What kind of eater are you?
Hello!
A very very big hello to you. I know it's been a few days now. 
I am just getting settled after a long weekend away doing lots of fabulous and fun wedding tasks. Nothing like vacation and planning pieces of your wedding surrounded by good friends and family. I am FILLED with gratitude and appreciation.
I thought I would start today with an Insanity update…
I am currently in my 3rd week. I've made one change to the schedule: I am repeating week 2. I missed 2 workouts last week due to traveling and you know, I committed to doing this program with all of my heart. I want to complete it as intended, all workouts checked off! And so a repeat of week 2 is already under way for good measure.
The lesson here is this: life is busy friends. It will always feel hectic, crazy, all over the place! The key is not to resist, to flow. The key is balance. Miss a workout? That's ok. Forgot to pack your healthy lunch? That's ok too. Behind on emails, blogging, work in general? One step at a time friends. So last week as I was enjoying time with a close friend, I could have cared LESS about Insanity! I could have cared less about my workouts, my weight, my hair, my makeup, food choices, how much water I had fit in. All I cared about was the present moment. And I smiled, I savored and appreciated that day. Now THAT is the balance of life.
That was my long winded answer to why I am repeating week 2 of Insanity. Moving onward!
What kind of eater are you?
As I discussed last week, I am devoting upcoming posts to the topic of Intuitive Eating. A topic that I hold very close to my heart and truly believe is perfectly designed for ME and MY LIFE. Am I here to convince all of you to buy the book and subscribe to the words in it? Nope, not at all. What I am here to do is share with you what I've learned about my relationship with food in hopes that maybe, just maybe you might learn from me, identify with me or even share with me.
So, let's begin with the different types of eaters discussed in the book. I thought this was a worthwhile place to start because I love what I learned in this initial chapter. I learned that my relationship with food had a name, or a style rather. I could finally name and understand what I have been thinking in this head of mine for years!
Without further delay, a brief discussion of the eating styles:
The Careful Eater
Someone who appears to be the "perfect" eater. This eater is vigilant about their choices and highly nutrition-conscious on the outside. On the inside this eater is full of anguish, fearful of what to eat next and what is in the food served at restaurants. Most meals are planned down to the dash of salt. While there is nothing wrong with this type of eating style necessarily, the problem lies in how closely this style of eating resembles a forever-lasting diet. Food is not meant to be enjoyed, but to fit a plan.
The Professional Dieter
Someone who is perpetually dieting. This eater can tell you about every plan, how it works, when they tried it and what is coming next. Why? Because none of the diets have really worked. Often this eater wakes up each morning claiming that "this is the day! This is the day that the diet will work and I will be faithful!" Under the covers though this eater finds all food forbidden. The professional dieter subscribes to over eating, even binge eating because tomorrow- it is all off limits baby.
The Unconscious Eater
Someone who always eats and multitasks simultaneously. There is the chaotic unconscious eater who has an over scheduled life where food doesn't take priority. The refuse-not unconscious eater eats whenever food is available, hungry or not. The waste-not unconscious eater always cleans his plate. The emotional unconscious eater views food as comfort, solace and relief. The struggle here is the disengaged view towards food.
The Intuitive Eater
The phrase used in this book has forever stuck with me: The intuitive eater is an unaffected eater. Someone who listens to the signals of their body and knows how to respond whether the solution is food because of a hunger signal or journaling because of emotional overwhelm. Food is not a source of power for this eater, rather something to enjoy and something to appreciate. There is no guilt, shame or dilemma associated with food.
After reading this section I could not believe how much of my day, my thoughts and my life were controlled by food. I had given food so much power and so much control that I would panic at every meal. Thoughts would race through my head: what should I eat? Do I eat according to plan? Do I cut out the dressing or is it ok? Who can tell me what to do? What is the right thing to do? What do I do? My thoughts were not in control. I was forever thinking about how to eat, what to eat and how much to get the body I never had. Not an easy place to be.
After rereading the two pages on the intuitive eater style I knew that I wanted that. I wanted that world. I wanted that life. I wanted to view food as a source of enjoyment, as a source of energy and nourishment. I wanted to feel confident about my choices. I wanted to be in control. I had to take control. But how? After years and years of letting food control me, how do you take control back? How do you let go of the guilt when you eat an oreo? I DID NOT know how to do that.
This process began slowly…chapter by chapter, principle by principle, I learned what intuitive eating felt like and looked like.
My next post will be on the first principle of intuitive eating: Reject the Diet Mentality. A fabulous one to begin with!
So, my friends: do you think you fit a particular style of eating? You might find pieces of yourself within many of them. Or you might find yourself in one category. Or you might even be an intuitive eater without even realizing it!
Share! What kind of eater are YOU?
Me? I was the professional dieter through and through! And what I didn't realize was around the corner for me after reading this book was I then became the Careful Eater. After about 6 months of learning about intuitive eating, my thinking morphed again. I was focused on losing weight again, getting into a particular size, feeling a particular way. I became the Careful Eater who tried to appear perfect but on the inside was meticulously thinking about food. But I am learning, growing and adapting the Intuitive Eater style every day.
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I think I'm kind of a mix of them. I used to be an unconscious eater but now as I get older I'm starting to be more conscious about my eating.. so I probably turn more towards the careful eater, I like plans and organization : ) haha
.-= ´s last blog ..Funny the Way It Is =-.