Reject Diets and Enjoy Food

 

When I was in the US this past summer, one of my most prized shopping finds was the Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter. When I brought it back to the house, someone – my mom, my aunt or one of my cousins – mentioned that it sounded just too good. They wouldn’t be able to keep it in the house – they’d eat it all right away.

I can’t tell you how strange it is that I didn’t think the same thing.

 

A year ago, I would never even buy regular peanut butter. It was just something I couldn’t have a little bit of – it would never be enough. The jar would disappear quickly, and I’d feel bad about it – and probably eat more, leading to the quick disappearance of it.

 

It would be such a crazy cycle – I’d have some of the unhealthy food (peanut butter), then feel terrible about doing so. So I’d have more, because once you’ve ruined your diet or healthy day, you might as well, right?

 

This summer, I read Intuitive Eating. It was one of those – this makes so much sense it must have been written for me – books.

 

 

There are 10 main principles of Intuitive Eating:

 

1. Reject the Diet Mentality Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently.

2. Honor Your Hunger Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

3. Make Peace with Food Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing. 

4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you’re "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake.

5. Respect Your Fullness Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry.

6. Discover the Satisfaction FactorWhen you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content.

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food.

8. Respect Your Body Accept your genetic blueprint.

9. Exercise–Feel the Difference Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise.

10. Honor Your Health–Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don’t have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy.

 

What did this mean to me? I realized that it’s ok to enjoy food. I’d spent so much time dieting, that I’d lost track of the fact that food is more than just calories. Food can and should taste good.

 

When I realized this, I found it so much easier to turn down foods I don’t like – when I previously might have eaten them just to have eaten something bad – when I could have however many servings of a food I do like.

And you know what? Usually, one truly enjoyed serving is enough.

 

Did I gain weight? Not at all. I’ve slowly lost weight this fall (which can also be attributed to exercising more!).

 

 

And I definitely buy peanut butter now. Dark Chocolate Dreams on top of oatmeal, with a few almond slivers is incredibly satisfying. Oatmeal might be the world’s most filling food, and topped with melted chocolate peanut butter, it’s delicious too

 

And every time I make it, I marvel a little at the fact that months later – that Dark Chocolate Dreams container is still sitting in my cupboard, happy and half full.

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Tagged as: intuitive eating, oatmeal