6 DO NOT's for you - if you are already practicing Intuitive Eating.

Hi All!

I am starting this blog as a result of my decade-long experience with diets, failures of diets, binge eating disorder and other "exciting" things that are caused by forbidding yourself food and programming yourself not to like your body.

I have recently encountered a concept of Intuitive Eating which made a complete sense to me. When I started following the basic rules (listening to my body signals and eating what and when it told me to), I was freaked out with all the freedom (and I still am!). No matter how scared I get, I know there is no way back for me - enough of sugar-free-coated lies!

Today, I want to post 6 MISTAKES TO AVOID for those ALREADY PRACTICING Intuitive Eating. What to do to make it successful? I am learning, too, but I want to succeed so badly - here is what you should do to succeed and tear those webs of eating disorder.

These commandments are for those who are practicing Intuitive Eating for some time and are on a rebound day/week (happened to me a few times BUT I am not giving up!)

So here you go!

1. DO NOT try on your special thin clothes to see if you have lost weight/ do not weigh yourself/ measure or do anything that can trigger the panicky feeling which will take you back into your eating disorder.

It happened to me when I had a perfect 3 months period of Intuitive eating, ate well and even was forgetting about food at certain times (unheard of!).

Then I suddenly decided to try my last year clothes on. Well, some jeans were a bit tight. It freaked me out and I was like: OMG this whole thing isn't working. And the diet mentality and all the glorious restrictings came rushing back - bang, I have piled on a kilo or so just because I got paranoid. 

Conclusion? NOT WORTH IT. Give your thin clothes away, do not cherish any sentiments towards them. it is a New You. Do not look back.

2. DO NOT analyze what you have been eating in the past days/ weeks. Just carry on listening to your body. When you start analyzing what you ate you might think that you had a bit too much/too little of certain foods, start feeling guilty/deprived and you shift your focus back to food.

The whole point of Intuitive eating is to get your BODY to take control of choosing what and when to it. You don't get to choose - you just get to sit back, relax and enjoy those food choices your organism is deciding you need at that moment.

3. DO NOT be focused on your weight. It is hard not to wish you had lost 5 kg in the first months but this is not the point of Intuitive Eating. The POINT is to eat like normal people. 

Remember, when you started all you wanted was to eat NORMALLY, not obsessing, not feeling guilty.Well, now you got it and losing weight is something that should not bother you at this moment. Listen to your body. Keep doing it and things will only improve.

4. DO NOT give in to thoughts about failure/ worrying. Make your mind busy with work/ studies/ new/old hobby/ etc - recognize the obsessive thoughts about shape and weight whenever those get in and shift focus to anything constructive. 

You have to make an effort. It is easy to give in and get into the circle again and again, but you can get out of it just by being present once any of the thoughts crawl in.

5. DO NOT be afraid to miss gym during this period of recovery. I don't know how long for but make sure gym isn't making you feel what I feel - which is obsessive thinking that I have to fix myself, something is wrong with my body and I have to work out and diet like crazy to look like those girls over there. Gym brings me back into my eating disorder mode and I cannot stand it, I totally disconnect from my body.

Sit back and relax for a bit - listen to inner self and trust that it won't ask you for more fuel if you don't spend it. Hence, you won't put on weight eating intuitively because you will only eat when hungry as in only when your body requests energy. Gym isn't your lifeline in this situation. Drop it if you notice that it triggers you. I swear, drop it.

6. DO NOT over-think the process - just enjoy the freedom of eating everything you want whenever you want. Let all diet guards down and let your body take the lead. It will take care of the rest. 

Now, that is about it. I will be writing more things as I will be discovering them in my daily life. And remember -OUR complete recovery is on it's way! I know it is possible!

Lots of Love,

Nadya