Some More Intuitive Eating Principles and the Long Bike Ride that Wasn’t…

I won’t go into so much detail as I did on my last post about Intuitive Eating, but I did want to hit some key points.

Principle 2:  Honor Your Hunger

Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates.  Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat.  Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant.  Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

Principal 3:  Make Peace with Food

Call a truce; stop the food fight!  Give yourself unconditional permission to eat.  If you tell yourself that you can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing.  When you finally “give in” to your forbidden foods, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating and overwhelming guilt.

The moment you banish a food, it paradoxically builds up a “craving life” of its own that gets stronger with each diet, and builds more momentum as the deprivation deepens.

Principle 4:  Challenge the Food Police

Scream a loud “No” to thoughts in your head that declare you’re “good” for eating under 1,000 calories or “bad” because you ate a piece of chocolate cake.  The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created.  The police station is housed deep in your psyche and its loudspeaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments.  Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

That’s all on Intuitive Eating for now.  The book is actually rather interesting, if you ask me. 

I did Level 3 of the 30 day Shred today for the first time.  I’ve been bad and haven’t Shredded for the past 4 days due to the vacation and being exhausted yesterday.  But I did it today, and it was hard!  I have until July 6th until my 30 days are up.  I think I’ll see some changes in my measurements….I feel like I see a change in the mirror. 

I was supposed to do a 75 minute bike ride today, but due to the high winds, I only got in 45 minutes.  I’m supposed to ride again tomorrow, and my plan is to drive over to the Loveland Bike Trail and ride on that….nice, shaded and flat.  Just the way I like it :). 

I signed up for 3 triathlons yesterday:  Fit to Fight Sprint Distance, Tri Indy Olympic Distance, and the Great Illini Challenge Half Iron Distance.  I booked a hotel room for that last triathlon, so it’s officially official!  I am going to do a Half Ironman!!!  I’m incredibly nervous and not quite sure that I will be ready in time…but if anything, I just go slow and get to the finish line.  It will be a learning experience, if anything!