Do you find yourself constantly struggling with thoughts of whether you “should” or “shouldn’t” eat a particular food?
Have you ever felt envious of your friend who eats whatever she wants, free of guilt or self-loathing?
There was a time in my life that I answered all these questions with a resounding YES! I certainly didn’t feel proud of it, but it was my reality. I cycled between the “Watching What I Ate” and … watching what I ate as I pounded one food after another. Day after day I would commit to myself that starting today, I would eat reasonably and healthfully. And night after night I would reflect on my eating that day and cry. Why couldn’t I just stay the course?!? I most certainly DID care enough. I wanted to lose weight. I CARED A LOT! What was wrong with me that I couldn't just eat less and lose a bit of weight?
And so I continued, reinforcing my feelings of shame and frustration, sinking deeper and deeper into a cycle of repeated trials and failures.
As a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist (RDN), I found myself experiencing the same food-related challenges that led women to seek out my help. I felt their pain. My clients came to me believing that once they learned the right way to eat, they would succeed in their weight loss and health goals. But I knew from personal experience that knowledge was not enough. Here I was, supposedly a nutrition expert with a Master’s Degree from New York University. I knew about healthy eating. But I wasn’t living it. And not because I wasn’t trying. Something wasn’t adding up. And so began my journey to healing my relationship with food…
I learned that diets are often the problem, not the solution.
I learned that I can trust myself to know what, when, and how much to eat.
I learned that part of eating normally is overeating sometimes without feeling guilty about it.
I learned that I can choose to eat just the thing that I’m in the mood to eat now, and enjoy it.
I learned the difference between eating impulsively and eating mindfully.
I learned that when I respect my hunger and fullness, I don’t have to worry about eating too much.
I learned that when I trust myself to follow my inner voice, I leave the struggle behind.
And I learned that when I trust myself and stop struggling, eating healthfully becomes natural and instinctive.
Becoming an intuitive eater is a process. Learning to trust myself after years of eating all the “wrong” things was not easy. It did not happen overnight. But it changed my life. Slowly...steadily...positively. Today I look great, and even more important, I feel confident, happy, and energetic. I'd like to help you achieve the same in your own life. I'll be posting tips and insights here in the future to help you on your journey to rediscovering the Intuitive Eater inside of you.
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