When I first read the book Intuitive Eating, it really spoke to me and my relationship with food. I thought to myself, of course this is how we should approach our relationship with food.  Forget the rules, restrictions, and control. I wondered why I let so much of my life be consumed with dieting, and seemingly endless efforts to manipulate my body. But the truth is, as simple and straightforward as the basic concepts of intuitive eating my sound, applying them to your real life may still be challenging.  This is especially the case for those who have spent years caught up in the diet mindset.  If simply “listening to your body” was so simple, we would all be intuitive eaters. Fortunately, we are all built with the natural tools to be intuitive eaters and therefore have healthy relationships with food. After all, we don’t pop out of the womb ready to binge or diet, or take any action in relation to food that is unnatural.  Rather, we are born with an instinct to be intuitive and well-balanced eaters.  That is why babies cry when they need milk, but stop drinking when they are full. Similarly, young children will listen to their bodies and eat well-balanced diets when those opportunities are available to them. We only start to lose our natural instincts as an intuitive eater as we get older, view the unhealthy habits of others, and start to impose rules and restrictions upon food (either self-imposed or handed down from others).  As time goes on, the rules and restrictions begin to harden, and before you know it, there is no longer any natural relationship with food, and not even any gray area.  Instead, there is good versus bad. Our body no longer guides us, but instead, the “food rules” in our heads drive our decisions and behaviors. For some, they can moderate those rules and still live a comfortable, healthy and happy life. But for many others, the rules control them and eventually deprive them of health and happiness, and ultimately lead to serious issues such as chronic dieting, disordered eating, and eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, etc.) For the latter group of people (and there are many, many out there), learning about intuitive eating could be a life changer.

Since working on becoming Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, I've had the opportunity to dig deeper into the principles behind intuitive eating and apply them to my own life, as well as those of my family, friends and clients. Unlike a diet, intuitive eating is meant to be explored as a journey. It doesn't come instantly - after all, it is a completely different way of looking at food and accepting your body. Much like learning to drive a stick shift, learning to play the piano, or swinging a golf club, it takes patience and effort.  Also, when your journey throws you a new challenge, it takes compassion for yourself. But in the end, it will become natural because, after all, you are merely channeling your innate relationship with food. In the end, I can tell you from personal experience and from working with clients that the ability to free yourself from the control of food, and from the associated feelings of guilt and shame, will be freeing.  As Evelyn Tibole would say, “this is a process not perfection.”

So if you are ready to discover intuitive eating and reject the diet mentality please fill out your information below to set up your free consultation. Also, if you have input about the blog, I would love to hear from you.  My email is Christine@christineyoshida.com