Intuitive Eating a Revolutionary Program

It's interesting that Intuitive Eating is thought about as a revolutionary program because it's the natural eating wisdom we were born with. So in many ways attuned eating is a return to what we once knew before it became eroded.

Before our eating wisdom was eroded we ate intuitively

Intuitive eating is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and it's a central principle of being a happy eater and reaching your happy size .

Here's why:

Intuitive eating will help you with portion regulation because you re-learn how to eat when you're hungry and stop before you've over-eaten
In doing this it will help you be the size you're naturally meant to be.
It'll stop that automatic hand-to-mouth mindless kind of eating
It'll allow you to get maximum flavor from every mouthful which makes eating a truly enjoyable experience
It'll create a slowed down space for you, an island of quiet, in what can be an otherwise pressurized and rushed day.
Eating intuitively can become a type of eating meditation which can profoundly affect how much you enjoy food.
It can help you overcome that feeling of compulsive over-eating.
It'll help you create feelings of gratitude and thankfulness, not just that you have food, but also for those people who play a role in allowing you to have all the foods you love.

Try this Intuitive Eating exercise borrowed from Mind over Fatter

Try this Intuitive eating exercise.... treat it as a game and do it with your whole family.

Buy a packet of your favorite nuts (you can also do it with raisins, chocolate, crisps or anything else) and take one out, placing it on your hand. Look at it with curiosity, turn it over and look at it from all angles.
How does it look if you look? How does one side differ from another? What do you think of it's shape and weight? How does it feel in your hand?
Now waft it below your nose and inhale - what does it smell like? Now take another deeper smell - beyond what you initially smelt, is there anything else you detect the second time round you didn't before?
Check in with your mouth - is it watering yet? Does just 'playing' with the nut in this way make you think you're hungry or are you actually hungry? Do you have any feelings of anxiety or edginess as you wait to taste it? Are you finding yourself feeling impatient about wanting to get it into your mouth?

During this intuitive eating exercise, think about all the people involved in bringing this nut to your hand. The growers, manufacturers, packers, truckers, retailers. Think about all the elements involved - the sun, water, the soil, the planters.

Give (and allow yourself to really feel) appreciative thanks for the multitude elements and players involved.
Give thanks for your ability to hold this nut without gobbling it down. Appreciate it as a source of nourishment and imagine how your body is going to feel as it receives the oils and nutrients in this precious food source. Notice any sensations in your body.
Now, very mindfully, bring this nut to your lips and rub it lightly against them - taking note of how that feels on your lips. Then pop it into your mouth and just be aware of how it feels lying there waiting to be eating. House this for mindful eating?
How does it feel on your tongue and are you feeling impatient about wanting to chew it?
Now chew it slowly. Savor it. Noticing how the texture changes, noticing how much you like or dislike it's textures and flavors. Notice if you're relaxed or tense as you're eating it. If you're tensed, where does that tension sit in your body? What is it about - could that be what automatically is happening in your body whenever you eat.
Consciously allow yourself to relax, into eating intuitively, chewing thoroughly before swallowing and allowing any after taste to register with you.

With this kind of intuitive eating - you're putting your body on notice that from now on, you're going to be a lot more mindful about food. You're going to be spending more time on happy eating than on guilty eating. You're going to make the most of eating instead of treating eating as if it was a waste of time to get over with quickly.

The amazing thing about Eating mindfully is that it's a fabulous way to reduce your food cravings, food obsessions and will even help with emotional eating.

Read these Intuitive Eating Success Stories.

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