No one wants to eat food that doesn’t make them feel good.

If we were all to get out of our own way, we would easily and intuitively go for food that tasted good and made us feel great: nourished, calm, satiated, and healthy. That is what we want and what our bodies want.

We would naturally and easily steer away from foods that our body didn’t jive with (Whatever that may be. We are ALL different).

And when we veered from those foods and ate something that wasn’t “the best” for our particular bodies, it would be no big thing: “eh, I’ll be fine”.

And then we would move on. No shame. No dwelling. No serious horrible consequences, except maybe a stomachache or a pimple or headache.

But as long as we are in our own way, forcing certain restrictions and diets and rules on ourselves, that easy, joyful intuitive diet is never actually going to happen.

You MUST get out of your own way in order to start to let your body do it’s thing. And you’re body’s “thing” for a whole year might be mac n’ cheese. And that is a really important part of the “getting out of your own way” journey.

Because here is the thing, if all you eat for a year is mac n’ cheese, eventually you will be over mac n’ cheese. And if wheat and dairy jive with you, you’ll have it on occasion. And if wheat and dairy don’t jive with you, you’ll still probably have it on occasion. And it’ll be fine. But you will be out of your own way… and your body will start to eat what it really, really craves.

The more you judge what your body craves, the less authentic those cravings will be.

Get out of your own way.

Stop dieting.

Stop judging what you need to eat during the process. And let your “diet” eventually choose you.

And when you eat something that you think “isn’t good”, remember: it doesn’t matter. The less it matters, the more easily you will be able to truly want and choose foods that feel good and make you feel alive.

Perfection? Fuck. It.

 

Generally, I hate common new year’s resolutions.

They feed right into that black and white, self-hating, guilt inducing, atone-for-your-carb sins cycle.

Resolutions are the diet, and the backlash is just around the corner. February guilt, anyone?

This year, do me a favor and throw out the self-hating, militaristic resolutions, and if you must resolve, resolve sanely:

Resolve to Eat what you really love

You have gotten yourself nowhere by staying in a diet/repent cycle. Break it now.

Resolve to invest your time in what/who you really care about

Life is too short to waste it. Get real with yourself about what makes you come alive. Which brings us to…

Resolve to Be Honest with yourself

Stop avoiding yourself. Stop avoiding the truth. Stop avoiding. Ask yourself “where am I lying to myself?”. It is life changing. And don’t feel guilty. We all do it.

Resolve to Stretch

Get on the floor and stretch your body. Don’t force exercise you don’t feel like doing, just don’t. Exercise only to feel alive. But get in a quick habit of stretching your body because you are alive, and your body is great, and it deserves to be lived in and and stretched.

Resolve to sleep better and get real rest

You freaking deserve it.

Resolve to love yourself more in 2015

You are worth it. This year. With this mind and this body. You have always been worth it. So give yourself permission to do cool things, and say what you mean, and do what you like. You will never be more ready than you are now. And no one is ever going to give you permission except you. No one. Don’t wait for your thin fantasy, or love fantasy or job fantasy to do what you have been waiting to do.

What else? Comment below!

Ok. GO BE AWESOME.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Also, don’t miss the last few hours to register for my program with the Holiday price at over 50% off!)

Today I want to talk about giving away your power.

I have become more and more interested in the concept of listening to others versus listening to your gut when looking for guidance. This subject applies to any area of your life. We tend to run into trouble when we start taking everyone else’s advice on careers, relationships, following your dreams, where to live, etc. We never really learned that the best guidance is gut guidance. They just don’t teach that in school.

But, I believe where this lesson is the most potent and practical is with FOOD!

The fact that we spend years and decades following someone else’s diet plan, and worrying that we aren’t “doing it right”, and trying to subdue, punish, and control our bodies is nuts!

We jump from diet guru to diet guru, thinking that the answers to our food and body woes lie outside of us, when the only thing we actually need to pay attention to is ourselves.

Sure, we can gather information from the outside world. That’s excellent! We can learn about different foods and nutritional philosophies. We can absorb information that will inform our understanding of nourishment. But your eating and food choices, day by day, should come from what you want and what your body is telling you.

If you feel really far from making that a reality, or feel like your body just doesn’t speak to you, that’s ok. We have to relearn to trust our bodies– and it takes time and energy. We have to drop the fight and commit to listening.

The relationship and trust between you and your body will take some time. But eventually, the more you heal with food, your intuition will become louder and clearer, and the nuances in what you want and need will become stronger and more distinct.

This isn’t to say that I still don’t believe in eating whatever you want, I really do, and it is actually the same thing. Eating with abandon and the intention to nourish is the first step to healing your relationship with food.

Just promise yourself you will listen and give your body what it wants and needs. Perfection is not the name of the game.

Don’t give up your power to diet gurus and nutritional dogma. Commit to listening to your body, because your body wants the best for you, unfailingly.