LISTEN to your body!

When was the last time you ONLY ate when you were physically hungry? When was the last time you stopped eating BEFORE you were full or stuffed? Imagine a typical day for you – do you eat to a clock? (7am = breakfast, 12pm = lunch, 7pm = dinner)

In an effort to build structure in our day – we’ve stopped listening to what our body tells us. We THINK it’s time to eat, so we eat. And for us emotional eaters – it doesn’t matter what our body says – our brain is telling us to EAT ALL OF THE FOOD!!!

For the most part, our body will tell us her nutritional needs. She sends us signals when she’s hungry and doesn’t need us to stuff her silly to be “done” eating. For way to long – many of us have hit “override” on what our body’s signals are. We follow every diet under the sun regardless of whether we are 1) hungry or 2) our body functions well with the food we feed it. We fight wars with our body and then wonder why she doesn’t do what we want her to!

If you take anything from this post – please let it be to stop fighting yourself – and start to listen to what your body is telling you. We tend to look at our body, mind, and spirit as separate entities – and consequently we end up treating them independently. You are an amazing creation of all of these elements, it’s time to align yourself and treat yourself as a whole being.

One of the first things I help my clients to do (and did myself) is listen to their bodies. Really start to tune into how their body sends signals to them. What does hunger feel like in your body? What does it feel like to be physically satisfied but not full? There is some trial and error involved, but this level of awareness brings about more of an “intuitive” way of eating. This helps your body to balance out to what its natural needs are….and that CAN change daily!

Some of you may be thinking, “that takes too much effort”, “that sounds HARD”, “I just want to follow a piece of paper that tells me what to eat and when”. Those are all thoughts – and if you choose them – you are letting your BRAIN override what your body needs! The first step to ending this war with your body and food is to take ownership of YOUR relationship with it all. Listening to your body and giving her what she needs can either be HARD or FREEING – which will you choose?