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What every w oman w ho counts calories needs to know about the pitfalls and traps of Intuitive Eating.
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Expecting It to Be Easy .....................................................................3 Not Dreaming Big Enough..................................................................4 Making It Another Program ................................................................5 Weighing Yourself.............................................................................7 Pseudo Dieting .................................................................................9 Thinking Its All About the Food ........................................................10 Expecting to go From Self Loathing to Self Love in One Giant Leap .......11 Thinking the Same Old Thoughts ......................................................13 Giving Up Too Soon ........................................................................14 Doing It On Your Own .....................................................................15
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Being lean, fit and healthy is very important to you and you have spent years creating the body of your dreams through strict dieting and exercise. When you finally decide to give up counting calories and try Intuitive Eating it feels like you are in a strange new country where you dont know the language. If you dont understand how to correctly apply the principles of Intuitive Eating after an extended period of dieting, you will end up feeling like a failure; you will put on unnecessary weight and be more miserable than when you were controlling your food. This sense of failure, weight gain and misery will send you running back to the old pattern of dieting and the binges that are an unavoidable part of the whole cycle before youve had a chance to find that peace with food you long for. How do I know this? Because Ive been exactly where you are now. After 5 years of dieting and two years of competing in Figure, I gave up dieting in September 2009. In this report, I will let you in on how to avoid the 10 biggest mistakes you might make when you give up counting calories once and for all. I hope you enjoy it.
Katie P
HeadY HeartY Health 2009 Intuitive Eating Mistakes Page 2
~ 1 ~ EXPECTING IT TO BE E ASY
Going from the rigours of planning your meals, scheduling them at regular intervals, weighing and measuring your food and logging them in a calorie and macro program to eating when youre hungry, eating what you want, eating mindfully and stopping when youre full seems like an easy transition. Hell, all you have to do is stop working so hard and relax a little. Intuitive Eating is much more challenging than it looks and if you think it will be simple and easy when you first start out then you will be confused and frustrated. You will make poor food choices, you will eat when you arent hungry, you will forget to stop and savour your meals, and you will continue to eat when youve had enough. The good news is that there is no pass or fail, black or white, on or off this program. There is simply continuous learning and improvement and the more you practice the easier it will become.
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If I have a glass of wine on evenings I am stressed then I dont need comfort food to calm me down If I meditate for 5 minutes in the morning then I have a day without cravings If I get really, really hungry before I eat then I am more likely to forget to eat mindfully If I dont get enough sleep then I am more hungry than usual
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~ 4 ~ WEIGHING YOURSELF
The number on the scale has long been the objective feedback on whether or not your diet is working and we are all familiar with the despair that comes from a weight gain when weve been doing everything right. In the majority of cases, the first stages on transition from calories counting to Intuitive Eating will result in a higher number on the scales. This could be due to more carbs (which hold water) in your diet, a greater volume of food (an apple is heavier than a rice cake), additional salt in your diet, hormonal activity activated by eating more fat or a temporary fat gain while you are eating all your off limits treats. Even if you do gain fat, this is temporary and part of the healing process. Once your body finds balance and equilibrium, the fat will melt away like snow on a hot spring day and you wont have to worry about it. Even though there are all these logical reasons for a higher scale number, and even though you are convinced it wont matter what the number is dont weigh yourself.
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You will find all the feelings of failure and disappointment come flooding back leaving you convinced that it will never work. You will be reviving your fading belief that you are only successful if you weigh a certain amount. Throw the scales away or at least put them out of sight. Resist the urge to just have a quick look. No matter how strong and confident you are feeling, the number is guaranteed to create a major emotional upheaval and undo some of the progress you have made.
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~ 5 ~ PSEUDO DIETING
I should only eat clean, unprocessed food I cant eat high GI carbs I must have protein at every meal I have to eat the low-fat, low-sugar versions of my favourite foods This is not Intuitive Eating this is pseudo dieting. If you are still using the language of should, cant, must, and have to then you are still in the diet mindset and have not yet embraced the freedom of Intuitive Eating. Of course, you can eat whatever you want so the food choice is not important, it is your reason for making that choice that matters. True Intuitive Eating says I prefer clean, unprocessed food most of the time because it gives me more energy High GI carbs dont satisfy my hunger for very long so I only have them when my body asks for them Sometimes I feel like eating protein and sometimes I prefer a vegetarian meal The only reason I eat diet food is because I prefer the taste and texture over the real variety.
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Self Acceptance I accept myself exactly as I am right now because I am OK. There are things that I would like to improve but right here and right now, I am who I am Self Love I know that I am beautiful, unique and awesome and I dont need to do anything except be me. I take great care of myself because I am worth it. My heart is filled with love which spills out into the world and engulfs everyone I meet. I love being me.
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I am always here to help guide you through the streets of this foreign country because Ive been living here for awhile now and I can speak enough of the language to get by. By sharing your journey with me and asking questions, I get to feel good by helping you out and you dont have to make the same mistakes I have. Contact me at any time, and expect a prompt reply. I will always respond to your questions, comments and stories. Blog: http://headhearthealth.wordpress.com Twitter: KatiePsFood Facebook: Katie P Thin Enough Email: thin-enough@optusnet.com.au
Please let me know if you have enjoyed this short report and found it helpful. If there is anything youd like to know more about, please ask. Click the link to go to a quick and easy contact form
http://headhearthealth.wordpress.com/contact/
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