“Mindful eating replaces self-criticism with self-nurturing. It replaces shame with respect for your own inner wisdom.”
– Jan Chozen Bays
This weekend I had an experience I like to call “mindful overeating”. Sounds kind of silly, but it’s a thing 😉 Let me explain. My husband and I had date night last Saturday (which we need to do more of) and Heather recommended an awesome little spot called mkt. (this place was food heaven btw!) When my husband and I go out for nice dinners we like to take our time and work our way through the menu. We start with a cocktail (or champs for me) and a few apps, then wine and a main course, and lastly dessert and a night cap. We eat slowly, put the fork down between bites, talk, take sips of our drinks, and completely savor the meal.
We ordered based on what sounded good in the moment (not based on what would be the most balanced meal- gasp!) So, for this meal it meant all the pasta! Maybe I “should have” ordered the salmon for more protein (see principal #4 below for why I didn’t), but the carbs were calling our names. When the meal ended and the waitress asked if we wanted dessert I check in with myself and I was physically full. Buuuuut they had a huckleberry apple crisp with cinnamon ice cream…um you betcha we will have one of those! I was fully aware that I was physically full, but I was enjoying my food experience with my husband and wanted to share a dessert. We ate the dessert slow and completely savored the taste. I left so full, but so happy!
Knowing we had a date night planned I knew we are going to completely enjoy ourselves and eat all the things. I didn’t compensate for this leading up to dinner…I ate my normal meals and snacks. I did not compensate the next day, but I did practice INTUITIVE EATING and trusted my body would balance itself out. What does that mean?? Let me break it down for you…
The What and Why of Intuitive Eating (IE)?
Also known as mindful eating or the non-diet approach. IE teaches you to trust and respect your body and your body to trust you again. It teaches you to listen to your inner signals of hunger and fullness and to respond accordingly. Chronic dieting leads to mistrust and inaccurate body signals, so repairing that trust takes time, patience, and practice. This isn’t the “quick fix” diets promise you, but it’s a way of eating that best honors your body and its needs. Paying attention to your body’s signals and cues might be something you’ve ignored for a long time for various reasons.
Some people think the concepts of IE completely disregard proper nutrition. Not the case. I tell my clients to give themselves permission to eat all the things but this does not mean you HAVE to eat all the things. It does not mean you should eat whatever you want whenever your stomach growls. You still must pay attention to proper nutrition. It is a fine balance of understanding how to best nourish your body but also gives you permission to have the fun foods, stop the food obsession, and tell the food police to STFU. It means not having food rules, but nutrition goals that you do strive for because it helps you feel your best.
10 Principals of Intuitive Eating
- Reject the diet mentality
- Say bye bye to all the diet books and food plans offering you quick fixes. Diets don’t work. Let’s try something different.
- Honor your hunger
- Nourish your body adequately consistently and don’t wait until overly hungry to eat which will likely cause you to overeat. This helps rebuild trust food and your body.
- Make peace with food
- Give yourself unconditionally permission to eat all the foods (this doesn’t mean you HAVE to eat all the foods though) By having “forbidden foods” this causes you to feel deprived…you finally end up giving in…you have the “forbidden food”…you likely overeat (or binge) that food… and you’re left feeling like a failure and vow to never eat that food again. Repeat cycle. “All the things” become less appealing and powerful once you take them off their pedestal.
- Challenge the food police
- Write out all your food rules and/or unhelpful beliefs about food. When those thoughts creep back in about what you “should” or “shouldn’t” be eating CHALLENGE that voice and try doing the opposite. It’s empowering 😉
- Respect your fullness
- Take the time during a meal to notice body signals. Ask yourself questions about the food and meal such as “How does this food taste?” Check in with your fullness level.
- Discover the satisfaction factor
- Think about the meal experience as a whole. Choosing the foods you really want in an environment that is comfortable and pleasurable will increase satiety and you might find you need much less food to reach this point.
- Honor your feelings without using food
- Food will not fix feelings long term. Short term it may offer a distraction or comfort, but it’s important to find other ways to cope with these feelings and emotions. Therapists come in handy here 😉
- Respect your body
- We are all built differently…it’s science. We can’t override our genetic blueprint, so honor and respect your body for what it is and treat it well. Also read this book!
- Exercise-feel the difference
- I exercise because (fill in the blank) __________ . Exercise should be motivated by wanting to feel good, stronger, calmer, or strong not because you’re trying to burn calories or compensate for food. Notice the difference you level of motivation to move when your intention shifts.
- Honor your health
- You do not have to eat perfect to be healthy. It is a balance over time, so make food decisions that both honor your health AND your taste buds.
Lastly I will leave you with my favorite definition of normal eating
What is normal eating?
Written in 1983 by Ellyn Satter
Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied.
It is being able to choose food you enjoy and eat it and truly get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think you should.
Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food.
Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good.
Normal eating is mostly three meals a day, or four or five, or it can be choosing to munch along the way.
It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful.
Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more.
Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.
In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, your proximity to food and your feelings.
Resources: Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole M.S. R.D. , Elyse Resch M.S. R.D. F.A.D.A.
xx,
Alix
Thnaks 🙂