your options change.
• Power skill: Prudence. It's like comparison shopping. Prudence is comparing options. You can always choose to get what you need from what you eat.

This is so easy that you may find yourself a little giddy. That's okay. Intuition connects with your 'funny bone.' Like your sense of humor, how you eat is personal. That's why the best way to know what to eat, is to check in with yourself. You have the power.

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

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