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!

Are you ready?

Twelve weeks of “No Diets in the New Year” starts today!!!

12 weeks of No Diets is about making more mindful choices… Listening to our body, responding to it’s natural hunger cues, and eating what our body needs.

Throughout the holiday season I definitely did some mindless snacking/drinking… a little too much But I never beat myself up over it. I just tried to make more mindful choices the rest of the day(s). With dieting season officially in full swing (hello Taco Bell diet), I say ignore it all and work towards making small changes towards a healthier lifestyle.

Starting today, every Monday I will be posting a new non-diet tip, a nutrition goal, and a killer workout from the fabulous Jessica from How Sweet It Is! By the way… I can’t tell you how excited I am about these workouts!!! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!!

There a couple of points I want to touch on before we get started.

1. Don’t view “Not Dieting” as another diet. The main premise behind “Not Dieting” is to eat when we’re hungry and get in tune with our body. If this is viewed as a diet, then cheating would be eating when we’re not hungry, or for emotional reasons. The body is very forgiving. We’re human and there will be times we eat when we’re not hungry. We should just accept it for what it is and wait until we’re hungry again to eat.
2. This can be started anytime. If you’re not ready to start today, start whenever you’re ready. The info will be here

Mindful Tip #1

Eat When You’re Hungry, Stop When Satisfied…

Reaching and maintaing a healthy weight is all about WHY we eat and HOW much we eat. When we consistently eat for reasons other then hunger, we will gain weight. The key word CONSISTENTLY. We all have our moments… but it’s what we do consistently over time that matters the most. Our body is very smart. It tells us when it needs food and it tells us when it’s had enough food. It’s important to NEVER let our body get overly hungry… this can set us up to overeat.

Here’s how to tell if you’re hungry (ranging from gentle to ravenous):

• Mild gurgling or gnawing the the stomach
• Growling noises
• Feeling lightheaded
• Difficulty concentration
• Uncomfortable stomach pain
• Irritability
• Feeling faint
• Headaches
• Any combination of the above

Are we really hungry or just bored?

Before we eat, let’s ask ourselves these questions:

• Are we hungry or thirsty? Often times we can mistake hunger for thirst. We may actually be dehydrated. Try drinking some water before eating.
• Are we eating because of emotion? This is a big one!! Eating for emotion can mean a number of things… eating because we’re sad, happy, lonely, depressed, bored, anxious, stressed, hormonal, etc… Emotional eating is such a big deal. When we stop eating for emotion, we have to find a way to deal with those emotions in ways other than food.
• Did we get enough sleep? Sometimes I feel so physically tired I think I need to eat…. WRONG! Getting enough zzzz’s at night is so important. We need to make sure our sleep schedule is allowing for enough rest.

NUTRITION TIP #1

Make water your beverage of choice.

This is something I seriously struggle with! I don’t drink enough water! This can be a big player in the “Are we hungry or thirsty” factor. I’m not big on juices or any calorie containing beverage… I just don’t drink enough period. I’m going to make it point to always carry a bottle of water with me.

Water goal for the week: Drink at least 12oz of water with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and drink 8-12 oz of water between each meal.

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! I did Jessica’s Functional Workout this morning and LOVED it!! It was an awesome workout!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you have any questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I started a “12 Weeks No Diets” page. Every Mondays post/tip will be on that page.

If you have any workout specific questions, go to Jessica’s Blog at How Sweet It Is.