Okay, on to how I'm doing with Intuitive Eating this week.
So far, so good!
I'm focusing on the first principle of IE: Reject the Diet Mentality.
For me, this means to stop worrying about PointsPlus. Stop giving certain foods the label "good" (Power Foods) and other foods the label "bad" (junk foods) and there is another label for a former WW-er, and that is "okay, but not the best" (foods that aren't Power Foods but aren't quite junk foods, like avocados, nuts, nut butter, Lara Bars, etc.).
It's so difficult to STOP thinking in terms of WW, when that's how I've been eating for years now.
I've also begin to gently focus on the second principle, which is "honor your hunger". I won't be too worried about mastering that one quite yet though. As soon as I've mastered (or gotten much better at) rejecting the diet mentality, I will move on to adding in "honor your hunger".
I originally had told myself that I would devote 1 week to each principle, and that I would be a professional Intuitive Eater in 12 weeks... but then I realized that was some good ol' Diet Mentality creeping in!
There is no rush to this process. I will take my time, since this is the way that I wish to eat forever.
Just to give you an idea of how I'm eating... here's what I ate yesterday. I tried to focus on my hunger signals and what my body wanted, but mostly I was working on rejecting the diet mentality.
breakfast- oatmeal made with almond milk, applesauce, and a banana
lunch- leftover cous-cous with black beans, tomatoes, and evoo; 2 pickle spears; wasa crackers with hummus and salsa
snack- Lara Bar and craisins
dinner- peanut butter with a banana
snack- steamed veggies
snack- saltine crackers
exercise: 40 minutes treadmill run/walk intervals
Not too "bad", right? ;-) As always with IE, I have no meal plan in place for today. But I'm determined to learn to enjoy eating and enjoy food again. Also, (and this is the biggest one), I have a long-term goal of making food just a part of my life, not what I base my life around. I'm sick of thinking about food all of the time, and IE should really help me to get away from that.
6 comments:
Do you think IE is hard ? Are you adding up the points values in the back of your head ?
I think you did pretty well, I too wish one day that I will not think about food all.the.time...
I've been following my own diet, based off nutrisystem, for over 4 months now. I've learned more recently that my body could no longer survive on the 1500-1700 calories I was eating and have been trying to move up. I still need to break that "diet" mentality about eating less to lose weight.
I've recently broke over 2000 calories a day but still find myself feeling bad about doing it. I like the idea of eating snacks when i'm hungry and have actually been trying to do that. Only issue i've seen is that I don't eat enough before I work out and thus my body doesn't have the resources needed to perform. I've noticed this in jogging and playing golf. Need to figure it out.
I am really looking forward to reading about your experience with IE. I don't feel that I am quite there yet, and quite ready to give up the "Diet Mentality" 100%, but I have noticed that I am able to make more healthy decisions on the fly and alter my meal plans throughout the day without having a calorie melt down! Great Post :)
Leah, I read Intuitive Eating a while back and I really enjoyed it. I'd like to re-read it again soon.
By the way, I know I haven't commented in a while, but CONGRATS on the fantastic progress. You are so skinny and beautiful!
So, maybe I'm the only person who will pose this word of caution, but make sure that you're eating enough. Your dinner looked a bit skimpy to me, especially since you also worked out.
Leah - I nominated you for the Adorable Blogger Award. Check out my Blog to pick it up :)
I am enjoying reading about your IE experience, espiecally since this is something I am looked to do in the near future for a number of reasons. Thanks for sharing this all with us.
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