Eating Intuitively

I finished reading the book, and now I need to start eating intuitively. I’ve been thinking about it, and I am most concerned about this habit I have of cleaning my plate each time I eat. After all, this is what my parents taught me. I should always finish my meal. The habit kind of works against eating intuitively unless I reduce the size of my portions, but then I might feel like I am depriving myself. I think the solution is to have many foods available is small packages, I guess. For example, I could bring four or five different foods for lunch in separate ziploc baggies, and I can eat what I want from each bag. If I don’t feel hungry any longer, I’ll just close all the bags, and save them for the next day. I’m just thinking right now, because I still believe this is the right way to eat.

There is a scale in the book that helps you identify where you are in the transition from dieting, binging, etc. to eating intuitively. Here are the stages

1. “Readiness – Hitting Diet Bottom”
aka hitting rock bottom and realizing dieting doesn’t work

2. “Exploration – Conscious Learning and Pursuit of Pleasure”
aka being acutely aware of how hungry you are and what you eat

3. “Crystallization”
aka it clicks and you start to understand how this is supposed to work

4. “The Intuitive Eater Awakens”
aka feeling more comfortable eating what you intuitively feel you should eat

5. “The Final Stage – Treasure the Pleasure”
aka reclaiming the intuitive eater deep inside you and being comfortable with eating

At this point in time, I am probably at Stage 1 of my awakening, and I am giving lots of thought to eating intuitively. So, I am nearing Stage 2. One important point is that I should expect that there will be good days and bad days. One day, I might be firmly in Stage 3, but the next day I may retreat to Stage 2. I think I will use that as a gauge of my progress.

Today, I have not been the intuitive eater at all. I ate a big breakfast at Friendly’s, and I cleaned my plate at lunch when I know I shouldn’t have. Not long ago, I finished a pint of ice cream. I have pizza planned for dinner. I always eat too much pizza.

I think the first place I need to give some serious thought is what I am going to buy for food for the week. I think it will be helpful to identify the foods I truly like, and I like some really good foods. For example, I enjoy roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts, and I think these are pretty good for me. If I make those foods readily available to me, I think it will help me eat intuitively.