Days 19, 20, & 21: A Few Thoughts on Food and Diets

Hello Blog Family! :)

Thank you all so much for the response and feedback so many of you have given me via comments, emails, phone calls, and hugs. Your support is a wonderful reminder of the amazing community of people I'm surrounded by. I am beyond grateful.

I can't believe it's already been 21 days since I began this journey! WOW. It doesn't feel like I'm counting, though, because I don't think I'll want to stop once I reach Day 101.

I don't usually plan what I'll share in my blog; instead I wait until something just comes up and then if it feels right I go with it (just like how I teach yoga :). The past three days have been fairly uneventful, so I thought I'd take some time today to share my own personal thoughts on some widely discussed and very heavily opinionated food topics.

The first one: INTUITIVE EATING.

Blah. I'm not what you would call a "naturally thin" person or a "normal" eater. I actually don't know what that is or what those terms really mean, but they are not me. And I know there is some really lovely writing out there on intuitive eating, and how we can all become aligned with our body's natural eating cycles, but I gotta say, it's not the path for me. I've actually spent a lot of time trying to become an intuitive eater, but always ended up feeling like a failure. And since I was born with the "not-good-enough gene," I don't really need more of that in my life. For me, intuitive eating just became another kind of diet, and one that made me feel like I would never find peace around food. I do believe this is a way of eating that can work for some people. But for those of us who struggle with food in what feels like an unending manner, maybe a different kind of eating program is necessary. Intuitive eating doesn't make sense to me because most of the time my gut feeling tells me to eat copious amounts of sugar and carbs. Not exactly the healthiest diet. I do believe that I am a food addict (not to mention a Virgo who loves routine, schedules, and steadiness), and that I need a little bit more order in my diet. Which brings me to my next topic...

CALORIES.

Everyone wants to declare a war against calories. Everyone wants to say that counting calories isn't necessary, and that if you just listen to your body, it will tell you when to eat and when to stop. I'm sure this is true for a lot of non-food addicts. But counting calories really helps me remember to eat healthily and to eat normal portion sizes. I'm not saying that we should all go on the 1200 calorie diet (why is that the chosen calorie number for women, by the way?). I eat far more than that, and I discovered the right amount of calories for me in a day through lots and lots of experimentation. Fun fact: When you stop eating crap and cut out all the processed foods and sugar, you can actually eat way more and not gain weight. Awesome.

And finally: CONTROL.

Being in control gets such a bad rap, especially for women. And I'm sick of it. I feel really great when I am choosing what, where, and how much to eat. This doesn't mean that I need to be in charge all the time and that I only do what I want to do. But it is a remembrance that only I know what's right for me. Only I know what I need. And only you know what you need. So I'm just doing my best to honor and love myself, and how that manifests changes day to day. I really do believe that we can be in control and strong, yet simultaneously flexible. In yoga, this is the balance of effort and ease, or sthira and sukha. Some days we may need a little more of one than the other, but the path to wholeness is paved with strength and courage, as well as opening, flexibility, and welcoming the unknown.

These are just my thoughts as of today on these topics. Please chime in with what's worked for you or what hasn't. I always love knowing how others are finding what's right for them and moving forward with it.