Hello and happy Halloween! Halloween can be a spooky time not only for kids, but also for adults who fear the temptation and guilt that goes along with “giving in” and having a few pieces of their favorite Halloween candy. Of course, the “holiday season” (starting at Thanksgiving) always gets all the diet hype, but Halloween is no slouch either. For many people, it’s a trigger to unhealthy thoughts and actions when it comes to food.

Feeling scared of candy, not buying it until the last minute so it’s not in the house, hiding it, throwing it away, being overwhelmed by stress and guilt after eating it, feeling obligated to go spend hours exercising at the gym or on a treadmill to burn off that caloric guilt, etc… What the heck?!!! Does this cycle of fear-guilt-diet/exercise sound spookily familiar to you? For some of you, maybe it’s not candy, but it is some other food (or maybe almost all foods that aren’t “clean”). Regardless, is the cycle I just described a healthy outlook? Should we be treating food like the boogey man? Should navigating our relationship with food be as daunting as taking a trip through a dark and haunted corn maze? Do you like reading these Halloween metaphors as much as I like typing them? The answer is NO (except maybe on my last question). Food/exercise shouldn’t have so much power over our lives.

Intuitive eating is all about rejecting that diet mentality and accepting and reconnecting with a physical and mental state that is naturally programed in all of us. Some of you might have missed it, but I authored a guest blog on this very topic titled “What is Intuitive Eating?.” The blog is on my friend and colleague Ericka Martin’s website at starmeadowcounseling.com. Ericka is a therapist at Star Meadow Counseling. Here is a link to the blog, What is Intuitive Eating? If interested, please give it a read and let me know if you have any feedback.