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By Estela - Weekly Bite, February 15, 2010 8:09 am

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We’re past the halfway mark and into week 7. How did we do with the goal last week? Giving ourselves unlimited permission to eat whatever we want can be scary… but it’s so important in order live without dieting.

To recap, these are the goals we’ve covered so far:

1. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re satisfied
2. Make water your beverage of choice
3. Break mindless eating routines
4. Increase fiber intake by increasing fruit and veggie intake
5. Pay close attention to meal timing and portion control
6. Pay attention to your body – focus on eating consciously
7. The importance of meal planning
8. Making Peace With Food

This week we will be focusing on calorie counting… or lack there of. Part of embracing “not dieting” is to stop counting every piece of food that crosses our lips. I know calorie counting works for a lot of individuals. If you can count calories and not let if control your life or become obsessive about it, thats fine… but for most, its very easy to become a slave to this.

When I talk about stop counting, I mean calories, fat, carbs, grams, etc…

When we count, measure, weigh, or calculate food, we’re not listening to our body. We’re letting other factors control how much and when we eat… not our body. How can that be fun? Having to count, weigh, and measure everything can become exhausting and time consuming.

For a life-long food counter, not counting can be scary.

The goal for this week is to start small.

Start with one meal without counting anything. Just listen to your body. Let your body tell you when to start eating and when to stop.

After a few days, try to eat two meals without counting. Continue at your own pace until you’ve stopped counting all together.

The ultimate goal is to start eating in response to your body, not the calories counted in your head.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me.

*Don’t forget your workout of the week! *

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone!

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By Estela - Weekly Bite, February 8, 2010 9:07 pm

We’re at the halfway mark of 12 Weeks No Diets.

I hope you’ve been enjoying reading these posts as much as I love writing them!

To recap, these are goals we’ve covered so far:

1. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re satisfied
2. Make water your beverage of choice
3. Break mindless eating routines
4. Increase fiber intake by increasing fruit and veggie intake
5. Pay close attention to meal timing and portion control
6. Pay attention to your body – focus on eating consciously
7. The importance of meal planning

This week I wanted to talk about making peace with food. The biggest thing I believe in when I talk about not dieting, is the importance of NOT following a restricted eating regimen. The way human nature works… or at least with me… the minute I try to restrict myself from any food, or say I won’t let myself eat a certain food… I instantly want that food.

For example, how long would you last if you vowed to not eat sweets for the next six weeks. I know myself all to well… I would crack.

If we tell ourselves that we can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can often lead to intense feelings of deprivation and uncontrollable cravings. When we finally “give-in” to a “forbidden” food, its often done with such strong intensity that it can result in the Last Supper syndrome where we just eat and eat and eat. Or, it could be followed by extreme guilt.

It’s extremely important to NEVER deprive ourselves of the foods we love. In my book, there is no such thing as a good or bad food, but there is such a thing as an bad portion. Eating healthy is important, but how much we eat is even more important. I’ve mentioned before that I believe in the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of what I eat is healthy, twenty percent is whatever else I want. There’s no particular order of how this happens either. I’ve had days where I’ve eaten a healthy breakfast, a cheeseburger for lunch, and something small and healthy for dinner. Or, I might have a piece of chocolate after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It changes everyday.

Goal for this week:

Every day this week, I want for you to think of one food you truly love, and eat it. For example, if you’re craving pizza, there’s no need to eat the entire pizza. Wait until you’re truly physically hungry, and eat a mindful portion. When I say “mindful portion” you want to eat enough until you are satisfied. Not overly full, but satisfied. If you’ve been overly restricted with your diet in the past, this can be challenging. Take your time and slowly start to mindfully incorporate more of the foods you love, or food you thought you loved. When you start to eat them, you may even realize that you don’t like it too much.

I know this can be tough for some, so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me

Don’t forget your workout of the week!

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone!

Comments (19)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, February 3, 2010 12:16 pm

Hi Friends!

We’re into week five of 12 Weeks No Diets.

This series is all about not dieting… but just because we’re not dieting doesn’t mean we shouldn’t practice healthy eating habits.

Meal planning is so important. I’m not saying we should write out a weeks worth of controlled menus, but we do need to have some sort of plan to keep us in check. The last thing we need is to feel overly hungry and have nothing healthy around.

To recap – Here are some tips I use for myself and hunger:
*Ask yourself if you’re really hungry, or if you’re satisfying an emotion, bored, or simply eating out of habit. The closer you get to recognizing real, physical hunger, the more control you’ll gain over your eating.

*It’s also important not to let yourself get too hungry. If this happens, you’re more likely to make poor food choices.

*Try not to go more than four to five hours between meals, otherwise your ravenous hunger can result in a binge, and it is usually not a healthy one.

So planning in advance is key, always keep healthy snacks on hand, and schedule snack breaks to energize you and help keep your hands out of the cookie jar.

Planning meals in advance
*Stock your pantry and refrigerator with delicious, nutritious foods. If you want a special treat, go out and enjoy a small portion, but don’t bring it home to tempt you.

*Spend some time each day in quiet meditation — reflecting, breathing, and relaxing.

*Serve meals on pretty luncheon-sized dishes that make portions look larger.

*Package snacks in small bags or containers for portion control.

I really liked this post by Jessica from How Sweet it Is. She has some very practical meal planning tips that I love!

Workout of the week:

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

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Question of the Day?

Are you a meal planner? I don’t plan formal structured meals, but I do make sure I have healthy foods in stock. Over the weekend I make a couple of bigger healthy dinners so we have plenty of leftovers throughout the week.