Ready For Success? Eat What You Want.

Intuitive eating (also called mindful eating) is structured around the belief that people need to trust themselves enough to believe that they will eat what and how much food they need. When you eat intuitively, you use your internal cues for hunger, appetite and satiety to guide you. The truth is, only by eating what you truly want can you adequately nourish yourself and achieve optimal health - including a healthy weight.

After many years of working with people who want to lose weight, one thing I know for sure is that very few people are able to achieve lasting success with traditional weight loss diets. Research clearly shows that dieting doesn't work. While you may lose weight initially when dieting, there's a good chance you will fail to keep it off, and may regain even more pounds than you lost. "Dieting" is a temporary attempt to lose weight and it often leads to an endless cycle of restriction, bingeing, and guilt. It's all very negative.

Intuitive eating, on the other hand, is a positive supportive approach to eating using your body's cues to guide you in deciding what, when, and how much to eat. It is centered on listening to your inner signals of hunger and fullness and responding accordingly. It can include any kind of food that makes you feel well, and can vary from day to day. For example, you may decide that a piece apple pie topped with ice cream is a better choice today than an apple.

Powerful Weight Loss Tip-

Stop dieting and start eating consciously in a way that makes your body feel well.

Eating with intuition is different for every person, but the general aspect of listening to your body remains constant. In my practice, I find that more people are able to achieve their personal best weight with intuitive eating than with traditional dieting. I suggest you give it a try. These 3 steps will guide you in getting started.

1. Eat when you are hungry.

Watch for your body's hunger cues as your signal that it is time to eat. Eat enough to feel satisfied and comfortably full, not stuffed. For most of people, this means eating every 3-4 hours or so. Balanced meals that include whole grains, protein foods, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and healthy fats promote satisfaction and satiety.

2. Eat what you want.

If you don't, you'll likely feel deprived and find yourself overeating. Restricting yourself from certain foods may also keep you on the hunt for food whether you're hungry or not. If you notice that what you want is always the richer choice, you may still be caught up in feeling deprived from years of dieting. Try compromising by using richer foods in smaller quantities. For example, use real butter to spread on a small piece of your favorite crusty bread.

3. Eat until you've had enough.

If you are used to eating until you're uncomfortably full, you may need to work on redefining your definition of how much is enough. You may have normalized feeling stuffed. Consistently eating this way is not good for your health and it probably means that you are not listening to your body's signal of fullness. Occasional overeating is normal; it's the habit that you want to avoid.

As you begin to practice intuitive eating, it may be helpful to use the Healthy Eating Plate Method as a guide. It's a tool to use until you learn to trust your cues of fullness. It can help eliminate the anxiety of knowing how much is the right amount by providing estimated portion sizes without measuring, weighing, or counting. Although it's your job to put onto the plate what you desire, it will guide you in balancing your meals for satisfaction and satiety.